Storm Point and Idaho

Henry's Lake, 6/21/16. 

It's been way too long since I've written, but we haven't had internet for the past few days, so that makes blogging much more difficult.

Anyway, I finally got switched to mornings, so I have a lot more time now in the afternoons to hike. It's so refreshing to finally be able to get outside again, even if its just for a short hike after dinner.

Last week, a few of us decided to drive to Idaho just because we could. We found this place called Henry's Lake, and we sat on a hill above the lake for a while eating cookies. It was so incredibly peaceful.

Since then, I hiked Ribbon Lake (where we had to turn back due to time constraints and never got to see the lake), and I've done Storm Point twice. It's an easy 2 mile hike, and it goes out to Lake Yellowstone.

Lake Yellowstone from Storm Point, 6/27/16. 

A couple nights ago, we hiked out to Grebe Lake. We started a fire, and a few people fished. We stayed there listening to music until about 10:30, then we hiked back. We turned off the headlamps at one point when we were in the middle of this huge open space; I've never seen so many stars in my life. We could clearly see Mars, Venus, and the Milky Way. Standing there looking up at the stars was so peaceful, even though we were freezing to death. Then we hiked the rest of the way out in complete silence. 

In other news, I got my nose pierced in Bozeman today! I'm super happy with how it turned out! 

Tomorrow I'm hiking Mary Mountain which is a 23 mile hike. It's mostly flat, but it's still gonna be brutal, especially since I open at work the next morning. It should be fun though, and I know I'll feel accomplished once I've done it. 

-Morgan

10,243 Feet Up

Hiking Buds at the Top of Mt. Washburn, 6/16/16. 

On Wednesday, I went to Bozeman with a group of people. The boys all wanted to see X-Men, so I decided to have lunch with Anna. Once she went back to work, I wandered around town. I bought Dad a Father's Day present and picked up a few other odd things that I've been wanting. It was nice to have some time to myself to just wander and shop. After the movie, we all got pizza, then went to the Bozeman Goodwill, which was quite the experience. I got more flannel shirts, because what else would I wear while living in Wyoming?

We were almost back to Canyon from Bozeman when we saw a group of cars pulled off to the side of the road. Usually, it's because people stop to marvel at a bison (there are a million of them here. Just keep driving). We looked out, and right off the road was a brown bear. I think he was a yearling because he was fairly small, but he was so cute! I tried to get a picture with my phone, but he was too far away.

Yesterday, a few of us hiked Mt. Washburn. It's only about a 15 minute drive from Canyon, but before now, it has still had a ton of snow at the top. We did have to climb up and over a couple snowbanks, but it wasn't as bad as it was a couple weeks ago. It was around 3.5 miles to the fire lookout at the top, and the trail is what was an old road before, so it isn't terribly technical hiking. The last half mile was brutal though, because the wind was blowing so hard I thought I was going to blow off the mountain. We were all walking bent over at the waist to resist the headwind. That's why we're all squinty in the picture above; we're all trying to keep our eyes open in the wind.

After Washburn, we just relaxed for the afternoon. Once most of the morning shift people got off work, we got a group together to go hiking. A couple guys were going to camp for the night, so we all hiked out to their campsite and had a fire. We all sat around on logs, and a couple people pulled out guitars. We stayed there until around 10:30, and then we night-hiked the 2 miles back to the cars. I didn't have my headlamp, so I had to use what little light came from in front and behind me, but I managed.

Today is my Monday, and as much as I don't want to work after such an awesome weekend, I'm excited because we got new hires!! Hopefully they'll stick with the job for longer than the original hires have, and maybe work will calm down a little. One can only hope.

-Morgan

An Important Tangent

I'm taking a break from my usual Yellowstone based posts, because I need to say something. 

I've been thinking a lot about the nightclub shooting in Orlando. As much as I've tried to avoid reading the news while I'm here (ignorance is bliss, as they say), the news of this shooting was everywhere. 

People fear what they don't understand. It's a perfectly natural human inclination. Problems arise, however, when people act out of this fear. This is where prejudice and discrimination begin. 

In this particular case, there is news now that the shooter himself was gay. This makes what he did even worse, if that's even possible, because he targeted people who know best the struggles that he has faced. He took his own fear and pain out on people who did absolutely nothing wrong. He stole the lives of people who had everything ahead of them, everything to live for. 

It's a classic bullying complex. The bully doesn't understand why the short, nerdy kid out-performs him in all school subjects, so he acts out of the fear of failure with violence. Except that in this case, the bully used an AR-15 instead of his fists. And 50 people are dead because they had enough confidence in themselves to go to a gay nightclub, while the shooter was most likely struggling with accepting his identity. 

There are many things that I don't understand, and senseless killing is one of them. 

Everyone focuses on their differences rather than finding common ground to stand on. I am always struck from the Harry Potter quote that says, "while we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one." Learning to embrace our differences and celebrate our similarities is the only way to end the hatred and intolerances that lead to such horrific events as the Pulse shooting. 

We all need to do our collective best to be accepting, kind, and empathetic to everyone around us. Remember that we are not all so different in the end, and be patient with people who may see the world differently. And keep the families of the 50 dead and 50 more injured in your hearts. 

