Specimen Ridge Hike

Slough Creek from Specimen RidgeYellowstone’s expanse of rolling hillsides and gentle meadows appear endless in most areas of the park, and today I gazed at miles of this sublime landscape. I ventured up Specimen Ridge, which overlooks Lamar Valley to the northeast, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone to the south.

The trail wanders through sub-alpine meadows, all a comforting shade of brown with the arrival of fall. Small patches of the bright yellow dress of aspen trees decorated distant ridges. A lone bison munched on the sparse fare, and raised his head to consider my presence. Not wanting to disturb him (nor get charged) I gave him a wide berth.

Wolves frequent this area, although I was not lucky enough to see any today. The territories of the Slough, Druid, and Agate packs all intersect near Specimen Ridge and recent entries on the trail register indicate sightings.

The name Specimen Ridge, according to Yellowstone Place Names, originates from prospectors, as the area was known for its specimens of amethysts. Amethyst Mountain, 9,614 feet, is the highest point on the ridge.

I made a quick video of the 360 views from the north end of Specimen Ridge.

Scenes from the Yellowstone Elk Rut

Elk #10 Outside My Office WindowGrowing up in New England, brightly colored leaves adorning the landscape meant fall had arrived. Here in Yellowstone, if I have to dash to my car after work in order to avoid being chased by an elk, I know summer has given way to autumn.

This is my first year in Yellowstone, and my first experience with the annual elk rut. I highly recommend visiting in late September in order to witness this spectacle. 

The bull elk rule Mammoth Hot Springs for a month, and I pity the poor park rangers on elk patrol who work tirelessly at keeping visitors from getting too close to a 700 pound male elk with 60 inch long antlers (yes, amazingly, people do try!).

From my office window, I hear the loud bugling of the bulls daily as they search for females or warn off other male competitors. It’s Yellowstone’s elk dating scene in full force. I’ve become acquainted with two bulls who frequent the area--#10 and #6. Number 10 often serenades me outside my window, and he finally found a lone cow girlfriend on Friday. He’s at a disadvantage in securing partners because Number #6 dominates the Mammoth area.

The Infamous Number 6

Number #6 has a reputation for aggressive behavior, and has charged cars and emerged the victor. This past week, he strolled around Mammoth one day with a broken vehicle tail-light hanging from his formidable antlers. Bulls usually drop their antlers in March or April, and will reach full growth 3-5 months later. A typical rack can weigh 30 pounds.

For a taste of the Yellowstone elk rut scene, here’s my new YouTube video:

Lewis & Clark Half Marathon

Beth Crosses the Finish LineYesterday I completed the Lewis & Clark Half Marathon in Bozeman—and I didn’t come in last! I’ve been training for the event with two of my co-workers—Sharon and Julia—who I had persuaded to join me in this crazy endeavor. Both had never run a half marathon before and I am happy to report they didn’t threaten to kill me after the race.

My dad also ran, while my mother and brother cheered us on. I am very proud of my dad for finishing—it’s one of the toughest marathon courses in the country, and at almost a mile above sea level. As my dad lives at sea level, and is 68, these were enormous disadvantages.

After this positive experience—I didn’t feel like I wanted to die as I did after running a full marathon—I think I’ll stick to 13.1 mile races (my dad and I ran the Falmouth Marathon in 2006).

Team Yellowstone Gorges on Pizza!Always being one to milk the benefits of my training, we gorged on Italian food the night before the event, then dined at McKenzie River Pizza in Bozeman post-race. I consumed an entire personal pizza!

Yellowstone Bears Versus Stephen Colbert, The Video

I’ve written about Stephen’s cowardly anti-bear campaign before in my blog—the bears at Yellowstone decided to put him on notice!

Grizzly bears and other animals, along with our national parks, face innumerable threats from climate change. To learn more or take action, visit www.greeningyellowstone.org

The Trek to Electric Peak

 Electric Peak in Winter From My HomeAt 6:00 am a group of seventeen intrepid hikers from the Yellowstone Association, Xanterra, and other park organizations gathered to meet for the day’s journey. Our mission was the summit of Electric Peak, the spectacular mountain that dominates the horizon of Gardiner, and the view from my home.

