Fri and Sat. Sept.10, 2005 Gardiner, Madison, Mammoth,Geyser trail and inventory of camping and office supplies on board.
Sat. Sept. 10, 2005
Woke up to rain and snow. This is the first time for months. Weather has been sunny since I left Ontario in mid July. Didn’t bring any winter clothing with me, although I do have a business suit and plenty of nice causal and a good Misty mountain windbreaker. Today is going to be Old Faithful so should be light on the scenic descriptions so I shall fill some space with what I have brought with me and managed to squeeze into this compact Saturn for those thinking of making a road trip or seeking fame and fortune away from home.
Sat. Sept. 10, 2005 continued: Went back to Madison and started with a visit to the Museum set up in the former Union Pacific railway station. It was noteworthy that Yellowstone catered to a lot of wealth tourists in its early years brought in by four different railway companies. The tourist bought a package that included train, hotel and excursion prices. Travel in the park after about 1910 was by motorized vehicle. By 1930 a fleet of 240 White cabs holding about 15 people each took tourists into the park from Madison. I took a tour of the town in one of these busses and it included stops at the Madison Hotel and an original circa 1900’s store. The Madison Hotel dating back to the 1890’s, is now a youth hostel. It is two stories high and made of logs including each of the bedrooms, so as you can imagine it has a nice cozy, compact and rustic feel to it. I spoke to a guest from who was cycling across the USA on a Trek road bike, carrying about 87 pounds of gear. Keep in mind it is snowing up in the mountains. John looked very fit and tanned. If you would like some tips on this type of experience Email: johntomaska@yahoo.com. I it took a picture of John and his bike in his bedroom and this will be included with his permission if the photo journal of this trip. My tour of Madison included a visit to the Dining Hall that catered to the well heeled tourists. It is now a National Landmark site. Designed by Underwood, it fits perfectly into its surroundings. Made of huge logs and supported by rock columns on the outside it is impressive. The timbered roof trusses visible on the inside are awesome. The fire hearth opening was about 40 foot high. Photographs of guests being wined and dined adorn the walls taking one back to an era of class and privilege.
Back into Yellowstone Park proper. I visited all the Geyser Basins and Thermal areas and marveled at the variety of active volcanic eruptions still going on: cone geysers, mud pots, fumaroles and hot pools. I had missed the opportunity to swim in one of two accessible and permitted place in the park. The first is near the North entrance on the 45 parallel. Apparently a warm spot at any time. The second place is on the Fire hole River. This river is fed by numerous thermal strings. The swimming hole was in a beautiful setting in a gorge, a small cave and a small whirlpool. Needless to say I was the only swimmer. I stripped down behind some rocks, set the camera on automatic timer and had ten seconds before the shutter clicked. No time to check water and conditions. The water was surprisingly cold! I stayed in about ten minutes swimming up against the current into the gorge opening and then letting the whirlpool effect carry me back to main river. Good workout. Fishermen were fly fishing downstream and I wondered whether about taking up more comforting pursuits.
And finally Old Faithful. The time of the next eruption predicted at 6.05 an hour away left me time to admire the rustic Hotel that sits beside it. This structure was multi storied but again in logs and stone. Next door was the even more magnificent Old Faithful Inn. Even though it is being restored certain sections were open for residence and dining. I marveled at staircases made entirely of stripped and polished tree trunks, and enormous wooden furniture. The open concept interior with its huge fireplace chimney adorned with an ancient clock made the lobby a grand place to walk through. The building is many stories high and the unfinished timber and hewn rock construction were awesome. Right on time Old Faithful erupted. 6.05 PM. Crowds of watchers sat on benches provided for the occasion. The plumes shot about 130 feet into the air, a little less than the record of 180. The whole event took about ten minutes. I was anxious to get going because I was going on a side excursion view the East Gate and the highway closes at 8 PM. A beautiful drive round Yellowstone Lake and through the Pass back to Cody. Just made it through the gates by 8 PM. Stunning scenery through the canyon, what else? I thought it a little less impressive that the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.
