Out of Lamar.....took the long way around through Mammoth then south. Saw this place called Roaring Mountain. It was a hill with smoke billowing out of all sorts of places.....looked pretty cool. I’d never seen it before. Some lady off a tour bus told me to get out of her way because she was taking a picture.....back to the yahoos I thought.
Left the park...went to West Yellowstone for some civilization. Got a #1 at McD’s and strolled around town. Found this books store that was right up my ally....used books, mostly about the outdoors. The store had original copies of books that were written about the area before there was even a park at Yellowstone. Saw one for $2,200. They had a first edition Peterson Guide to Western Birds for $80. One of the parks controversies involves the mandatory killing of any lake trout caught in Yellowstone Lake. Apparently these trout are overpopulating the lake and pushing out the more coveted cutthroat trout. Last year I asked the ranger how they got in there in the first place....she told me it was irresponsible park goers. There was an old book in the bookstore about the park in which the author states that the government put the lake trout in the lake......Per order of the government...the infamous page 186 was subsequently eliminated from future editions.
Saw a bald eagle on my way back to the Old Faithful Inn for another Frisbee sized, free shower. While I was waiting for the laundry to finish I chatted up this kid who had been working in the park for 8 years. He gave me a laundry list of famous people he’d run into in the park....and spilled one of his favorite fishing spots.
On the way to my new campsite at Grant’s Village I saw a wolf.....huge German shepherd sized and grey. It was close to my truck......trotted from the edge of the road into the woods.
Xanterra Gripe Session....
Xanterra is the company responsible for running all the lodging and hotels in the park as well as the parks four largest campgrounds. In the four campgrounds there contain over than 1000 campsites that Xanterra is responsible for......too many maybe? Anyway these campgrounds are the only one’s that can be reserved beforehand. Others, like Slough Creek, are run by the National Park Service and are on a first come first serve basis. The Xanterra campgrounds are about as far from a relaxing outdoor experience as you can get. The spots are so crammed together its nuts....up to 5 families enjoying campfires in the space of about the size of a little league infield. Just the sight of it is ridiculous. The spot I was assigned, my fire ring was basically positioned at the pitchers mound....should I choose to have a fire....I would be surrounded. The space where my truck was supposed to be parked (and the place where I would sleep) was a place where the road became slightly wider....this meant that the cars would be headed right passed the bed...all night....and next morning. Aahh , communing with nature......
And for what it’s worth...I caught the last 20 minutes of what looked like a pretty interesting ranger talk....it had started a half an hour before the Xanterra campground lady told me it would.
At this point of the trip I’m totally immersed in a 500 page biography about Patrick Roy written by his father. It helps to block out the “serenity” of the campground.
Left the park...went to West Yellowstone for some civilization. Got a #1 at McD’s and strolled around town. Found this books store that was right up my ally....used books, mostly about the outdoors. The store had original copies of books that were written about the area before there was even a park at Yellowstone. Saw one for $2,200. They had a first edition Peterson Guide to Western Birds for $80. One of the parks controversies involves the mandatory killing of any lake trout caught in Yellowstone Lake. Apparently these trout are overpopulating the lake and pushing out the more coveted cutthroat trout. Last year I asked the ranger how they got in there in the first place....she told me it was irresponsible park goers. There was an old book in the bookstore about the park in which the author states that the government put the lake trout in the lake......Per order of the government...the infamous page 186 was subsequently eliminated from future editions.
Saw a bald eagle on my way back to the Old Faithful Inn for another Frisbee sized, free shower. While I was waiting for the laundry to finish I chatted up this kid who had been working in the park for 8 years. He gave me a laundry list of famous people he’d run into in the park....and spilled one of his favorite fishing spots.
On the way to my new campsite at Grant’s Village I saw a wolf.....huge German shepherd sized and grey. It was close to my truck......trotted from the edge of the road into the woods.
Xanterra Gripe Session....
Xanterra is the company responsible for running all the lodging and hotels in the park as well as the parks four largest campgrounds. In the four campgrounds there contain over than 1000 campsites that Xanterra is responsible for......too many maybe? Anyway these campgrounds are the only one’s that can be reserved beforehand. Others, like Slough Creek, are run by the National Park Service and are on a first come first serve basis. The Xanterra campgrounds are about as far from a relaxing outdoor experience as you can get. The spots are so crammed together its nuts....up to 5 families enjoying campfires in the space of about the size of a little league infield. Just the sight of it is ridiculous. The spot I was assigned, my fire ring was basically positioned at the pitchers mound....should I choose to have a fire....I would be surrounded. The space where my truck was supposed to be parked (and the place where I would sleep) was a place where the road became slightly wider....this meant that the cars would be headed right passed the bed...all night....and next morning. Aahh , communing with nature......
And for what it’s worth...I caught the last 20 minutes of what looked like a pretty interesting ranger talk....it had started a half an hour before the Xanterra campground lady told me it would.
At this point of the trip I’m totally immersed in a 500 page biography about Patrick Roy written by his father. It helps to block out the “serenity” of the campground.
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