Monday, July 27th

Hello again! Jim and I didn't start work until later on Monday so we took a couple hour hike around the
Upper Geyser Basin and wanted to share some of the pictures. The river is the Firehole River. It runs right by
the Old Faithful complex and has lots of geysers that empty into it. There is a place farther up river that you can
swim in it that is warmed by the geysers but it is closed right now due to high water. I'm sure we'll give that a
try later on this summer.

The first geyser is Grotto. It goes off at irregular intervals so we didn't catch that one erupting.


This is Morning Glory Pool. The colors are just beautiful. It goes about 700 feet deep and the posted sign said that people throw so much stuff into it over the summer that the Park Service has to clean it out every year. When this happens the water gets real cloudy and you can't see the colors. I had a customer that came in Monday afternoon and bought 24 post cards with this picture on it because her boyfriend had just proposed to her out there and they were going to send them to their family to let them know.


This is Giant Geyser. It is also errupts irregularly. It erupted 50 times in 2009 and only once in 2010. When
it does it last for about 24 hours and puts out over 1 million gallons of water. I would love to catch that one!!

Just an idea of how many people are walking on the boardwalks almost every day.
More later
Ann & Jim

Sunday, June 26th

Attached are a few pictures that were left off our blog from yesterday of Hebgen Lake and the earthquake sight. Also our picnic lunch in the campground - roasting brats and drinking a beer. We spent Sunday fly fishing on the Madison River. It runs along the west entrance to the park and into West Yellowstone, MT. From there it forms Hebgen Lake and then runs through the canyon to Earthquake Lake and the slide sight.

We did lots of fishing but no catching. Needless to say we are new to this fly fishing thing and it will take lots of practice and learning the right flies to use but the scenery was beautiful. At one spot we tried, we saw the bald eagle and at one time it was joined by its mate so they must have had their aerie close by. We didn't grab the camera in time to catch them both sitting in the tree. An osprey flew by us and one of the eagles promptly went after it. I guess to make sure it didn't do any fishing in his territory. All the rivers are still high from the snow melt but one is more beautiful then the next. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Had to include one more picture of a bison jam. Shortly after we took this picture one of the cars came to close and the bison did a little dance and put his head down and charged the car. Luckily for the car he was able to pull away before contact. This particular jam went on for about two miles. They sure can slow things down and there is no question who owns the roads in Yellowstone.


All for now
Jim & Ann

Thursday June 23rd, 2011

Took half days off from work and had a great afternoon visit with friends Mike and Lisa Almert from Indianapolis/Roche and their kids Jack and Emma. After an early dinner in the Old Faithful Inn we walked OF geyser basin where we were visited by a few fat yellow bellied marmots and a raven that had just nabbed a bird for its dinner.....it's truly survival of the fittest and quickest out here! After our walk the Almert's departed for their lodging in the Canyon area about 90 minutes away. We really enjoyed visiting with them! (My apologies to Emma for asking our friend the head chef come to our table to give you a hard time about the TWO twice baked potatoes you wolfed down! :) ) Jack, Ann and I both commented that we foresee you working here in a few short years!



Saturday June 25th, 2011

Took a day trip outside the Park to Hebgen Lake about two hours NW in Montana. Hebgen Lake is the epicenter
of a major 7.5 earthquake that occured back in August, 1959. The quake happend near midnight and when the mountainside collapsed and fell into the the Madison River it buried a campground under tons of rubble and boulders killing 29 campers. The resulting displaced air in the mountain's collapse that night also caused a hurricane-force wind that ripped the clothing off many survivors and toppled trees both up and down the canyon for miles. The debris field blocked the Madison River and created Quake Lake just below Hebgen Lake.

On our way home we came across a couple at a roadside pullout with their spotting scope trained on a pure white mountain goat
about 3,000 feet up on a craiggy rock outcropping. It was nearly impossible to see with the naked eye so we're not sure how
they saw it in the first place but with their scope or binoculars you could clearly see it was a goat...almost looked like a
tiny patch of snow nestled in the rocks. Sorry, it was way too far away to contemplate a picture...









