And the project is getting going...

These past two weeks or so, the project has really started to roll as far as starting to nail down funding, experts in community and economic development volunteering to help us with grants and a funding scheme, getting our first check in the door, and developing the project asks.  It feels good, but tiring.

The Governor and Superintendent Wenk on a stage coach

On the way to the MOU signing and celebration with Roosevelt Arch in background (the flat-hat inside the coach is my supervisor)

So beautiful the way that historic modes of transportation into YNP can ride up the same road today that took passengers from the railroad depot, under the arch and into the world's first national park

The first week that I pulled up YNP and the GGP team had been working consistently for over two years on an idea that has been around for at least 20 and although the excitement of the MOU and 15 state, national and local entities pledging to cooperate on making this project happen was great momentum people were waning by the time the celebration was over. Everyone else on the Steering Committee has a full time job other than the project, but me.  When I first arrived, I was a little offput that I was repeatedly refered to as the project staff, but in truth that is what I am. I am here to keep the momentum going, keep the community portion up to the progress of the park portion, make sure everyone's needs are met, make sure people that do not understand planning, design and construction projects are kept abreast of what is going on, keep meeting minutes on the meetings I need to plan or attend, learn the federal and MT standards and then how to apply them for a solid PER then 30% and perhaps get licensed in MT at the same time. It should be an exciting year.

But the important thing is the GGP marches on, I have gotten to see my family more in the past 6 weeks then I have in last 12 years combined, Ilija is happy with his daddy, hiking and at daycare (and I still get to put him to bed almost every night), Austin loves YNP and although I am tired and challenged, I am still honored to be here.

Hike #7: Trout Lake (7/14/2012)

Friday evening brought Tony and Mary to YNP to spend two days hiking with us.  Along with Tony and Mary came a few growlers of Carter's Beer!  Below is Papa reviewing the farm animals with Ilija while Nicholas looks on and consumes Carter's.  We got up early Saturday and headed east to Lamar Valley, one of two primary locations in YNP known to host a great selection of wildlife (the other being Hayden Valley).  Trout Lake is far east in the park, very close to Soda Butte and the Northeast Entrance to the park.

Trout Lake is a short two-mile roundtrip hike that takes you up about 200 feet to a lake nestled in the mountains.  It is known to have a unique fish called the Cutbow, a mixing of Rainbow and Cutthroat trout!  In addition to the wily Cutbow (many anglers frequent Trout Lake, and Saturday was no exception) a family of River Otter are known to be sited in the early and late hours.

The brief hike up opens into a lake surrounded by mountains, presenting a very rugged and wild part of the park.  Along the drive and some of the hike you get fantastic views of the Beartooth Mountain range.

Ilija rode in the pack on the way up but walked the circumference of the lake on his own, insisting on using the hiking pole, with both hands, and the loop around one of them...

We finished the hike without being able to spot any river otter (we had just missed them) but saw plenty of Cutbow.  We headed back to the Montero and shipped off for Slough Creek.

Hike #6: Bunsen Peak to YCC Camp (7/13/2012)

Katrina's brother Nicholas came over for the weekend and we planned some heavy duty hiking for him.  We woke up Friday morning to find resident Bison Fred in our yard.  He gave us the side-eye on his way to the parking lot to size up our cars.

Bunsen Peak is right outside of our dwelling, you can actually see it in the background behind Fred!  It is a robust climb to the top, about 1300 feet elevation gain in just over 2 miles to the top.  We switched carrying Ilija off between Katrina and myself on the way up, though Katrina got him most of the way to the top.  On the way up you pass by Cathedral Rock, and jutting outcrop of rock on the side of Bunsen.  As a side note, Bunsen Peak is named after the famed Robert Bunsen for whom our middle school science classes are made awesome by!

Another shot of the side of Bunsen headed up the switchbacks.

Austin, Ilija, and Nicholas approaching the top of the peak.

Looking North towards Gardiner from the peak of Bunsen.  Mammoth hot springs is the white stripe in the middle of the photo.

Ilija playing with rocks at the top of Bunsen.  Communication equipment is in the background.  Although Bunsen Peak is a pretty popular hike in YNP we only saw one person that day and it was up here at the top.  It is really interesting how a popular hike translates in typically seeing less than 5 people all day on the trail.