Camping gear – to be honest I prefer motels, but of necessity and the need to experience the great outdoors:
2 person Coleman Pop up tent . Coleman blow up mattress and a hiking self inflatable mattress. Sleeping bag good for 30F (currently pushing the limits).
Coleman mini stove, two mini propane tanks. One enamel plate, cup and bowl, a knife fork and spoon and a can opener. A one liter hot water heater that plugs into the cigar lighter. Good for making tea, porridge and rice.
A Coleman portable fridge/cooler that plugs into the cigar lighter. Keeps food moderately cool about 50 degrees less than the ambient outside temperature. However, can only leave the Cooler plugged in for four hours before it runs that battery flat so I have to unplug it through the night. And because it is not permitted to leave any food unlocked at the campsite site because of bears I lose the advantage of the cooler weather. So, I have switched to powdered milk and buy smaller portions of vegetables and fruit.
A plastic box with a few canned foods and room to store stove etc.
A one gallon water jug and two one liter bottles which are filled at the campsite each day or at rest stops. Paper towel, dishcloths and dish soap and pot scrubber.
A big flashlight and two small ones. Lots of windproof Matches and Bic lighters.
A cosmetic bag with three of everything.
Electronics and office equip.
Two inverters to keep all the electronics fully charged while I am driving. I do have to keep changing the plugs as the inverter only has two 110Volt outlets.
Two laptops. One IBM Thinkpad T42 and sub notebook Apple 2400 C.
One wireless Pointer for the laptop for making PowerPoint presentations
A mini hard drive back up for the computer.
A Palm Pilot and a paper address/phone book – I still don’t trust electronics or hard drives.
My Dyna-form Day Planner which I use every day and supply of back up forms.
One tape recorder on which I listen to and then discard dozens of self development tapes accumulated over the past 20 years.
One HP 500 Printer, Scanner, Copier. One 3 mini draw filing cabinet full of office supplies.
2 briefcases full of current project files and legal files. One briefcase of software including burned CD copies of important files and 8 years of my diaries of around the 1960’s and a few treasured pictures. (Total 3 briefcases)
A Cardscan business card reader that lets me copy cards directly into the laptop.
One 110 volt rechargeable battery charger that plugs into the inverter. A pen scanner that lets me transfer to type into the computer. A Telephone headset, A T100 Ethernet adaptor and numerous adaptors for internet and other electrical outlets. A VOIP phone that plugs into the laptop USB port for making long distance calls.
Other.
A small back pack for hiking. A large back pack for laptop and general use. Inflater for mattress-cigar lighter
A tool kit for car repairs. Two instant inflatable tire repair cans.
A small library of current reading :
David Allen, The Art of Getting Things Done.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Statistics. Sunny Baker, Ph.D
Intellectual Captital, Thomas Stewart
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser
Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt
The Power of Gold, Peter Bernstein.
Test your IQ. Alfred Munzert, Ph.D
End of inventory.
Friday Sept. 9, 2005
Asleep at ten, up at 7.30. Mountain air good nightcap and the L Tryptofan in the Buffalo Burger. Splendid views. Could see the caps of Mammoth Hot Springs in the distance. Breakfast: hot porridge, Bagels and two fried eggs – using Olive Oil to cook, and a steaming mug of hot tea and I am set for the day. Rinsed myself and the dishes in a stream running by the campsite, tidied up the car on I am on my way. It’s a good life if you don’t look at your credit card balances.
