I AM BACK!

     It really has been sometime since I have written anything on this blog hasn't it? For this I apologize. And upon reading a fellow blogger's blog I plan on getting my butt into gear and keep this blog squeaky clean with blog posts three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). Just like the good old blogging days haha.
     A quick little update since I have your attention now. Tomorrow marks the beginning of Winter Term for me and many other college students in America and I am both excited and un-enthused by it. I am sure all will be well and at the very least this going to school will rid me of the useless feeling I have been having for a bit. Yay for staying busy! :P Also, I have made a New Years Resolution (Well, more like a New Years Goal actually) to do at least one hike a month for each of this year of 2013. I have already done my hike for January at Silver Falls State Park, which was a brilliant way to start this whole thing off. Oregon forests have an unexplainable beauty that I have yet to find anywhere else. Anywho, I am still in the process of picking another hike for next month, but rest assured that when I do decide on one I will let you all know on here.
     I believe that is enough updating for now. Gotta save some stuff for tomorrow's blog. I hope that you are all doing well and hope that you enjoy following this little blog of mine. See you all next post! 
    
   

Why I Write

     I write for multiple reasons. It really depends how I am feeling at the moment when I pick up my pen. I could be writing to remind myself to do something later in the day or even recording a thought that I that was worth keeping.
     Lately though I have been recording the happenings, thoughts, and people that I have come across during my Great Yellowstone Adventure. I still am writing things down I do not want to forget. And that is really why I started writing in the first place. I do not want to forget. And I in return to not want to be forgotten. Almost everyone wants to be remembered, it's an odd thing about us humans and I can't explain it.
     And the best way to be remembered in this world is to leave behind gifts or heirlooms for the next generation. I am doing just that by writing in my journal. I intend to fill that book up with adventures, thoughts, people, etc. in the hopes that who ever I leave it to will better understand me as an individual.

Home Sweet Home

     I am now home. I have been for the past few days as some of you have noticed actually haha. It feels so good to roam around the land that I call home.
     I am feeling both sad and happy about me coming home. Happy because I am now surrounded by family and old friends that I have not seen in the last four months. Sad because I left the tight knit group that after a time I considered my family as well. I left the adventures and experiences I had with them. Every person yearns for those things and leaving them really was not easy. It had to be done though I know that for sure. I miss my fellow Yellowstoners very much and I believe I will for as long as I consider them a part of my family. Thank God for facebook and other ways to communicate, otherwise I am sure my bonds with these people would just wither away over time.
     I also have no intention of forgetting them. While I was in Yellowstone, I bought a Journal with the distinct goal of writing down all of the adventures, experiences, and people I came across. And I have done exactly that. Everyone and everything is now immortalized in my journal and therefore my mind. I will not, I cannot, forget my Great Yellowstone Adventure.
     Now that I am home the question of "what's next?" seems to popping up a lot. And rightly so Honestly I would like to be able to find another job soon and work on becoming more independent as well as getting some schooling out of the way. At this point in time, that is my plan. If things prove to change or force me to take a different course I will try my best to do so as painlessly as possible.
     For now though, I think I will just take a couple more days to relax, catch up with friends, and enjoy being home. Also, these posts will become a regular thing again. Three times a week just like before :) See you all next post!

