Your Scent is Sweet Like Betty Crocker Bakes

Just a quick update. I haven't been doing too much hiking. I have to admit that. It seems like everyone I usually hike with (mostly work folks), and myself, have been in a bit of a rut. We were going and hiking all over creation, so the past week has kind of been a slow one in terms of more hiking. Which is a-ok with me, because I'm coming up on about one month remaining. This will hopefully give me a bit of a rest to get back on my game to get the rest of the hikes I want to accomplish done by the time I leave here.

Last week we went back down to Moose Falls to celebreate the birthday of a co-worker. It was definitley a bit more chilly that last time I was there! I only took one plunge off of the falls, and just waded in the river waters after that.

Today, August 25, is Christmas in the Park here at Yellowstone. There are Christmas decorations up everywhere, including the employee dining room. I went down to breakfast this morning and was impressed to see a Christmas Tree, lights and garland gracing the walls. We're only four months away. Get your lists ready! I have yet to be up to my place of work to see what kind of decorations are up there, and since I've been off for the past two days I was unable to assist in the decorating.
More information can be found here.



I think that's about all I've got for now. I'm currently trying to teach myself how to use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3. If you have any pointers, you should let me know. I'm not familair with this like I am with Photoshop CS(insert version here). Ok, talk to you all later.

Darwin

Hey there readers. Today was fairly productive. I traversed the lands of Canyon Village and took it upon myself to check out the couple of gift shops and makeshift grocery store. I also stopped by the post office to get my information set up so I can receive any snail mail that is sent my way. I was then contacted by my fellow Guest Service Agents that reside in Lake Village. I’m guessing they must’ve been worried about me since I’m up here all by my lonesome. Nice group of folks, really.

We all met down in the Old Faithful area. It was about a two hour drive to get there, but some nice scenery accompanied the lengthy time behind the wheel. I would have made a bit better time had there not been construction between Norris and Madison, but oh well. I just turned off the Vibe and put on some good tunes thanks to XM Radio.

Upon my arrival at the Old Faithful Inn I learned that I had just missed the excitement of Old Faithful itself. I met my compadres near the entrance of the Inn and we headed for the car to head about 4.5 miles north of our current location to hit up the Fairy Falls trailhead. The trail was pretty busy, but the other day we learned off a different route you can take once reaching the waterfall which is rarely traveled and you can experience the magic of Imperial Geyser without 50 of your closest friends with 2.3 megapixel cell phone cameras to capture their Yellowstone memories.

The Fairy Falls was a pleasant sight. It wasn’t a massive waterfall by any means, but enough to make you appreciate the nature that is out here. I tried to capture a couple of images with different shutter speeds and such, but nothing came out too spectacular. It was hard to review what my image looked like on the LCD screen of my camera because of the bright sun, so I was just was changing features and snapping photos in hopes that something looked decent.


Fairy Falls

Fairy Falls

Trying to navigate through geogthermal hotspots. A dangerous activity.

Next, the Imperial Geyser. It was pretty neat. You didn’t have to wait 90+ minutes to see it erupt like Old Faithful, and there weren’t huge crowds of people to fight in order to get a good view. My pictures didn’t come out too great. Many of them are way too bright, so I’ll need to practice that for the future. I know I’m just an amateur, but I’m learning that taking pictures in the heat of the day with the blazing sun directly overhead is quite a challenge.

We decided to add a bit more onto our hike and walked back on a service road that went through some open meadows and next to a lake that I unfortunately do not know the name of at this time. There were a couple times the trail seemed to disappear and we had to walk around and between a few of the thermal features which was slightly nerve-wracking, but fun nonetheless.


Imperial Geyster resting...

Imperial Geyser in action.

We ended the day with dinner at the Employee Dining Hall in Old Faithful. I finally went in to the Old Faithful Inn, and let me tell you, it is certainly a site to see. I could only think of all the times I had seen it on the Travel Channel and all the great things they had said about it. I'm sure many of you know that the Inn books up very quickly, so if you ever decide to you want to do that, make sure you do it as early as possible. Want to know which room to stay in? Contact me. Good day.

I'm in the Canyon

Hello audience. Sorry for my lack of updates. I think it's been a couple of days. I haven't done much too exciting. I've just been finishing up training and today I made my trek to Canyon Village, which is south and east of Mammoth Hot Springs. I like it here as far as the scenery is concerned. Much more wildlife, furry creatures, tall pine trees, waterfalls and rivers. I can't complain.

