YNP : Parting Shots Well, I guess I better come out and say it. I'm no longer working at Yellowstone. I just came home this morning, ending the season a little early. I did enjoy the job, but there was some circumstances that came up that made me realize that I got what I wanted out of the job, I saw Yellowstone (though there are parts I'll have to go back to in the future and catch), I worked with horses and got them out of my system, and overall the season was good. However, like all jobs, working at Yellowstone as a Wrangler was a job. It was a hard job with long days, and it wasn't always peaches and cream. I didn't always get along with my fellow wranglers (my interpersonal skills with my coworkers is something I could use some work on) and I kind of wished my exit went a bit different, but I realized that I needed to be home right now. I didn't just up and quit (ok, so maybe I did), I did give it some thought, it was just something I needed to do. I think the one thing that bugs me about the whole circumstances is that I don't like the feeling fo quitting. However, apparently my family knew I was going to come home early, and overall, considering I just got back from Kosovo six months ago, I need to get my life in order with school this fall along with a bunch of other things that going away to Yellowstone caused some conflicts. Overall, home is where I need to be. I can say I worked as a wrangler in Yellowstone, and now I really need to focus on the question. You know, the big question. What in the world am I going to do with my life? Meanwhile, I learned a lot about Yellowstone. Here are some parting shots. Sitting at the front of the wagon giving commentary. This is one of the few pictures I got of me doing this job, and I look like I'm about to eat somebody or something. Giving commentary for the Stage Coaches. My driver told me I gave a perfect 'pat' pose. Rawhide and Me. Somebody I will truly miss, it was hard turning him loose for the last time. One sight I really won't miss that much is the bison on the road. Goodbye Yellowstone. Until we meet again. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 7:35 PM - |

YNP : Geysers Yellowstone is really quite known around the world for one thing. Thermal features. Unabounding wilderness comes in second, but when people think of Yellowstone, they truly think of the geysers. Well, along with waterfalls this last weekend, I checked out some Geysers and other Thermal Features as well. Lesson learned: Geysers are cool. Jet Geyser Jet Geyser is one of the geysers down in the Fountain Paint Pot area. Its directly related to Fountain Geyser and Morning Geyser (which was going off when we went through this area, but I didn't get a picture of) and gave us a little show. Nobody was taking pictures of it, so I got a couple snap shots. Imperial Geyser I got my own private show of Imperial, its an extension of the Fairy Falls hike, an additional 1.4 mile loop added. It was kind of neat checking it out, however I didn't see it in a major eruption, just one of its many minor eruptions, which occurs every couple minutes and can be anywhere from a couple of feet to eighty feet. Its actually has a fairly large pool for a geyser, and apparently was a big gusher in its day. However these days it is fairly mellow. Still, I got my own private show, and it was nice. Jewel Geyser Located in Buscuit Basin (at the back of which is the trail to Mystic Falls), wait a few minutes and you'll see this little geyser go off. It erupts every 7 to 10 minutes. Lone Star Geyser Aptly named Geyser, the nearest large geyser is Old Faithful. Lone Star is also one of the most regular in the park, erupting almost 3 hours exactly. I had to bike 2.5 miles to get to Lone Star, but it was worth it. Old Faithful visitors center didn't have numbers ofr Lone Star (they rely on visitors to report eruptions to predict it) so I had to take a chance and hope I would catch an eruption and not have to wait three hours for it. I lucked out, I waited about 20 minutes for it to go off, sitting with five other people. It also puts on quite a show (30 minutes), I think this is one of my favorite geysers in the park. Old Faithful Everyone knows of Old Faithful. Its famous for being the largest regular geyser on the face of the planet, hence the name Old Faithful. It regularly puts on a show for you, and I've seen it go off about six or seven times since I got here, three times alone on Monday. There's this neat hike up to the viewing area of Old Faithful. I took advantage of a hiking opportunity and saw it from this vantage point and only had to put up with a minor crowd. Very scenic. Castle Geyser Castle Geyser is in the Upper Geyser Basin (which is by Old Faithful) and goes off every 11 to 13 hours. It puts out quite a show when it does go off, though I only saw the beginning show and snapped a picture, having heard that the irregular Beehive Geyser was about to go off. Beehive Geyser Named because of its geyserite cone looks a bit like a Beehive, this geyser shoots straight up. It's got a small geyser to the side that works as an indicator that Beehive is about to erupt, and thats the only sign that it will erupt. Otherwise, I would have likely missed this show. I've seen quite a few geysers since I've been here, these are the main ones I've seen that I got pictures of. I did see Fountain Geyser erupt from a bus, as well as Solitary Geyser which erupts every few minutes in a small bubble. I'm told I lucked out with how the Geysers erupted the day I saw them. There are a few I missed but overall, I saw quite a few. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 6:52 PM - |