Passed several individuals fly fishing along the Firehole and Madison Rivers in Yellowstone. Fishing is fly fishing only and all hooks must be "barbless". Too, whatever you catch must be immediately released back to the water.
This waterfall is on the Firehole River just downstream from one of the two places in the Park where they allow swimming/wading once the weather turns warmer. There are warning signs not to swim/wade past a certain point lest you experience this waterfall first hand and go down in Yellowstone lore!

All for now...our best to everyone.

Jim & Ann

PS: Work still going well and numbers of tourists rising every day. The crowds at Old Faithful Geyser are huge for eruptins every 90 minutes plus or minus 10 minutes...not sure where they all come from but lots of international tourists here helping our economy.

Sunday, June 19th

Day two of our weekend started off cool and rainy.  After breakfast in Cody and a stop at WalMart we headed back through the Absaroka mountain pass to Yellowstone.  Can you believe they still have avalanche warnings posted?  Summer is not hear yet no matter what the calendar says.
They shoot the cannon off to make the snow slide and then clear it off so there is
not as much of a chance of cars being hit unexpectedly.

We stopped at Artist Point to overlook the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River.  What a breathtaking view.  And there is a lot more water going over the falls then usual.

Farther up river we caught these bison trying to cross - one goes in and they all have to follow.  We didn't wait to see if they all went or not but I hear they are pretty good swimmers. We had a hitchhiker with us and wanted to get him to his destination.  All the employees that don't have cars just hold up a sign that says "Park Employee" and their destination and it doesn't take long for someone to stop and give you a ride.

The last two pictures are of a river taking a U-turn just before they go over Tower Falls. 

Enjoy and we will keep updating
Ann & Jim

Weekend in Cody, WY

We spent the past weekend in Cody, Wyoming where they celebrated their 30th
annual "Pow Wow". Cody is a small western town and the home of the Buffalo Bill Cody Western Museum, one of the country's Smithsonian group of museums.
The 2-1/2 hour drive to Cody took us Southeast and out of the Park along the Shoshone River and high into the Absoroka Mountains.  We encountered several buffalo along the way and brief traffic jams as they use the roads to go from one high mountain meadow to another.  Many are still shedding their heavy winter coats and are pretty scraggly looking.  Both bulls and cows have horns and their huge shoulder muscles or "humps" help them as they sway their heads left and right plowing through heavy winter snows to find grass.








During the PowWow Indian tribes participate in different traditional competitions and we took in some of the competitive dancing. The age groups ranged from small children to adult.  The pictured small tents were set up for each tribes' singers/chanters and drummers.  It was interesting to hear the different dialects and of course we understood zero of  what they were singing.

All were dressed in traditional clothing and the Crow Indian with the mountain lion headress was simply amazing. Several indians' costumes contained Bald Eagle feathers, talons, etc. which we were told Indians could possess as long as they
are used for religious or other ceremonial purposes.  Selling of Bald Eagle feathers or other parts
is strictly prohibited by the government and carries a $10,000 fine and prison term.

Too, if you look closely, almost all costumes have elk incisors which traditionally are a sign of wealth and good health for the owner.

After the dance competition we toured just a small part of the Cody Museum and spent
most of 4-5 hours in the Plains Indians section. The many full scale dioramas were
fantastic.  We ran out of time before we could explore the art galleries, the Cody gun collection containing over 2,500 pieces, and so much more.  We both agreed we'll have to do a Cody trip once more before we head home.











 Near the end of each day an old time western "shootout" is held in Cody outside the Irma Hotel (Wild Bill built it for his daughter Irma to manage back in the 1880s) and it is more of a promotion for local bars and saloons than a gunfight. Maybe 2-300 tourists and local townsfolk attend each shootout and everyone seemed to enjoy it. After the shootout we had dinner and a few margaritas outdoors and crashed for the night.