Two Months and Still Adventuring

     Once again I come to you all to tell you of the adventures and happenings that I have experienced here in Yellowstone National Park and beyond. Let me start off by telling you about work.
     My work here really has not changed much. There are good days and there are bad days, luckily more good than bad. The only real change around here are the faces I see come and go. People that I have come to consider good friends are either now gone or going to be in the next few weeks. This saddens me. But, I have been making new friends as well. As more people keeping coming here for work, I find myself feeling less lonely here. When it is my time to leave I know I will be very sad to leave my friends here. Thank God for Facebook.
     My latest adventure has been my best yet I think. Last weekend I joined a group of my friends on a hike called the Mary Mountain Trail. This has been my longest hike here in Yellowstone by far. Coming in at 24 miles (27 or so if you include all of the wondering we did trying to find the trail again after we had lost it a couple of times) The whole trail was mostly flat with some uphill and downhill areas. We also came across just about every type of terrain imaginable. Hiking the trail made me feel like I was on an epic quest of some sort. The land was so beautiful.
     We started for the trail head at about 4:30 AM and were able to see a magnificent sunrise along the way to the trail. We got to the trail head about 6:30 AM and were on our way. Our first wild life encounter was a huge herd of elk. They were so close and every time we got closer they would run over the next hill making their eerily beautiful sounding calls. I had never heard an elk call until then and now I am glad that I did. It some how makes me appreciate them a bit more.
     We also came across dozens of male bison scattered all over the landscape. Needless to say, those bison in the way of our paths were given a very wide birth as we passed by. We even ran into a lone coyote and even though we did not see any wolves they indeed had been where we were not too long ago judging from the prints we found. Many skeletons of elk and bison were found along the trail as well. Some bleached from the sun and others with still a bit of meat on them!
     After we had past the half way point of the trail (the halfway point being May Lake) things were pretty uneventful., but nonetheless beautiful and awe inspiring. I am glad that I took my camera along for the trip because the pictures I took really are the only way I can show you what I have seen . I have posted the photos from this adventure on my facebook here http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150953027938909.437299.660493908&type=3 .
     Towards the end of our journey we were weary and out of water and food. Not a very good thing if you are on an all day hike. And the face that the last part of the trail was pretty much dessert with hot thermal features here and there did not help at all. Luckily we reached the end of the trail before dying of thirst or starvation.
     After Mary Mountain I am a bit hiked out, but I have already been making plans for my next big hike which I will share with you all after it happens.
     This most recent weekend of pretty chill though. Mainly it consisted of a trip to Bozeman where my friends and I ate sushi, shopped for some needed items for Yellowstone, and watched the new Batman movie. Which is freaking amazing by the way. Oh, and I even got to ride in the bed of a truck to Bozeman too! :D Needless to say I was so excited to do so and I was even more excited to find out that it is perfectly legal to do that in Wyoming and Montana. The weekend also consisted of me having dinner with someone that I have grown rather fond of here. I am hoping a second meeting will be in the future soon.
     Things are changing here and I will do my best to make the best of these changes. whatever they may be. I hope that you are doing well at home and that the future holds good things for you. I love and miss you all! See you next post! 
    
      

Mountains and Grizzlies

     Since my last blog entry many things have been going on here in Yellowstone; Some good things and some not so good things.  Let me start with the good things.

     Well, my weekends here have been amazing! I have been camping twice already and each time has brought new adventures for me. The hikes I have taken of late have also been epic. My first trip was to Grand Teton National Park and let me just say now, the scenes there are gorgeous. I had a hard time putting my camera down to do anything else.  You may have already seen the pictures that I took on that trip on my Facebook. I am especially proud of the black and white photo that I recently posted there. I may have it printed and framed when I get back home.  The people I camped with are amazing. I have come to know them well since I have met them here and I feel so blessed to have them in my life. Even if they do get a little crazy at times ;) We say many specimens of wild life and even saw an antelope.  Which I am told are not all too easy to find. Bison were also on that list of things we saw. In fact, while we were visiting a place called Mormon Row, there was a huge herd of bison in a nearby field. Needless to say we did not get too close to them, especially since there were many calves around. The calves were so cute though.  That was a great way to start my camping experience out here I think.

     My last weekend also consisted of camping, this time though we decided to go back country camping. This was my first time doing any back country camping here in Yellowstone and I was excited. We found a pretty awesome campsite in an area called Sentinel Meadows. Just the name made me feel like I was in a whole different world where civilization had never touched the beauty that I saw before me. Again, you may have already seen the photos I took of that trip. I seem to have a habit of posting my photos sooner than I do these blogs. Perhaps it is the fact that posting photos is a bit easier to do. Anywho, it was an amazing trip and I am glad that I went. Although: I will say that I was not pleased with the fishing there. The ranger that told us about the area said that the fishing there would be good. I did not see one fish while I was there.  We were kind of hoping to fry up some fish for dinner but, no such luck. It was a good thing we brought tons of snacks. Besides the horrible fishing Sentinel Meadows was an amazing experience and I hope to go back country camping again.