Normally the trek to Electric Peak involves a twenty-four mile round-trip hike, but for a few weeks each summer the USFS opens a dirt access road to the public, which shortens the journey to 14 miles.

Electric Peak BasinWe could not have picked a more perfect hiking day. Clear blue skies dominated, without even a hint of cumulus clouds—a break in the pattern of the last few weeks of consistent afternoon thunderstorms. Even the wind seemed to be resting as only a faint breeze blew at times.

  The approach from the north begins on the access road, and meanders through fire-scarred forests, wildflower covered hillsides, and an endless alpine meadow. Although a trail exists in some sections, much cross-country travel is required. The final push to the saddle involves walking on a precarious trail over loose scree, and then some fun scrambling up rock to the summit.

Trail to the Summit of Electric PeakElectric Peak, elevation 10,992 feet, (the sixth highest in the park) boasts some spectacular views. To the south the Grand Tetons are visible in the distance, while to the west Lone Peak and Sphinx Peak in the Madison Mountain range stand prominently on the horizon.

The peak’s distinct appearance is due to many geologic artists: formed from sedimentary rocks in the Cretaceous period, decorated by lava in the Eocene, and sculpted by glaciers during the last ice age. The mountain received its name when a member of the Hayden survey in 1872 was almost struck by lighting on the summit—you can read more about the story in another entry of my blog.

Given the distance required to reach Electric Peak, we think our group—along with four young Gardiner residents, and four park visitors who approached from the south—all hold the record for the most people on the summit at one time. After the hike, some of the group celebrated our accomplishment with beers and the delicious outdoor barbeque at the Two Bit Saloon and Raven Grill in Gardiner.

For more photos of the hike visit my photo gallery.

Team Electric

Wraith Falls

“Yellowstone Park is the realm of the water-nymph. It revels in rills, mountain brooks, rivers, and lakes. It leaps about the cataracts, disports itself in the rapids, flits through the veils of spray that gracefully sway hither and thither, and haunts the hundreds of cool trout streams that wind from sunlight to shadow, from canon to meadow. But it finds its chief delight in the waterfalls. And what wonder, when such cataracts, falls, and cascades are there. There is apparently no extended area in the park without them.” Olin Wheeler

Wraith Falls, YellowstoneThe above quote, describing with eloquent poetry the charms of Yellowstone’s water-filled landscape, originates from a surprising source: an 1897 Northern Pacific Railroad promotional pamphlet for the park.   The author of the foreword for the delightful book, The Guide to Yellowstone Waterfalls and Their Discovery, uses it to introduce the reader to the bountiful and magical world of Yellowstone’s waterfalls.

Until fairly recently, however, the park was thought to contain only 50 waterfalls. Lee Whittlesey, Paul Rubinstein, and Mike Stevens embarked on an ambitious seven-year research project to catalog the waterfalls in Yellowstone (detailed in the aforementioned book), which resulted in an addition of 240 unknown falls to the park’s official inventory.

I recently took the short hike to Wraith Falls (which technically isn’t a waterfall in the true definition of the word, but that takes nothing away from its charm). Near the end of Lupine Creek in northern Yellowstone, Wraith Falls gently cascades down rock for a hundred feet. Its name is thought to refer to a ghostly figure in the water witnessed by a USGS party in 1885.

After twenty years exploring in Yosemite, I had to first recover from my snobbery of considering waterfalls under 1,000 feet not worthy of consideration to appreciate the smaller heights of Yellowstone’s falls (just kidding!). Although I still miss the roar of Yosemite Falls as it rushes 2,425 feet down granite cliffs, the multitude of smaller waterfalls and cascades that abound in Yellowstone more than compensate. After all, words like “tallest,” “highest,” “first,” and “best” really have no place in the natural world. Everything we witness simply falls into the category of magnificent, regardless of its human-imposed ranking.

