YELL Day 38

We took K's family to Mammoth making other little stops here and there. We also drove to Lamar Valley where the Big Bison Convention is taking place, also known as "the rut." One dapper fellow charmed us by digging in the dirt, rolling in the dirt, shaking the dirt afterward, and also by just sitting there. Too bad you can't hear the snorting and grunting. If you look carefully, you may see how the wind is blowing the hair on the top of his head from behind (#toupee). He's looking a bit messy with grasses stuck in his fur here and there. I just kept chuckling while snapping photos.

The terraces were wonderful of course. That "winter" scene is a summer scene and it was hot out. That's just the magic of calcite travertine folks.

Family Comes to YELL!

Sunday 08/04/2013

K's family came to visit. We took them to Storm Point, Gull Point Drive, Mud Volcano, and then back home for pulled pork and potato salad. We are trying to show them a nice time!

Ice, Ice, Baby!

Saturday 08/03/2013

The in-laws planned to arrive this evening so it was my last chance to run around the park in the wee hours of the morning (when all the good stuff happens). I've always appreciated the morning mist that rises above the Yellowstone River. Someone with the right stuff could photograph it with justice. I headed for Norris in order to walk around the Back Basin.

I parked in the parking lot and walked to the restroom. When I opened the door to the women's side, I was immediately on high alert for the rodent who had torn the place up! There was toilet paper EVERYWHERE!!! However, nothing stirred and I realized that HUMANS were responsible for this incredible mess. I later saw an employee and asked him about it, "It's like that every single morning. Rodents have nothing to do with it." If you tear toilet paper off the roll, I think you're quite capable of eventually depositing it in either the toilet or the trash. If you throw it on the floor and think that somebody gets paid to clean up after you, then I think you're pretty despicable. Lazy, lazy, thoughtless, and unkind. Yes, I feel strongly about this and I'm not sure why because I've never been a custodian. Remember, your real character is depicted by your actions behind closed doors. Who are these folks? A bunch of passive-aggressive creeps? It is beyond my reasoning. If you can explain it to me (a logical reason for the mess), I would LOVE to be enlightened! Steps off soap box with heavy sigh...

Anyway, to get to the back basin, I chose left which led me past Steamboat once again (a loop trail). I was walking along like nobody's business when I noticed myself slipping. Sure enough, that boardwalk was covered with a thin layer of ice. Perhaps it was from the steam of Steamboat in the below freezing morning temperature. So I grabbed those handrails and SLID on my feet all the way down past Steamboat until I arrived at Cistern. It was a ways. At that point I was able to walk normally--no more ice. Did not see another soul during the whole 1.5 mile walk! It was GLORIOUS! I emerged near the museum and contemplated walking around Porcelain Basin, however, just then, a busload of Asians (and I love Asians!) arrived and went running down the hill chattering in Chinese, cameras clicking. Nah...guess not. I'll come back another time. The magic disappeared.

I stopped at Canyon, arrived late for K's ranger-guided hike, and when he got off duty, we drove to Pahaska Tepee near the East Entrance. K's family came to visit us!!! Just as they pulled in, K realized we were locked out of our home, but no worries, he handily found a way in later in the evening.

YELL Day 37

Friday 08/02/2013

The day after an excursion is usually a housework day. I finished reading These Is My Words, an EXCELLENT historic fiction piece by Nancy E. Turner. Loved it. So much.

YELL Day 36

Thursday 08/01/2013

This was one of my field trip days so I headed back to Old Faithful for some unfinished business. I went on a ranger-led walk in the Upper Geyser Basin and learned so much! I can't even begin to tell you the fascinating things I learned. Anyway, the ranger said he had a secret to share and that he wanted to build suspense during the tour. Well. That didn't last. At the second stop he blurted out, "I can't stand it anymore!!! Steamboat Geyser erupted LAST NIGHT!!!"

Okay, if you're not a geyser gazer then you may not know that this is RARE. It was 2005 the last time it happened. We were told it could steam anywhere from 10 hours to 40 days after an eruption, so the Old Faithful rangers were spreading the news and telling us to head over there just to see the after steam. So I did. The road was closed off. Turns out no one got hurt (even though visitors were running pell mell toward Steamboat when it started to go), but the geyser is so big and usually spits out rocks to the point that cars in the parking lot get damaged. I could have hiked in (probably) from Norris Campground, but decided to go home knowing that K would have heard the news at work. He was already eating lunch when I arrived so I had a big smile on my face when I walked in. I didn't get a smile back. He just looked at me with a mixture of jealousy and disappointment saying, "Heavenly Father loves you so much. You get to see EVERYTHING! You get geysers and grizzlies and all sorts of happy surprises." I answered, "Relax. The road to Norris was closed--they wouldn't let me in." So we drove over there in the evening, together, after K got off duty. I packed a picnic supper and drove while he ate his chicken salad sandwich. I parked the car and he jumped out and ran off. I didn't see him again for another twenty minutes or so. He couldn't wait! This is the proof he really was so terribly excited: he REQUESTED to have his picture taken in front of it!!!

YELL Day 35

Wednesday 07/31/2013

My friend came to visit and brought two of her neices, both age ten! They were all so fun to play with! Sometimes K gets some pretty rowdy boys on his hikes. Boys just naturally try to fall off cliffs, throw sticks and rocks, and stomp on every log they can find in the forest. They seriously "tear the place apart!" Hiking with girls is so different. They went to the lakeshore and sweetly called back to me, "Are we allowed to skip rocks?" Yes, my dear angels, skip all the rocks you please. Later we went to West Thumb Geyser Basin, possibly my favorite thermal area in the park, and a ranger was explaining that an elk calf met its demise earlier this spring by stepping into that hot pool of water. You can see the white baby elk bones remaining. Let that be a lesson to us all!

YELL Day 34

Tuesday 07/30/2013

I was in the bathroom when I heard some curious noises. The walls are paper thin so I wondered, "Is that Eric snoring???" That didn't seem right because we've never heard him snore and besides...it was the middle of the day. Then I heard some other noises and thought, "Are there bison out there?" Yes, there were. They were walking right in front of our front door and right past all of our vehicles and they were grunting and grazing and doing what bison do. So, let's just say I was closer than the minimum 25 yards while still inside the safety of my own home. I've seen plenty of bison this summer but there's something a tad bit charming about them when they show up on your door step.

In other news, I finished the unabridged version of Les Miserables. All 1,463 pages, Baby! Every English word, French word, song lyric, Greek myth...you name it, I read every word. On page 985 it says, "To learn to read is to kindle a fire." Is that where Amazon got that?