     This weekend has been quite enjoyable for me. I think that after the last two weekends of camping, I am willing to take a break from that for a bit before I go again. Yesterday (my Saturday) my friend and I decided to go climb to a place called Avalanche Peak. And on the way there I saw my first grizzly bear! :D It was pretty amazing. It was a bit far away so I couldn’t get any pictures, but still, it was epic. So, basically we climbed a mountain.  And let me tell you; It was one hell of a climb. I had never been so exhausted and weary on a hike. It was steeper than anything I had ever climbed in my life and just as traitorous. There were times I thought I was not going to make it back down the mountain. Our ascent lasted for about 2 and half hours or so and like I said, every second was tough for me. Somehow though, I did it. I made it to the top and I have the photographic evidence to prove it ;) The view was so worth the climb. I wish we could have stayed on the top for a little longer. Unfortunately my friend needed to get back to Old Faithful to work the dinner shift :P  So, our descent began, which only took about 45 minutes since we literally were running down the mountain like a couple of mountain goats ;) We even were able to sled down part way because of the snow that was still around. That was an experience that I will never forget.  Once we made it back to the car we drove back to Old Faithful just in time for my friend to make it into work on time. The only problem I had on the ride back home was that my stomach was not being friendly to me at all for some reason.  I literally was not able to focus on my surroundings because the pain was so bad. And on top of that I had gotten a splitting head ache that started about the same time the stomach pains started. The car ride home for me was not pleasant :P We saw some male elk on our way back that I barely remember seeing because I was pretty out of it at the time. When we got back, I went straight to bed and took a several hour nap. Thankfully that nap worked wonders for me and when I woke up I was feeling much better than I was before. So much in fact, I was actually able to eat again. The rest of my day was pretty chill. I tried some new ice cream with a friend, (I got ice cream called Huckleberry. It was amazing!) went to the employee pub shot some pool and threw darts with a couple other friends, and to finish off the night we all took a night hike. And today I sit here just chilling writing my blog for all you wonderful people.

     Now, onto the not so good things that have been going on here; work is where all of the trouble seems to be coming from. Go figure right? :P First, people have been either quitting and leaving Yellowstone all together or getting fired for some reason or the other. Most have been leaving because of family issues or personal ones. Or just because they think things are getting too tough for them to handle. This has resulted in the kitchens being understaffed and not able to work at full capacity. This just makes things horrible for us who stay and try to make the best of things.  More than once I have thought of joining those who seem to fleeing. I do not think I will do that though. I came here to work till September 16^th and I will keep that promise I made before I came here. Even if I am the only person on staff left I will stay till the bitter end. 

     Other than those things I just mentioned my time here has been an experience of a lifetime. I am so glad I decided to come here. I have met so many new people, done so many new things, and seen so many things that I thought I would never be able to see in my lifetime.  I do miss my home, family, and friends dearly, but when the time comes for me to leave a piece of me will stay here in Yellowstone.   