Katrina, Nicholas, and Ilija on top of Bunsen looking south toward Mt. Holmes.

The family getting ready to head down.

Nicholas was kind enough to carrying Ilija for a large chunk of the trip down.  The hike down was pretty brutal as we hiked the backside of Bunsen back to our apartment.  You lose about 1800 feet (I think) this way and the trip is four miles.  The first part coming right off the peak was surprisingly not steep and winds through areas all burnt during the fire of 1988.

When you get to the base of Bunsen, there is an option to climb and addition 800 feet down into Sheepeater Canyon to see Osprey Falls.  We ended up skipping this portion of the hike as our knees were beginning to feel it and Ilija was becoming restless from sitting in the backpack for about 3 hours.  The canyon is really incredible and you can hear the roar of the falls and eventually see the waterfall from the trail without going all the way, which we are saving for another day.

Katrina at the cliffs edge!

It was about 4 hours of hiking and over six miles, which made for a pretty full day of hiking.  The boys took there shirts off to relax and cool off inside, as it was approaching 90 degrees F by the time we made it back home.  Ilija went straight for the belly buttons :)

Pirate's Life Challenges #1: Elk Herd!!!

After Ilija's first full day of daycare, the family came home to double rainbows over Bunsen Peak

As night began to draw on, a herd of Elk descended on the lower 8-plex!

Hike #5: Monument Geyser Basin

Ilija and I (Austin) got up early, dropped mom off at work and set out for Monument Geyser Basin.  Monument Geyser is in the Norris region of the park (between Mammoth and Old Faithful).  On our drive down we had to pass a Bison on the left as he was only going about 15 mph.  The bison we have subsequently named Fred (and now part of our inside joke) gave Austin the side-eye as he passed going 25 mph, being careful to avoid provoking any sort of road rage from Fred.  We got to the trail head early (roughly 8:30 AM) and got ready to hike. I was a little hesitant doing another hike just the two of us due to bears but our neighbor Nate, a park service employee who manages bears in the park bolstered my confidence.

As we got ready, Ilija pulled apart my hiking sticks, temporarily breaking one of them...a bicycler riding by gave us the 'Awesome Dude!' as he found us departing so early in the morning cool!  The hike up was pretty strenuous, not quite as strenuous as the Fossil Forest though, plenty of switchbacks.  The trail follows the Gibbon River for about 0.4 miles before ascending 600 or 700 feet in about 0.75 miles.  The hike up is through new growth all from the 1988 burn (a constant theme in this park).

Ilija's first week in YNP

This has been quite an adventure for a 1.5 year old.  His entire life he hadn't been away from his mother for more than a handful of hours.  Then listen to the last 6 weeks.

Week 1- Packing up home, Grandma & Grandpa come, mom leaves for training, Dad puts on a conference
Week 2 - Mom comes home, grandparents leave, pack some more, mom & Ilija hop on a plane or two, arrive in Billings, hang out with Grandma & Papa fora night in Billings, all 4 drive to YNP, as soon as we get there mom gets apartment key, starts work including night meetings, end of week drive back to Billings
Week 3 - Week in YNP, weekend in Billings, mom working long days, Ilija playing with Grandma & Papa
Week 4 - Week in YNP, mom working long days, Ilija playing with Grandma & Papa, Thursday night and Friday in Billings, Daddy and Pirate met us in Billings, spent the weekend in the park with friends
Week 5 - Ilija home with Daddy, the guys hike a lot, mom gets time off for the 4th of July, family hikes, head back to Billings for weekend errands, visitings and playing in the yard
Week 6 - Week and weekend in park (wahoo! first one!), Ilija starts day care two times a week, other days at home with Daddy

Reading in his new living room.

Ilija at Albright visitor center

As mention, we were lucky to get park housing and are adapting to living closer in a smaller space.  This is Ilija's little bed next to ours.  On the other side of our bed is pirate's bed. :)

In Mammoth with Papa

The project...

My work project is in Gardiner, MT--the north entrance to YNP, the first entrance to the first national park, including adding another kiosk at the entrance station, the Roosevelt Arch and what used to be the Northern Pacific train depot. Please see the project website http://gardinergatewayproject.org/ .