7.17.2006

Stagecoach Update Did mention I was going to talk to the boss man about working stage this week. He gave me the honor and I got to drive it. Twice! Sweet! Me, with Creep and Crawl, a couple of our Percheron Draft Horses. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 10:39 PM - |

YNP : Water Falls Ok, so there is the lower and upper falls. They are pretty darn famous in fact. Truth is, there are over 200 water falls in Yellowstone. Exact numbers escape me, in fact, I don't know if anybody knows exactly how many waterfalls are in Yellowstone. I was just realizing how big Yellowstone was today. It started to annoy me. Mostly because of driving from one place to the next. It gets old driving a hundred miles in a weekend. This weekend, I saw a couple waterfalls. Fairy Falls Fairy Falls includes a bit of a hike through some burn area. Its just behind the Midway Geyser Basin which includes Grand Prismatic Spring and actually a rather pleasant stroll of about 5 miles. Knock off two miles by foot if you bring along a bike (I did). It seems you can park a bicycle at a trail head and people leave it alone. I was somewhat concerned about somebody taking off with it, but if they do, one less thing to haul back home with me. Another 1.4 mile loop includes a trip to Imperial Geyser. Neat little geyser, definitely a recommended hike if you have the time in Yellowstone such as we employees do. And on the way back, you can take a little climb up a hill and get a great view of Grand Prismatic Spring. Definitely one of the coolest hot springs in the park (not literally of course, cool meaning neat). My family commented it was one of their favorite places in the park. Mystic Falls Mystic falls is also worth a view, behind the Biscuit Basin, catch a glimpse of Jewel Geyser while your at it. Jewel erupts every 7 to 10 minutes. Two choices with this one. Hike straight to it and back, or you can take the loop and see the entire Upper Geyser basin. I saw Old Faithful Erupt from a fair distance away. Pretty cool. I'll hit the geysers in another blog post. Got another book that tells about Yellowstone Waterfalls. Plan on visiting a fair bit more of them. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 10:22 PM - |

Cody Gun Museum Last week, I was in Cody Wyoming. Unfortunately my camera was on its last leg as far as batteries were concerned and I couldn't get them recharged (it eats regular batteries as an appetizer for lunch) so I had to conserve my picture taking. One thing I couldn't be snide on was the Cody Gun Museum. I knew some of my readers who know me from my infamous not sorry days (which has me pegged as a complete gun nut by a few people) would enjoy this. They likely even heard about it. 1500 Firearms. On the first floor. Don't forget the additional 1200 on display in the basement! Hand Guns, Rifles everywhere, and not a one to shoot! Just a history of firearms, every make and model you can think of. If you make it into Cody Wyoming sometime in your life, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in general is worth a look, five museums in one. Good times had by all! Including the resident Gun Nut. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 10:12 PM - |

Fred and Barney Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 10:08 PM - |

Pony Rides I don't seem to have any time online anymore. Whatever the case, it brings me to enough time to post random pictures. This is just a good picture to show some of the things I do here. I enjoy giving kids pony rides. Labels: Horseback Riding, Yellowstone -Risawn: # 8:46 PM - |

7.09.2006

Book Plugs! Death in Yellowstone Great book. Picked it up and had trouble putting it back down. Highly recommended read. I just wish it was more updated, as it was printed in 1995 and I know of two deaths since then (one in the last month since I've been there). Fascinating stories about people, some of them candidates for Darwin Awards. Many are morbid. Good read for those fascinated by death, and for anybody who might think walking up to a bison to pet it sounds like a good idea. Along the same lines, I think this would also be an interesting read. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 9:46 PM - |

YNP : Mt Washburn Mt Washburn is on the Eastern side of Yellowstone, between Canyon and Tower. Along the road there are two trails that go up it, one is the Dunraven pass trail and the other is the Chitteden Road, which is a dirt road. If I had known at the time about the Dunraven Pass Trail, I would have taken it, as apparently it is more scenic. However, I vouched to crawl up the Chitteden road instead. The view from above is spectacular. A good three miles to the top (and of course, you have to go back) but definitely a hike worth doing if you get the chance and you are physically capable of it. If I find the time, I would like to climb it again, via the Dunraven Pass Trail. But chances are I'll find my time bogged down with other adventures. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 9:40 PM - |

