Suit Up!

Today was my first full day in uniform. And boy did I have fun!
The morning was spent doing odd-jobs around the office. But, around 11:15 we prepared for Wildlife Olympics. The first Wildlife Olympics was going to take place in Mammoth, where I work. This is very convenient for setup!
Here is the online description of Wildlife Olympics:
"Test your skills and compare your abilities with those of animals in Yellowstone. Who will win the gold? A bison, ground squirrel, or you! How far can you jump? How well can you see and smell?
Stop by any time between 12 and 3 pm on the dates and in the areas listed below. Stay for as short a time or as long as your schedule allows."
Basically, we have 7 stations setup. Each one explains an amazing feat animals do everyday. How a snowshoe hair can jump forward 10 feet in a single bound. How a bison can jump 6ft into the air. How a bear can smell a carcass from 2 miles away. That sort of data. And then we have the kids see how far THEY can jump forward. Or up in the air. Or how far they can smell something from their nose. It is really a lot of fun. It was really exciting to interact with kids again...and kids who are SUPER enthusiastic and pumped to be there. And they hang on your every word because you are a RANGER!
Furthermore, a dude was there taking pictures for Children Programs in the park publicity. He told me after to be on the lookout for online and printed publicity, because I will be definitely in them! Hoorah!
Anyway, another big event of the day is that Jonathon and Shanna arrived. I am SO excited to have them here. They were out and about all day and we ran into Gardiner to check emails. Now we are about to head over to my Supervisor's house for a game and burrito night! Should be a ton of fun!
Until next time!

 

My Ranger Outfit!

 

Wildlife Olympics tent. 

 

At the Wildlife Olympics!

 

 

Our Wildlife Olympics tent with a touch-and-feel table.

 

A bridge over the Gardiner River.

 

The water is so high!

 

Yay friends!

 

More with friends!

Spontaneity? I think, YES!!!

My Sunday was SUCH a blast. Originally thinking I didn't have plans for the weekend soon turned into non-stop adventure. As a result, I didn't make it into my coffee shop/blog time yesterday. As a result, I will write about yesterday, today!
After the YCC banquet at my supervisor's house Saturday night, a group of us decided to go hiking the next morning. I met them at the YCC camp around 9am and we headed over to the Artist's Paint Pot. This is a geyser basin that is just FULL of colors. We decided the name must come from the area looking like an artist's palette. Cool stuff. It was really nice to go with the YCC folks because most of them have been to Yellowstone for multiple summers OR were Natural Resource type majors in College. As a result, I learned a LOT! About furs vs. pines, rocks, microorganisms, thermophiles, and much much more.
From Artist's Paint Pot we ran over to a hike to Monument Geyser Basin. This was a backcountry hike and it was so much fun! Once we made it to the top of the hill-ish mountain and fawned over the cool geyser, we sat down and ate our lunch. It was a lot of fun!
After that we ran back to the camp and I dropped the YCC folks off. They were getting students around 2pm. As I drove into my parking lot, I passed cars with my roommate and our friends Christina and Lloyd. They stop. I stopped. They backed up and yelled "come white water rafting with us!"
And so I did!
We did something called a 'Turkey run.' This is when you choose to go with  a guide who has taken very few groups or NO groups down the river before. All you do is sign away your life and everything is FREE! So, I was able to ride with JT (who had never taken a group down before) on the Yellowstone River for absolutely FREE! YES!!!
After an amazingly wet ride, we pulled our bodies over to the Two Bit and ordered some food. I had a delicious Guinness Brat with onions, kraut and spicy mustard. Yum.
We took our food up to the bar-deck overlooking the mountains. It was spectacular. When we finally made our way back to the house, I collapsed in my bed and conked out. SOO great!

Today was the start of my new work-week. This is the last day that I WON'T be in uniform. Tomorrow I get to start the Wildlife Olympics. I'll go ahead and wait to describe what that is until a later post. BUT, two fun things happened today at work. One, I was able to polish my ranger boots. Turns out the hiking boots I got are great for a normal day of work, but when I am leading tours and working with kids, I need to wear the actual Ranger boots. As a result, we picked out some REALLY ragged boots and I spent the morning polishing them hardcore. And man did they turn out! Luckily dad recently gave  me polishing lessons so I didn't have to ask for help when my supervisor gave me the supplies!
The other fun thing that happened was the celebration of Mel's birthday. Mel is a lady who works in the education office with us (I shadowed her with the 2nd graders). Tuesday is actually her last day before she heads off with her husband to Spain and then his hometown in New Zealand. Sounds rough. BUT, to celebrate her birthday early, our office took a long lunch into Gardiner and ate at the Raven Grill. It was SO YUMMY! I got the Jamaican Chicken with Mango Salsa and Lime Coulis. I will sure miss Mel!

Anyway, I should probably put some pictures on here and grab some food. I'm expecting my roommate from St Francis (Jonathon) and our friend (Shanna) tonight and I want to be sure I'm home when they arrive! Until next time!

Artist's Paint Pot

Mud Pots! Yummy!

The YCC group I went with! Great people! (L-R: Maureen, Matty, Millie, Me, Abby and Tasha)

Playing in the river.

