It Finally Sold!

The past couple of months have been pretty busy for me and Jean.  The holiday season is filled with things to do!  This particular Christmas we've been getting ready for Betty's house to sell.  We received an offer that we wanted to take on October 28.  Gardiner is a pretty small town, so we've been keeping a lid on it the best we can because people talk.

Glenn and Patty and have been living there for awhile as renters.  It's been really beneficial because they've been really great with the property and have taken good care of it.  Without people actually living there, a lot of problems could have come up that could have prevented the house from being sold.  At the point that we had to sell the house some hard feelings started coming to the surface toward us and our selling agent, which we're sorry about since Glenn and Patty have been great to have around.  Honestly it was expected because the house was selling around Christmas and Glenn and Patty, our neighbors, only had a month to find a place to live and move.  Gardiner is not the easiest place to find a place to live!  They've had a lot of stress this Christmas season, and I can appreciate that.

On the other hand, it's been stressful for Jean, Dad, and myself too!  As per part of our buy-sell agreement, we had to make a private road easement between Betty's house and our own.  I'd been busy with a lawyer trying to arrange that.  We had a little bit of stuff and one last car in Betty's garage which had to be immediately moved.  Dad and Bonnie came up to Gardiner a few days ago and we got that taken care of.  Since Betty and Grandma are both in a nursing home, all of their affairs had to be signed by their powers of attorney.  Grandma was unable to sign for Betty in her condition, so we had to have Betty's daughter-in-law help, but she's in Colorado, so it slowed the process down a bit.  We had to fumble through some paperwork from both the lawyer and the title company.  There were discrepancies that needed to be fixed, and strange questions which arose that needed to be answered.  At the last minute I found out that I needed to hire a professional cleaner according to the buy-sell agreement before the buyer moved in.  Such is the situation with a house being sold, isn't it!?

I have been more of the middle man in all of this.  I have had no power to sign any document--even a check--but I have been responsible for making sure that things happened.  Grandma certainly couldn't have done this all on her own even before her stroke.  Especially at the end, I found that people relied on me to communicate between parties and to ensure that contracts were enforced.

This past week felt like I was back in college and this was finals week.  So much had to be done in a very short amount of time!  At least I didn't have to do any all-nighters!  I have been here for the entire ordeal: Betty had to go into a nursing home in 2005; I and 5 other people went through the majority of her house for 2 months in 2006; Betty's house went on the market in 2008, and shortly afterward, she also had to go on Medicaid; she was put into hospice care in October, and now Betty's house finally closed on Friday, December 17.  Next month she will be paying her bill privately at the nursing home, and the lien that Medicaid put on the house has been satisfied.

I haven't seen Betty lately, but Dad and Bonnie seem to think that she's declined in the past month.  Jean doesn't think so.  Talking to Evergreen on Friday, I found out that Betty had a fall that day.  She doesn't appear to have hurt herself badly, and it seems that she tried to get out of her wheelchair by herself to walk.  Her falls are infrequent now, so that's some good news.  Evergreen has changed her diet to being pureed, which has also helped.  I'm not so sure that we're going to be able to get new bottom dentures for her based on what I'm hearing from Evergreen and the denturists.  In the meantime until dentures are plausible, we'll have to just settle for the pureed diet.  One of the ladies there commented that although she doesn't recognize anyone else, she does still recognize her sister because when they are in the cafeteria, Betty will often scoot herself in the wheelchair to a place next to Grandma.  Betty can't talk anymore, but she can answer yes-or-no questions.  In my opinion she's just existing.  I don't think she has long to live, but she's survived longer than I expected!

Medicaid has never been fun.  Medicaid is a state sponsored program in which people who don't have enough income can receive government help.  The nursing home here costs about $50,000 a year, and that eats into people's life savings really quickly.  Although Betty still partially owned her house, she didn't have enough money to pay for the nursing home.  Subsequently, I've had to jump through a lot of hoops so that she qualifies for Medicaid.  To put it simply, Medicaid is a huge bureaucracy that goes to extreme lengths to make sure they don't lose any money.  Even Betty's burial policy had to be signed again because Medicaid wanted to put limits on how it can be used.  Medicaid was a necessary evil in all of this mess, and I hope I never have to use it again, especially regarding Grandma being in the nursing home.  Nevertheless, it's better than nothing.

I'm so glad it's over!

Hunting Along the Miner Creek Trail

Yesterday, Trever and I went hunting for deer.  When I told Scott of our adventure, he said he was proud of me.  Honestly I'd rather shoot an animal with a camera than a gun, but I've never had any objection to hunting.  It's been about 15 years since I've actually done any hunting, so it's definitely been awhile.