YNP : The Hoodoos Hoodoos? That's what I was thinking. What are these things? Well, they're rocks. Big massive piled up rocks. Just sitting a few miles south of Mammoth Hotsprings strewn about the hillside. Watch for that turn off the loop coming from the North or your bound to miss it. The thing about the Hoodoos though is that they scream exploration. I mean, you can't help but climb them, and me being a climber type person that climbs anything that is climbable, I couldn't resist. Hoodoos, strown about everywhere. You can spend as little as ten minutes or as much as two hours here, depending on your available time, they are everywhere and there is much to explore. I could spend an entire day here. A recommended place to check out on your way through Yellowstone. Labels: Pictures, Yellowstone -Risawn: # 9:23 PM - |

YNP : Family Affair The family came and visited me in Yellowstone last weekend. Because they were here, I didn't get my usual internet time in until midweek because I wanted to hang out with them and enjoy yellowstone as a family. I also kind of became the family tour guide. On Friday I managed to get them a bit of a discount to come on the Cookout with me. While I was there working, I offered to give my niece a pony ride on one of the horses. This is L3. He's got this strange brand on his butt which is where he got his name or so I think. Regardless, L3 is a weird name for a horse. I think we should call him El-Three-Pee-Oh or something like that. My boss was mentioning that we had to get more seats for the Erickson Family reunion, though I did mention that we would need something like 20 seats if the whole family had made it. Kids always find this little creek and play in it. My niece and nephew like to cuddle with me, especially when we are seperated for more then a couple of weeks, and as long as both parents are right there with me. In the meantime, while playing personal tour guide to my family the next day, we saw the Upper and Lower falls of the Yellowstone river. Lower Falls! And no family trip to Yellowstone is complete without a visit to Ol' Faithful! However, despite how little known they are, the Hoodoos proved to be quite popular with the Family. Quick pic next to the Yellowstone Sign. And then its back to work for me. *sigh* Work's not to bad, though. Things remain fun. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 8:03 PM - |

YNP : Stagecoaches One of my jobs is to know the history behind the stagecoach. We have a stagecoach here called the Tally-Ho Stagecoach, used to transport passengers from Gardiner to Mammoth Hotsprings at the turn of the century. These are replicas, but they are still pretty cool. I haven't really worked much around the Stagecoach since I've been here, I think I'm going to ask for some time on it this week to get a feel for it, and to change up my day a bit. Besides, they're cool. I was in West Yellowstone at one of their museums and saw a 4-in-Hand, and they allowed you to try on the white dusters, so I thought 'Kodak Moment!' Hopefully I can work the stagecoach angle sometime this week. I think I'll talk to the boss about it. Sounds like fun. And I love working with the Drafts. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 7:57 PM - |

7.06.2006

Family Visiting My family came by and visited me whiel I was at Yellowstone over the weekend. I have made a decision because of my camera happy attitude that I need to invest in some serious camera equipment. Meanwhile, next time I'm online (ie - this weekend) I'll have to post some family pics and tell a little bit about that adventure. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 12:48 PM - |

YNP : WildLife Yellowstone was originally created to conserve the beauty and rarity of the Geothermal features in this area. HOwever, over time they have also realized that they are also conserving the wildness of this area. And one of the benefits of wildness is the abundence of wildlife found everywhere. Coming into Yellowstone from the North Entrance, one of the first things you might notice about Mammoth Hotsprings is the Elk Population. In that they are everywhere. In fact, the most plentiful animal in the park are the elk. I heard that there are numbers close to 12,000 in regards to population wise. With the reintroduction of the wolves, those numbers are starting to go down a little bit, but the elk do have quite a run of the park. The animal most people come to Yellowstone to see are bears however. I've seen quite a few myself. Mainly Black Bears, as they are quite plentiful in the Tower Roosevelt area. This guy came up to our corrals and was digging around for grubs right by the horses. The horses weren't to upset about the presence of the bear, in fact he mostly was minding his own business. I have noticed that the black bears are kind of cute. I did get the chance to see another one up close as he crossed the street in front of my car. When people stop to see bears, we call them Bear Jams, as they cause a small traffic jam when they come near the road ways. The rangers let the bears do what they want and try to manage the people so they don't do something foolish, like try to pet one. And of course, last Saturday, I saw my first Grizzly. As soon as we came up to the road, I knew a Bear Jam when I saw one. Sure enough THis is a young grizzly, apparently his mother died early, and he hasn't quite learned how to hunt. They say he's only two years old. They have frequent sightings of him over at Fishing Bridge area. Which is close to where we saw him. We also have frequent Deer Sightings. This is one of the first ones I saw. He was basically chilling by Roosevelt Lodge, his antlers weren't very big at the time. If I see some more of these guys, their antlers are pretty large now. Some of the other factors of being in a wild area is seeing wildness at play, regardless of how small or mundane it is. We often see garter snakes about, they are actually pretty common. When we were at the Fountain Paintpots last weekend, we saw one in the process of eating a toad. Several people were surrounding it and watching it. One guy commented that if there weren't as many people around, he would have rescued the toad from the snake. I wanted to slap the guy, considering A. This is Yellowstone and B. this was wildness at work. What do you think the snake normally eats? Why don't we go on a crusade and rescue all toads from the peril of being eaten by nasty snakes? So, what do the snakes do then? *sighs* Some people don't think about things like this. Of course, the animal that really has the run of the park is none other then the mighty bison. Do keep your distance. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 12:30 PM - |