Adventures

     Phew! I finally have some time to write an update for you all. I wish that these little posts of mine could be a bit more reliable and frequent, but really, as long as I can actually write this every once in a while, all will be well.
     Things here in Yellowstone have not really changed much. Buddy is still hanging around, the EDR food is still terrible, and work is barely bearable. I have had a few adventures since I last posted here though. My latest hike took me to a knew area of the park that I had not yet explored.
     One night after work a few friends of mine decided that a night hike should commence. The night was so warm and the moon so bright that it was almost like taking a hike in the day time. In fact, Many times we found that we did not even need our flashlights since the moon gave off so much light. We walked through Geyser Basin, which basically is our backyard, and into Biscuit Basin, Another geyser filled basin part of the park. Once through biscuit we started to hike up the roots of the mountains that surrounded us and out basin of geysers. Along the hole hike we encounters sights that would put the same sights in the daytime to shame. Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera. Even if I did though, I don't think my photos would have done justice to the grandeur and mystery that each sight brought to us.
     Anyway, once at the roots of the mountains we hiked up a narrow trail along a large and formidable sounding river. If not for the moon and the loud sound, I do not think I would have been able to know the river was even there. After about a mile and a half up the narrow and sometimes rough path we finally made it to our destination: Mystic Falls. My goodness what a sight to see! The falls were situated in a crevice carved out of the mountains themselves with enormous amounts of water flowing through it. The moons rays allowed us to actually see the falls in the night and somehow the moonlight gave the falls, and the rest of our surroundings for that matter, a mythical and unreal feeling. Like were were somehow transported to another world. This place seems to have that effect on people.
     There were many springs along the way up the mountain too. Some of which we were able to inspect up close. Once we had had out fill of the views we started out way back. We had hiked about six miles and been out for nearly 3 hours before we made it back to our dorms.
     My next adventure was basically the same as the one I just told you about. Except that this time I brought a camera and it was daytime. Even during the daytime the hike was still spectacular. I have already posted the photos of that hike on Facebook if you would like to see. Here is a link (put link here). Another difference about this hike was that there were many more people along the way. I still find it astounding to see so many people here.
     My latest adventure actually took me out of Yellowstone and into the state of Montana. I was invited on a banzai trip to a place called Chico Hot Springs. Since I had the time and the money for such a trip I thought it would be a nice change to get out of the park. And for the most part it was a nice change. The drive to Chico was very scenic and beautiful. Driving through the Rockies gave me so much to take photos of, but once again though, some force beyond me made sure that I had forgotten my memory card for my camera -_- I really need to double check these things.
     Once at Chico we got our accommodations for the night in the Inn where these famed springs were located. After some sleep and a hearty breakfast, we headed straight for the springs. Now, these springs are actually just man made pools, but the water/heat is being pumped into the pools from natural springs located underground. Even though it was not what I expected, it nonetheless was satisfying. The springs were so warm and tranquil that I did not wish to leave anytime soon. Although at one point I did feel like a lobster in a boiling pot of water. In fact, I am sure that I even looked like one once I finally came out.
     Once out lunch was finished we made our way back to the park. The ride back is where things went a bit downhill for me though. Apparently, I had caught some sort of illness while at Chico. I do not know what really though. It would have been some of the food or a bug going around. Again though, I am not quite sure what it was that hit me. All that to say by the time we made it back to the park I felt like crap. So much in fact, that I had to call in sick for work :P I hate doing that, but I do not think I would have been much use at work had I gone. After having the rest of the day and half of the next to rest I am feeling much better and am back at work. Overall, the trip was fun. I may have to make a planned trip sometime soon though. Hopefully soon I can go to the Tetons. Everyone who has gone there tells me it is even more grand than Yellowstone is.
     Anyway, those have been my latest adventures. I hope that you all have enjoyed reading about them and stick around to read more of them. I am not sure when my next post will be, but most likely it will be after my weekend (Tuesday and Wednesday). Alright, I better get some sleep. I am going to be meeting a friend for lunch at the Old Faithful where we both work. Hopefully I will have my first taste of bison tomorrow. If so I will make sure to tell you all how it is.
     Okay, I am really going to sleep now. Goodnight everyone! See you all next post!! 
   

Missing EVERYONE!!

      At the moment I am feeling quite lonesome. Sure I have friends here, but it is the presence of friends and family from home that I crave right now. I know it sounds sappy and such, but it really has been eating at me for the past few days. Work seems to do a good job of distracting me from that fact, but as soon as I finish my shift I realize just how far away from home I really am. My hikes and adventures with my friends here take an edge off the loneliness, but again, as soon as I sit down and take stock of where I actually am I get a bit bummed that my closest friends and family are not here to experience all of the amazing things there are here.
     I honestly did not think I would miss everyone back home this much. I knew I would to a degree, but not this much. And the fact that I still have about 3 and a half months here does not help.  the only contact I have had with friends and family at home is either through Facebook, or through writing letters using the USPS. The letters I have received thus far have really brightened things up for me here. I absolutely love reading them. Receiving and writing letters are another thing that seem to take the edge off of my low point moods.  
     Despite all of that, I am doing alright here. I think I will be able to survive until my time here is done. I have been trying to find some good hikes to go on for my next days off and I think I may have found one. Which means that you all will be getting a whole new batch of photos to look at soon. I love taking pictures here. The land is so beautiful that all you have to do is point and shoot to get a good photo. I hear the Tetons are much more pretty though, so I am going to have to take a trip there very soon to find out for myself.
     As usual work is crazy. Lately people have either been sick or just not showing up, which means we all have to pull a little extra to survive a night. And sometimes that little extra and put some of us over the edge. I know I almost lost it tonight. If it were not for my amazing manager and my awesome co-worker I do not think I would have made it tonight. Some of the people I served were great too, so that helped as well. I love talking to people who are willing to chat it up a bit. Just the other night I met a women from Salem, Oregon just like me :) And tonight I met a cool British couple and some friendly Australians. Among other nice people too. Overall, the work sucks sometimes, but there are some bright spots that keep me going. I just hope those bright spots don't stop.
     Well, it is pretty late/early so I think I am going to get some sleep so I can actually make it to breakfast on time. Remember that I love and miss you all and that I wish you all could be here with me.