Yellowstone

Because it has snowed significantly here a majority of the past 7 days, I have not been able to do much hiking, but have instead taken the opportunity to relax and enjoy the scenery from the indoors. I have indulged in frequent naps, movie nights, afternoon reads, and lots of hot coffee. When you step outside of the dorm, all you see is white snow on the evergreen trees and all over the mountains that surround you. At the Canyon dining room where I work, the huge windows display a wonderland of snow falling thickly and coating everything in sight. Canyon Lodge has looked like a Christmas Card. I have enjoyed it so much, but am looking forward to the sunshine again so that we may spend more time hiking. I have joined a hiking club available to employees. The goal of each individual in the club is to hike 100 miles by the end of the summer. At the rate we are going, it should be no time at all! I'll let you know when I hit my 100th mile.

Another opportunity available exclusively and free of charge to employees are educational seminars on various topics. An interesting one I attended recently was on bear safety. I figured this would prove to be useful in case I ever do confront a bear, and since most of my friends and family made a comment before I left that resembles something like the following: "That's great that you're going to Yellowstone. Don't get eaten by a bear!" (um, thanks guys?) I was looking forward to learning at this seminar how exactly to go about doing that; that is of course, not getting eaten by a bear.

The first and most crucial thing I learned was that bears hate confrontation and will avoid it at all costs. Contrary to popular belief, bears are not evil and murderous creatures that roam about seeking humans to devour. Bears are omnivores, so they eat plant foods as well as other animals, depending on what is available to them. Human is not a bear's ideal dinner, and as long as you are not perceived by the bear as a threat, they don't want to deal with you at all. The best way to be perceived as non-threatening is to make yourself known when you are in the back country: clap and make lots of noise, so that if a bear is nearby he will have the option to avoid confrontation with you, and 99.9% of the time, the bear will. It is common to hear people yell, "Hey, bear!" loudly and frequently while on a hike through the woods to announce to a potential bear his or her presence. Whatever you do, do not surprise a bear. Trust me, they do not like surprises.

Let's say that you are out hiking, and despite your best efforts, you end up face to face with a bear, let's say 10 or 20 yards away, certainly a dangerous distance. What you DON'T want to do at this point is run. Talk about counter-intuitive! If you run, the bear will chase you. I think of it kind of like getting pulled over by the police for a mundane traffic violation: if you just cooperate, you'll probably be just fine. But if you "run" and refuse to pull over, the police justly assume that you have a reason to be running, and you probably do. Then you're really in trouble. It's like that with the bear: cooperate and you'll be fine. So don't run. Got it? Also, don't scream or speak loudly or quickly. Instead, speak to the bear softly, calmly, and slowly as you slowly back away from the bear.

If this doesn't work, then you move on to plan B, which is to stand up to the bear. Yeah, that's right. Stand your ground! This is getting almost humorous now, isn't it? Don't run, stay calm, and then stand your ground? I know it's crazy, but if you don't want to be some bear's dinner entree, you'll do it. Look him in the eye and alter your speech from calm to firm and assertive. Spread your arms and legs out, using the aid of a jacket if possible, and try to look as big as you can. Show this bear that you are not an easy target. From what I gathered, bears don't exactly love a challenge.

Let's say that you are camping and a bear tries to approach your campsite (probably because he smelled food, not because he smelled human). This is no time for soft baby talk: this bear came for food and will destroy whatever is standing in its way, i.e.- YOU. This is a circumstance where you would instead immediately stand your ground and try to get the bear to back down. If executed correctly (which is far easier said than done, I would imagine), the bear will almost always avoid that confrontation and leave. But if at this point, the bear still doesn't leave and starts to pursue you, you move on to your last resort: lay on the ground on your stomach, covering your neck with your hands and ideally wearing a backpack. Do not get up until you are absolutely sure the bear is gone.

