We have the day off, and a decent internet connection! Here's a VERY brief overview of what we've been doing/seeing since our last post. As always, start at the bottom and work your way up to the most recent photos! Click on the photos to enlarge them; we decided to upload small versions this time so the pictures would load faster.
6-30-09
A food storage bin at the campsites located across the street from Canyon Lodge. The campground is huge & one of our favoite places to walk to, especially at night when campers have their fires burning. Bears are a danger out here, especially around food, so campers have to secure it in these bins.
6-28-09
Molly, Tosca, Jenah, and Sam (in the background) sorting recycling in the linen room after a hard day of cleaning rooms. Oddly, sorting recycling is one of our favorite parts of the day...probably because it's what we do before we clock out.
6-23-09
As if the day hadn't been busy (and fun) enough, we stopped at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone on the drive back to Canyon Village. This is our absolute, hands-down, favorite place to go -- and we're only a 15-20 minute walk away! Samantha doesn't like heights, but braved it to stand close enough to the canyon for a picture.
6-23-09
The sunroom inside of the Lake Village Hotel is constructed and furnished to look like the early 1900s (like something from the Titanic, or out of The Great Gatsby). There's live piano or string music every night, and during the day it's the perfect place to read and look out onto the seemingly never-ending Yellowstone Lake. Mom C will LOVE it here (though the mosquitoes are atrocious).
6-23-09
Lake Village Hotel. The exterior of all hotels & cabins in this area are painted yellow :) Very cheery! This is the oldest building in Yellowstone today; the original construction started in 1889, and the hotel was expanded in 1903. You used to be able to arrive by steamship since the hotel is literally on the Yellowstone Lake -- the largest lake in North America above an elevation of 7,000 ft. The hotel closed during both World Wars and was renovated in 1981 (a 10-year process)! It currently has 158 guest rooms, and 175,000 visitors stay there each summer!
6-23-09
The garbage cans here are bear-proof. You have to pull down the "door" to throw away your trash. Personally, we think garbage cans everywhere should have these because they reduce the smell and the number of insects buzzing around them.
6-23-09
We made a little detour to see Fishing Bridge, which you can't actually fish off of anymore because 1.) it "decimated the cutthroat trout population," and 2.) too many people driving or walking across the bridge were snagged by fishing lines, which caused too much of a danger. The bridge itself wasn't anything really special, but the view on both sides was definitely worth the stop.
6-23-09
MUD POTS! Samantha was dying to see these! They're bubbling pools of mud that sputter & pop due to gasses rising up from below the earth's surface. Some are very hot, but not boliling as they appear. We have videos too!
6-23-09
Molly with the Sulpher Cauldron behind her. This area is located right along the side of the road, with just a sign and a pull-out. On our way to mud volcano we stopped to see (and smell) these acidic pools of sulpher-rich water bubbling up from underground. Micoscopic organisms called thermophiles live and thrive in these cauldrons as well as hotsprings, which have extremely high temperatures.
6-23-09
Travelers take advantage of the many pull-outs from which to view landscapes & wildlife. We're not sure what valley this is behind us, but it's vast & beautiful.
6-23-09
Samantha driving! She was so excited to drive again, the destination (Mud Volcano) was almost secondary! Thanks for letting us borrow the car Jenah :)
6-11-09
Molly in front of Fairy Falls.
6-11-09
The "P-area" team on our hike after work. From left to right: Mitch, Molly, Sam (kneeling in front), Samantha, Tosca, Harrison, Jamie (our manager), Amy, Lisa, and Brian (Lisa's boyfriend and C-area RA)
6-11-09
Samantha & Tosca (with her newly purchased knife in it's lovely holster) on the way back from Fairy Falls.
Samantha & Tosca (with her newly purchased knife in it's lovely holster) on the way back from Fairy Falls.
6-11-09
Molly inside of the Old Faithful Lodge. We only passed through after having dinner in the Old Faithful EDR, before our hike to Fairy Falls.
6-3-09
Molly excitedly opening a package from her mom & dad! Her pillow arrived along with some yummy food :)
6-2-09
Samantha sitting on the bed with the contents of the first package her mom sent. (It had lots of food too!)
6-11-09
Samantha next to the Grand Prismatic Spring-- one of the most colorful, largest, and deepest natural hotsprings in Yellowstone. You can't really tell all of that from this picture; the best views are aerial, which are plastered on postcards everywhere.
5-30-09
On our hike to Cascade lake, we walked through a giant field and came across the skeleton of an animal that we think might be an elk, though we're not ruling out a bison. There was a spinal column too, which we have more pictures (and a video) of to show you when we get home.
On our hike to Cascade lake, we walked through a giant field and came across the skeleton of an animal that we think might be an elk, though we're not ruling out a bison. There was a spinal column too, which we have more pictures (and a video) of to show you when we get home.
5-30-09
Molly in the large field where we found the animal skeleton (see above). Mountains surrounded us, as always.
5-30-09
On the way to Cascade Lake we encountered many different types of "weather"... first there was snow...up to three feet of snow we had to trek through...then there was a hot, barren field reminiscent of a desert...followed by a tropical looking patch of woods...and another field (not so barren)...until finally we found Cascade Lake. We didn't actually walk up to the Lake because we had already hiked over 4 miles, the ground was very wet, muddy and mushy in places, and a thunderstorm was brewing. On our way back we went through all of that lovely "weather" again, only backwards; so first we walked through calf-high water & then through the 3 foot snow piles....FREEZING TOES :( But it was a fun hike! (And this is Molly's favorite picture of Samantha so far on our trip.)
5-29-09
Molly brought her camera to dinner...so here's Samantha in the EDR stuffing her face.
5-24-09
Our first group hike. We went to the Lost Lake -- located at the top of a mountain. It was quite a hike, especially in the cold rain and after a full day of work. Molly is taking the photo, but from left to right is, Tosca, Samantha, Allison, and Brian. We were on our way to see both this lake and a petrified tree located further in the woods about 2 miles. We opted to turn around after we reached this point because of the weather...and because we would've missed dinner if we hadn't. The two of us might hike here again, as there are supposed to be moose in late July! We really want to see a moose!
5-27-09
Our first hike together, to the Lower Falls in Yellowstone's Grand Canyon. The Lower Falls drop 308 ft (three more feet than the height of the Statue of Liberty), and Samantha is standing right next to them. It was over a mile-long walk down on steep, gravel paths with many switchbacks to get there.
5-27-09
Molly standing next to the Lower Falls, with the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone behind her. The landscape really looks like a painting, even when you're there.
