I know many of you have been looking forward to the next email. Don't worry, I have not forgotten about y'all! Unfortunately there just isn't much going on out here. It is the season of Newlyweds and Nearly Deads as one of my coworkers put it. The Park is having one of its busiest falls in recent history, but the animals seem to have mellowed out. The bison rut is over and the herd has begun to break back up into its separate groups farther and farther away from the road. The elk rut has begun; if you have never heard an elk bugle (mating call) it is pretty cool to listen to. Some nights it sounds like they are just 50 ft from my place. I can only describe it as one long drawn out "neh" that becomes a whistle. The first time you hear it you are just sort of dumbfounded that a sound like that has just come out of the woods. It is a great experience to be here for it but it doesn't affect my job much at all. The bears have literally disappeared! I haven't seen a bear or heard of a bear-jam in over a month. The story is that the bears are at the higher elevations feasting on moths, apparently a bear will eat 1000 calories worth of moths in a day! That has to be a huge amount of moths! However, we have been getting reports of sightings over the past couple of days and apparently one of the berries that bears just love is just now blooming, so they could be on their way back toward the roadways soon. We'll just have to wait and see. The wolves have returned to the valley which is a bonus for the visitors but again, they stay far off the road so they have not affected my work routine much at all.
On the human front, things have begun to close down in the Park. Even though we are extremely busy, it was not predicted. Three campgrounds, two hotels, and a dozen other restaurants and stores have already closed for the season. Life in the gate remains pretty much the same. Not handling quite as much money, but the number of cars has not decreased - they just all have senior passes. :) I have had some interesting people come through but again nothing like the Canadians at the beginning of the season. We have already had three employees leave; another one at the end of the week heads off. As for me, I have two weeks left here in the Wild West before I begin the next leg of my Great Adventure. The travel plans have not been set in stone but considering I planned my entire trip out here in three days, I figure what's the rush? As long as I have my phone and my Garmin I can go anywhere! The general plan is to return to Charleston by the 9th of October.
Well I'm sorry it is not as exciting as previous emails but that is the life of the Park Ranger. :) Maybe Yellowstone will give me a big send off with lots of excitement that I can share with all of you. Until then here are some pictures I think you all will enjoy...
Until next time,
Faithfully,
Brent Everitt
Visitor Use Assistant
Northeast Entrance Station
Yellowstone National Park
This is a Black Bear just behind my place, roughly 50 feet from where I'm standing, safely in a doorway of course.
This is a picture of the river I had to ford when I drove those backcountry Rangers into the wilderness. (Note the warning sign) 
Look forward to your homecoming! Bet you will miss the west when you get back! I do!
ReplyDeleteWhere are you posted to next?