May 22-27

**Here's a picture of the lone wolf that broke off from the pack and has been seen along Rt. 287 along the north shore of Hebgen Lake around Red Canyon Road**

Soooo.....it's very very hard for me to get onto the internet here so for those that are keeping an update on what I've been doing, I'm sorry. Basically, I've just been working a lot! We finally got the Visitor Center open and have been busier than we expected. The weather has been cold and rain/snowy...so it drove people out of Yellowstone and to our Visitors Center.

But...because of the fact that we don't have any water because of a pipe breaking, we've been waiving the $3.00 entrance fee. Every 1/2 hour we play a movie at the VC called "Forces of Nature". I am so freaking sick of listening to that movie. I pretty much can quote it word for word by now.

Talked to my dad today about the trip him and my brother are planning in July and I'm soooo excited for them to come out!!! We're gonna fish and backpack and go to the rodeo and all this great stuff! I'm going to be able to take off Monday-Friday, so I'm gonna get 5 days with them and I am just so so excited!

We've been seeing the wolf a lot lately that broke off from one of the packs in the park. Apparently there are two, but Chad (our Law Enforcement guy) killed one today by shooting it in the head because it was getting way to friendly with tourists. Also, a moose near the VC had a baby, so tonight Craig and I are going to go look for it. We gotta be careful though cause moose cows are extremely protective of their babies.

I have 3 days off this week, which is nice. And for those that care, I got paid double time on Memorial Day..which came out to $25.46 an hour! Then next week on my days off I have training in Big Sky, MT (yes, like the ski resort) which I'll be getting paid time and a half, so thats like $17.00 an hour! I'm so excited to actually be making some money compared to last summer which actually cost money.

The bunk house is filling up with people..mainly fire crews, but also backcountry rangers and wildlife biology folks. One of the Fire Crew people goes to Slippery Rock University with me! I think that's so crazy. He's a freshman from Warren, PA. I've never met him at school, but he really is a nice guy.

Thats about it for now! Keep me in your prayers and you'll be in mine!

Cold and Snowy!!

First week down at the Visitors Center....and, personally, it hasn't been that exciting. The center doesn't open until Saturday, so up until this point it has mainly just been cleaning and getting things ready to open up. The weather was good for a few days, but as I sit here now at the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce, where I get internet, the snow is starting to fall again and they're talking about closing some of the roads in the upper elevations. But it's pretty. I never got to enjoy snow like this out here last summer. THis snows are starting to melt all over the park, but there's still many spots where the whole ground is covered in 6-8 feet of snow.

I really like most of the people I work with. There are a few older people that I don't exactly care for...but I like most of them. We've been going out to the bars and hanging out. I'm still adjusting to the time change, altitude change, and general schedule change so I've been pretty tired all week, but it's starting to get easier.

Went back to the John Sack Cabin in the Targhee National Forest in Idaho the other night. I saw some massive trout. They're spawning, so I sat and watched them jump up some waterfalls. The females were fanning their tails getting their gravel nests ready for the eggs and the males were spawning. I thought it was sooo interesting.

Seen a lot of good wildlife. Yesterday we took a hike around Refuge Point. Thats a high point of ground where people staying in the Madison Valley ran up to when the slide hit after the earthquake in 1959. The smoke jumpers from the Forest Service landed on this point and began to help people who were injured.

On this hike, we saw Sandhill Cranes. This is an animal I've never seen before. It's a big brown bird, and they mate for life. It was flying over us making it's noises and so we just sat and watched it for a while.

Thats about all! Apparently now I've got to figure out a project and stuff to do for school since this summer is my internship for credit. So this should be interesting!

Keep me in your prayers and you shall all be in mine!

First Day On The Job!!

So...today was my first day on the job. The visitors center isn't open yet, so I was going through training. It kinda sucks that I don't get cell service at the center, but I think it'll be a good thing. I got trained on general Forest Service procedures and stuff like that.

The day started off good. On the drive to the center, we saw a moose. Then at lunch we watched big horn sheep climb around, and to end the day, we watched more big horn sheep crossing the road, also getting caught in a bison jam. Talking to the Forest Service staff, I found out some cool information. The Montana Bureau of Livestock takes part in what they call Bison Hazing and some of the guys with the FS (Forest Service) have also been doing this too. Bison carry Brucellosis, which is like a form of mad cow disease. When the bison leave the park, it can be passed onto free range cattle. To stop this, they get helicopters, ATV's, horseback, and 4 wheel drive vehicles and literally herd the bison back into Yellowstone. I think it's totally awesome!

