My days have been filled by training lately, about eight hours a day. Today was my first day in the pantry, which is where I will be spending my time. I sliced red onions, assembled salads, peeled carrots, and diced cantaloupe. I’m the only girl in the pantry, and probably the youngest as well. The crew seems fun — all of us in the back of the house seem to get along well. The time passed quickly and we all seemed to work together well, but then – it always seems that way at the beginning of things.
In the kitchen, the chef is the head of the kitchen. Our chef’s name is Darrin and kind of reminds me of Rich from my job back home, except maybe a little sterner. The sous chef is second in the chain of command and our sous chef is a laid back guy named Blair, who keeps his long, blond hair pulled back into a ponytail and wears scrappy facial hair.
Today, we made our own lunch and dinner in the kitchen. It was fun to see my own small contribution (diced melon for the salsa) being consumed. After eating dinner, I sat around and talked for about forty-five minutes — maybe longer, with Blair, Zac (the chef from Lake, another area of Yellowstone), and a kid from Greenville, North Carolina. The diversity here at the park is more than I could’ve expected. A bus load of girls from Singapore arrived last night, I’ve been yelled at for being too loud by a Czech girl, and made friends with Yasi, a girl from China who said she was a “free-thinker”. I must admit, I simply expected a bunch of college/post-college age kids from different areas of the U.S. who desired to escape for a bit, not international travelers and students.
Today, I also hiked my first trail — and went off trail for the first time! Myself, Kelly, three girls from our hall, and three of their guy friends decided to hike to the Old Faithful observation point — about a half mile with a 200 foot rise. Climbing up this winding dirt trail, we soon arrived at the observation point. It looked out over the whole Old Faithful area, allowing you not only an amazing view of Old Faithful, but also all the other thermal features of the area including geysers like the lion group, the beehive, and the sweetheart.
The geysers are such an odd sight. You can always tell when you’re getting close — the scent of sulfur will crawl up, and you hear gurgles from the smaller vents around the larger geysers. The ground around thermal hotspots often appear gravelly and white. These little bits of white gravel turn a reddish color the closer you get to the center, then turn white again, disappearing into the blue, steaming water of the hot springs, some of which will erupt into a geyser touching some hundreds of feet into the air.
We arrived at the observation point in about thirty minutes. From this point, you could see all of the Old Faithful community spread out beneath you — the snow lodge, the inn, the different dorms, and Old Faithful itself, surrounded by the wooden boardwalk and letting off steam.
After enjoying the view for a bit, one of the group said that he knew another trail, one that wrapped around the ridge and brought you in back behind the Old Faithful area. All in all he estimated it to be about a forty-five minute hike.
So we took off. About ten minutes into the trail, it became evident that it was no trail at all. We hiked over fallen trees, still scorched by the forest fire of ’88, and through snow that reached to our knees. Many of us hiking complained; we didn’t have much faith in our guide and our legs and feet were chilled from the snow. The entire basin of geothermal features spread itself beneath us. To our left, we could view the cluster of buildings that surrounded the O.F. Geyser, while directly beneath us was a green plain, with a river stretched out across it. Six buffalo grazed in the plain. The buffalos seemed large, even from this distance and watching them, we noticed they seemed agitated. They stomped around turning in circles and snorting into the air. They gathered themselves together as if communicating in a silent language and stood in a single file line all facing one direction. We followed their gaze; out from some pines which blocked our vision emerged a small, but threatening, grizzly bear.
It scared the pants off me.
The grizzly seemed to have no idea of the statistics of Yellowstone: that bison are actually more aggressive than bears, because it charged the six bison, loping in their direction. They broke formation; they scattered and regrouped, thundering away from the bear, up the towards the mountains.
Towards the mountains that we, in fact, were perched on.
We turned, trying not to run, but hurrying back the way we came. Our way back down to OF was blocked by the bison. Climbing over burnt trees, snow drifts, and thick, waist high pines, we backtracked. Almost forgetting to look up, I didn’t notice that our way back was also blocked, until our “guide” yelled.
A herd of elk fed only 20 yards from our trail. Once again, we returned to our perch where we watched the bear charge the buffalo. The buffalo had turned, drifting off to the other direction, but the bear was still directly in our line of sight. We sat, wondering what to do. The bear hadn’t seen us — could we travel down and around where the bear was safely or should we risk passing so closely to the elk herd?
While discussing, we saw the grizzly’s head turn, and his eyes gazing directly toward us. We decided to risk the elk.
We made it back quite alright and in one piece. I can’t wait wait to go hiking again.
I’ve got a baby shower today, and still need to make a couple visits to friends, not to mention a doctor’s appointment and absentee vote. I think preparation will be more exhausting than the actual trip!