Had an enquiry by Email of a couple would like to rent the cottage for Thanksgiving (Canadian). Memories of years past, when the ‘movie group” used to gather at the cottage for Thanksgiving, (one of the few times of the year I didn’t rent it out) flood back. The pictures are still in the Community section of the web site. Debbie has invited the group to her place in Brockville this year, but some are going to Kate’s place in Milwaukee. So traditions get nudged aside or remorph. I have no idea where I will in five or six weeks, but that’s part of this mission to explore inner and outer hemispheres. Musing aside. Back to Yellowstone to try my new Bushnell 10x50 Falcon Binoculars. It felt somewhat extravagant and redundant to buy them. I hadn’t seen any serious animals yet and having binoculars is just going to bring nothing closer. Than had given me a superb pair to keep at the cottage and I regrettably left them there.
Friday continued. Went back into Gardiner. Sent this Blog using the computer in the Café/Bookstore. 15 cents a minute. Total cost, by the time I had checked two days of 137 Emails, $3. The Spam filter on my ISP seemed to have stretched, so I called Magma (a Primus company), my provider and they switched me to a Level Two. I wrote the Blog on my laptop and put it onto a floppy A disc and then transferred it to the café computer. Another $1. I have to read the Wireless feature help section of the laptop and try and get my settings stabilized. Met Matthew and Anna who are backpacking. We chatted abut the time management challenges of being a stockbroker (Matthew) and Anna’s home country, Spain. Nice couple. Visited the local library which shares the same small cabin as the Sheriff’s Office. An effort to reduce overdue books no doubt. I admired the design of the large stone block archway that is the northern entrance to Yellowstone. I didn’t take a picture, I am pictured out. After two days of Yellowstone the behaviour of the non native species is as follows. Study map book or guide book. Drive to location. Jump out of car and take a picture or two, or walk the few hundred steps to the location and do same. Walk the prescribed route, read the blurbs take a few more pictures and leave site and move onto next destination. It’s a circuit and driven by the need to not miss critical stops depending on one’s bent. Now I haven’t quite figured what is wrong with this modus operandi but it leaving me feeling cold. The not being permitted to leave the prescribed path makes sense because one could easily be burned by steam from the geysers or splashed by molten mud, or get lost or savaged, but nevertheless I had developed a sense of claustrophobia in this immense 100,00 square mile wilderness. Even when I hiked to the top of Mount Washburn every shortcut up the hill had official (steel) signs pinned to logs ‘saying stay on path’. Having had one run in with the Ranger the previous day I had no wish to learn what the consequence of disregarding directives would be. Thank goodness the animals aren’t trained to conform. Hooray an unscripted moment. I and hundreds, maybe thousands, got stuck in a Buffalo jam. A large herd of Bison were going to and fro from the road to the forest making it almost impossible to pass. The rangers closed the road at both end of the traffic jam and tried to regulate traffic but the Bison weren’t buffaloowed by the Rangers maneuvers. When the beasts finally go to open pasture miles from when they started the jam, traffic started to get by. I was in the front group of cars. I can’t imagine how long the line up behind me was but based on the business of the hiway at any time it was huge. So today the circuit was the Norris Geyser Basin, the Artist Paint Pot geysers, including the bubbling mud pots and the steaming Beryl Spring and a quick peak at the Gibbon Falls. Very nice. Didn’t take a picture. By early evening I decided to leave the park via the west gate, along the Madison River where fly fisherman were standing in waders and numerous Elk were feeding. I went to Madison, an upscale western style resort with dozens of motels and souvenir shops. My main purpose was to see the Imax movie paying at the Grizzly Centre. Title Yellowstone. At least I didn’t have to take pictures while I admired the history and magnificence of the park. Imagine 40 minutes of beauty and no cameras clicking. Well worth the $8, plus $2 small popcorn. Drove 2 miles to a National Park campsite; $13 for night, but no tents allowed. A grizzly had done damage three weeks ago and was still in the area. I promised to sleep in the car and they let me stay. The Camp Host who was whizzing around with a crony in a golf cart directed me to a site and within minutes came for the fee. They joked about all the wires laying on the dash and dangling in my car. I shall provide the reader with list tomorrow of what it takes to be a mobile warrior. However, tonight quick hot supper and there goes another day.