We had kind of a day of misadventures.  It was already snowing, and my car wouldn't start.  After a quick jump start, we got a couple supplies and tried to get a license for Trever.  Unfortunately for him, I didn't realize that he needed hunter's safety because of his age, so he was unable to get a license.  I guess it didn't matter anyway because we never saw anything that we could take anyway.

Regardless, we drove to Tom Miner Basin and tried to get as close to the campground as we could.  I started realizing that if I went any farther, I would probably get stuck in the Blazer, so I tried backing up to where several cars were already parked and got stuck doing that.  We couldn't dig ourselves out and the tires just wanted to spin, so we asked someone there if he would pull us out with our chain, which he did.  Thanks, Jeff!

We started hiking up one trail and then we realized we were going up the wrong trail--we were on Sunlight Basin trail instead of the Miner trail.  We backtracked and then went on the right trail.  Things look a little different in the snow than in the summer.  We trekked through some snow on the trail but soon found that we were getting into deep snow.  We waited for about an hour at the edge of a clearing, but saw nothing.  Once we stopped moving, we started getting cold, and I was glad to get moving again.  I think the worst enemy to clothing in the winter is sweat and humidity.

When we got back to the car, a little cold from the waiting and the drop in temperature, the car wouldn't start.  Jeff was once again our savior with a quick jump.  The only thing I can figure is that my four-year-old battery may need to be replaced since this isn't normally the kind of problem I face.

Getting back to Gardiner was easy, and the only deer we saw was on our way home: a mule deer doe on private property, which we weren't allowed to harvest.

Once in Gardiner Trever realized that he didn't have a key to his apartment.  Once he got in, Trever and I parted ways and got into fresh clothes and had met again for some dinner at K-Bar.  Pizza really hit the spot.  Trever's a bit sore today.  From the digging I did yesterday my shoulder blade areas are a little sore, but I feel alright.  It's been awhile since I've hung out with any friends.  It was good to get out!

We might go out hunting again soon, we'll see since there's only another week left to hunt deer.

Even though things didn't turn out as we were hoping and planning, we still had a good time.  I was a little amused at all of the small disasters we had!

Dipper, My Birthday, and Other News

It's been about a month since I last wrote on this blog!  I really am not being lazy.  Honestly, not much has happened.

A month ago, Dipper died.  October 20, Jean and I couldn't get him inside that evening because he was struck on the highway.  Jean found Dipper, but didn't want me to see him.  She said that he basically died instantly.  I was really sad when it happened, and I'm going to miss him.  He was my favorite cat out of the three.  It was interesting that I just took some photos of him a day or so before when he had gotten into some iron oxide.  Now only Butterscotch and Lightning are left.  My mighty hunter is gone.

Dipper got into iron oxide somehow!

Lately, Lightning has been acting pretty strangely.  On Wednesday evening and Thursday morning we had a bad windstorm which blew in a snow storm.  Ever since then Lightning hasn't come out of Grandma's bedroom closet.  Yesterday I told Jean at work, "There was an old kitty that lived in a closet.  She had so many worries that she made a 'deposit.' "  Subsequently I moved one of the litter boxes next to the closet so that we wouldn't have this problem in the future.  I don't know what to think about Lightning.  Maybe I need a cat whisperer to figure out why she's so nervous.  Butterscotch doesn't bother her, and there isn't anyone there to do mean things to her.  She is an obsessive licker and has a bare belly with no fur.  Maybe this is related somehow.

This month I've been working a lot on family photos and genealogy.  I recently discovered some cousins on my paternal grandma's side of the family.  I only knew of one that was still living until Jean and I found a wedding invitation from 1952.  I'm in contact with her, and I've been collecting information from her side of the family.

I've seen a lot of photos lately.  We pulled out several portraits of people, one of which was my second great grandfather's wedding photo from 1892.  We're having it professionally digitally rendered since it's bigger than my scanner.  He's one of my favorite ancestors anyway, so I consider this a good investment.  The digital version should be ready by Wednesday, but I don't know if I'll be in Bozeman to get it then!

Tuesday, November 16 was my thirty-first birthday.   I got so many birthday wishes on Facebook!  I celebrated my birthday on Wednesday with Jean.  She and I are so close we're like a brother and sister; I never thought I'd be so close to her.  She took me out to Corino's in Bozeman and we watched a movie together.

By the way, I didn't like Skyline.  They had a good idea for a plot, but the movie never had a conclusion; it ended on a twist.  As well, I found the movie depressing.  I thought the movie was violent enough that it should have been rated R.  Oh well.

Also while we were in Bozeman we did some shopping, mostly related to family genealogy and archiving.  We want to preserve the special things in Grandma's house like photos.  We'll eventually transfer all these things to acid-free media.