Sorry I haven't had pictures up. Spencer and his family are using it because his broke and they're doing the whole tourist thing, so I'm not really taking pictures of anything at this point.

I found out some good hikes today. Also, Hebgen Lake and Quake Lake are still completely iced over. It's awesome. So is Yellowstone Lake. We saw that yesterday when Spencer and I showed his family around Old Faithful/Lake areas in the park. Got to see Charlie, who was a friend from last summer. He's now the Asst. Housekeeping Manager at the Snowlodge at Old Faithful area. It was good to see OF go off again and I finally got to eat in the OF Inn, something I didn't get to do last summer! Charlie informed me a lot more friends from last summer have returned, so I'm excited to see them and catch up.

That's pretty much it for now. I found out I can help on the fire crews this summer, which is gonna be fun. So I'm looking forward to that one.

Keep me in your prayers and ya'll shall be in mine!

Arrival

Well, another long day on the road for us. Started out today doing Mount Rushmore and seeing some things in the Black Hills of South Dakota...then hit the interstate again.

Spencer and I jumped on ahead and then decided that we were going to take a detour through the mountains. Next thing I know, it's snow and the road is walled by 8 feet of snow drift! There is snow all over the place out here and it's pretty cool. We came down through Cody, WY and into the east entrance to Yellowstone. Went around the bottom of the Loop and then out the west entrance into West Yellowstone.

Tomorrow...doing things in the park, setting up a bank account and mailbox, and moving into my place for the summer. That's about it.

Almost in...

Been on the road for about 2 days now and it has just been a whirlwind of driving. I ended up leaving about 7 am on Monday and driving by myself for the first 12 hours. Let me tell you, that had to be the most boring thing I have ever done. I just listened to music and basically talked to myself. I finally made it into Columbia, MO and met up with Ashley around 7 o'clock in the evening.

We ate dinner at some really good restaurant called Flat Branch near the University of Missouri and then she showed me around campus. Mizzou is prob. one of the greatest campuses I have ever seen! They have a lazy river in their Rec. Center with waterfalls and everything!

Spencer and his family spent the night in Columbia too, so in the morning he literally hopped into my truck on the side of I-70. We drove 14 1/2 hours yesterday, about 950 miles! Up through Iowa and across South Dakota. Let me tell you, again it was boring. Wall Drug was closed by the time we got there...but there is still some snow on the ground and it's cold here.

I stopped at a gas station and Premium Silver gas was cheaper than regular, so I thought I'd put that in instead. Yea, between that and Spencer driving 85 miles an hour down the highway I only got 14 miles to the gallon. I was extremely mad. So we had to stop in Murdo, SD to get more gas and according to the pump the guy only charged me 2.22 a gallon. It was some weird little backcountry shop with the old school pumps you have to flip a switch on and stuff.

So today we're doing the Black Hills and all that good stuff and heading on into West Yellowstone today! I'll try to update as much as I can, but internet has been sketchy!!

Have a good one! Keep me in your prayers and you'll be in mine!

Getting Ready To Hit The Road

Well, we're less than 1 week away and counting down until I hit the road for yet another summer. It's going to be a good one. I can feel it.

For those wondering my route, it is going to be as follows. I'll be taking I-79 south to I-70 west. At the end of day 1, I'll be staying with a friend from high school in Columbia, Missouri. Day 2, I'll meet up with Spencer and we'll take I-70 west to I-29 north. This will hook us up to I-90 west, where we will stay in Rapid City, SD for night number 2. On day 3, we will take I-90 west to 191 South at Bozeman, MT, all the way into West Yellowstone, MT.

This is the town that I will call home for the summer. I'll be working for the National Forest Service at the Earthquake Lake Visitors Center in the Hebgen Lake Ranger District of the Gallatin National Forest. Friends from home and friends from last summer will be out west this summer working in Yellowstone National Park and in West Yellowstone. It's going to be a great summer, so keep checking back to see all the fun things we're all doing! Leave some comments and let me know what you think!

The picture above is the landslide caused by the 1959 earthquake which dammed up the Madison River and formed Quake Lake...the reason I get to work out west this summer!