Fortunately, there is a more promising option for those of us who would rather not take the chance of the bear winning that stand-off. The alternative? Bear spray. At $45 a can, the stuff isn't cheap, but can one really put a price on safety and peace of mind? I think not. Bear spray is basically super-strength, industrial-sized pepper spray. If you are planning to do any amount of backcountry hiking in Yellowstone, the rangers recommend you get some. I haven't bought mine yet, but it is a worthy investment considering the length of my stay in the park, and the amount of hiking I'll be doing. It has an insane spraying range (30 yards, if I'm correct) and can buy you more than enough time to get out of a bear's way. Just don't spray into the wind. I have a feeling you'd regret it.

I attended another seminar about wolf safety, which is exactly the same, with one very important distinction: if a wolf wants to eat you for dinner, do NOT lay on the ground and play dead. If you do, you soon won't be playing anymore. You'll actually be dead. and whatever you do, don't get the two mixed up!

There. For those of you who kindly advised me prior to my departure not to entice a bear to eat me, I hope you can see that I'm doing my very best. I hope you learned a lot about bear safety, too! All you have to do is go against every instinct that you have, and you'll be fine.

Easy as pie.

My "weekend" this week began on Sunday night and ended sometime Wednesday, since my days off are Monday and Tuesday. This weekend was one I will never forget.

As some of my new friends and I were at an early breakfast in the EDR (employee dining room, to refresh your memory) discussing what we were going to do with our day, we lamented the fact that we lived so near to Old Faithful Geyser and none of us had actually seen it yet. We decided then and there that we had to go explore Old Faithful that day. There was only one problem: it is 40 miles away from Canyon, where we live, and none of us had a car. Fortunately, in Yellowstone, that is not a problem at all. Within the park, hitchhiking is a pretty efficient means of getting around, especially for us employees who live here all summer without a car. So, at 10:00am and not really knowing what to expect, with our thumbs up on the roadside, we were on our way.

The first man who picked us up was a Mexican truck driver from Idaho Falls who was hauling a huge semi-truck of firewood to West Yellowstone. We rode in the truck cab with him and heard all about his family and his kids. He said he didn't mind picking us up because it gave him some company on his trip to West Yellowstone, a trip he has taken 5 times a week, beginning at 5:00am, for the past 3 years. He dropped us off at Madison Junction, about 16 miles from our destination, Old Faithful. It was a beautiful day, so we took the opportunity to go on a short hike at National Mountain, and visit with the rangers at a small but scenic ranger station in the area. While there, we were followed quite closely by a herd of bison, after which we learned all about being a ranger in a national park from the park rangers there. We were on our way again on foot, but it was no time at all before a wonderful family of four in an RV invited us on board. Bob and Terry are from Colorado Springs and have two twin 11-year-olds, Shannon and Connor. Bob is a traveling speaker on the topic of Biblical archeology. He travels most all the time, speaking all over the country. He has an speaking engagement near the park next week, so he and his wife bought an RV just 3 weeks ago to spend some time in Yellowstone before his speaking function. They were beyond hospitable: they offered us drinks and snacks; we ate sitting around their RV dining room table. Before arrival at Old Faithful, we stopped a couple of times and caught some amazing pictures of bison herds and thermal features galore (geysers, hot springs, mud pots, etc.). It turns out that Shannon, the daughter, is a singer, and I was able to talk to her a bit about studying voice. She will be featured on an AIDS benefit album that is set to be released in July that features the likes of such Christian artists as Bebe and Cece Winans. Before getting pictures with the family and saying farewell, Bob was kind enough to give us one of his DVDs, on which he speaks about the search for the archealogical remnants of Noah's Ark.

We spent the day exploring the Old Faithful Area which, compared to Canyon Village, is a Metropolis. Rather than our normal hikes, we spent this day exploring the historic Old Faithful Inn, Snow Lodge, and of course, seeing Old Faithful errupt in its normal reliable fashion. I think I must have been expecting something that more closely resembled a fireworks show rather than a geyser: I thought it would be loud and interruptive, but in fact it was rather graceful and lasted about 3 minutes. I think it really says a lot that the geyser is not famous because of its large size, although it is large. There are larger geyser eruptions within the park. I'm told there is one nearly twice the height of Old Faithful somewhere in Yellowstone, but it is incredibly unstable and unpredictable. There are probably cooler-looking eruptions, too. However, Old Faithful's defining and famous feature is its mere, well, faithfulness. I think this says a lot about the rarity of faithfulness in this world in all realms. That's all I'm sayin.

