Would you like to buy a shower?

T, our trainer for 2 weeks in the antiquated reservation computer system and the ins and outs of YNP, warned us that there would come a time when tourists would somehow recognize that "we belong here" and ask us for information, even when we are incognito in T-shirts and hiking gear. I think there is something about working at the front desk that accelerates this phenomenon. We seem to be the all knowing venue for information, although I would contest that the Park Rangers are far superior in their all knowingness. Perhaps they don't know the details about the cabins and rooms at the hotel, but they do have a brochure at the Visitor's Center (VC, for all you native YNPers).

So, I am now in the position that I am easily recognized as an inhabitant instead of just a visitor. It's happened to me twice this week. First, I was crossing the street from the post office back to the dorm and ran across two gentlemen looking at our dorm, seemingly confused. "Is that Fort Yellowstone?" they asked. Our dorm is a bit shabby looking, but it is definitely in a 1960's style of construction, so I got them turned around facing the other direction and pointed out the real Fort Yellowstone. In my best travel agent persona, I explained about the self-guided walk, including brochure for 50 cents, and sent them on their tour. Warranted, there was no-one else around them as they were in the middle of the road, so I guess in this instance, I seemed a likely character to ask for directions.

However, this morning, there were plenty of people around when a car pulled up alongside me and a woman, looking like she really wanted to wash her hair, asked if there were public showers. For those of you not in the know, yes, you can actually buy a shower, which we sell at the front desk of the hotel. In case you're wondering, it's usually pretty easy to tell who wants to buy a shower vs people who are checking into the hotel. I pointed out the door to go in and she drove off to find a parking space. Of all the people walking back from breakfast, how in the world did this lady pick the one person who actually works at the hotel and knew exactly what she was looking for? I seem to be the cash magnet at work, although C. has surpassed my one-day high intake, so I'll have to let them know that I sold a shower even while I wasn't at work.

I seem to be verbose today, but it's time to go to my evening shift (2:30 - 10:30 PM), so I will leave you with some words from the Julie/Julia Project, which I have just begun to read:
"When you're crazy, old and worn out, you're just crazy, old and worn out."

Welcome to the Petri Dish

Are you ever in one of those situations where you feel like you are a bug in a petri dish being subjected to various viruses and infections, tested for survival of the fittest? I think school teachers fall into this category, as well as Xanterra employees working at the National Parks. Since we are working in different departments, Alex and I can watch the various flues enter the department, get passed from one employee to another, then transfer to another department. Our dorm living and communal dining in the Employee Dining Room (EDR) mean there's no avoiding exposure. With worldwide travellers passing through the park, hotels, and dining facilities, we have no idea where these bugs are coming from. Do we pass them onto the guests? Let's hope, "no."

So far, Alex and I have managed to catch one of 2 colds travelling around (maybe both, at this point). We have skirted around the pink eye, although this seems to be sticking mainly to the 20-somethings. I may have solved this mystery while travelling back from a brief excursion to Bozeman, MT with a car full of 20 to 22 year olds. M said to N, "My right eye itches (scratch, scratch, rub, rub). I hope I'm not getting the crud! Can I use your eye drops?" To which I said, "No!" perhaps a bit too emphatically. Realizing that I am, in fact, old enough to be the mother of a 2o year old, I thought I'd better share the knowledge that sharing eye drops is a good way to share conjunctivitis. Ah, youth. :-)

So, what do we do? We work, we sleep, we spend long meals in the EDR, drinking hot tea. We try to avoid the crud. We have no TV and none of the extracurricular activities of our regular life in the Real World that keep us so busy all of the time, so really, we sleep. I'm hoping when the weather improves, it will dry out all of the bugs and we can get on with what we came here to do (hiking, wildlife watching). Meanwhile, we're still waiting for the elk to calve. For the past 2 weeks, we've been told it will be any day now.

Alex has some good stories from work and bear watching. I'm trying to get him to write for the blog, so maybe you'll see a new writer soon! Any encouragement you can send him is welcome.

LIfe at the Front Desk

It is once again snowing here in YNP. The road between Tower-Roosevelt and Canyon opened yesterday morning only to be closed yesterday night due to snow. With a peak elevation of 8878 feet, Dunraven Pass causes this road to be closed frequently due to weather.