We had a big snowstorm on Friday.  In one night we got about 12 inches of snow.  The next day it continued to snow, though we didn't see more than a couple inches Saturday.  Today was pretty clear, but last night it got really cold.  It was 4 degrees last night and warmed up to 21 today.  This is more snow than we got cumulatively last year!  In general we've had more precipitation this year than normal.

Hospice Care for Betty

On September 1, Jean and I went to a Care Conference for Betty and noticed that there were some significant changes in her.  She no longer recognized me, she favored her left side, and then she started having falls.

On October 13, I went to a Care Conference for Grandma at Evergreen.  Jean was out of town at a veterinary conference in Reno, Nevada and couldn't attend.  While I was at the Care Conference, the staff discussed with me their concern about Betty because she'd been making a rapid decline.  Most of this was because of her falls; she'd been having about two a week.  As a matter of fact, she just had one Oct. 21.  On one of her falls, she broke her bottom dentures.  I asked the resident social worker Roger if he thought that there would be any benefit to Betty's way of living if we got new dentures for her.  He didn't even hesitate to say no.  The staff has moved Betty to a new room where she can be better monitored, but that doesn't stop Betty from trying to get out of bed when she wakes up.  The staff recommended that I put her on hospice care.

To me this was not shocking news.  Having studied a bit about Alzheimer's Disease, I recognized that once she started falling, she would probably make a rapid decline and then pass away.  Alzheimer's patients can be obsessive walkers, which Betty is, and at some point, they forget how to walk.  The combination can become fatal.  It seemed that this was coming true for Betty.  Based on what Evergreen was telling me and how fast someone can decline, I guessed that she only had another month to live.

I tried to get an appointment with Betty's doctor because he wanted to talk to Jean and me about some test results on Betty, but I was unable to that day because it was Wednesday and neither the doctor nor his nurse were in.

Thursday, Oct. 14, I called both Hospice Care and Rocky Mountain Hospice.  Wow!  There is certainly a difference in the companies!  If anyone in the Livingston/Bozeman area wants a recommendation for a hospice company, I can easily recommend Rocky Moutain Hospice.  We set up a meeting at Evergreen that day and talked about Betty's care for an hour and a half and then I signed their paperwork.  We still needed Betty's doctor's orders to put Betty on hospice though.

I went back to Park Clinic and tried to make an appointment to see Betty's doctor.  I had two errands now: Betty's test results and hospice care.  His nurse, told me that he was "booked for the rest of the day and can't see you, and he's going out of town tomorrow and won't be back until next Thursday.  Is that too late?"  That was just about the stupidest question I had heard.

"I don't know," I replied, "Betty's going into hospice.  When is too late?"  Nothing was accomplished by talking to that nurse.

Rocky Mountain Hospice went to bat for me and found out that Betty's doctor was actually going to be back in town before he was actually supposed to be at work, so they were able to get the ball rolling.  Betty was officially on hospice October 20, six days after we tried to get this done.  Thank you Rocky Mountain Hospice!

Yesterday, October 21, Jean got a call at 2:30 pm asking us where we were because we were late for an appointment with Betty's doctor.  I kid you not:  I flew off the handle, especially at the Park Clinic employees, because Jean and I knew nothing about this appointment with her doctor, for which we would have gone to had we known about it.  For real!  I tried twice last week to make an appointment, in person!  (Living in Gardiner means that we need to know at least an hour before an appointment so that we can drive to Livingston.)

I did get to talk to Betty's doctor, and explain all the road blocks I had been having trying to get in touch with him concerning both Betty's test results and hospice care.  Her doctor is a good one, and he's always tried to help us out when he could, but I recently kept having obstacles in arranging an appointment to meet with him, and this was really the third strike.

Betty's test results showed that she had scarring in an aortic artery.  That may or may not have any affect on her falling.

Also, tests were done on her vocal cords because she doesn't talk anymore.  The doctor doesn't believe that the paralysis of her vocal cords is because of Alzheimer's; he believes there may be a tumor or other malady near her throat.  All her life she's had thyroid problems, and I consider that this could be a result of that.  The doctor doesn't believe that treating it would be in Betty's best interest, and I agree; one of the reasons I wanted to put Betty into hospice is because of problems that we can't fix without life-threatening solutions.

The doctor agreed to sign the orders for hospice because of our wishes, but doesn't necessarily believe that Betty is terminally ill.  On the other hand, the nurse who did an exam of Betty for Rocky Mountain did believe that she qualified.  Evergreen staff and Betty's social worker at Evergreen recommended hospice.  I see Betty's rapid decline myself and know it's a really bad sign.

I hope that Betty gets better with the extra comfort-level attention that hospice can provide.  Maybe she'll get out of this scenario.  But if she does, I don't think she will live very long anyway because of the possible tumor and because after losing the ability to walk, Alzheimer's patients lose the ability to swallow.