Roosevelt Arch, "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People"

Arch Park, part YNP part Park County, Site of the now removed Northern Pacific Railroad Station

Arch House (built at the same time as the Arch) and YA Building

Hike #4: The Hoodoos (7/5/2012)

The Hoodoos are a neat remnant of what was a travertine terrace similar to what is ongoing in Mammoth with the hot springs today (I think, I am no geologist).  Terrace Mountain, which the trail circles, is an old travertine terrace that blocks of stone have fallen from due to earthquakes and freeze thaw processes, forming what is called the Hoodoos.  The Hoodoos look like white pillars/boulders from an ancient civilization that have fallen into ruin.  These are different from the actual geologic term hoodoo, which is related to formations seen in the Southwest, like at Arches NP (Fiery Furnace).  These hoodoos were given their name because the apparently spooked people...

The hike started across from the Bunsen Peak trailhead and after a few minutes in the open sage/grasslands entered quite thick forest, much of which is new growth post-1988 Yellowstone fire. Lots of clapping and quick paces brought us out of the forest (the mosquitoes were particularly bad this day) and onto a trail that hugged the side of Terrace Mountain.

 

To our left was the face of Mountain Terrace and out to the right we could see Bunsen Peak.  Down below us were some of the Hoodoos

Along the path were a great deal of wildflowers, including Indian Paint Brush (Katrina's favorite!).  We continued about 1 mile (1.5 from the trailhead) to come upon the Hoodoos.  We ended up not making a loop out of this as we were pretty beat from the previous day's adventure (Specimen Ridge). 

From our outlook we had good views of Mount Everts and the road leading up from Mammoth.  Austin is hoping to do some off-trail/backcountry hiking on Mount Everts (it is a lot of the locals favorites) as it is gives great views of Mammoth and is what we look out on each day from our porch.

Once we returned to our car, we headed out for a Fourth of July at Tony and Mary's in Billings!

Hike #3: Fossil Forest and Speciman Ridge (7/14/2012)

This was a pretty strenuous hike with no reward for those reading, as we forgot our camera!  We plan to make it back up to the fossil forest again this summer as it is truly a wonderful place.  As for the hike...

Katrina, Ilija, and I headed out on our first weekend hike as a family (Katrina took off Wednesday the 4th and the rest of the week as the following week she had some 12 hour days!)  We got up early and headed due east to Roosevelt/Tower regions of the park.  The trailhead is unmarked, but using our super-duper YCERP hiking guide we were able to locate the trailhead and begin out journey.  We hit the trail at about 9:30 AM.  The trail begins relatively even, though you can see the ridge in the distance.  According to Katrina's keen sense of smell, Bison had been there recently, so we hiked carefully, making some noise on the way over small hills where we had bad field of vision.  After about a quarter/half-mile we hit the hard stuff.

The climb is about 1700 feet in 1.25 miles, so pretty brutal for our virgin Yellowstone calves.  As we quickly ascended the ridge (Speciman Ridge to be exact) we passed through two stands of what appeared to be Doug Fir.  As we reached the first stand we had already stopped twice, even after I boasted about waiting until we reached the stand for a water break.  I was really doggin it, Ilija seemed to be fine and was bucking me on...Katrina provided moral and also some physical support :)  I looked at the experience as making me stronger and getting me in shape for backpacking.

After passing through the first stand, I was pretty tired, looking ahead I thought no way could it get any steeper.  I was wrong.  Good thing my calves are strong from my soccer days, I think by the end of this Yellowstone thing they will be bigger than my thighs.  Katrina said, 'Stay to the right', I said, 'Look, the trail goes over to the left and seems to have more switch backs, looking like the correct trail.'  As usual, we should have stayed right, instead taking the shallower but longer route up to the top of the ridge.  We would pay for this later.

As we emerged from the second stand of trees we entered a large meadow, with a final steep trek up the side of the ridge.  We popped out up on top of the ridge wonder 'Where is this fossil forest?'.  We stopped to catch our breath and looked around.  Slowly but surely we began to see fallen petrified logs, stumps, and roots in the ridge.  Truly amazing!  In many cases the petrification was so perfect you could easily discern individual tree rings, what was bark, etc.  You can literally count the rings to age an individual tree as well as make out the specie.  We spent some time examining each stump and the logs, including some of those burned in a long ago forest fire.  We looked around for the 26 foot diameter redwood stump that we should have seen on our way up.  Turns out it was on the trail that went up the 'right' side.  We tried back tracking down the right trail to find the stump.  It got very steep, very fast, with the family at times scrambling down the ridge side on loose soil.  When the trail guide and your wife say stay right, stay right!  We ended somehow completely missing the redwood stump, but because we took the different route, we ended up going higher on the ridge than most people do (most stop at the stump and head back as it is about 400 feet lower in elevation) and were rewarded for our hard climb.

