Yellowstone N.P. Part 1

Well, we've been busy lately. I started my new job at St. Patrick's Hospital doing what I was meant to do all along but got a way from: taking care of people. I'm really enjoying the work and the hospital. I think it's going to be a good long term place to work.

Heading into the Memorial Weekend we asked our selves: Should we go to Yellowstone? adn we decided a resounding YES. The west entrance is only about 4 hours away. We left on Friday afternoon and stopped to camp for the night about 30-45 minutes outside of the park on Hwy 191 in the Gallatin River Valley. It is a narrow valley/canyon and it was cool/cold when we camped there. The little bit of water left in our supper dished has iced over by morning. It was a very nice campground right on the river. We stayed in a 3 person backpacking tent that Erik has had for some time but never let me in on the secret....it's like the Taj Mahal! (that is whenyou're used to a small 2 -person backpacking tent!) Here's some pics:

Our Tent Set up near the river

View of river from campsite:

Pumping water in the morning: The next day we headed into Yellowstone. We saw lots of animals and geysers and great sights. (pics and details will be in following parts). In Yellowstone we stayed in a very nice campground near Yellowstone Lake. We were right by a meadow and buffalo, deer and hawks would show up. Here's a picture of that campsite:

Well, That's it for today. Check in tomorrow for Part two: Yellowstone Animals big and small.

Cash prizes for Weeds? and other tidbits....

Well we've had some wonderful weather here of late. Pretty warm, 70's and 80's and sunny. Although we could use some rain, not as bad as Northern MN need it though! Well, we're plugging along here. I started my new nursing job this past Monday, May 14th. No more work free weeks for me! It seems like a very good place to work. I'll be working my first night shift tonight. Hope I don't fall asleep! Actually it's pretty easy to stay awake when you have people to take care of. Tonight I'll probably be shadowing my preceptor and going over all the learning modules they have for us. I'm planning on taking a nap this afternoon.

I am enjoying watching all the different birds that we have in our backyard. I haven't gotten any pictures yet but I'm trying. We have robins, house finches, Red Shafted Northern Flickers (type of woodpecker), Black Thoated hummingbirds, chickidees and many more that I haven't figured out yet what they are. They sing all morning and all evening.

What about those gas prices!?? Well, I'm happy to say that there is a wonderful bus system and bike routes here in Missoula. We have not bought gas for our cars in almost two weeks! That's pretty awesome considereing we're hitting $3.20's gallon right now. (That's better than Seattle where Erik's sister reports $3.60!)

So you're wondering about the title of the blog. On May 5th I saw an advertisement to help with the Mount Jumbo weed pull. They would be prizes and fun for everyone. So since Mount Jumbo is one of the areas where we like to hike and it's in our new neighborhood I told Erik about it. We agreed that it would something to do to help out the community and meet some people. So we show up at 10am on Sat morning and we're the first volunteers there. So the organizers (there are lots of them) tell us we should put in for the cash prize portion (pay $5 each). So we did and then went up the Mount to the weed pulling spot and started on pulling lots of knapweed. After about an hour we hiked to the top to get the extra credit stamp. We enjoyed the gorgeous views. Then we went back to our spot and pulled some more. Finally it was over at 1pm and we had to bring down our own bags of weeds and have the weighed. Here is Erik with on of the bags. (missoula is in background) It was a slow hike down as we had to keep stopping and adjusting our hands on the bags. We got our bags weighed (seperately) and then listened to a great bluegrass band while we awaited the results. They announced the winners of all the categories and the got to the money catagory and named Erik as the big winner pulling about 40lbs of knapweed! And they gave him $300 for his efforts!!!! Not bad for 3 hrs of pulling weeds! He still hasn't given me my finders fee yet ;-) but we are buying a new backpacking tent so that's pretty cool! So if you need any weed pulled you know who to call! Here's one look at a native flower the shooting star. At least there are still some of these out there.

Dung Butterflies?

The weekend of April 27-29 we went to Fairmont Hot Springs http://www.fairmontmontana.com/ near Butte, MT for Morrison and Maierle's Annual Stockholder/employee meeting. We hung out with some of Erik's new co-workers and Erik attended meetings. The Hot Springs consisted of two LARGE pools and hot tubs that are heated by the Hot Springs, they actually cool the water so people can swim in it. (that's where I tried the recipe mentioned in the previous post. ) On the way home we chose to take the Pintler loop http://travel.mt.gov/categories/moreinfo.asp?IDRRecordID=11543&siteid=1 It's a gorgeous drive. Along the way we decided to stop and hike a little bit. So we stopped on the road to Skalkaho Pass (which is still closed for the "winter") and tried to take a hike well back in the wilderness area. We were stymied by the snow and fallen trees they have not clear yet because the hikes are still closed due to the snow! (Sunburned and hot one day, snow the next! ) But we stopped the car and got out to hike along the road. It only had snow in patches so it was fine to hike along.

We got to the trailhead and realized there was too much snow to actually hike on the trails so we returned to the car. Along the way we saw many butterflies and new plants blooming. We also saw a winters worth of scat along the road. Then we noticed that the butterflies (or possibly moths) seemed especially interested in the scat! Ugh!!

After the hike we stopped in Phillipburg and quaint old mining town where you can buy gravel and search for sapphires in it or go to the best Sweet shop in the area. From there we took a little bit different scenic drive into the Lolo National Forest and some dirt roads. It was amazing!
Again, another great day in Montana! That's all for now.

Recipe for OUCH!

Do NOT attempt this recipe unless you wish to endure pain!

1 white Minnesota naive woman

1 gloriously sunny day

4000-5000 ft altitude

Bake for one to one and a half hour in the sun WITHOUT sunscreen.

Result:

Moral: Even if the area around you seems flat you may still be at "high" altitude! Beware!