Fall Friends

Sacha and I have now lived in Bozeman for nearly a month. We are finally starting to feel settled. We rent a room on the west side of Bozeman from Sacha's friends. We have had a slow start due to Sacha's case of tonsillitis. We can see the Bridger Range out of our window and ponder the many adventures to come.
Early last week we met up with one of our many roommates from last summer, Leo. We had planned to hike to Osprey Falls in the north western part of Yellowstone. When we showed up Leo told us we would be hiking up the back way, right from the ycc camp. It was beautiful, fall is slowly sliding into winter. We could tell we had just missed the fall colors, berries and migrating birds. There was snow atop the surrounding mountains and crisp frost on the ground as we started at 10am. We had a lovely blue bird day and comfortable hiking temperatures. When we got to the falls there was still plenty of water to make them impressive. The water dancing in the low fall sun gave the impression of having fairies fly around us as we ate lunch.
We seem to be in a holding pattern now, making the most out of our time in town. We are not sure what the future will bring. Sacha has applied to so many jobs, I can't keep them all straight. I think we are both hoping she will get a good one, though not complaining about all the free time we have in this lovely weather in a town with so much to do.

Fall is here

Fall has settled onto the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and for us that means it's time to move. As the days grow shorter and nights get colder less and less people are visiting the park. Sacha's contact is up and we left just as the boards were going up over the windows of the seasonal apartments.
We had an amazing summer, we hiked in Yellowstone more than ever before. Sacha also seemed to truly enjoy her job. She did end up the season with a case of tonsillitis. She at first thought a summer of hiking had finally just caught up to her. When we finally got up to Bozeman all she did was sleep. Finally I convinced her to go see a doctor and infected tonsils were the culprit. She had been so sore that she could barely walk. Needless to say she has spent most of our first week in Bozeman in bed. She is starting to perk up a little and I think I have convinced her to venture out to raptor fest tomorrow. We shall see. For now we are content to have a roof over our heads and to see what the future brings us. Hopefully next summer will find us back in Yellowstone!

Fall is in the air

Summer has come to and end here in Yellowstone and we are on to cool nights and warm days. Fall in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is one of our four favorite seasons. As the light shifts days take on a lazy feel. The busy days of summer are over. We hiked to the summit of Observation Peak this last weekend and even more than usual had the trail to ourselves. Amazing fall color was all around us. The grass is golden and the geranium leaves and fireweed are brilliant burnt red. We even got to see some of my cousins, two swans were finding all sorts of good food at cascade lake. Sacha and I are all booked up for the season now. With only three weeks left in Yellowstone we have a patrol cabin booked for each one!

The Bechler, the Bechler

Today, after many years, Sacha and I made it to the Bechler region of Yellowstone. It surpassed our expectations. The place we hiked to was called Terraced Falls. The area we hiked through was rightly named cascade acres. Every quarter of a mile or so brought us to yet another cascade. We had just about every type of weather from sun to thunder to hail. We weren't too worried about the weather though, because we also found plenty of huckleberries and cranberries along the way. The Bechler hasn't seen the last of us!

Where do we begin?

Well, if you are Sacha or I, you begin by hiking the divide trail with your neighbor Nina. Next you would go out for lunch at the Old Faithful Inn. After that you would drive up to Big Sky to retrieve a picture you left on the wall at your old condo and pay one last bill. You would then continue on to Bozeman for errands then drinks with your friends Jen, Audra and Dawn. That would round out day one of your weekend.
On Saturday we proceeded to finish more errands including getting Sacha a much needed haircut. Sacha also decided to buy a "new" bike at salvation army, we'll see how that goes, she plans to fix it up into an awesome cruiser. We then commenced driving to Helena for Sacha's friend Julie's wedding celebration. When Sacha stopped at Wheat Montana, she totally got called out, she bought a 10lb bag of whole wheat flour as a cover-up for the giant bear claw that was the real reason for our stop.
Sunday found us up at 5:45am to drive back to Yellowstone and grab some groceries on the way. Sacha had to go to work, I took a nap!

Just another day

I tagged along with Sacha and her new roommate while they ran errands today. We started off by heading down to Grand Teton NP. We did a short 2.2 mile hike to grand view point. Even though the girls had to wait in line to get the day hike handout, when we got to the trail we had it all to ourselves! You gotta love the GYE, everyone wants to come here, no one wants to get out of their car. We climbed up through bountiful wildflowers to an amazing view of two-ocean lake. Then it was on to Jackson for some groceries, as always a little overwhelming. Sacha did score a new purple day pack. I will be riding in style! We drive home in a light rain complete with rainbow once we got back to our park!

Riddle me this

Well we got in another amazing hike today. Sacha, Nina and I went out to riddle lake. It really is a bird paradise out there. Besides me there were lots of swans in the water and osprey in the sky. Sometimes I wish I could fly like those guys. We also saw grizzly bear prints and lots of wildflowers. What a life we live out here! I am glad I teamed up with Sacha, if we didn't have eachother, we would probably both still be in the city doing who knows what.
Sent from Sacha's Phone

LoneStar

Sacha has finally been convinced that my beak won't hurt the smart phone. So we are experimenting with posting our adventures from her phone. The first attempt didn't work so now we are trying by email. Hopefuly this will result in a more up to date blog.
Sent from Sacha's Phone

Moving (Again)

Well, we are at it again.  Sacha and I have crammed Sue Bea to the bursting point, lashed two bikes to the roof and are on our way.  We are going to be spending the summer in Yellowstone National Park.  Sacha has a job as an Interpretive Ranger at Grant Village.  This is actually the first place we ever stayed in Yellowstone so that is super exciting.  It is on the lake and it is close to Bruce's last known whereabouts.  May be I can at least dig up some information on what happened to him.  Alright, Sacha is telling me we have to go now, she has already been called by her supervisor and her friend Carrie wondering why she isn't down there already.