Faithful Lone Star Geyser Friends

I really enjoy having friends visit me up here in the Yellowstone wilds of northwest Wyoming. Some folks tell me months in advance of their plans to come to the Park during the summer. Others contact me out of the blue and announce “Hey! We’re here! When are your days off?” 

Hey!  We're here!

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A Tale Of A Bobbling Badger

That’s not a baby goose – that’s a badger!
 
Get out the binoculars! Get out the binoculars!
 

Drama unfolds on the Yellowstone River!

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Stay On The Boardwalk!

I don’t know about you, but I am totally astounded whenever I see anyone step off the boardwalk at Yellowstone’s hot springs. As a summer seasonal park ranger I see this behavior all the time and can’t help but wonder. What are these folks thinking? 

Last week I came across a perfect example of why it is best not to consider doing anything so foolish. 

Good Godfrey!  Collapsed travertine at Mammoth Hot Springs

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Taking My Time

Whenever I travel I want to allow myself the gift of time. What might take three hours takes me six. What might take two days takes me five. There is so much to see along the way, so much scenery and history to absorb in this beautiful country of ours, that it would be a shame to pass it all by with the unrelenting goal of merely getting from point A to point B. 

Bear Lake Valley

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A Little Park With Big Views

If you blink, you might miss it, it’s that little. In fact, even if you don’t blink you could easily drive right past it. 

Beaver buddies on the quartz monzonite boulder indicate the path to big views

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Tracking The Desert Tortoise

Living in southern Utah and hiking a lot of landscape over the past 20 years, you would think that I’d have seen at least one desert tortoise stroll past my boots. Sadly this has not been the case. The Mojave desert tortoise spends 95% of its life underground. It all comes down to chance, and whether you are looking in the right place at the right time. 

It did not appear that anyone was home

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Sequestering The Seasonals

I love my job as a summer seasonal ranger in Yellowstone, our nation’s first national park, the undisputed Mother Ship of the US park system. I’m ready to go back to work with my summer friends, ready to drive through some of the most spectacular scenery on Earth from my winter desert home in southwestern Utah to my summer high–country home in northwestern Wyoming.

Absaroka Range from Avalanche Peak, Yellowstone National Park

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How Old Is This Rock?

Whenever I go hiking with a group of friends everyone expects me to know everything about every rock we see. “Hey, you’re the geologist!” they all say. “Well, yeah, but…” I hedge, diffidently twirling my booted toe in the sand. 

These folks can sure ask a lot of questions!

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Zooming Into Springtime

It’s been a quiet winter here in southern Utah, which is not at all a bad thing. Much as I would have liked to, I didn’t jet off to Iceland to view the northern lights. I didn’t hop a plane to South America to visit the ruins of Machu Picchu. For that matter I haven’t even (yet!) driven up to Salt Lake City to visit my nephew and see the mummy exhibit at the Leonardo. 

desert marigold

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