Of course we had to sample the Old Faithful Employee facilities. We ate in their EDR (it was better than Canyon's) and visited their employee residence halls.I think our's are better- regardless of whose is better, I personally prefer Canyon in general. Old Faithful Employees don't know that no matter what, we got the better deal, because we have the beautiful Canyon!

At around 4 in the afternoon, we began heading back. Unfortunately, a cold front had begun to move in (one which, unbeknownst to us would produce a significant amount of snow the next morning) and, if you recall, we had no real ride for the 40 miles back to Canyon. We were picked up after a little mile walk or so by a wonderful caravan of Louisiana natives. There was no room for us in the cab of their pick-up truck, but they let us chill with their ice chest in the bed of the pick-up. They too offered us as much soda as we wanted, but warned us not to touch the beer. We were of course happy to oblige and grateful for a ride. While riding the15 or 20 miles in the open air, me and my two partners in crime, Jonathan and Alexandra, marveled at the freedom of the open air, the unpredictable nature of our adventure, and how lucky we were to be experiencing it.

Our ride dropped us off only 16 miles from home, but the last stretch was a bit less carefree. We walked probably two miles with no luck. By this time it was cold and starting to rain. My travel mates weren't worried, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a little concerned. Suddenly a man in a pick up truck who was going to opposite way yelled to us, "I got ya'll!" woo hoo! We didn't know who this was, much less why he would turn around just to pick us up and shout so confidently, but who cares?! When we got to the pull-out after the truck made a U-turn, we found out that this was no stranger: it was our friends Jason and Kara! They offered us a ride back to Canyon, with one catch: they were driving to Old Faithful, where we had just been, to have dinner at Old Faithful Inn, and then watch the sunset. We were more than welcome to come with them. We wouldn't be getting home for several hours, but we would have a guaranteed ride, with someone we knew. Not to mention, we wouldn't be in our current discomfort of walking in the cold rain. Pause if you would; what would you do in this situation? I was tempted to go with them back to Old Faithful, but my group wouldn't budge. They said I could do whatever I wanted. But after a brief internal debate, I thought, what the hell? We've made it this far.

Only seconds after Jason and Kara pulled away, another car pulled in and waved for us to get in. When we opened the door, Jonathan realized it was another familiar face: a girl with whom he went to school, and a parks employee headed south of Canyon, right through our home! So, our fourth and final "ride" of the day was less dramatic than the rest, but it was the perfect ending to an incredible adventure. And to boot, we arrived back at Canyon only 20 minutes before the EDR stopped serving dinner for the night. I was happy to be home.

Tons of other amazing events occurred over my weekend, but this entry is too long, and anyway, they can't compare to my first hitchhiking experience 80 miles or so round-trip to Old Faithful and back. I'll save the other stories for another blog, or perhaps just write them on my heart instead as a reminder to never, ever stop experiencing all the adventures life has waiting for me, often just a couple of miles down the road.

[The following blog was actually composed 5.29.09. our internet has been down in the park for the last several days. There are signs on every door that reads: "Yes, we know the internet is down. Yes, it has been reported to the internet gods. Be patient. Go on a hike!"]

As you can probably imagine, life in Yellowstone is very different from living life in the city. Having never lived in a rural area myself, I probably require more of an adjustment than other people here. However, those employees who are used to living in a more natural setting than a city still have to adjust to the isolation of the national park. For starters, I have not the conveniences and accessibility that I do at home. In fact, not even close. The nearest Wal Mart is 2 hours from here. The nearest clinic is in the park, in Mammoth Hot Springs 30 miles away. and I can't even TELL you where the nearest mall is. (wow, my friends and family probably never thought I would live for 3 months in a place like this! and VOLUNTARILY, no less!) Also, as I already mentioned, most people's cell phones don't work here, and the internet is not reliable or fast. To communicate with one another, we must do it the old-fashioned way: go visit. This is obviously more time consuming, but since we don't waste all of our time on facebook, we have lots of free time. This factor is a huge part of the culture at Yellowstone: lots of free time means that when we are not at work, we are most likely either reading, hanging out at the employee pub or just around the canyon, or (most of the time) out for a hike. At first it is a little unnerving to find that you have such an excess of free time. You wonder how best to spend it in a place with which you are still somewhat unfamiliar. But the best thing to do in those times is to put on your hiking boots and just go. Take a map, a bottle of water, an apple, and a rain jacket (just in case!), and take yourself on a hike. When you're not up for depleting energy, for instance after work or before a long shift, it's great to just sit and read, indoors or out.

