Bear Creek and Knox Lake

As I've mentioned before, John M. takes Tango for hikes outside of the park because dogs are not allowed in the backcountry in the park. We went to the Bear creek trailhead in the Gallatin National forest again, but this time, because of the fact that the waters were lower, I was determined to do the stream crossings in order to get to Knox lake.
Some new flowers that were in bloom (I have pictures that will be up in the next album):
Scarlet paintbrush- High nectar producing plant, attracts hummingbirds
Colorado Columbine- Larger than the yellow columbine, the book says it is somewhat poisonous but I heard from one of the rangers here that they go well in salads.
Alpine paintbrush- same as Scarlet Paintbrush but instead a magenta colour.
Glacier Lily- Lilies that bloom in the springtime or on the snowline, very tasty
I saw that blue/violet flower again, and I can still not find the name of it.
The hike to the first Bear Creek crossing was the same as before except for the fact that it was sunny. The light streaming through the trees was a nice added touch over last time of over cast. Although I did mention that when it was overcast the first time we went, it was still a wonderful hike and added a nice touch to the moss-covered lodgepole pines.
We reached the first crossing a mile in, and may I add, the creek looked significantly lower with a lot less water. But it was still really cold. John took a rock from the stream and looked at it. We saw two types of fly nymphs and another little critter that, at the moment, I can't remember what it is. I will ask John again and post the name later. John found a clear-like rock that had little dents in it that looked like they were made from bubble when it had cooled. Crossing the creek was not hard. What was hard, though, was the pain of the cold water that I had to deal with as I came out on the other side.
The next part of the trail was pretty nice. There was the occasional (very) small stream crossing and a few bridges the forest service had built over particularly muddy areas, but it was an uphill hike that wasn't too steep. About a half mile before the second stream crossing, we came upon snow. I admit, after seeing John eat some (after digging to find some clean stuff) I too took a hand full of snow and started munching on it. It tasted great! It tasted like snow....
Continuing on with our fine dining excursion, we came across a cluster of Glacial Lilies. As I mentioned earlier, they are edible. John said he had had some before so he picked one, wiped the dirt off the root, and started chomping on it, root first until he ate everything, including the leaves and the flower. Naturally, my curiosity got the better of me. I started chomping on one myself. I'll tell you right now, they are absolutely delicious! They kind of have a hint of apple, but pretty much the whole flower is a sweet green. And for those who want to see me eating a flower...yes I have pictures, and they will be posted.
We reached the second crossing of bear creek. I came to it at a run because I was trying to run away from the mosquitoes and the horse flies. Poor John got bitten on the back of the knee by one of the horse flies. He often had mosquitoes on his back as well. I did my best trying to slap the mosquitoes off his back when they did land, but this one time that I was trying to smack some of the mosquitoes on his back. Since we had just past some snow that I had picked up and eaten, he thought I was putting snow down his shirt. And thus the mosquitoes escaped.
But I digress, we reached the second creek, which was still cold, and I had to wait about 30 seconds while the cold/pain resided. John just stood there and chuckled at my misery. Passing another group of Glacial Lilies and some small ponds, we finally reached Knox lake. The lake must have had some glacial sediments, according to John, that made it a deep turquoise. There was a small little pool that was connected to the creek supplying the lake and the lake itself that was a beautiful light-sapphire blue, and ice cold. The lake was very large and on the edge of a meadow with snow scattered mountains in the background. We stayed at the sapphire pool for about 45 minutes occasionally stepping in or washing the rocks out of our Keens. John's tolerance of the cold was much higher than mine, he went into his knees and started wading out to the sapphire section for a minute before he started feeling really cold. I tried to go ankle deep into a small bed of water clovers for a few seconds but could barely handle it so I jumped up on a rock and stayed there for 5 minutes until I was brave enough to go back to shore.
But unfortunately all good things have to end, so we headed back towards the trail head. I think over the day we hiked around 7-8 miles total. Right now I think it is my favorite trail around here, the lake is definitely worth it. I recommend anyone who is out this way to go and check it out.

Album 2 is Up!

Alright! Album 2 is up. This includes a few more wildlife pictures, 4th of July party, my backcountry trip with Ranger Dooley, and some scenic stuff. At the moment, the album shows it backwards, but I will try to fix that next time I get to a computer with Flash player 10.
If anyone has any questions or comments, I would love to hear them!