Video of Wraith Falls 

Andy the Pronghorn: The Movie

I recently bought a digital video camera and although my film making skills are atrocious, I've been having fun capturing the wildlife of Yellowstone in action. Below is my first attempt at movie making! The film stars, Andy, my pronghorn antelope friend who I have written about in this blog. 

Rainbow Peak

Rainbow on Shoulder of Mt. Everts My new nickname for Mount Everts is “Rainbow Peak.” After two recent thunderstorms, rainbows have decorated the shoulder of Mount Everts, bathing the hillsides in an ethereal light that resembles the mythologized landscape of an Albert Bierstadt painting. One of the appearances included a primary and secondary rainbow.

Remember the song we learned in grade school: “red, and yellow, and green, and gold....?” According to the book, The Rainbow Bridge, although we recognize discrete bands of color in the bow, the number of actually hues can be indefinite, with shades imperceptible to our sight hiding in between the bands.

Déjà vu—Fire In Yellowstone

 Le Hardy Fire from Fishing Bridge JunctionI arrived back in Yellowstone, eager to leave the memory of racing flames and charred hillsides behind in California, only to be greeted with another fire! 

A tree falling on a power line ignited what has been named the Le Hardy fire near Fishing Bridge in the Lake Yellowstone area of the park. Although some roads were briefly closed, and some backcountry areas remain inaccessible, this fire is not expected to be of the same magnitude of the 1988 event. A co-worker took this photo of the smoke plume from Fishing Bridge Junction.

One challenge fire fighters didn't experience in California--large predators. A firefighter in Yellowstone surprised a grizzly bear and received minor injuries from the frightened animal, who was trying to flee the flames. 

Moon Resting on Electric Peak

Moon Over Electric PeakThis evening about 8:00 pm, I glanced out my window to see the young crescent moon resting on the ridgeline of Electric Peak. In the race of the moon and earth, the moon trails behind the earth’s orbit in the first quarter, and the sun withholds the prize of most of its light.

A delightful volume, The Moon Book, lists Native American names for the full moons. This month when the moon reaches full, I’ll think of the Oto calling it, “All the Elk Call Moon,” or the Tlingit’s description of “Moon When All Kinds of Animals Prepare Their Dens.”

Telegraph Fire, Postscript

 Telegraph Fire SurvivorsFor my last night in Midpines my dear friends and neighbors, Tre and Susan, hosted a party for a group of shell-shocked Midpines residents who survived the fire. 

Our group of friends sat on the back deck of their home, which two days ago might have been lost, and consumed copious amounts of food and alcohol. Doug Chappell brought some fine selections of wine and port from his Mariposa vineyard (which was almost burnt as well). I contributed some sake, Susan cooked a delicious shrimp dinner, and Jen baked a tasty layered fruit cake. Jen and Louis, pictured, were featured on CNN as they evacuated!

We shared evacuation stories, laughed over what silly items we hurriedly collected before fleeing (mine was a dinosaur clay figure I had made in second grade), and raised our glasses in a toast to Fatty and Little G goldfish, casualties of the fire.

I arrived back in Yellowstone this evening, elated but exhausted. Andy, my pronghorn friend, greeted me in my front-yard.

Tre & Beth Celebrate

Homecoming

X Marks the SpotAt 6:30 pm this evening, we received word that we could return home. We loaded up the dogs, cats, goldfish, said a fond farewell to Charlie and Fen, and headed to Midpines. We arrived right in time for sunset, and I'll say one positive for the fire--it sure made for a colorful evening show. 

When we arrived at our house, the dogs ran blissfully through the yard, the cats were relieved to be freed from the confines of the laundry room, and the fish happily swam in their tank, a welcome upgrade from a plastic bin. I surveyed the property, and felt very lucky--the only sign of the fire was the dead plants and the light layer of ash.

Thank you to all my friends and family who kept sending us well wishes during our evacuation. You all helped make this ordeal a little less horrible. And my thanks to the wonderful firefighters for saving our home.

I'll be home with Shad and the Sunshine Hill Pack for the next two days, and then I'll return to Yellowstone--where I am told a small fire has been burning for a couple of days near Fishing Bridge!