Work at the Front Desk of the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel is busy, busy. We've been checking in over 100 people a day, and checking that many out again in the morning. It keeps us on our toes. We are definitely the go-to people - if guests have questions, problems, or if they've just seen a lot of wildlife and wants to share the experience, they come to us. The most thrilling is when a guest has seen something fantastic and comes to share with us. The most common question was 2 evenings ago when many guests were wondering how to turn their heat on as there was a problem with the main heating system and maintenance had to spend some time working on it. This will soon be followed up by, "Where can I park?" as parking is limited and is shared by hotel/cabin guests and day visitors to the park. I think the funniest thing that happens frequently is when we ask, as required, every guest if they have any pets with them. About 50 percent of the time, one spouse turns to the other and says, "Just him/her." Or, if they have children with them, they ususally say, "Just my children." Will that joke get old 4 months from now? I feel fortunate that we seem to have a group of people that work together at the front desk. We all forget things and we all help each other out. And if we have a moment to spare, we make each other laugh.

The bike ride

What have I been doing lately? I've been sleeping! Actually, I've been working and sleeping. Due to the start up of the hotel, I had one day off last week, plus I am adjusting to the new schedule that includes some late nights and some early mornings. Plus, there's a bug going around. I have it, but I've been managing to keep it at bay with regular doses of Vitamin C. Then, there's also the bike ride....

D, whom I work with, and I both had Monday off, so we decided that it was a good idea to take Alex's and my bike for a ride into Gardiner on the Old Gardiner Road. Gardiner is 5 miles north of Mammoth Hot Springs, at the north entrance to the park, but 925 feet lower in elevation. (Having just looked this fact up, I wonder if I would have changed my mind if I had known it ahead of time.) According to a plaque on the Fort Yellowstone walking tour, the enlisted soldiers who protected the park prior to the founding of the National Park Service would occasionally take the walk down to Gardiner to partake of libations and prostitutes. The 5 mile walk back the morning after was the harsh punishment for their sins. I was forewarned!

The ride down to Gardiner was beautiful. We started off with rolling hills, but I noticed about 1/2 through the ride that the hills were no longer rolling and we were on a continual coast downhill, I relying heavily on my brakes, foreshadowing the journey back. We paused to take in the view of Gardiner, realizing that we were closing in on our destination. Serenity Salon & Tanning, about the only hair salon that I have ever seen open on a Monday, amazingly had room for us just after we arrived in town. An hour later, both of us shorn of our too long locks, we decided it was best if we didn't hang around town, but headed right back.

We pedaled our way through town, passed through the entrance gate (thankfully, we had both thought to bring our work IDs as it would have cost us $12 to get back into the park), and hit the dirt road. Less than 5 minutes later, we both came to a stop. "Let's walk for a while," we agreed. I had been concerned that D. was in much better shape than I and I would be walking back alone as he pedaled on ahead, but I was in luck - we are equally not in shape for a 5 mile walk up hill. So, we walked, and walked, and walked some more. At some point, we realized the we would not be needing our helmets for a while and took them off. Occasionally, we would come to a flatter area or a short downhill and hop back on our bikes for a brief ride. D. went ahead on the downhills as I have a fear of hitting a rock and careening headlong over my handle bars. I've come to suspect it's from some childhood accident, but now I can't remember if I was the one who tumbled over the handlebars of our little red Schwinn onto the black pavement of Fox Run Road, or if I witnessed my brother in this traumatic incident. Each time D. started up the next hill, I was struck with the thought that, this time, he was going to keep going and I would be walking without him. But, alas, he would stop, and we would continue our conversation. Fortunately, D. is a great conversationalist, so we actually talked and enjoyed the scenery the entire 5 miles back to MHS and the time passed rather quickly. We met the husband of one of our managers near the top who gave us encouragement and informed us that most bikers walk their bike back up - or they're riding so slowly that he is able to pass them on his evening 4 mile out and back walk on the same road.

Finally, we made it, grateful to meet Alex on the last downhill to our dorm, who helped us lock up the bikes as we were too tired to lift the bikes back into the trailer. We even had time to wash the dust of the road off before heading for dinner.

