Life on the High Plains

Over the Labor Day weekend I was lucky enough to have some family visit the Yellowstone area.  My husband kidnapped our granddaughter from her parents and brought her to West Yellowstone to spend a night with just the grandparents. Miss G is a joy to be around.  She had just been to a rodeo so she was rocking her new cowgirl hat at our favorite pizza place. Afterwards we took her to meet the park service horses.  She was a little apprehensive about offering them a handful of hay. We showed her the bison skull that's laying around. The next morning I worked for a couple hours and then we headed into the park to meet her parents.  We got to see an elk cow/calf herd near Madison Junction. We watched Old Faithful go off from the portico of the Old Faithful Inn.  Then we started our tour of the lower loop. As a ranger I like to show my park off.  The first stop was Fountain Paint Pots.  Above is the Celestine Pool which if you've ever read Death in Yellowst...

 Suicide is a horrible thing.  I'm really glad to see September come to an end.  I lost a co-worker early in the month and a beautiful young friend on September16th. I spent a lot of time with these 4-Her's back in the day. To this day I still consider them as my own kids even though they're all in their 30s now. Ashley was a shining star. These youngsters were National and World Champions in horse judging and hippology. We traveled the country to various contests--Texas, Ohio, Kansas, Arizona, and Colorado. Jillian and Ashley were partners in crime.  Jillian has been devastated by this loss.  Please send positive energy her way. You never know what someone is going through.  Hug those close to you and check in with others that you think might be going through some tough times. Ashley went on to attend the University of Denver, Baylor and Columbia and was one of the most educated people I've ever known.  She got her Masters and Ph.D in the Classics whi...

Recently I went on a drive lately to Dubois, Idaho to visit my parents before I leave Yellowstone for the season. My drive took me down a quiet back country road that is part dirt, but mostly somewhat paved.  On the hour and a half drive I passed one other vehicle and a huge herd of sheep being driven down the road by a couple cowboys (or is it shepherds if they're sheep?).  The colors are changing in the high country. I thought the aspens in the midst of all the sagebrush was beautiful. I stopped at a historical marker that included this nice scene.  Apparently this route is part of the Nez Pierce Trail.  The marker also talked about Clark County and Dubois, Idaho.  Apparently a train route went through the area and a town was formed named Dry Creek.  In 1897 Dry Creek was renamed Dubois after Fred T. Dubois, an early U.S. Marshall and U.S. Senator.  I learned something new. Lots of sagebrush meadows leading into the foothills. After about an hour and...

I got to have a mini getaway last week during my days off.  We headed down to Jackson Hole for a few days.  While our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter went for a horseback ride, my hubby and I headed out for a hike.  Our destination was Phelps Lake in the Tetons. We parked an the trailhead and were immediately re-routed off the trail due to you know what...bear activity.  There are lots of berries in the area and the bears are enjoying eating them.  Instead of closing the trail they just did a large detour that added a little over a mile to the hike. It was later in the afternoon so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  There were some wildflowers still hanging on. Compared to Yellowstone, the Grand Teton National Park had much better trail markers and facilities.  Yes, I am a little jealous. The Russian Thistles are in perfect bloom. There's that husband of mine always trying to break the rules.  This is the trail that was closed due...