Matty and Maureen inspecting the mushroom.

At Monument Basin for lunch!

Pretty view from Monument Basin.

The rafting company!

The Yellowstone River!

Guinness Brat...yummmm.

Rosie's bar-deck overlook. Delightful!

One boot finished. One boot not.

Both boots finished!

Rest on Saturday? Psh!

Wow. What a crazy 24 hours.
Last night I met up with my roommates and their girlfriends and we went into Gardiner. Such fun people with unique and interesting stories. National Parks truly conglomerate unique individuals! Definitely found new friends!
This morning I woke up BRIGHT and early to run down to Norris to take a 1.5 mile Ranger tour of Norris Geyser Basin. My supervisor recommend I try to go to these to get a better idea of what I will be doing down the road. The tour was called 'Windows into Yellowstone.' It was SO cool and SO informative...BUT...it was pouring rain. Pretty miserable. By the end of the tour, I was thinking my planned day of festivities was shot.
Suddenly, it stopped raining. I began to make plans. My next tour did not start until 3pm at Canyon, so I had time to kill. I decided to go hiking in an area called Ice Lake and Wolf Lake. A Ranger warned me of a grizzly and her cubs living in that area, so I actually walked with the bear spray in my hand the entire time. But it was SUCH an adventure. Due to the melting snow AND rain, the Gibbon river was overflowing. As a result, the natural ways for me to cross were submerged. I had to be creative. Eep!
But, I made it out alive and ran over to Canyon. I stopped at a picnic area, ate my lunch and did a little writing. After that, it was off to the South Rim tour. The group was predominately older, with LOTS of questions. As a result, I ended up breaking off from the group and doing my own thing. I went down the Uncle Tom's trail to the bass of the falls. SO BEAUTIFUL! But sooo many stairs.
By the time I got back into my car, storm clouds moved back in. JUST IN TIME.
I ran back to Mammoth, showered, ran to Gardiner, grabbed some coffee and am writing now.
After this I am going to a get-together with my coworkers at my supervisors house. Should be fine!
I miss all of you! I'm sorry for the massive amount of pictures I'm about to provide!

Light on the mountains. Pre-rain.

Norris Geysers. Most active spot in Yellowstone.

It started raining. Add geysers = STEAM!

Porcelain Basin at Norris

Fun Fumerole

Green algae on the water coming from the geysers.

My hike to Ice Lake

Tall trees that survived the 1988 fires and new growth.

Squirrel friend.

The Gibbon

Where I was supposed to cross.

Not going to happen.

I found some different logs.

Down stream!

V for Victory

Bison tracks!

BEAR TRACKS! I actually saw a MUCH fresher track near the Gibbon, but I was more concerned with making sure the bear wasn't nearby than snagging a picture...

Another crossing...

Got it!

Falls on the Gibbon

Hmm...is this still the trail?

I got very wet and muddy in this meadow.

Wolf tracks! You can tell by the claw imprint at the tip of the toes.

Calm Gibbon

The road!

This is where I ate lunch.

Wapiti Picnic Area

Yum

Upper falls!

The Canyon

Lower Falls. Lots of snow still.

A beautiful rainbow by Lower Falls.

Plaster, Ungulates and Bear Spray

I cannot believe it is already the end of the first week! Where did the time go?
I'm sitting at the Tumbleweed with a cup-o-coffee before heading back. I'm getting together with some rangers tonight (my roommate's friends) and with the YCC (Youth Conservation Corps) tomorrow night. In between I plan to hit up the main sites in Yellowstone and shadow Ranger Talks. My supervisor told me I could eventually be giving school group tours ANYWHERE in the park, so I better get on educating myself!
Today started out REALLY slow. I watched some training DVD's for the first 3 hours of the day with the College intern, Alexis. We were bored out of our minds. (Although, I must admit watching videos about Wolves and Grizzlies in the park is a TON more enjoyable than any other videos!) I had no idea the presence of wolves in MN, WY and Idaho (what is the state abbreviation for Idaho?) is so controversial!
After lunch (which I finally made) we ran up to the YCC camp to crash their training. We got a safety talk (boring) before my supervisors came in to give us some mock-lessons for K-8 students. SO MUCH FUN! We made plaster molds of animal prints we found or made (mine was a bison). After that we looked at about 10 skulls and had to use a list of observations to figure out the animal. The first category was teeth: which four types of teeth are most prominent? Does this make it a carnivore, herbivore or omnivore? Next question: where are their eyes placed. If they have binocular vision (forward, like humans) they are predators. If they have peripheral vision (on the sides) they are prey. And then there were several other minor observations that helped you narrow it down to the animal group. My group of three got every skull correct. The Lynx was the hardest!
I'm learning so much and getting SO many ideas to take home to my classroom! I can't wait!
Oh, and I got some bear spray today! YAY!
Quiz for those reading: who can tell me what an Ungulate is WITHOUT looking it up?

Fear the Bear spray. But seriously...

You do NOT want this stuff on you! Contrary to popular opinion, it DOES work. A woman was able to save herself and her child already this summer with the spray!

These little guys are EVERYWHERE! I'm just waiting for the day I step on one.

Where I go to grab lunch and internet on my lunchbreak in Mammoth.