Shad & The Dogs Arrive Home

 Doggie Excitement Cirrus on Front Deck

Patience is a Virtue

Shad drove to Midpines this morning to assess the situation. Crews are still securing the area around our home, and we probably won't be able to return until this evening. But since we are absolutely out of danger, one more day of lap swimming and Jamba Juice won't be hard to take! This whole experience has been a wild, scary ride and I am just thankful we all escaped relatively unscathed (except for poor Fatty and Little G). Some of our friends were not so fortunate as they had the terrible experience of seeing their homes reduced to ash and rubble. I will certainly never forget the terror and awe I felt at watching a smoke cloud explode to 40,000 feet in altitude and a wall of flames 100 feet high rushing toward our home.

Great News!

Today the fire has been 40% contained thanks to the dedication and hard work of the firefighters. Margaritas are flowing out of the blender and Fen is preparing a shrimp pasta with mushrooms for our celebration dinner. The sheriff has cleared some areas to allow homeowners to return--our home is about 500 feet from the safe zone but we think we'll be able to return in the morning. Charlie Medley was on the verge of evicting us for eating all of his cookies and raiding his liquor cabinet, so this is timely news. However, our pets will miss Charlie--Huxley liked crawling on his shoulders.

I extended my stay in California and will return to Yellowstone on Sunday.

Even a cynical person like me has to be cheered by the heartwarming story of animal rescue that the Fresno Bee featured on Getting Animals Out Alive from the Telegraph Fire. Jon Currie, a Mariposa resident, saved his neighbors five horses and a donkey, Digger, from the flames at the expense of his own home. As a big animal lover, Jon is a true hero in my book!

The Towering Inferno

We just received a call from a friend who informed us that the fire has flared up again on Rumley Mine Road--this road begins less than a half a mile from us. As you can imagine, the anxiety and frustration we're experiencing at being so helpless is unbelievable. We had hoped to be able to return home today, but this new development makes it seem unlikely, and has us fearing once again for the safety of our home.

On the plus side, I am overdosing on Jamba Juices and swimming multiple laps in a sunlit pool--two of my favorite things that I can't get in Yellowstone.

If you would like to check out the perimeter of our fire on google earth, visit the GeoMac site and select "View Fire Perimeter" for CA Telegraph Fire. YouTube also has a neat time lapse photo sequence of the satellite imagery of the fire. The smoke cloud, which we observed from our property, rose to over 40,000 feet into the atmosphere!

Home Sweet Home

We just received word from a very reliable source that our home has escaped being burnt--for now. Given the vast scope and unpredictable nature of this fire, we are still not totally out of danger, but this is very hopeful news. Shad attended the town meeting this evening and learned that over twenty homes have been lost.

Last Photo of Home Before Evacuation

Telegraph Fire, Day 4

This morning I drove to Mariposa/Midpines to view the situation. CHP patrols block every western road on Highway 140 from Mariposa to Midpines, and I stopped to speak with the officer stationed at Colorado. From the highway, everything appears normal, except for the dense haze of smoke. 

While I was stopped, my friends Hugh Carter and Steve Speltz pulled up to check on Hugh's home-it was great to see them. The rumor is Davis Road (our road) remains unaffected, although the main fire still burns less than 1/4 mile away (see map below). With the hot temperatures and afternoon winds, we certainly are not out of the woods yet as the fire is still about only 10% contained and we just learned it jumped to the eastern side of Highway 140, which means we are getting surrounded by the active burn area.

I also drove down to Briceburg, where the fire's work is visible from the road. Burma Grade Road, where I walked my dogs just two days ago, has been blackened and smoke still eerily rises in many places. As I stood and surveyed the desolate landscape, ash fell on me. The fire has increased to 26,000 acres--from just 1,000 when it began on Friday. Highway 140 to Yosemite just closed because of the fire spreading.

We're still staying at Camp Medley, and enjoying our luxury refugee accommodations. Shad has been assisting Charlie Medley with some home remodeling projects, while Charlie's girlfriend Fen has been cooking us gourmet meals. The dogs and I have been enjoying the pool--they accompany me as I do laps. If we are going to be homeless, we're going to do it in style!