YNP : Cook Out Here at Yellowstone we have something called the Old West Country Cookout. It takes place on the Western Side of Pleasant Valley in Northern Yellowstone and the only way to get there is by the back of a horse or in a wagon. And they serve you all you can eat RibEye Steak, Cole Slaw, Corn Bread, Potato Salad, Roosevelt Baked Beans, Corn and Fruit Crisp. THis is an option for me five nights a week. I do have a tendency to skip the steak every night, though I do highly recommend it. whatever the case, it is one of the most popular events in Yellowstone. As mentioned, there are two ways to get to cookout, via a trail ride or by wagon. Depending on the day, I generally do both, where one day I will shotgun on a wagon (basically talk your ear off on the way to cookout) and the next day I'll help wrangle one of the trail rides. Whichever one I do I am generally happy with. I've come to really enjoy shotgunning because I like to run my mouth. And I don't have stagefright (though I used to have it pretty bad). Plus, it kind of adds a nice variety to your day, as I usually am found wrangling trail rides during the day. However, most of the time they have me shotgun wagons. Some people don't like to do it at all. If need be, I could drive a wagon too, but I doubt I'll be doing much of that this year. This is the cookout site on a nice sunny day. We do this rain or shine, in fact they've only canceled it twice in the last thirty years, once on account of grizzly bear in the area and the second time because it snowed 11 inches in July. Honestly, they didn't cancel it on account of the snow, they canceled it because only two people showed up. Its a really popular event regardless. We generally have a full house each night, people only cancel on account of weather (where if the weather is to bad, they'll cancel the trail rides out (you have to reserve a slot on a trail ride to cookout by February, they're booked solid throughout the rest of the season) but they always have a wagon available. Skip is one of our Dappled Gray Percherons. Our horses are tied up at the cookout site, a lot of kids ask to pet them, which we are happy to oblige. They can pet the draft horses, but we can't go up to the saddle horses. For one, their rear ends are facing out, and for the average guest, that is not the most optimum place to be. Curly's nose is pretty dang soft, the horses like to have their noses petted. Most people are surprised by how soft they are. Sometimes kids are terrified however. But most people come up and thank me for the stories and mostly people just have a good time (even when drenched by rain!) I might be a little sick of steak by the end of the season (though they do offer the wranglers an alternative meal) but overall, I think Cookout is one of my favorite activities of the day. meeting people from all over the world and just having a good time. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 11:24 AM - |

6.24.2006

YNP : Days Off I guess I have come to appreciate my days off while I'm here in Yellowstone. Namely because it is the one time I actually get to see parts of Yellowstone that do not involve Tower Roosevelt area. Hey, I still love my job, but even I need to get a break from the horses sometime. But not all of the horses. There's still Rawhide. I love hanging out with him. Mostly because he's the closest thing I have to my own horse right now, and until the summer is over, he's almost mine. We have the option as wranglers to take our horses out on rides during our days off, as long as we didn't work them to hard while we worked, as our horses also need their days of rest as well. Behind Roosevelt Corrals, via the two hour trail ride we have this great trail that goes off toward Tower Falls. So far its the only off day trail I've taken on horseback, but the view is spectacular. My stupid camera is dying. I think I'll be buying another camera here shortly. This was the first off day ride I took, where shortly thereafter my stupid camera back came flying open and I lost one of my digital camera rechargeable batteries. Grr. . . My camera is kind of stupid. Now it won't decide whether or not it'll turn on. Still, the scenery from horseback is spectacular. I went on my second trail ride today, the same basic trail I took the first time, and got another picture of me on rawhide that looks a little like the one before. There's this great ledge where you can get a spectacular scenery, granted unless your horse slips off the edge. I haven't gotten one of those yet. One of the mild trail rides. I need to fix my camera now, or at the very least get it some decent rechargeable batteries. Labels: Horseback Riding, Yellowstone -Risawn: # 10:01 PM - |