Once we got to flatter terrain we let Ilija out of the pack and run the rest of the way to the car, convincing him to avoid all the bison chips along the way.  Round trip it was about 3.6 miles and 1700 feet gain of elevation, all completed in about 2 hours, even with Ilija trotting along at the end.

Here is a nice shot someone took of our missing redwood stump:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sethchristie/6010283013/

Hike #2: Beaver Ponds

My second full day in the park has led to the revisiting of an old motto: Be Prepared.  Boy Scouts have it right as does my wife, it is always better to be prepared.

After saying our farewells to Kerry and Brooke, and then dropping Katrina off at work at 7:30 AM, Ilija, Pirate, and I set out on our first Dad day adventure.  We headed down to the Yellowstone Elementary School playground.  We arrived early, about 8 AM and walked around the school almost smack-dab into a bison laying against the school building.  After realizing that we had a decent amount of distance between us and neither party appeared to be threatening, we headed down to the play field as the bison watched us with one side-eye.  We played on the play ground for an hour and then headed back being sure not to disturb or annoy the bison and keeping a safe 25 yard distance :)

We headed back to the house and I quickly dropped off Pirate and gathered a minimal amount of belongings so that Ilija and I could head straight out to the Beaver Ponds trail head.  We hit the trail at about 9:30 AM, with many visitors already swarming downtown Mammoth.  The trail head is located at the base of the lower terraces of the Mammoth Springs near the old stone house/Sinclair gas station (the farthest left of little white buildings in the picture below).

We parked in the middle lot of the terraces area and walked down to the trail head, taking a couple of nice shots of the springs/terraces on the way.

The hike started out steep and moderately forested.  I quickly realized two things: first I forgot my bear spray, and second no bug spray.  Ilija went quickly up the 600 feet or so of elevation gain clapping and singing.  When we reached the an area where the forest began to open we met a family of four from Bonney Lake, WA.  Ilija and I hiked with them to the Beaver Ponds as they had bear spray (and a handgun...) and fruit rollups.  Ilija was able to persuade a young boy to part with some of his fruit rollup along with his sister, who were very kind.  Along the way we saw black bear tracks and heard the cackling of ravens in the forest suggesting a carcass was present.  A little further along the trail we saw a coyote about 50 yards from us on the hillslope and some elk down below grazing.  Lots of wildlife!

By the time we reached the Beaver Ponds, Ilija had eaten a full bag of freeze dried yogurt chips, a bottle of water, a cookie, and the fruit rollups.  He passed out en route to the ponds and was pretty sleepy when we arrived.  I made the decision to forge ahead at double time to try to get back to the car, as I had also forgotten sun screen and we were now exposed to the midday sun.    

Beaver Ponds

We quickly made our way back toward the Mammoth area, meeting another gentleman from Albany along the way.  For being 70ish, he sure hiked quickly, hiking as fast as Ilija and I going our quickest.  We descended down into Mammoth to find shade a relax for a bit following the 5 miles we covered in just over 2 hours.  Ilija received his dose of shortwave radiation for the next day as we took Tuesday off to recover (I thought I got a little sun sick, compounded by the altitude).  A very nice hike, that, if prepared could be a nice half-day hike with beautiful views of Mammoth and surrounding ridgelines.

Mammoth from Beaver Ponds Trail

Hike #1: Lone Star Geyser (6/30/2012)

We headed out from our place in Mammoth down to the Old Faithful portion of the park.  On a good day it is about a 1 hour and 15 minute drive (to go about 50 miles), but the scenery is incredible.  On an unlucky day, you hit what is known to local park people as 'animal jams', where elk, bison, you name it spend some leisurely time in the roadway.  Of course, you can also hit what we are still trying to come up with a name for (please post any good ideas) - human gawkers.  Humans slow travel down substantially and really make travel straight up dangerous through the park at times, as people suddenly stop/swerve/exit vehicle into oncoming traffic to get a photo or gawk at local fauna.  We have all gawked before, the prevalence and hazard of it makes me much more conscientious now that we are parky's for a year.

