Life has a way of circling back...

Great storm-watching on the porch in Montana this summer.

I looked back recently on my July 19th, 2009 post. At that time I was on a road trip heading north after leaving Colorado. After a particularly long and arduous day of hiking in the Tetons, driving north, and finding no camping in Yellowstone, we ended up exhausted at a campground at 9pm in a beautiful valley, between the Park and Livingston, called Paradise Valley. I remember thinking, "Wow, what a spectacular place!"

Well, life is funny. How could I have known that a year later I would be back in that same valley, spending a whole summer there, and adoring it completely? The hiking and backpacking opportunities there are numerous, easy to get to, and for the most part - uncrowded. The house I lived in abutted the Gallatin National Forest to the west, the Absaroka mountains to the east, and the Beartooths just beyond that. They all became my playground. Here I encountered bears, spires, glacial lakes, Alaska-esque mosquitos, sudden storms, trout, owls, and much more.

A young elk in Yellowstone chills out.

Moonrise over Emigrant Peak, from the back porch.


Backpacking in Lakes Plateau in the Absarokas.



The Beartooth Mountains east of Yellowstone.

An early summer hike up to Pine Lake in the Absarokas.

Granite Lake in the Beartooths.



Surveying pikas.

I also had the chance to volunteer at Yellowstone NP in the bear management office, helping to investigate problem bears in the backcountry, and more extensively, doing pika surveys. Pikas are small rodents in the rabbit family that live in scree fields, harvesting and drying out "hay" for winter food. They remain active in the wintertime, creating tunnels in snow. Super cute creatures, and subjects for long-term climate change studies in the Park.

Staying at a backcountry patrol cabin in Yellowstone. Each of the cabins are unique and dense in history, some of which is shared in the log books. It was nice to be in the backcountry doing work and having a roof to sleep under when night fell. The cabin shelves are loaded with expired can and dry goods that other people have left behind, making for some interesting dinners. I made some brownies from a ten-year old Betty Crocker box...and nobody even got sick.

American bison strolling in Park roads are a common sight in Yellowstone. When I got to the Park in early June, the bison calves were red balls, new and frisky. How they played! I sat by the side of the road and watched them.

It's a lesson I would learn over and over again: Yellowstone is at its best when you sit quietly and just watch. Maywe we can all use a little more time observing the life all around...