Last night we lost another Sunshine Hill Pack member. Fatty the goldfish will be buried in a place of honor near our frog pond. Shad has sworn to avenge his death on the stupid target shooter who started this fire. Charlie and Shad completed "Operation Goldfish Rescue" last night and Big G and Jack appear to be doing well this morning.

Tonight Mariposa County is holding a community meeting on the fire and we should know more about our situation. My thanks to everyone for your emails and phone calls--who needs a home when we have such great family and friends.

Fire Update

We're still at Camp Medley, and Shad has driven back to Midpines to see if he can get further information. The Sunshine Hill Pack lost a valued member last night, Little G Goldfish, but everybody else is okay. We have heard rumors of some of our friends losing their homes, but the information is unconfirmed. We have no idea if our home has survived yet--I'll keep you all posted. 

The fire has tripled in size and has become quite serious. Keep us in your thoughts!

Midpines Telegraph Fire Update: We’ve Evacuated!

The fire quickly worsened this afternoon about 3:00 pm. Shad and I spent the early afternoon raking and cutting down branches. About 3:00 pm, we received notice that evacuation looked likely and be prepared to leave. We watched the flames fan into the sky only a couple of miles away. Shock, disbelief, awe all raced through me—it was like seeing a dragon approach.

We are safely camped out at the home of friend Jane Medley (the wife of my late boss and friend, Steve Medley) about twenty miles from the fire. The dogs are running around the backyard and swimming in her pool, the cats are locked in the bathroom, and the fish are swimming in a five-gallon bucket.

I’m still in shock, not quite able to process that I might lose my home, but I’m playing in the pool with the dogs trying to create some semblance of normalcy. Paul and Annette, our distant neighbors and close friends, are also staying at what we’ve dubbed Camp Medley.

Shad drove back to Mariposa to remain close to home. He is calling with regular updates.

Here’s a photo log of this afternoon.

Fire at 2:30 pm from our Midpines Home Fire at 3:30 pm Fire at 4:15 pm Sky Above Our Home  

Sky Above Our Home, Part 2      

Where There’s Smoke…California Wildfire Report from My Deck

My relaxing sojourn home, in which I envisioned I’d be sipping margaritas from my deck and working on my tan, has taken an interesting and dramatic turn. Yesterday, a wildfire ignited less than ten miles away, and my home has now been transformed into a fire tower. We have an excellent (and disturbing view) of the Telegraph Fire from the back deck as my house stands on the top of Sunshine Hill, which overlooks the Merced River Canyon.

Last night we arrived home at 2:30 am from our field trip to Fresno to see the new Batman movie (Heath Ledger’s creepy and mesmerizing performance was outstanding) to find a Mariposa county search and rescue vehicle in our driveway. The nice person who greeted us briefed us on our pre-evacuation status, reviewed how an evacuation would proceed, and noted we had 3 dogs, 2 cats and 4 fish.

After he left, Shad dusted the ash off his truck and we both felt a bit dazed at the prospect of an inferno engulfing our beloved home. Even at 3:00 am, we walked through the house, took an inventory of items for packing, and formulated a fish evacuation plan (5 gallon bucket with some rocks).

I have to admit to the absolute surreal nature of watching a DC10 fly directly over your house, at a low enough altitude to bend the tops of trees in its wake. I watched the plane this morning drop a few loads of flame retardant on the terrain surrounding the fire; the red substance billowing into the air as if the landscape had just coughed up a billion red flowers.

   

 

This afternoon, a fire crew from Kern County, who had traveled down for support, toured our property and gave us some very helpful tips for fire prevention. I’ll be raking pine needles in the 100+ degree heat this afternoon, while Shad will trim some trees. Overall, they pronounced our property in pretty good shape as far as fire prevention measures.

I took photographs of our home and contents for insurance purposes—a very disconcerting experience—but we know that we’ll be able to save what’s really important: the Sunshine Hill Pack of dogs, cats, and fish.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!