Working life

Today is the big day - the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel opens for the season. Alex has been working for the past 2 weeks while I have been in training. Today is the day all the training comes to fruition. I will be at work in 1/2 hour in my tidy polyester maroon and black uniform, my new nametag reading "Amy Oregon" clipped to my collar, and ready to help check in the 100 anticipated guests for opening day. One of Alex's co-workers at the Terrace Grill thoughtfully reminded him that the 100 guests at the hotel will at some point be hungry, meaning his shift today will also likely be busy.

One fun thing for us is the "shakedown" the day before opening of certain venues. Last night was the dining room shakedown, so all employees were invited to the rehearsal dinner in preparation for dinner tonight. I had the seared ahi tuna and would highly recommend it. Alex had the chicken with brie cheese and huckleberry sauce. Our table mates tried out the bison steak and the shrimp pasta with whiskey cream sauce. Yum! We saw only one tray dumped the entire night, fortunately only containing drinks and the bread basket. I also got to go on a "Yellowstone in a Day" bus tour and will go to the Roosevelt Old West Cookout next month, unfortunately, sans spouse.

Reason #3 to change your path

If, while walking on a wooded trail, you see a mama bear and her 2 cubs next to the trail, you might want to

turn around. Alex and I decided to try the portion of the Howard Eaton trail that is near the Hot Springs Terraces. We were doing an impressive job making our way uphill, with me doing lots of talking as we were told to do to notify bears of your presence, when Alex heard scratching noises. What could that be? He spotted 2 black bear cubs climbing a tree about 250 feet away from our trail. We looked down the slope to see mama bear looking back up at us. My incessant talking had notified her. She was laying down and, thankfully, didn't seem to see a need to get up. The rule of the park is to stay 100 yards, or 50 feet more than we were, away from bears. Since I had just heard yesterday that black bears are more aggressive than grizzlies, I was a little nervous. Unfortunately for us, the trail curved closer to the bears before it turned away from them, so we chose the safer path of retreating back from where we had come, despite having such an enjoyable time walking uphill.

Back down the way we came towards the entrance to the Beaver Ponds Trail. As we were heading towards the main road, Alex pointed out a black object next to a tree that we had passed on the way up. "Ha! I thought that was a bear," he said. A little closer...it is a bear! Another black bear, bigger than mama up the hill, and much closer. What do we do? Which way do we go? We realized we must have passed this bear on the way up, but not realizing it due to the slope of the hill and his position by the tree. He was lounging and heard us approach, but could barely be bothered to lift his head to look at us. We had big decisions ahead of us. Behind us was mama and her cubs or a 2 hour loop hike to get out. Waiting wasn't an option as we were in a canyon standing in the direction the bear was likely to head when he finished his rest. We tried going off the trail to get further away from him, but that put us in tall grasses against a cliff and out of his vision, making us unknown prey instead of a known entity. Finally, we decided we had no choice but to march bravely down the trail. I asked Alex to sing his personal prayer song and I stayed right on his heals as we walked within 50 feet of him. We counted the creek and gully between us as a plus on our side, but I wasn't convinced he would really be slowed down should he decide to pounce. I managed to take a couple of pictures on our way past as the bear seemed really calm about our passing (I'm sure he liked Alex's singing), but, in my anxiety, I forgot to zoom, so they're not so great. We brought a few friends back to see him - he was browsing through the grass at this point - but made sure to stay safely well out of his way.

After all of this excitement, we went back to our dorm room and voted, thanks to our Oregon Vote by Mail ballot arriving in the General Delivery-MHS box today.

View from our window #1

This may become a regular feature. We actually have a nice view of the mountains above the Hot Springs Terraces from our window, not seen in this picture due to the falling snow. (The wire mesh in the picture is our window screen.) It can be hazardous to leave the building too quickly as you never know what large beast might be standing right outside the door.

Yesterday, we were sitting on our bed, entralled by the bison across the street. 3 yearlings (they might have been 2 year olds) were chasing each other around one of the fenced in hot spots near our dorm. Alex thought he saw a calf, which tourists sometimes think are red dogs following the bison herd. I was really wanting to see a "red dog", so Alex took me back out into the cold (we'd already been on our evening walk in the blowing snow). The herd actually had 3 of the young bison. Bison calves can stand, walk, and keep up with the herd shortly after birth (around 3 hours), so there's no telling how old these 3 are - they could be brand new. The front runner really looks like a dog in this picture. Alex finally had to drag me back inside once the herd moved across the street and into Fort Yellowstone.

