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