First thing's first: This blog entry may be shorter than originally planned due to the fact I just spent roughly an hour trying to get the stupid thing to connect to the network. I'm ready to be done on the computer. But, moving forward...

I made a quick trip to Billings yesterday, camped overnight next to the Yellowstone River, and got attacked my mosquitoes. It was glorious. Actually, it wasn't too shabby. The strange thing was that there was an oil refinery right across the road and neighboring the Yellowstone River. That's a true shame... Anyway, after a short night's rest we decided to head back from Billings via Highway 12. All I can say is it is a phenomenal drive. I highly recommend it to anyone driving in that area. We maxed out at somewhere close to 11,000 feet at the top of whatever mountain we were driving on. Plenty of beautiful lakes and such on the way down. Basically, save up your money, fill up your gas tank, and head towards Red Lodge, MT.

I was in a big hurry to get out of the dorm facilities in Mammoth so I could make it Canyon before the person in charge of giving me my room key left for the day. The drive on Beartooth Highway/Hwy 12 took a little longer than anticipated. I made it to Canyon Village in a little over one hour. Not too bad considering I had to maneuver a "bison jam" and a "bear jam". (I've had multiple questions already asking what a "(insert animal type) jam" is. Basically a bison gets in or near the road and causes all of the silly tourists to come to dead stop and whip out their favorite picture maker to savor the memory of a furry creature that likely isn't seen often in their homelands.)

Upon arriving in Canyon I was directed to the personnel office to gain access to my room, but before I could even make that happen I had already been seen by my assistant manager, Becka. This worked out wonderfully because she then guided me up the stairs to the lodge where I'll be working and I met serveral co-workers. I then got the low-down on when I'll start (Wednesday at 2pm) and then was given a tour of the facilities that Canyon Village has to offer by my manager, Nadia. Thank you ladies.

I came back, moved a few things into this massive sized room I am equipped with and then went to the dining hall. I was the cool kid who ate by himself today. Not a problem though, as I was actually somewhat impressed with the meal selection, which was a hearty portion of chicken penne with alfredo sauce. After that I decided I'd head to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone to snap a few photos. It turned out to be somewhat of a learning trip as I began talking with a couple guys who were there taking pictures as well.

I saw quite a bit of wildlife today and snapped a few images of that, and will try to upload the best ones, but I must say that this internet connection is very slow and even more questionable, so if there aren't too many photos, I'll try again later. Enough of the rambling, I shall be on my way now.

I tried to incorporate some of the clouds in this. The picture didn't really do justice for the actual view.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

What's up Mr. Bison? This was on my drive, so I just stuck the camera out the window and snapped.

Just a good shot of the moon on my way back from the Canyon.

Here I Am

Sadly, I have no pictures to post from yesterday. I went out to get a couple of snap shots and forgot my battery sitting on my desk after charging it. Too bad. So, that was a bit disappointing.

I left Bozeman, MT around 7am yesterday morning and arrived in Gardiner with plenty of time to spare so I could check in before all of the people that came in on the bus. This had me a bit hesitant at first because all I saw were old people and more old people. Once I got to the park and went to our orientation meeting there were a few more youngsters, but not many. I still haven't seen too many people my age that came in yesterday. So, maybe that just means they aren't doing the same job as I am.

I'm currently in Mammoth Hot Springs where we will train for the next five days before I head down to Canyon Village. I hear there's quite a bit of traffic down there, so that should be fun.

Last night I jumped in on some pick up basketball. I think I gave myself blisters the size of Texas. We played 3 games, and I must have been the magic touch because we lost all of them. I had a few acrobatic plays and a few that were a bit embarrassing. That's alright though, I didn't see any NBA scouts in the stands.

We went down to the Employee Pub last night and stayed there for an hour or so. I had difficulty obtaining an alcoholic beverage because I'd already lost my employee ID which shows that whether we're 21 or not. I realized I probably left it in the Rec Center but when I went in to find it, it was nowhere to be found. Luckily, my boy Andrew who I'd just met earlier while he was working there was thoughtful enough to give it to the security guard who was then in the process of tracking me down. He eventually found me at the Pub. It all worked out.