Hiking and camping really is the culture here. I have always enjoyed the occasional hike, but I can't say I get much of an opportunity to do it in the city. It is a nice alternative to my favorite cardio activity, running: it works different sets of muscles, engages nature more, and requires a completely different mindset (not to mention a completely different set of gear). When you are around employee quarters or in the EDR, most people who are not in their work uniform are wearing hiking boots. We have no choice to be very in tune with nature here. Recall that to most of the people in the park at any given time, this is a "vacation culture": think beach culture, Disneyworld. But to us, this is our home for the entire summer. This is where we live. This IS our culture. The grand mountains, waterfalls, and canyons make us yeild powerlessly to nature: my workplace and dorm room has no central heating and air; there are frequent power outages, sometimes lasting days; traffic is completely dependent upon herds of elk or buffalo that cross (or just stay put) in the middle of the road frequently. They know that this place is theirs first, and we are merely spectators in awe of nature's authority.

In addition, Yellowstone and its employees make every effort to minimize the amount of waste produced by the tourism industry here. Aside from separate recycle cans for glass, aluminum, and plastic all over the park, we as employees also divide the trash we create into two trash bags: the white trash bag consists of "compostables": paper and food products, while the blue trash bag is everything else: the trash of the trash, if you will. In the kitchen and dishroom, we also utilize as little water as possible. Also, I will not drive a car all summer while I'm here (many employees don't), and this significantly decrease the carbon we emit into the air. In many places (perhaps where you live, reader), governments, NGOs, and individuals are realizing the need to be good stewards of our resources to make this world a better place both for us and for future generations. Still, where I live, many people are unaware that their carelessness toward the environment is daily contributing to the further deterioration of our planet. The good news is, places like Yellowstone and, many cities and college campuses are being empowered, knowing that their positive habits will contribute to a better tomorrow for the animals, the planet, and our children. So, while I'm on the topic (and since it is my blog, after all), allow me just to place a plug for environmental awareness: recycle. buy reusable grocery bags. walk the mile to the store on a sunny day instead of drive. And then, enjoy the outdoors, knowing that YOU contributed to its largely self-sustaining beauty.

To sum up the YNP employees a little bit, I thought I would compile a list of the top 10 topics of interest here in park employment based on one week's worth of informal sociological study (i.e.- hanging out).

10. art/writing
9. family and friends back at home
8. books people are reading
7. environmental concerns and interests
6. running
5. camping
4. "life stories"
3. work/dorm life
2. getting drunk (or maybe this is number 1?)
1. hiking

This same list from my normal, everyday life would look MUCH different. and that's ok. The diversity to which I'm being exposed is already making my life so much richer, as I gain knowledge and appreciation for people and their varied interests.

I can't believe I forgot to tell you about the best part of my job: the birthday song. This is what we sing when someone tells us it is their birthday.

Canyon Lodge Birthday Song
(to the tune of "Home, Home on the Range")

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Happy birthday to you,
From the Canyon Lodge crew,
Have fun and enjoy your big day!

Nuff said.

it is 8:45pm, but it feels like 6:00pm because the sun doesn't set here until well after 9:00pm, it's almost bedtime: I'm exhausted from such an eventful week.

