I am at the start of my 3rd week of this most amazing internship. And boy, do I love life! Honestly, things are going so well it’s incredible. To remember how 2008 started out, and to look around at these incredible snow-capped mountains, faithfully erupting geysers, and soak up this relaxed yet demanding Western atmosphere makes me so incredibly happy.
I am finally working at a job where I am able to voice my opinions and am asked to do so. Where I can actively use so many things I have learned about in various classes and apply it all, see how this company works and it all fits together. I’ve never had a job where I could honestly say on a Sunday afternoon that I was excited to get up early and go to work the next day and see what was to come. This job is so incredibly variable, you never know what might happen or what you might have to do the next day, or even the next hour. I love the variety, the unexpected situations, and the spontaneity. That being flexible and patient is synonymous to any task I might be given. I often excitedly spend time after hours working on things for work, coming up with new ideas or reviewing information I received from the day about the park or the company or whatever.
If you know me at all, you know I love people and flying around from one place to another, squeezing every moment out of every day and always seeking adventure. I hesitate to say that this characteristic has changed but I will go so far as to say that I am spending a lot of my time alone, by choice. It has been so long since I have actually had the time and ability to sit for hours, doing whatever I feel like doing, working on this or that, keeping in contact or planning my next adventure. I love it. However, as much as I enjoy being able to sit quietly by myself, lost in my own thoughts and dreams, I have made quite a few friends here and had a good number of adventures already.
This past weekend I set out with 5 others: Dan, the other intern who works with me and puts up with my habitual lateness and contained disorganization, Adam, Doug, Stephanie, and Jared, all friends from the same town in California. We drove a few hours over a mountain pass with gorgeous valley views to begin a 12-hour hike along Pebble Creek, near the northeast entrance of the park. The guide book we used said 1.5 miles of difficult uphill and indeed it was. The most encouraging part of this part of the hike was that I was not the slowest! I kept up with the 3 forerunners of the group and dominated that hill. However, about an hour or so into the hike we encountered snow. It wasn’t deep at first, and we even heard water running below it. Dan dug into the snow until we actually found the runoff stream that had formed and watched it for a bit. The snow caused us to lose the path and there were no trail markers in sight. We walked around in the direction that we thought the trail should be and encountered a huge snow covered volcanic boulder field. 
The crazy thing about all this snow is that some of it was packed and some of it was not. The parts that were not made it quite entertaining trying to walk. One minute you would be above the snow and the next minute you would be up to your knee or higher in a snow bank.
We continued walking, sideways across this mountain, trying to find the end of the ridge. When we did find it we still couldn’t find the path anywhere and decided to look at the guide book again to try to figure out what we could. We realized that we were hiking on the opposite side of the mountain ridge than we should have been. If we were to continue, we would soon find ourselves in much more snow, climbing up the face of Mount Baronette, a decently high mountain peak. Not prepared with pick axes, we decided to try to find the best way down the mountain. This whole adventure reminded me a bit of my adventure with Luke in La Serena back in Chile on that crazy mountain descent. Dan’s GPS told us the road was actually pretty near and sure enough, we found ourselves walking down the highway towards our car. Once on the road we realized that we had not even crossed the state boundary line and had probably only walked somewhere around 3 miles.
But it was a very intense 3 miles and a great adventure. I even saw a black bear on the way back!
Last week we rode around in the warehouse delivery trucks and got to see a beautiful overview of the park, as well as listen to the numerous stories both truck drivers had to share in those 8 hours we rode around with them. If I’ve learned one thing here (which believe me, I’ve learned MUCH more than just one thing), it has been that you really can not judge a book by its’ cover. I’m not much one to do that anyway but I have been incredibly entertained finding out what some of these people used to do in their lifetimes before retiring to work in Yellowstone and drive around an RV during the rest of the year. One was a secretary for a general in the Pentagon, another a police chief, a laundry service entrepreneur, a 4th-grade teacher, an inventor. Some have lived in this area all their lives, others had never been this far West in their lives until now. Some have worked in Yellowstone for years, for others this is their first time. One has a dog food bag in his office featuring him and his dog. Another had a grandfather who helped to build Dunraven Pass, a mountain pass here in the park that connects Canyon and Tower and cuts down significantly on travel time through the park, not to mention has an incredibly magnificent view.
Yellowstone is a magical place. Where else in the world can one apologize for being late because they got caught in a bison jam? Or enjoy glorious mountain views, green lodgepole pines, and the possibility of seeing a black bear or bald eagle and its’ nest on the way to work?
The West is Best.
It hailed today. And there are still decently large snow piles, though they are melting. It may be summer elsewhere, but here I don’t really mind the cool mountain air, the need to wear a warm fleece jacket and occasionally gloves, the lack of humidity and the freshness of living. It’s isolated out here but I don’t mind this disconnect. In fact, I admittedly embrace it. But still, feel free to send mail or call…I always love and look forward to all of it!
I’ll leave you now, away from my ramblings.
Love life,
Katie :)
p.s. in the words of my boss, Deb: "Here's to another great day in Yellowstone!"
Yellowstone River, near the brink of the Upper Falls in Canyon
The crazy thing about all this snow is that some of it was packed and some of it was not. The parts that were not made it quite entertaining trying to walk. One minute you would be above the snow and the next minute you would be up to your knee or higher in a snow bank. 
But it was a very intense 3 miles and a great adventure. I even saw a black bear on the way back! 
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