Elk bedded down in Mammoth on hot summer day

We stopped at Old Faithful and visited the new, and very neat visitor center and hung out till the eruption.  A bison was on the boardwalk just opposite the visitor center on the other side of Old Faithful.  I was really hoping to be able to post a youtube video for you all to see, as gawkers, this time in pedestrian format walked within 5 feet of the grazing bison.  Katrina, being a NPS employee promptly yelled across the bubbling mudpots at the mob to break it up and remain 25 yards from all wildlife, especially bison.  After a few gawks in our direction, the crowd seemed to disperse some and find some common sense among themselves.  Last week a man was gored at Norris by a bison (turns out he was from MA), luckily he survived but with serious injury. I guess people don't realize that wildlife is wild, very unpredictable, especially under foreign circumstances (like hundreds of people surrounding it and firing off flashing lights...)

After Old Faithful our party (Ilija, Katrina, Austin, Brooke, and Kerry) headed a short jot to the Lone Star Geyser trailhead.  Lone Star geyser is about a 4 mile roundtrip hike on a mostly paved/gravel service road, dead ending at Lone Star.  The trail follows the Gibbons River (check to make sure), with a couple of bridge crossing that serve as nice swimming spots.  The trees along the way are mostly Lodgepole Pine and Englemann Spruce (I am not a silviculturist...).  You abruptly arrive at the geyser, as the forest gives way to the hot chemical mess that spouts forth from these geothermal features.  This open area provides excellent viewing from all sides of Lone Star.  Rick and Elaine Palmer had suggested this hike and we were not disappointed.  The geyser base is large and built up over many years.  Unlike Old Faithful, if you had the stupidity and cojones to approach the geyser, no thing or person would stop you as there is unimpeded space right up to the base of the thing.  An important key to this hike is to find out from the ranger station at Old Faithful when the last eruption was, as Lone Star is on a ~3 hour eruption cycle.  We arrived just in time for the eruption phase to begin.

Lone Star has about three different spots it spouts water and steam from.  It does this for about thirty minutes on the lead up to the final eruption.  When Lone Star erupts you will know it, as steam is escaping in just enough quantity and at such furious pace as to prevent it from exploding and blowing a hole in the ground (it seems).  It is truly magnificent and well worth the 4-5 mile round-trip walk.  You can sign the book in the register near Lone Star to commemorate your visit, if you do look for our signature on 7/1/2012  :)

Insert picture from Brooke and Kerry of Lone Star Hike

In Yellowstone

Well, it was another 20 hour journey, but we made it to Billings in fine shape.  After departing at 5:30 AM Central Time on 6/28, I dropped Chris off at the MN airport at 9 AM and headed West with an early start.  Pirate and I made good time through MN and ND, though around 3 PM I had to stop on a 'No Service' off-ramp and take a 2 hour long conference call.  After our brief pause, we resumed our journey, making it to the Hecimovic abode at about 10 PM Mountain Time. Ilija was a little confused/surprised but very happy to see us!

100,000 mile mark reached on the car in South Heart, North Dakota

We spent Friday recuperating and preparing for heading into Yellowstone the following day.  We got in the Pug Mahon's fix as well as some excellent local brew at Carter's.  Katrina's folks have created a home for us at their home and Ilija has found his own routines there and at Yellowstone.  He did some great nudie running through the sprinkler, the highlight of Friday afternoon and evening.

We woke up bright and early Saturday and  headed into the park.  We arrived just after noon and spent a couple hours getting Pirate acquainted with his new surroundings and hauling stuff out of the car.  Below is the Teddy Roosevelt Arch, a location that is central to Katrina's work out here and embodies what these national areas are for, 'For the benefit and enjoyment of the people.'

Our good friends, Kerry and Brook, were headed North and made the stop in from Boise.  We got in a quick hike that night and then got up early and headed out to Old Faithful and Lone Star Geyser the next day (pictures and post forthcoming...)  We followed the evening up with some scotch and whiskey sampling courtesy of Casey and Ethan at UMass.  All in all a really great set of days from WI to MT!  Welcome to Yellowstone!