Woke up to rain and snow. This is the first time for months. Weather has been sunny since I left Ontario in mid July. Didn’t bring any winter clothing with me, although I do have a business suit and plenty of nice causal and a good Misty mountain windbreaker. Today is going to be Old Faithful so should be light on the scenic descriptions so I shall fill some space with what I have brought with me and managed to squeeze into this compact Saturn for those thinking of making a road trip or seeking fame and fortune away from home.
Sat. Sept. 10, 2005 continued: Went back to Madison and started with a visit to the Museum set up in the former Union Pacific railway station. It was noteworthy that Yellowstone catered to a lot of wealth tourists in its early years brought in by four different railway companies. The tourist bought a package that included train, hotel and excursion prices. Travel in the park after about 1910 was by motorized vehicle. By 1930 a fleet of 240 White cabs holding about 15 people each took tourists into the park from Madison. I took a tour of the town in one of these busses and it included stops at the Madison Hotel and an original circa 1900’s store. The Madison Hotel dating back to the 1890’s, is now a youth hostel. It is two stories high and made of logs including each of the bedrooms, so as you can imagine it has a nice cozy, compact and rustic feel to it. I spoke to a guest from who was cycling across the USA on a Trek road bike, carrying about 87 pounds of gear. Keep in mind it is snowing up in the mountains. John looked very fit and tanned. If you would like some tips on this type of experience Email: johntomaska@yahoo.com. I it took a picture of John and his bike in his bedroom and this will be included with his permission if the photo journal of this trip. My tour of Madison included a visit to the Dining Hall that catered to the well heeled tourists. It is now a National Landmark site. Designed by Underwood, it fits perfectly into its surroundings. Made of huge logs and supported by rock columns on the outside it is impressive. The timbered roof trusses visible on the inside are awesome. The fire hearth opening was about 40 foot high. Photographs of guests being wined and dined adorn the walls taking one back to an era of class and privilege.
Back into Yellowstone Park proper. I visited all the Geyser Basins and Thermal areas and marveled at the variety of active volcanic eruptions still going on: cone geysers, mud pots, fumaroles and hot pools. I had missed the opportunity to swim in one of two accessible and permitted place in the park. The first is near the North entrance on the 45 parallel. Apparently a warm spot at any time. The second place is on the Fire hole River. This river is fed by numerous thermal strings. The swimming hole was in a beautiful setting in a gorge, a small cave and a small whirlpool. Needless to say I was the only swimmer. I stripped down behind some rocks, set the camera on automatic timer and had ten seconds before the shutter clicked. No time to check water and conditions. The water was surprisingly cold! I stayed in about ten minutes swimming up against the current into the gorge opening and then letting the whirlpool effect carry me back to main river. Good workout. Fishermen were fly fishing downstream and I wondered whether about taking up more comforting pursuits.
And finally Old Faithful. The time of the next eruption predicted at 6.05 an hour away left me time to admire the rustic Hotel that sits beside it. This structure was multi storied but again in logs and stone. Next door was the even more magnificent Old Faithful Inn. Even though it is being restored certain sections were open for residence and dining. I marveled at staircases made entirely of stripped and polished tree trunks, and enormous wooden furniture. The open concept interior with its huge fireplace chimney adorned with an ancient clock made the lobby a grand place to walk through. The building is many stories high and the unfinished timber and hewn rock construction were awesome. Right on time Old Faithful erupted. 6.05 PM. Crowds of watchers sat on benches provided for the occasion. The plumes shot about 130 feet into the air, a little less than the record of 180. The whole event took about ten minutes. I was anxious to get going because I was going on a side excursion view the East Gate and the highway closes at 8 PM. A beautiful drive round Yellowstone Lake and through the Pass back to Cody. Just made it through the gates by 8 PM. Stunning scenery through the canyon, what else? I thought it a little less impressive that the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.