Photoshop Goodness My 'Not Sorry' days have come back to bite me. And not being in the capacity to go online daily, I miss some things. Such as this little number via my good friend over at Mountaineer Musing. Be vewwwwy qwuiet. . . . . . I'm hunting Buffawoe. . . Of course, when you bring up anything that has to do with Brokeback mountain, somebody's going to get you involved in it someway or somehow. Hey, Jessica Alba is a hotty! I'll admit it. Note: I am not the creator of these images. I merely post them for blogging sake. Labels: Photomanipulation, Yellowstone -Risawn: # 9:56 PM - |

6.18.2006

Image Ruinage Getting off one of our dude rides, an asian guy (obviously a tourist) grabbed one of our wranglers and hugged him. As he did this, he told him "I loved Brokeback Mountain". He was fortunate that he hugged that specific wrangler. Because several others mentioned that they want to sue that movie studio for ruining their image. Brokeback jokes have been abounding here in Wyoming. Home of Yellowstone and all, and we being cowboys in Yellowstone, we've heard our share of them. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 7:30 PM - |

YNP : Gardiner Interesting point to take note of is the sights of Yellowstone. There are a lot of them. I managed to nab getting my weekends off so I've been using the time to associate myself with some of Yellowstone's points of interest. There are a lot of them, and as the summer progresses, I would hope to cover most of them. I do have all summer afterall. Starting off at the Northern Entrance of Yellowstone is a little town called Gardiner Montana. It sits on the gateway of Yellowstone and in fact is the only entrance open all year round. In the little town of Gardiner is an old graveyard. I swear you feel like you are stepping back a hundred years when you come into this graveyard, mostly on account of the rustic appearance of said graveyard and the overabundance of cactus. In this graveyard sits a grave of one John Yancey. To any Wrangler in the Tower Roosevelt area, specifically any who has to tell the story of Pleasant Valley on the way to Cookout (which would mean all wranglers in Roosevelt) this man's story is very familiar to us. Including the way he died. He squatted in Pleasant Valley and its because of him disturbing that area we can hold our cookout. I paid my respects. The North Entrance is framed by the Roosevelt arch, which was dedicated by President Theadore Roosevelt in 1903. John Yancey caught pnemonia and died 2 weeks after going to hear Roosevelt dedicate this arch. And of course, the sign telling you that you are entering Yellowstone National Park. I may have mentioned that if its there, I must climb it. This sign is no exception to that rule. Gardiner is becoming my regular stomping grounds. Specifically this little ice cream store called Raccoons. I try to make it there at least once a week to update my blog and check my email. Sometimes I drag along a fellow wrangler. Overall, I love Gardiner. Its a bit of a touristy spot, being the northern gateway of yellowstone and all, but it has a real western feel to it, like being a part of the old west. They also have a gob of white water rafting trips, I'm planning on going on at least one this summer. A friend and I took advantage of a small town rodeo they held last night, I hadn't been to a Rodeo since Redding California in 1995 (or there abouts, don't recall the actual date). Before the rodeo they had a parade, it wasn't very big, a lot of politicians making their name known as well as some people on horseback trying to get the news of a rodeo in town out. My favorite float was obviously one of a republican politician, just because it amused me. I hadn't been at a parade in a long time where they actually threw candy. Not since I was a child. Rodeos are a lot of fun, I think my favorite part of it was when they got all the kids 12 and under into the ring and set loose a calf with two ribbons tied to its tail. The first two kids to nab those ribbons got 20 bucks each. At first they put all the kids behind a line and told them to stay there as they let loose the calf. It just casually wandered into the pen not really knowing what was going on. Then the announcer told the kids to go for it. All hell broke loose as that poor calf didn't know what hit it. No kids were hurt during the execution of this event. To my knowledge. I didn't get a lot of pictures, but one I did manage to get is one of the Broncs named Smokey. I just couldn't help but note the coloring of this horse. The cowboy was a rookie, I believe he managed to stay on for the 8 seconds. When I was younger (and a major horse nut) I had mentioned to my parents how I wanted to marry a cowboy. I haven't been in an area (especially working with horses like I am) where I have seen so many cowboys in one place for a long time. I must be in Montana. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 6:46 PM - |

