Tower Fall

I don't think I have mentioned this before, but Tower Ranger Station gets its name from Tower Fall. This is a big (giant!) waterfall about 2.5 miles from the ranger station. The fall is surrounded by rock that stick up randomly and look like giant stalagmites (stick up from the ground).
Two days ago, Brady and I showed up at the Tower Fall trail because Liz was there alone on a bear jam. The bear was about 50 yrds off the trail, and Liz had gone further down to warn people closer to the river that a bear was headed in that direction. It was pretty peaceful at first: there weren't any cars to worry about, the bear was a good distance away, Brady and I were joking on the Scene of Action radio channel. Then the bear started to move.
He was going at a good pace too. It seemed he was going to intersect the trail, (and he did). I had told Brady jokingly, that I would protect him if the bear came up. Law Enforcement officers, like him, have too much stuff on their duty belt that the bear spray doesn't fit (and I did have bear spray, thus the joke). However, in the process of getting the crowd away from the bear, (who by the way, the crowd, wouldn't move if their life depended on it, at it could have) Brady and I got separated with the bear between us. I was in front of the large crowd and Brady was alone. It is safer to be with a large crowd, and I had failed to protect Brady; I felt bad about that.
But thankfully the bear just looked at him and looked at me (we were both about 10 ft away) and ran over the hill towards an animal trail. Brady followed the animal trail while I went up to the look out the upper lookout to see if I could see it from there. Brady came back up saying he had followed the trail but didn't see any signs that the bear had used it. We were about to leave the area when someone shouted "Bear!" and we turned and there the bear was, crossing the trail again not twenty feet from visitors. Brady figured when he had followed the trail, he probably came close to the bear and turned around before he reached it.
The bear went down back the way it came and crossed over a creek. So that bear jam was over.

Recent goings-on

So two days ago, I had a pretty busy day dealing with a mother bear and her two cubs. I first came upon the bear jam at the Yellowstone River Bridge. It took about three minutes to get the road clear and everybody situated safely off the road and everybody started watching the mother bear and her two cubs for a while. Not long after everything became peaceful she started heading up towards us. I called John Kerr, because I knew this was no longer a one-person jam. There were people scattered all over the bridge and road as I tried to clear a path for her so she could cross the road (which it looked like that was what she wanted to do) and told people they had to start getting back into their cars.
Before I knew it, one of the visitors pointed behind me and said, "The bear is right behind you!" Low and behold, as I turn around, she's coming up the hill to the road about ten feet from me. Surprisingly enough, I wasn't that scared. I suppose I am getting used to these bears, and every time I'm near one, my stomach doesn't do flip flops anymore.
Scared or not, I was still WAY too close to the bear. No matter how comfortable you can get with a wild animal or how comfortable they are with you, they are still considered dangerous and unpredictable. So I did next what we are taught to do: back away slowly facing the bear and make sure the visitors, who did not listen to me and get back into their cars, were backing up along with me. My bear spray was out just in case. The bear looked at me for a good ten seconds. I could see she was more scared than I was. She just had wanted to cross the road and couldn't understand why these two-legged pasty things kept wanting to block her way.
Discouraged, she called her cubs, both of which had already crossed halfway, back to her and she started back the way she came, back down towards the river. She then went under the bridge and started coming up the other side. By this point, both John Kerr and Amanda had arrived to help me out a bit. The bear came up the other side of the bridge, (still on the Tower side of the Yellowstone River which, by the way, is too fast for any animal, human or bear, to cross in that part). The people who weren't on the bridge were told to get back in their cars, (by me), and the bear started onto the bridge.
Now the problem here was that there was a large amount of people on the bridge. So John Kerr and I rounded them up into two groups. When worst comes to worst, and a bear is coming near you, the best thing you can do is get a large group of people together. The chance that a bear will come at you with a large group of people is very minimal. I was in charge of one group while John Kerr took the other group. Amanda was at the other end of the bridge.
For the second time that day, the bear came ten feet from myself and my group. Again she paused and looked at me, he cubs wailing from stress as they ran by her. She turned away and kept walking across the bridge. Two motorcycles got in her way. Why they did, I have no idea. It was a very bad choice on their part, because at this point it caused her to start running, which in turn scared the visitors. There was one lady who wasn't paying attention and was walking on the other side of the bridge, back to the bear. When she finally noticed the bear behind her, running in her direction, she started running, (which by the way, you never want to run from a bear). Eventually the bear and her cubs got safely across, (with out any incidents with people as well) and headed towards the shore line. Ten minutes later she then came up and crossed the road yet again. A group I was with had a little girl who got scared because she was so close to the bear. I did my best to calm her down and talk to her about proper bear safety.
Amanda left to go patrol somewhere else, and John Kerr and I went to the Yellowstone river Picnic area, which it looked like where she was headed next. She skirted the edge of the picnic area and scared some hikers out of their wits (who, by the way, did exactly what they were supposed to do when they saw a bear). She then crossed the road again, to go swim in a small pond.
For the forth time she crossed the road and went into the woods out of sight.

Yesterday, John Kerr, Sara and I were at this one jam with a cinnamon black bear for pretty much most of the day. This was the bear that had walked towards me on the road that day that I was all alone and no people and no cars near me. Sara and I have decided to call him Captain Pirate because he is missing one eye.

Tango's Dog sitting is going well. John M. is supposed to be back this morning so there will be no more Tango sleeping on my feet at night anymore. I guess I'll have to find some other space heater.

A Few Updates

NOTICE: Album one is moved to the bottom of the page. There is a new comment box at the top for anyone to say "hi" or comment about the blog.

So this afternoon I'm supposed to go fishing, but right now there's a huge lightning storm outside that might put it off until another day. Let me tell you right now, thunder and lightning storms in the mountains are so much cooler just because you are that much closer to the lightning.
Yesterday the bears went into hiding, (I don't blame them; it was 85 degrees.) but today they are back out.
Yesterday, I also got notified that I get to dog-sit Tango (John's dog). It has only been 24 hours but it is obvious that she really misses him. It's so adorable.
For dinner last night I went to Roosevelt Lodge with Brady, Amanda, and Connor. Roosevelt lodge is an area in the park that people can eat at, has a gift shop, and little cabins for people to stay in. It is most known for its wagon rides in the evening that go to an area on the Garnet hill loop for a night of BBQ and fun. But we just ate at the lodge. I got linguine with elk and bison meat on top, Amanda got the BBQ ribs, (which I am definitely getting next time: SO GOOD!) and Connor and Brady got some Mexican type dish. For desert we all (but mostly me and Connor) shared a desert with 2 scoops of huckleberry ice cream, with huckleberry syrup on top of two pieces of cake. That was really good. Thanks to Brady for treating us all!

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.