Rangels chase animal carcasses

The thing to do here, apparently, or at least as far as we've deduced, is to hear a rumor about an animal carcass and go check out what's eating on it. The best times to go see animals other than crows are early in the day or near dusk. Yesterday evening, we set out with vague directions from Del, one of my new coworkers who's never been here before. The directions really don't matter so much just as long as we head down the right road as wildlife sightings are really easy to spot by all of the cars pulled over on the side of the road. (Note: It is illegal to stop in the middle of the road, no matter how exciting it is to see whatever you're looking at.)

We pulled over as soon as we spotted all of the cars. There it was - the picked at remains of an elk partially in the Gardiner river with a dark gray wolf tugging chunks of meat off. Having had our dog, Juna, for 11 years, we could easily tell the signs of the wolf vs the oft mistaken-for-a-wolf coyote. This one was a darker color, still easily blending in to the surrounding brush and rock. He (I was told this was an alpha male of one of the Yellowstone packs) tugged off chunks of meat from the hindquarters for a while, then decided to pull the head out of the river and nibble off of that. Perhaps an ear would be tasty? No, that's not so good. Maybe the rear was better after all. Only the magpies dared to get close while the wolf was eating, but they stayed towards the other end of the carcass. There were a few ravens nearby, but they were willing to wait their turn. (We were told that ravens will notify the wolves should they come across a carcass. How? Emailing and texting were discussed as possibilities, but probably not.) Alex, ever the deft wildlife spotter, soon spied a bald eagle sitting in a tree nearby, not wanting to challenge the wolf.

Eventually, the wolf had its fill and wandered off. As it was walking away, I'm guessing too full to lope or run, we could see his belly distended from the feast. Wolves, according to the display at the Albright Visitor Center across the street from our dorm, can eat up to 20 lbs of meat in a sitting or can go without for up to 2 weeks, depending on their food availability. Shortly after the wolf left, the bald eagle flew down to take over the kill. Then Alex spotted another one in the sky. The eagles traded places, only to get driven off by a golden eagle, the apparent master of the eagles. This one definitely out weighed the bald eagles and was not challenged even when a 3rd bald eagle showed up (again, spotted by Alex in the sky).

The carcasses are definitely the place to be for animal action. My question of the evening - what were the 2 pairs of geese doing nearby?

Again, no pictures as we don't have a telephoto lens, but here is a link to get an idea of what the wolf looked like:
http://library.thinkquest.org/2551/species/graywolf2.jpg

Benefits for visiting us in Yellowstone

Friends

• $5/night to stay with us in our room, keeping in mind that we have 1 bed and room for 1 more on a foam mat on the floor. We go to bed early & get up early for work.
• 20% discount on horseback rides
• 20% discount on stagecoach rides
• 20% discount for the Roosevelt Cookout
• 20% discount on the Sceniccruiser on Lake Yellowstone
• 20% discount on guided fishing boats on Lake Yellowstone
• Free row boat rentals on space available basis on Lake Yellowstone
• 20% outboard motorboat rentals on Lake Yellowstone
• 20% discount on bus tours

Family - all of the above plus

• 20% off lodging or campground reservations

So, if you've wanted to come to Yellowstone, now would be the time to get a little bit cheaper vacation! Rooms and campgrounds book up fast. There are some National Park Service campgrounds that are first come first serve (not included in the 20% discount, but they're pretty cheap anyway), but those typically fill up by 10 AM on any given day.

For more information about the above: www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com

Amy's top 10 list of why to abandon your chosen path

I am starting my own Top 10 list. I only have 2 items on it right now, but I feel confident that I will be able to add to it during our time in Yellowstone.

1. A 2000# bison has decided to walk up the path that you are walking down. (Per Yellowstone Today, the Official Newspaper of Yellowstone National Park, bison weigh up to 2000# and sprint 30 miles per hour. The rules of the park are to stay 25 yds from all animals except to stay 100 yards from bears and wolves.)

2. What was that strange noise around the bend in the path ahead?

Stop! Wait! Was it the huffing of one of the resident elk, disturbed by our presence, or was it an unknown (to us) species of bird about the size of a chicken?