16 Miles Later

View from Bunsen Peak. 6/10/16. 

I finally had my two days off!

Wednesday, I spent the morning sleeping in and relaxing. It was so nice to have some down time. I did a little bit of yoga and meditation as well. Once a couple of my friends got off work in the afternoon, we went down to Lake Yellowstone to fish. All they succeeded in catching were rocks and sticks, but it was still a lot of fun. Spending a couple hours taking pictures and sitting with my toes in the sand was exactly what I needed.

On Thursday, a few of us hiked Fairy Falls. The actual trail is closed because they are turning it into a boardwalk, but we found a way to get there via the Imperial Meadows trail. It wasn't the most exciting hike, but the falls were gorgeous. That evening, we hiked Mystic Falls, which was a little more strenuous. We got back to the car just as it got dark (at 9:30). Between the two hikes, we went a total of 12 miles.

Yesterday, a group of us hiked Bunsen Peak in the morning before work. It was pretty steep, but not bad considering that we hiked all the way up a mountain. It only took us an hour to hike the 2 miles to the top, so we spent some time sitting, eating snacks, and climbing trees to get an even better view. We could see almost 360 degrees around, which was incredible. This place is insanely beautiful.

It might rain here today, but if it's clear tonight, I'm gonna try to go stargazing. I've been looking into how to do long-exposure photos, so I want to try it out and see if I can get a good picture to show just how incredible the stars are here.

-Morgan

Geysers

Sunset from Canyon Lodge Deli. 6/4/16

Work has taken over my life.

The past two days as shift lead have been insanity. The entire food and beverage department is understaffed, so we are all working ourselves to death trying to keep up. I stayed to help the dish crew on Friday night, and we were there until 2 in the morning. Every time that things are going well, I'm just anticipating the next rush and waiting for yet another large, essential appliance to break (we're down two fridges in the deli currently). Because of the crazy hours and exhausting days, I have not had the time/energy to do much hiking or exploring.

Aside from the metaphorical geyser that is my work life, a few of us went to Old Faithful before work on Friday. We hiked up to Observation Point, then back down. We made it to the bottom right in time to see the geyser go off. After all the hype, I was a little disappointed, but it was still pretty cool to see in person. It's one of those things you just have to do while in Yellowstone.

Last night at work, I looked out the windows to see one of the most incredible sunsets I've ever seen, and that's coming from the girl who swears that Arizona has the best sunsets in the world. I had to step outside to get a picture. The picture from my phone doesn't even come close to showing how amazing it was. It went on for almost 15 minutes too, and it stayed incredibly beautiful the whole time. It made my evening ever so slightly better.

I'm so ready to have Wednesday and Thursday off so I can finally get back out there and do some hiking. I still have a huge amount of this park left to explore, and I can't wait to grab my camera and take off.

-Morgan

Stars and Skeletons

Elk Shrine, Tower Creek, 6/1/16. 

On Tuesday night, a group of us went to Artist Point to stargaze. I've never seen so many stars, and it blows my mind just how small and insignificant we are in relation to the universe. One of the guys that was with us was musing to me about how all of those stars are dead now, but we're still seeing their light, and the way he phrased it showed me that I was not the only person there who was struck by the profoundness of it all.

I saw the Milky Way for maybe the second time ever, and it was much more clear than the last time I saw it. Mars was also the brightest it's been in over ten years, and it was just barely over the horizon, which was awesome to see.

I finally had today off, which I have been looking forward to all week! I woke up early and went on a hike with 4 guys. We went to Tower Falls for a minute, then we drove to the campground and hiked part of the Tower Creek Trail. It was much less of a hike and more of a stroll, which I was absolutely fine with. The trail meandered along the creek, and we kept losing it, so we just scrambled over all the fallen logs that lined the banks.

While looking for a rock to skip, I bent down and picked up part of a bone fragment. I turned around, and there was an elk skull. I drew the guys' attention to it, and we soon discovered the rest of the elk. The pelvis was still attached to a few vertebrae, and we found the rest of the spine still flexible and covered in blood (sorry, kinda gruesome). One of the legs was still attached to the knee until one of them picked it up and broke it.

Being boys, they decided to make a skull and crossbones, and once they had done that, they decided to make a shrine to our fallen ungulate friend. We tried to burn some sage for it, but it was too wet to light, so we stuck the sage and some dandelions into its eye sockets. Lovely, isn't it?

The weather couldn't have been any more perfect. It was sunny and warm enough that I took off my hoodie and just wore a tank top. It was so nice to finally get a little sun on my shoulders.

Now that I'll be working all closing shifts, I'll have to get used to hiking in the morning. It's almost nicer that way because I don't have to worry about it getting dark, but there will always be time constraints with getting back in time for work.

I could not be happier that I'm here though. Work is hard, but I just keep reminding myself that I'm in Yellowstone. The job is the only thing keeping me here, but it's not what I'm here for. I'm here to make friends, hike, stargaze, and have an amazing summer, and so far it's working out pretty well.

-Morgan