Camping gear – to be honest I prefer motels, but of necessity and the need to experience the great outdoors:
2 person Coleman Pop up tent . Coleman blow up mattress and a hiking self inflatable mattress. Sleeping bag good for 30F (currently pushing the limits).
Coleman mini stove, two mini propane tanks. One enamel plate, cup and bowl, a knife fork and spoon and a can opener. A one liter hot water heater that plugs into the cigar lighter. Good for making tea, porridge and rice.
A Coleman portable fridge/cooler that plugs into the cigar lighter. Keeps food moderately cool about 50 degrees less than the ambient outside temperature. However, can only leave the Cooler plugged in for four hours before it runs that battery flat so I have to unplug it through the night. And because it is not permitted to leave any food unlocked at the campsite site because of bears I lose the advantage of the cooler weather. So, I have switched to powdered milk and buy smaller portions of vegetables and fruit.
A plastic box with a few canned foods and room to store stove etc.
A one gallon water jug and two one liter bottles which are filled at the campsite each day or at rest stops. Paper towel, dishcloths and dish soap and pot scrubber.
A big flashlight and two small ones. Lots of windproof Matches and Bic lighters.
A cosmetic bag with three of everything.
Electronics and office equip.
Two inverters to keep all the electronics fully charged while I am driving. I do have to keep changing the plugs as the inverter only has two 110Volt outlets.
Two laptops. One IBM Thinkpad T42 and sub notebook Apple 2400 C.
One wireless Pointer for the laptop for making PowerPoint presentations
A mini hard drive back up for the computer.
A Palm Pilot and a paper address/phone book – I still don’t trust electronics or hard drives.
My Dyna-form Day Planner which I use every day and supply of back up forms.
One tape recorder on which I listen to and then discard dozens of self development tapes accumulated over the past 20 years.
One HP 500 Printer, Scanner, Copier. One 3 mini draw filing cabinet full of office supplies.
2 briefcases full of current project files and legal files. One briefcase of software including burned CD copies of important files and 8 years of my diaries of around the 1960’s and a few treasured pictures. (Total 3 briefcases)
A Cardscan business card reader that lets me copy cards directly into the laptop.
One 110 volt rechargeable battery charger that plugs into the inverter. A pen scanner that lets me transfer to type into the computer. A Telephone headset, A T100 Ethernet adaptor and numerous adaptors for internet and other electrical outlets. A VOIP phone that plugs into the laptop USB port for making long distance calls.
Other.
A small back pack for hiking. A large back pack for laptop and general use. Inflater for mattress-cigar lighter
A tool kit for car repairs. Two instant inflatable tire repair cans.
A small library of current reading :
David Allen, The Art of Getting Things Done.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Statistics. Sunny Baker, Ph.D
Intellectual Captital, Thomas Stewart
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser
Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt
The Power of Gold, Peter Bernstein.
Test your IQ. Alfred Munzert, Ph.D
End of inventory.
Friday Sept. 9, 2005
Asleep at ten, up at 7.30. Mountain air good nightcap and the L Tryptofan in the Buffalo Burger. Splendid views. Could see the caps of Mammoth Hot Springs in the distance. Breakfast: hot porridge, Bagels and two fried eggs – using Olive Oil to cook, and a steaming mug of hot tea and I am set for the day. Rinsed myself and the dishes in a stream running by the campsite, tidied up the car on I am on my way. It’s a good life if you don’t look at your credit card balances.
Had an enquiry by Email of a couple would like to rent the cottage for Thanksgiving (Canadian). Memories of years past, when the ‘movie group” used to gather at the cottage for Thanksgiving, (one of the few times of the year I didn’t rent it out) flood back. The pictures are still in the Community section of the web site. Debbie has invited the group to her place in Brockville this year, but some are going to Kate’s place in Milwaukee. So traditions get nudged aside or remorph. I have no idea where I will in five or six weeks, but that’s part of this mission to explore inner and outer hemispheres. Musing aside. Back to Yellowstone to try my new Bushnell 10x50 Falcon Binoculars. It felt somewhat extravagant and redundant to buy them. I hadn’t seen any serious animals yet and having binoculars is just going to bring nothing closer. Than had given me a superb pair to keep at the cottage and I regrettably left them there.