YNP : Wrangler Riding Being a wrangler, I have some special incentives here at Yellowstone. Specifically, the whole being paid to ride horses is a pretty sweet deal. And as a wrangler, I have a horse that is sort of signed to me (though that is susceptable to change) Meet Rawhide. Everytime I ride Rawhide, I want to start singing "rollin' rollin' rollin'" and often times I do. Whatever the case, Rawhide is my horse for the summer. He got this weekend off due to the fact that I decided to go to a rodeo and climb Mt Washburn on my days off as opposed to ride, but I do have the option of taking him out on my days off as well. And he's a good little horse, he fits me pretty good, being not very tall which helps me when I have to get back on him really quick. He is a little headshy with his left ear, but overall, he's easy to catch, and he's got a pretty mellow temperment. Though he is known to kick if another wrangler horse runs up on him. Before we opened operations, all the wranglers took our horses out and we got to test out our skills (and to prove that we could actually ride.) This one ride was the funnest I have ever had on the back of a horse. We took these horses on a two hour trail ride through the backcountry of Yellowstone along the Yellowstone River into some of the prettiest country on earth. As it was all said and done, well, we got back on the dudes and worked them out a bit more, but in the meantime, we bonded with our horses, a couple of people fell off the backs of theirs (one specifically on purpose) and we all just had a great time. There will be an end of the season trail ride as well, all the wranglers will take their horses out for the entire day. I should be there for it, and I can't wait. Labels: Horseback Riding, Yellowstone -Risawn: # 6:34 PM - |

6.09.2006

YNP : Dude Riding All this week we've been riding the dude horses again and again. Dude horses are fun and all, and they have some great trails, but eventually you learn after riding the same trails over and over again on horses that are trained to follow the horse in front of them, you are rearing for something a bit more. Regardless, we made the most of it. And overall, I had a lot of fun, sometimes even getting the opportunity to practice wrangling. That can be amusing at times, as we have a bunch of wranglers on dude horses acting as guests may potentially act (read: complete idiots) As a Side Note: Today was our first live trail ride and our guests were fantastic. Anyway, getting on a wrangler horse is better then being on the dudes, because Wrangling horses actually react to you. But the Dudes tend to grow on you too. Up early one morning, I found Ug (the big guy in the center) surrounded by the Pony Mafia. The ponies always hang out with Ug. He's just this big horse that's pretty mellow and mostly just sits there chillin'. I've grown a soft spot for Ug. THis is Eric, he's one of many dude horses that I'm still trying to tell apart. In fact, I still can't pick him out from a couple of the other Bay dude horses. But he's a good horse, very reliable, you could put a kid on him and not have many worries. A lot of the Dude horses are like that. Jose isn't quite to that point however. Jose is a cool little horse, he's actually pretty well behaved at first, but as the trail ride progresses he tends to get a little frustrated and throws his head a bit. But overall he's a good horse. They were going to have him be a wrangling horse but he works better in the dude line. He's pretty sweet too. He's one of my favorite Dude horses. The trail is pretty scenic, and there's something about seeing a place like Yellowstone on the back of a horse. It's just part of the history and culture of this park. Meanwhile, on one of our dude rides, as a pure joke, all the available wranglers decided to take Ponies out. We have a bunch of ponies here. What's more, they're really not for kids, their more for adults, these guys are halflingers and they are cute little guys, but you can tell they're looking for trouble. They just have that look about them. I grabbed a halflinger named Bull. He's an old guy, but he's still got spunk. But he's well behaved, he will not deviate from that trail. So all of us on Ponies (with the exception of the wranglers), we went for a little trail ride. I think it was one of the funnest trail rides we had. One of the ponies is a new guy, and he's not quite ready to be a dude horse yet, however we don't wrangle with ponies so we're just going to have to work with him. One of our wranglers tried an experiment on him, and it was quickly proved that he didn't like it. She had no problems staying on him, but I think she'll be one of the wranglers working with this guy this summer, preparing him so he's ready to take people out. Which will hopefully be soon. Despite this picture, he's actually doing really well. You have to do something very specific to get him to react like this. Something that guest riders shouldn't be doing. As I mentioned earlier, we've started our rides. Today was our first day. So far I'm having a lot of fun. Labels: Horseback Riding, Yellowstone -Risawn: # 3:32 PM - |

