The heat in our bedroom works a little too well--we were both awake and early yesterday morning due to how hot it was. But we really shouldn't be complaining about the heat considering the morning temperature was -7 (-19 with the windchill). In Boston we composted all of our food scraps and recycled; here in Montana we have to leave all of the taps at a constant drip to make sure our pipes don't freeze.
Yesterday was day 1 of our training. We met the Park Host for Mammoth, who's from New Hampshire and a few years younger than we are. She's also interning with the NPS fire department and lives in a house right in Mammoth, next to the jail (see AJ, there's plenty for you to do here too). She has a dish and has already invited us over to watch football, whoo hoo.
We toured the YA headquarters and met a bunch of people, each one nicer than the next. We all went out to lunch at the K Bar, a local bar where everybody seems to know everyone else and the locals love for their bison burgers (we can vouch for them too) and their pizza.
We finished training around 4 p.m. and Steve asked me what I'd like to do. I suggested going for a run or driving through the park, and without missing a beat Steve said "Park." As we drove through the entrance gate we passed a runner, but before I could protest Steve distracted me with this guy
Before yesterday we'd never seen bighorns in the park, but now we see them every time we drive to Mammoth
We drove the northern road and passed a few big bull elk, and then watched the sunset over the Blacktail Plateau before heading home.
Day 6
We woke up today and the temperature was 9 degrees--and I can't tell you how warm it felt after the negatives of the past few days. I opened the blinds and found this lady outside our window
This morning we had training with the front desk staff at Mammoth. We spent an hour with them learning about all of the various activities that will be offered at Old Faithful, and then we went upstairs to schedule activities for ourselves so that we're able to talk to guests with firsthand experience. Over the next three weeks we'll be taking a snowmobile tour, to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, a night time walk through the geyser basin at Old Faithful, and a guided photo safari along the Firehole and Madison rivers.
After our tour at Mammoth we drove up to see the new field campus that YA will open on May 1st. It sits high above Gardiner and the views are just incredible (that's the frozen Yellowstone River below).
We finished training around 3 p.m. and drove back into Mammoth to run a few errands. On the way home to Gardiner we pulled over at the Boiling River and hiked the 1/2 mile to the pool to see how warm the water was. The snow is a great record of who's come before you, and we followed a coyote's tracks
and then watched a bald eagle fly over the river. The water was warm, but nowhere near as warm as Chico hot springs, and definitely not warm enough to take a dip and then hike 1/2 mile back to your car, wet.
Most of our gear is being shipped down to Old Faithful tomorrow, so we're spending tonight packing up as much as we can so it will be there waiting for us when we arrive on the 16th. We did find time to take a break for pizza (and $2 beers) at the K Bar, and we can now vouch for their pizza too.
No comments:
Post a Comment