The pub had TV, which doesn't seem to be available too many places here. It had foosball, pool, darts, good 'ol arcade games, and quite a bit of food to chose from. So, that seems like it could be a decent hangout once it gets dark and us humans are at the mercy of the bears.

Time to go to breakfast before the a thrilling bout of training sessions. I'll try and put more up later, and maybe a few photos.

T-minus (about) 1 Day

Well, my apartment is finally empty of all my belongings. I have managed to find a place to put everything in my Dad's shop, that way I didn't have to rent out a storage unit. I really didn't want to spend money on a storage unit. I'm now in the process of figuring out what I'm going to pack into my car and what I may leave behind. All I know is I will for sure be taking clothes (shocker, I know) and backpacking/camping supplies. I need to maybe refine my materials for my camping list a little bit, but everything is packed into my newly purchased Osprey Aether 70.

I've been reading up on a few trails that I would like to do in Yellowstone, and they seem endless. So, I hope I have enough time and energy to at least knock out a few of them. Speaking of the park, I received an e-mail today from Xanterra (my employer) that asked if I would be interested in working at the Roosevelt Lodge. It seems rather intriguing. Rather than living in a dorm-styled building, the employees actually live in cabins. I had read that people working at the Roosevelt location would live in cabins, but I didn't realize that there was no running water. I think it could be a entertaining, yet challenging, to live in a place such as that. The place is also heated by using a pot-belly stove. Luckily they provide the wood for you, so I won't have to go out and chop down the entire forest in order to stay warm. I can't decide if that is where I would like to work, or if I will gamble on landing a different location that provides running water that won't require an outdoor trek to the showers/bathrooms.

I gave a quick look to the map yesterday to try and determine my route on the way to Yellowstone and as I once thought that I would take roughly a week to get there, I think I'm going to cut it down and take 4-5 days. The first leg of my trip will be from here to Colorado Springs where I will be staying with a friend. Can't pass up a free place to stay! After that, I'm anticipating at least half a day or more wasted away in the Boulder, CO area. As my family knows, I'm rather intrigued by that place. It's a great city, it really is. I hope to make it north to Billings, MT either that night or the next. I have a feeling I will have to take a slight detour and stop somewhere in between. From Billings I haven't decided if I will just wake up early and drive the short distance to Gardiner, MT early on the morning of July 13 or if I will go to Gardiner the night of the 12th and be there for "check-in" the next morning.

If anyone has any suggestions on "detours" I should take as far as scenery or activities are concerned throughout the trip, please let me know. I've got a day or two to play with, so I might as well make it count!

Tonight I took a trip over to Dynamic Earth and purchased some new pants. I'd seen them a few weeks ago and have been trying to convince myself to get them for awhile, so I finally did. I then went across the street to Backwoods and came away with a fancy new Patagonia belt and a pair of Keen sandals. Again, I've wanted the sandals for a long time but I just couldn't convince myself to buy them. So, thanks to Mom and Dad for helping out!

Okay, it's getting rather late, so I'd better sign off for now. Hopefully I'll be back with some great information for you next time.

A Good Day to Start

Happy 4th of July to you, America. This is my first blog entry on what hopes to be an adventerous next few months. At the end of this week I will be departing my hometown, Lawrence, Kansas, to head northwest to the Equality State -- Wyoming. There I will be working as a Guest Service Agent at one of the many lodging facilities inside Yellowstone National Park. If I knew which one I was working at I would gladly disclose that information, but I do not. Sorry.

Today started off with a true bang as it was race day for all of the elite athletes in the Lawrence-Kansas City-Topeka area. The Mass Street Mile was ran in conjuction with the Tour of Lawrence. It was a great race, and very fast. The winning time for the men's race was somewhere around a 4:43. I came in sixth (second in my age group) at 5:04 and Jacob rounded out the top 10 with a 5:19. I was pleased, and also surprised, with the competition this morning. I feel we could have ran faster, but we decided not to use EPO this morning.

This was a nice follow up to attending the Tour of Lawrence up on the University of Kansas campus last night. There was some great racing and plenty of fans. Really, a great atmosphere. It's about time Lawrence hosts more events like this. I think the community here can really support these types of things and help them become very successful.

I will now proceed to light fireworks illegally in the Lawrence city limits.