6.05.2006

YNP : The Horses Well, its been quite a week here. We got on the ground moving and one of the first things I learned how to do was harness a draft horse. Draft horses are a lot of fun, they are usually pretty mellow and will just chill while your working around them. They are actually usually pretty easy to catch as well. But when you're 5'3" tall, sometimes harnessing them can pose a problem. I don't have any pictures of me trying to heave a harness on the back of a percheron, but I do have a picture of one of my friends attempting too put one on Skip. We're about the same height, so you can see the task we have before us. Meanwhile, here is a snap of me as I was getting Moe, a Shire, harnessed. I don't have a lot of pictures just yet, as we're busy learning about how to do this, and I'll be doing it all summer, I'm sure I'll get plenty of Kodak moments ahead. Meanwhile, here's a shot of me with one of the Belgians, Squirt, Edit: Turbo, damn it this is Turbo! Not Squirt! Squirt is a bit headshy, so you have to watch his big floppy ears, but otherwise, he's rather mellow like most of the other drafts. this is Shorty and Squirt Turbo and Stan hitched to a wagon, which we use to take guests of the park to an old country cook out. The only way to get to this cookout is by horseback or on a wagon, no cars are taken out out there. I learned how to drive these guys. I got to drive a team of percherons named Tango and Cash twice. You have to keep them in check so if you're not used to driving a team of draft horses (like I'm not) you'll find that your hands get a little achy from holding the lines. By the end of this summer, I'm going to be in great shape. Meanwhile, now the Dude horses are in. We spent all day yesterday and today riding them. I'm very sore, but having a ton of fun riding these guys. So far I rode four dude horses; Gotch, Rosco, Eric and Ringo; and got to be a wrangler riding a beautiful Bucksin named Rail Road, who's currently a bit out of shape. So we made good company. I mentioned I'm not the greatest horseman out here. These trails rides sortof confirmed it, I've never been formally trained on riding a horse, so I'm guessing by the end of this summer, I'll be a regular pro. A line of Dudes. I'll have more written about them next time I find internet access. Labels: Horseback Riding, Yellowstone -Risawn: # 8:52 PM - |

5.31.2006

YNP: In the Beginning. . . Made it bright and early to Yellowstone National Park on Memorial Day, and found out that I was but one of five people scheduled to check in that day. I found this confusing, and it turns out that most of my fellow Wranglers had checked in on Saturday. I still don't know why I am so special. Well, it looks like this is going to be a miserable experience where I have to be around smelly horses all day and work long hours with low pay and deal with horrendous customers who have never ridden a horse in their life. It should be a summer in hell. End Sarcasm. Ok, from the moment I got here, I've been excited. I haven't been to Yellowstone since I was two, and this place is amazing. Being a National Park, it isn't maintained in the same way that National Forests are, in other words, Yellowstone is maintained as a wild forest. There is definitely still signs of the fire in 1988 here, but there is also great signs of rebirth in the forests as they grow. And there are animals everywhere. Its not uncommon to see a bunch of cars backed up because of a huge bison in the middle of the road. Turns out if you creep up on the bison, they will get out of your way. If you just stop and wait for it to move, it will just stare at you and think 'how nice of them to stop so I don't have to move'. Bison appear to own the park. They're everywhere. Meanwhile, I have made my home in a rustic one room cabin heated only by a woodburning stove where I share the place with three other girls about my age, though I have discovered that I'm the old one in the group. They try to keep the legal ages together for alcohol consumption reasons, though me being the non-partier type, I don't really care. Much different atmosphere then my year in Kosovo, which was completely dry and I had nothing in common with my roommates. One of the girls got into a discussion with me on politics, as it was quickly learned that I am in the military, and she wanted my opinion on Bush. I told her my stance, especially as a soldier that I'm supposed to be neutral. Then we got into a discussion about the last presidential campaign and I told her my honest opinion on why I felt Kerry lost. Most specifically, because he had no agenda. Interestingly enough, the conversation remained civil (she's a democrat that's openminded to conservative views) and so far I'm pretty good friends with all the female wranglers here at Roosevelt. So far. I'm hoping that it remains that way. We have to depend on each other for morale support, and you need plenty of friends for Hiking excursions, adventures with White Water Rafting, Back Country Horseback Riding, so on and so forth. We are here because we deal with horses. Looking back, I have discovered that it was amazing that I managed to nab this job. Its considered one of the best jobs in the park (though it is hard work) And looking at all the horse experience my coworkers have, I look at myself and think 'oh crap, am I going to come across as a complete idiot in horse matters?' I've never driven a stagecoach before, but this week I get to learn how to do it. All next week we have to get the Dude Horses familiar once again with the trails, so that means that all day every day next week, I'm going to be riding horses. Oh the agony of it all. I have to admit that after the first day, I will likely be pretty saddle soar, but I can't imagine a job that fits me better then being paid to take horses on trail rides all day in Yellowstone. And they are totally willing to work with my drill weekends. I only have two while I'm here, and I get to drill in Helena Montana with a sister unit. I have one pretty early in the summer and another toward the end of summer. Well, as a Wrangler, leading unsuspecting guests on trailrides throughout Pleasant Valley in Yellowstone, we have to learn commentary and be able to tell our guests things about the area, and be familiar enough with Yellowstone so that we can answer questions. To do so, yesterday they took us on a tour of Yellowstone and showed us all of the main attractions. And they paid us. Is this a great job or what? Yellowstone is actually still very much in the spring season. At Mammoth Hot Springs, we got to see some of the more unusual hotsprings and learned a bit about their formation. Geology galore! This builds up about 24 inches of limestone a year. Eventually it will dry up and the spring will move somewhere else, but the formation of it is amazing! They have these little bacteria in the water that only thrives at temperatures between 130-160 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning that they are harmless to humans as they would freeze to death. They make these beautiful colors and when they die, they become pink before turning grey. This is the lower terrace. The day started of bright blue and beautiful, but throughout the day, it got grey and muggy and started hailing on us. We saw a ton of geysers and hot springs steaming up all over the place (and lots of waterfalls) when we stopped to eat lunch at Old Faithful. I'll have to go back and get a better picture of it some time in the future. I walked up to Old Faithful just as it spurted and sprouted. I was in the wrong side of it to get a good look at it, but it went off right on schedule. Lower Falls and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. One word to describe this place. Amazing. It started snowing on us when we got there. By far my favorite waterfall, but nonetheless, all the waterfalls here are stunning. I would whole heartily recommend coming out and seeing the wonders of Yellowstone in person. And give yourself a few days so you can actually hike around some of the sites. I haven't really gotten to do that yet, we basically got the park off the bus and on again tour, but now that I know where the main sites are, I got plenty of opportunities to explore. Plus the backcountry. And some extra benefits to being a wrangler. Taking a horse in the backcountry for a day or so. As long as they are two of us (Wranglers only) we are permitted to take company horses trail riding on our days off. And this isn't the typical Nose to Tail tours that most guests have to take. We actually have the freedom to trot and canter the horses a bit. So far, the saddle horses haven't arrived yet. But the Draft Horses have. They have Shires, Percherons and a gob of Belgians. We have to learn their names and who goes with who so we can harness the right teams for when they are scheduled to do the wagon and stagecoach rides. And I get to learn how to drive them. :) Here is a couple of the Black Percherons. One of the Belgians. These guys, despite their gargantuan size, appear to be rather cuddly. We learn how to drive a team of horses on Friday, as well as harness them up and all of that. The saddle horses come then too. The rides start on the 9th. They commence for the rest of the summer. What can i say? I'm in bliss. Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 6:22 PM - |