Washburn Rescue Transport

Yesterday I was on a moose jam. The moose was about 50 yrds off the road. About an hour and a half into the jam she headed towards the road. So I stopped traffic, got people out of the way and helped her cross the road. I just thought that was really cool. The people were happy to see such a good view of the moose, and the moose was happy to get to the other side of the road.
Around 19:45, we got a call from Ed, the fire lookout on top of Mt. Washburn calling about two girls who Hiked 8.1 miles from Canyon village to the top of Mt. Washburn. Colette sent me up to the top to get them. Normally we don't do rescues for people who can't make it back to the place they're staying unless they need a medical transport out of the backcountry. But these two girls were wearing tank tops, short shorts, and galoshes. Besides the 40mph SW wind on top of Washburn, there was the impending storm. More than likely we would have had a Hypothermia related medical or a search in rescue if we had not gone to get them.
There is a road that goes all the way up to the top which is not open to the public. I used the gate combo to open the gate blocking it to drive up to the top. Ed sure is lucky to be staying up there. He can see pretty much all of Yellowstone from on top of Washburn, and some of the Grand Tetons too. After saying bye to Ed,(and getting an amazing look at the lightning from the storm) I drove the two girls back to canyon, giving them a lecture on what they did wrong, and why it was a borderline idiotic idea to do what they did with the amount of preparation they had. I also told them what they should do in the future.

Rules for Day Hiking:
-Know the distance: How far are you going in?
-Know the Terrain: Is it all uphill? Downhill? Keep in mind downhill on the way in means uphill on the way back.
-Know your limits. How fast you can go? 2mph? Does than include uphill hiking?
-Be prepared: this includes water, rain gear, emergency contact device (i.e. cell or radio)
-When you are halfway done with your water and you don't have a filter, it is time to turn back.
-Wear proper gear: Bring warm gear if you're headed up a mountain, and hiking boots.
-Bring snacks, it helps keep your energy up.
-Check the weather before you leave, to make sure if you need to stop due to a surprise thunderstorm, you'll have time to walk back.

Backcountry Trip with Ranger Dooley

I think I finally have enough pictures to make a second album, and I will get going on that pretty soon. Look forward to it!

So as I mentioned before, Ranger Dooley, the head backcountry ranger who used to be an SCA, took me out to the back country to clear some trail. We brought in with us a cross cut saw and an ax. Here's a pic of the Cross cut saw up above. I got to carry the ax.
We arrived at the Hellroaring trailhead. The Hellroaring trail area is named after the mountain, (Hellroaring), which in turn gets it's name because there are some areas of the Hellroaring creek and Yellowstone River around it that get so loud due to rapids and fast flowing water that it sounds like "Hell's a roarin'". The first 0.7 miles in is all downhill, so from the beginning it was an easy hike down. One cool thing about the Hellroaring trail is the suspension bridge over the Yellowstone river, which is not fordable, thus the bridge. It is one of the two historical suspension bridges in the park and moves when you walk on it. According to Ranger Dooley, when stock cross it it really swings back and forth.
After the bridge, you hike across a meadow for about a half mile. I've been wanting to do this for a while ever since I first saw some of the rolling hills here in tower. The view was gorgeous. There was a small breeze and the sky was clear as the tall rye grass bent over in the wind.
I learned 7 new flower names and how to identify them from Ranger Dooley: Yarrow, Tall Buttercup, Parsnip, Lupin, Aster, Dalmatian Toad Flax (a non-native weed) and Rye Grass(which isn't a flower). The Sticky Geranium combined with the tall Buttercup and the other flowers brightened up the fields.
We reached the Stock(horse) bridge over Hellroaring creek and started heading up the creek towards the Boundary of the Gallatin National forest and Yellowstone. About halfway there we reached our first tree that had fallen in the length of the path. It took two cuts with the cross cut to make it into movable pieces that could moved. Dooley swung the ax a few times to lob off some of the branches. We met a few more trees which were small cuts until we reach a giant monstrosity of a tree lying over the path in the middle of a fairly large creek. We had to cut the tree in four places, most of the time cutting in the middle of the cold creek. The logs couldn't be left there to dam up the creek either so they had to be moved. My new Keenes really came in handy. The traction on them was great and I was able to get a study stance for sawing. After that tree the others were not as bad. There were about 6 or 7 more we had to cut after the one in the creek, and we made it to the boundary at 18:30.
It was another hour and a half hike back to the Patrol cabin which we stayed in. I had brought two frozen chicken breasts and soybeans in which were nicely thawed and ready for cooking. Combining those with thai noodle packets they made a good stir fry. Dooley and I also invented a new recipe. Take one can of refried beans, one can of ham, and one can of chopped chillies, add a little water, and Voila! Instant Delicious!
Exhausted, we went to bed. The next morning, Ranger Dooley said he was awakened a few times in the night by his own snoring. I don't think I heard it because I slept like a log. After a breakfast of oatmeal, we headed out towards backcountry campsite 2H1 passing sites 2H3 and 2H5 on the way to check them. Connor was coming in for the day to join us and as we were leaving the cabin we saw him across the river and radioed him to catch up around a campsite. 2H5 had cigarette butts all around the food pole. It's really disappointing to see people litter like that. Right before we reached 2H3, Dooley spotted a black bear making his way across the field headed our way. He said this was the perfect opportunity to observe a bear in the wild and see how he reacts to humans. I just reached for my bear spray. The bear was about 50 yrds away from us and coming nearer. When it was about 40ft away, I took of the safety of my bear spray. It didn't seem to care much about us and just went around us up the hill.
A little while after, Connor joined us. 2H3 campsite was clear and so was 2H1. We backtracked and then went up towards 2H8 which had a supposed 2 illegal fire pits, (Fire pits are not allowed in the Hellroaring sites) which we destroyed. Finally we started to head back to the trail head. On the way back we past by a mother bear who was lying under a tree and we didn't see her until we were 10 feet from her. Luckily she didn't do anything and was just alert after she had sent her cub up the tree.
Remember how I said the hike in was all downhill? Well that meant the hike back out was all uphill. And what a treacherous uphill it was. Let me tell you now, if you ever have the option of not carrying an ax into the backcountry, take it. Those things are heavy. Connor and Dooley of course offered to take it for me, (they are not rude people), but If I brought it in I should be responsible for taking it out. We finally got back to the trailhead and Dooley's truck and headed back to Tower.
Thus ending my most awesome trip into the back country.

