Time Is Zipping On By

Time Is Zipping On By

August 4, 2017

As the calendar has changed from July to August our time in Yellowstone is growing short.  July was the first month that we did not get any snow. Our temperatures have been in the mid-seventies and lows around forty at night which has made for some very pleasant weather for us. With the warmer temperatures, the west has started to dry out and at last count there were 287 wildfires. Fortunately, we have had some good rain fall along the way and the closest fire was about 25 miles east of the park but rain and cooler temperatures helped put this fire out. The National Forest services had about 275 firefighters set up in a camp for about two weeks on the road to Cody to help fight and control this fire. They also brought it a special plane to help fight the fire. We spent a Saturday afternoon along with a couple of co-workers sitting on Yellowstone lake watching and waiting for the plane to fly over and suck up water from the lake. But after about 3hours the rangers advised us that because of the improvement in the weather condition that the plane was not going to be used. Wild fires are part of life living in the west as most are started by lightning and some by careless humans.

July 13 brought my loving wife’s 56 birthday. For her birthday, I led our guests in singing happy birthday that morning at work and then again, a second time when our second shift came in to relieve us. Then  that night we went to the Old Faithful Inn and had dinner in the Inn. The Old Faithful Inn was built in !903 and is a beautifully designed building with a lobby which is 76 ½ feet tall. Again, I had the wait staff sing a very nice version of happy birthday to her again.  After dinner, we drove up to Belgrade Montana where we spent the night. The next morning, we got up and met my cousin Darcy and her friend for a kayaking trip down the Madison River. This was about an 8-mile trip and took us about 3 hours. The river and valley were beautiful and the river dropped through a rock canyon and wound down to a valley to the pickup zone.  Darcy and her friend were in tubes and Paula and I were in our kayaks.  I made one mistake as I put our cooler with lunch on Paula’s kayak and when she hit the river she took off and left the rest of us. Finally, she tried to wait for us so she tried to slow down but ended up running head on into a large rock. Thankfully she did not damage her boat but I was able to catch up and get my lunch. The day was beautiful with clear blue skies, temps in high 80’s and a light breeze which made it a very comfortable day on the river.  We spent Friday night in Belgrade and then got up Saturday morning and did our shopping and returned to the park. This marked the first two nights we had not been in the camper since March.

On July 22 Paula and I went back to the Old Faithful Inn where we went on top of the Inn and raised the flags on top of the Inn. This was a neat experience as we got to go into the crow’s nest in the upper reaches of the hotel lobby and then out onto the roof. I raised the Wyoming State flag and while we were up there the Bee Hive Geyser went off.  We left the Fishing Bridge area at 430 am to get there in time and it was neat being on the road at this time of the morning as no one else was on the roads. After raising the flags, we had breakfast in the dining room. Once we had breakfast we went to the Midway Geyser Basin where we saw the Grand Prismatic hot spring and then we hiked up to the new overlook that was just opened which allows an elevated look of the spring where you can really see the different colors in the hot spring.

Firehole River

After spending the morning hiking we headed off to Grant Village where we were to meet friends for lunch. On the way we picked up our second set of Harmless Park Employees who were hitchhiking to the Grant Village area. This couple had just arrived from Ecuador and were both working in the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. They spoke very good English and quizzed us on things that they should do and see while they were here. Once dropping them off we met up with Chris Eastwood and his family who were passing through on vacation. We had a very nice lunch with Chris, Jennifer and Emmie at the Grant Village lodge. Was so nice to see friends and catch up on Ringgold.  

On the weekend of July 28 & July 29 we traveled back to Belgrade to meet up with Darcy and her family and my Aunt Marcia who I had not seen in about 14 years.

On the way, up to Belgrade we took a detour and visited Quake Lake Mt. This is the location of one of the largest Earthquakes recorded in US history.  In 1959 a 7.5 quake hit the Hebgen valley and lake area of Montana.  In a matter of seconds, the side of a mountain came down and blocked the Madison river. This instantly created a new lake which is now referred to as Quake Lake. Unfortunately, 29 people were killed in the flooding and rock slides created by the quake.  It was amazing to see the force of nature and the amount of rock that came off the mountain is such a short period of time.  The next morning Paula and I got up to meet Darcy and her family for breakfast and spent an hour and a half visiting and catching up.  After breakfast, we headed off to the Hylite Canyon area  of the Gallatin National Forest where Marica, Darcy, Maranda (Darcy’s daughter) Paula and I hiked up to a beautiful waterfall called Palisade Falls. Then after the hike we stopped back along the river and had a snack. This was a great visit and time to catch up with family.

July also included an employee appreciation dinner which was given to us by Xanterra.  The meal was very nice and included a steak dinner in which our managers and supervisors served us our meal. 

We also spent our down time looking for wildlife as we have done for most of our down time here in the park. We spent several evenings out watching a grizzly and her white 3yr old cub. These two are real celebrities as they have spent a lot of time along the road from Fishing Bridge to the East entrance. The rangers have had their hands full trying to manage the excited visitors and keeping the bears and visitors safe during these up-close viewing opportunities.

As August rolls in we now have 45 days left here for the season. We have been blessed with our new friends which feel like new family members.  We had an office pizza party last night it was nice to be able to hang out with our coworkers in a social environment.

August is our last full month in the park and will be gone probably before we make our next post. We are starting to make plans for the upcoming months. We know you will find it shocking but it does look like we will be making a return trip for a second season in Yellowstone.

Hope all is well where ever you are and whatever you are doing.

Until next time

Ramblin Ruis

Allen and Paula