Friday continued. Went back into Gardiner. Sent this Blog using the computer in the Café/Bookstore. 15 cents a minute. Total cost, by the time I had checked two days of 137 Emails, $3. The Spam filter on my ISP seemed to have stretched, so I called Magma (a Primus company), my provider and they switched me to a Level Two. I wrote the Blog on my laptop and put it onto a floppy A disc and then transferred it to the café computer. Another $1. I have to read the Wireless feature help section of the laptop and try and get my settings stabilized. Met Matthew and Anna who are backpacking. We chatted abut the time management challenges of being a stockbroker (Matthew) and Anna’s home country, Spain. Nice couple. Visited the local library which shares the same small cabin as the Sheriff’s Office. An effort to reduce overdue books no doubt. I admired the design of the large stone block archway that is the northern entrance to Yellowstone. I didn’t take a picture, I am pictured out. After two days of Yellowstone the behaviour of the non native species is as follows. Study map book or guide book. Drive to location. Jump out of car and take a picture or two, or walk the few hundred steps to the location and do same. Walk the prescribed route, read the blurbs take a few more pictures and leave site and move onto next destination. It’s a circuit and driven by the need to not miss critical stops depending on one’s bent. Now I haven’t quite figured what is wrong with this modus operandi but it leaving me feeling cold. The not being permitted to leave the prescribed path makes sense because one could easily be burned by steam from the geysers or splashed by molten mud, or get lost or savaged, but nevertheless I had developed a sense of claustrophobia in this immense 100,00 square mile wilderness. Even when I hiked to the top of Mount Washburn every shortcut up the hill had official (steel) signs pinned to logs ‘saying stay on path’. Having had one run in with the Ranger the previous day I had no wish to learn what the consequence of disregarding directives would be. Thank goodness the animals aren’t trained to conform. Hooray an unscripted moment. I and hundreds, maybe thousands, got stuck in a Buffalo jam. A large herd of Bison were going to and fro from the road to the forest making it almost impossible to pass. The rangers closed the road at both end of the traffic jam and tried to regulate traffic but the Bison weren’t buffaloowed by the Rangers maneuvers. When the beasts finally go to open pasture miles from when they started the jam, traffic started to get by. I was in the front group of cars. I can’t imagine how long the line up behind me was but based on the business of the hiway at any time it was huge. So today the circuit was the Norris Geyser Basin, the Artist Paint Pot geysers, including the bubbling mud pots and the steaming Beryl Spring and a quick peak at the Gibbon Falls. Very nice. Didn’t take a picture. By early evening I decided to leave the park via the west gate, along the Madison River where fly fisherman were standing in waders and numerous Elk were feeding. I went to Madison, an upscale western style resort with dozens of motels and souvenir shops. My main purpose was to see the Imax movie paying at the Grizzly Centre. Title Yellowstone. At least I didn’t have to take pictures while I admired the history and magnificence of the park. Imagine 40 minutes of beauty and no cameras clicking. Well worth the $8, plus $2 small popcorn. Drove 2 miles to a National Park campsite; $13 for night, but no tents allowed. A grizzly had done damage three weeks ago and was still in the area. I promised to sleep in the car and they let me stay. The Camp Host who was whizzing around with a crony in a golf cart directed me to a site and within minutes came for the fee. They joked about all the wires laying on the dash and dangling in my car. I shall provide the reader with list tomorrow of what it takes to be a mobile warrior. However, tonight quick hot supper and there goes another day.
posted by Fred Pentney | 3:09 PM
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