Most of the people that I met and that I live with work in food and beverage in Canyon Lodge. The Canyon Cafeteria, Emplyee dining room (EDR), and the Canyon Dining Room (where I work) are the three parts of food and beverage here, and they all share one huge kitchen. The jobs in the kitchen are anywhere from serving and assistant serving (my job), to dishwashing, food prep, cooking, hosting, and bartending. Some of my friends have been cutting onions all week, while others have been serving me breakfast in the EDR. It has been fun learning about each others' positions and seeing each other in the kitchen. Sometimes, the cooks give us servers "tastings", where we can sample the restaurant's meals. Me and my roommate, Lauren, asked her boyfriend, Lance, who is a dishwasher, if he ever got to participate in tastings. He said he only got to taste the food that flew into his mouth from the dishes he was cleaning. As you can see, there is a wide range of jobs offered here. As for me, my job consists of pouring and refilling water throughout the meal, clearing plates, and finally busing the whole table, cleaning and resetting it. I have never worked in food service before, so this is all new to me. Xanterra, the resort management company that runs the Canyon Lodge, maintains extremely high standards for their employees: they run a tight ship! I suppose they have to, since our restaurant is considered the consistently busiest of all the locations here in the park. Today and yesterday, I spent my mornings practicing carrying a huge tray with water glasses on it. I managed not to break any, but tomorrow I might now be so lucky! Tomorrow is the last day before we are open for the season. As such, we are using this day for something that the restaurant calls "shakedown." For breakfast, the servers and assistant servers will break into two teams and serve each other our actual menu, practicing our newly aquired skills (and sampling our restaurant's cuisine!). For dinner tomorrow, we will invite all of Xanterra's Canyon Lodge employees (about 300 people) and serve them dinner, just like we would our guests. Then that's it! We open on Friday to the public at 11:30am for lunch.

Despite how it must sound, I have managed to do other things besides job training. A few days ago, me and a dozen other employees decided to take a hike down to Cascade Lake, a two and a half mile hike down the road from our employee housing. We knew that at least some of the trail was covered in snow, and early on, it wasn't so bad. We were beginning to think we were hot stuff out in the wilderness. However, as we progressed, the snow got deeper and deeper, coming up to our ankles, then coming up to our knees. At times, I was so deep in the snow, and so tired from hiking through it, that I just sat down in the snow, my lets stuck in place under 2 feet of snow. Then, you couldn't even find the trail because there was so much snow. Because you couldn't see beneath the snow, you didn't know when you were stepping in a stream of melted snow, essentially ice water up to your ankles. Suddenly, we were feeling less and less capable of making it to the lake without potential frostbite. In addition, it was getting late, and it was only an hour until the EDR closed for the night. We decided to turn back, and take a different way that would take us through less snow. The problem was, this would put us breaking the golden rule of tourist hiking: STAY ON THE TRAIL. oops. but no need to worry; we eventually found the trail, found our way back, thawed out our wet, frozen feet, and made it to dinner with time to spare.

As you can see, my summer so far has been characterized by impromptu outdoor adventures. Being an employee means never running out of stuff to do or people with whom to do it. Just last night, a group of us was sitting around, chatting about work and listening to music, when someone mentioned a fire pit they had seen while out exploring nearby. They suggested we go out and have a bonfire. Someone wondered aloud if it was legal to set a fire here without some kind of permission. "...hm...I don't know..eh, I'm sure it's fine!" Naturally, with such a confident reply, we set out on a little nighttime adventure. The bonfire wasn't very big (and thus not warm enough on a very cold night!), but the night was gorgous, the sky blanketted in stars. I was overcome with the beauty that surrounded me. I have never before felt so small and subject to the whims of nature as I do here. I have said little directly about the landscape, but it is totally different from what I'm used to. The park is covered in mountains; since the last of the snow is melting, there is a massive amount of water running off the canyon and the mountains, creating pretty little streams virtually everywhere. The sky is bigger and bluer than I have ever seen before, accentuating the evergreen trees that are so green, they remind you more of Springtime than Christmas. The air is brisk but gentle; it is cool most of the time, and I change clothes a hundred times a day, since the day starts off at 40 degrees, increases to above 70 in late afternoon, and back down to the 30s at night. Oh, and it rains nearly everyday; you'll be out hiking on a perfectly sunny day, and then all of a sudden, you're in a downpour. But then, as quickly as it came, it goes, leaving you wondering if it ever really happened at all.

If that all sounds magical, trust me: it is.