5.28.2006

Heading Off Today I leave for a fun filled summer in Yellowstone. They do have limited internet access there, and I can only hope that my adventures will have me updating my blog in a more active and fascinating matter as opposed to late. Last night I couldn't sleep, the excitement must have been tensing me up. Tomorrow I have to check in and then I've got the whole summer waiting for me. In the meantime, I've got the fall and my plans in regards to school and what not in the horizon as well. Then another job hunt as well when I get back. Signing off for now, hopefully I'll be coming back with a little more excitement to offer. . . Labels: Yellowstone -Risawn: # 11:00 AM - |

4.14.2006

More on Work, complete with Art News! My laptop is working great, well, the hardware is. I still need to reformat it and get it running smoothly again, but overall, I'm just delighted to have it back. Meanwhile, in the realm of work, a friend of mine is commissioning a piece of art. All I can say is 'Yay!' I've also got a couple other ideas to brainstorm in other art projects, and these projects will be blogged. I need to blog about something, it might as well be art. I've got a friend who is requesting some art pieces from her friends for a Reptile Rescue she's doing, to earn funds for her critters. Eh, she's a friend, its for a good cause, I'm game :) Further more, in the realm of even more work, I've got more news on my summer job issue. See, I was originally scheduled to work in Glacier National Park in Montana, and though I was excited about the opportunities and the job, it really wasn't what I wanted to do. But I felt it was important to at least secure the job in case something else didn't materialize. Well low and behold, I got a job off in Yellowstone National Park, doing what I wanted to do originally! It looks like an awesome opportunity, its only for the summer, I'll be out in the middle of one of the most beautiful areas in the country, and I'll be working with horses doing trail rides and learning how to drive a stage coach! This is one of those experiences that I'm taking soully for the experience and the little money I make on the side is nice to keep the bills paid, but I can't begin to say how excited this job has me feeling right now! I should have done something like this years ago, but the army has always kept me from doing something like this. This is the first true opportunity where I have the freedom to pursue a job like this. Its great work around school and army drill as well. I just have to talk to my command about negotiating around drill this summer, and hooking up with one of the two units in Montana. Hey, what can I say? I'm excited! Labels: Art, Work, Yellowstone -Risawn: # 12:21 AM - |