Backcountry

I'm just going to say that I am really excited right now because tomorrow I'm going into the backcountry with Ranger Dooley. We are going to check out the campsites in the Hellroaring area, and I can't wait for two straight days of hiking! I'm not really sure what we're going to do yet so I'll write about it when I get back.

Things have been somewhat quiet here. I think I've finally gotten into the swing of things. I've been in the back country office yesterday and today so getting out to Hellroaring will be a nice relief. A month and a half ago I would have said it the other way around, that sitting at the Internet all day would have been my first choice and hiking my second. But no matter how much I get out, or how hard the hike is, I just can't seem to get enough of it.

Do you people want more pictures of bears? I lost count of how many bears I have seen. I know I only put a few pictures of them in.

I must remember to get a picture of my wrist so everyone can see the wicked tan I have. I look at the watch tan I have and now I can't believe I was that white not 1 month ago! I switched the watch to the other arm so I can tan that part of my skin.

Bear Jams

So if you've been reading any of my earlier posts, you know that about half of my internship consists of these things called Bear Jams. Basically they are traffic jams caused by people who go crazy at the sight of the bear. No, the bear does not cause the jam. It's the people. I've been on bear jams where the bear is about 300 yards off the road and people jump out to get a picture. There was another time where I came across a bear jam and people were parked so that there were three cars across the road. On a bear jam up on Dunraven Pass, there was a jam where these people parked their giant RV in the middle of a curve on a steep slope with no side railing. They had run out of the RV about 100 yrds away from it, turned off the RV and left the keys in the ignition. Sometimes it is frustrating. But most of the times it is ridiculous and I can't help laughing a little inside.
Two days ago I was on a bear jam with two bear Interp Rangers. Interp rangers are the rangers, who usually specialize in something, answer questions to people, and help them better understand certain aspects of the park. I was working a Grizzly jam with to Interp rangers, Eric and Sean. They're both Bear Interp rangers. I was on this jam for six and a half hours. For the first hour we pretty much just watched the sleeping grizzly. People couldn't see it from the road unless they knew it was there. So we were just watching to see if it would wake up. I sat in Eric's Prius just staring out the window. For the next hour after that I started getting really sleepy. Watching a sleeping grizzly bear isn't exactly the most exciting thing after an hour. Finally around 2:30 the grizzly woke up and started walking, (very slowly) towards a pullout. The next two hours consisted of slowly moving people back as the bear moved forward, pointing out where the bear was, etc. And then the thunderstorms came. Lots of thunder, lots of rain.
I got very wet. So I ran to my car to get the new rain jacket Colette let me borrow. I brought a purple rain jacket, but it is not as professional as something green or brown. So I got a green Matrix like jacket that works wonderfully.
After six and a half hours, the bear finally went over a hill out of site, And I could finally go back to patrolling for two more hours.

Comments

By the way, I really enjoy getting comments from people on these posts. Tell me how your summer is going! Comment on what I am doing. Ask questions! I really do enjoy them. Thanks to those who already have commented! ^_^