I haven't been too close to Betty myself, so I hope I don't sound heartless in writing so dispassionately about her circumstances.  Her decline is sad, but it doesn't affect me very personally.

My biggest goal in her care at the moment is making sure her immediate needs are taken care of.  I think it's especially important now because of the possibility that she will soon die.  Montanans want to die with dignity; it's even written in our constitution.  I won't deny her that.

The Bear's Tooth

September 29 Jean and I decided to drive along Beartooth Pass.  She had been dealing with pressures from her work, and we hadn't done something together since we went to the Montana Fair in August.

We drove in a loop, starting in Gardiner, then going to Mammoth, Cooke City, Red Lodge, Laurel, Livingston, and then back to Gardiner.  It was definitely an all-day trek since we wanted to take pictures and enjoy the day as much as we could.  I'm not complaining about my work schedule, but my night shift obviously keeps me up all night so we had to hoof it a little bit because sunset is now around 7 pm.  I get up late in the morning or early in the afternoon, so I had to get up "early."

We enjoyed viewing the bridge on US Highway 212 at Lake Creek.  There is also a waterfall there for those who are willing to walk one or two hundred feet.  From there we made a couple stops near Beartooth Butte.  We could easily see the fire watch tower on Clay Butte.  There is still some construction at Beartooth Lake, but it's limited.  We hardly had to wait at all.  From there we drove to the top, about 11,000 feet above sea level.  I noticed that the sign that used to say that we were at the 11,000 mark is painted over.

Beartooth Lake

Near the top we could clearly see Quintuple Peaks, also known as the Bear's Tooth.  I am truly a geek because I have the USGS data for Montana and Wyoming on my computer.  Apparently, even though the sign says The Bear's Tooth, that is actually not the mountain's name.  In fact, the official name is Quintuple Peaks.  It certainly is a geologic quandary.

It's me!  I'm in front of Quintuple Peaks on the Montana and Wyoming border.

Probably Jean's favorite spot was at Twin Lakes.  There are so many lakes in that basin, but only the two lakes are named.  The basin isn't named, and neither is the ridge on the edge of the basin.  I am absolutely amazed at the lack of identification for a place which is so popular and beautiful.

Twin Lakes; Hellroaring Plateau is in the background.

On the Montana side of the pass, we stopped at a roadside park.  There were several least chipmunks in the area, and they looked to be well fed.  We took some pictures of them for a little while and then walked on the short trail to the edge of a cliff.  From that vantage point we were able to see a good portion of Rock Creek Canyon.  There was a little bit of smoke in the air from the Antelope Fire in Yellowstone National Park, and it gave the mountains extra character.

Autumn Blaze

Once we reached Red Lodge, we saw a red fox on Shadow Lane.  It must have had fleas or something because it was constantly itching itself.  It was nearing some people's chickens, but didn't actually pay a lot of attention to the chickens.  I think the fox was more worried about my presence than anything else.

Jean and I ate dinner in Red Lodge at Bogart's.  It's a good Mexican restaurant that we can both recommend for anyone traveling in the area.

From there, we drove to Laurel and got some gas, and then headed back home along Interstate 90.  We had a really great time.  The last time I went on Beartooth Pass was with my ex-girlfriend back in 2007.  Jean hadn't been there since she was a child.  It was about time that we saw it again.  We really had a great time, and we got the relaxation that we needed.

The Gardiner Bruins Isn't Just a Team...

I know I still have to write about Jean's and my trip on Beartooth Pass last week, but before I do, I wanted to tell you about a newspaper story that occurred near my home.

Coop-raiding grizzlies back in Yellowstone

BOZEMAN (AP) -- Three grizzly bears that raided chicken coops near Gardiner have been relocated into Yellowstone National Park, but a male bear that had been hanging out near the school in West Yellowstone was not so fortunate....

Also Tuesday, FWP [Fish, Wildlife and Parks] officials captured a female grizzly and two cubs that raided two separate chicken coops in the Gardiner area.

The sow was in fair condition and the cubs were thin and biologists are uncertain if they will survive the winter.

Yes, the sow and two cubs killed about 14 chickens across the road from me about a quarter-mile away.  When I went to work, I saw the bear cage in their yard, but I couldn't see the grizzly if it was there.  I was sorry to hear about the chickens.  I saw them on a regular basis on my way to Gardiner.

It's kind of interesting when the news reports something that's close to you.

I've been having a grizzly boar in my yard lately, and he's messed up a couple trees.

Also one of our neighbors' cats is missing.  I still haven't seen that cat, and I hope that Puff hasn't turned into a grizzly snack.

The End of Summer

It seems like it is the end of summer now.  This summer was way too short.

August 18-19 Jean and I went to the Montana State Fair in Billings, Montana.  We had a lot of fun.  We stayed at the Days Inn near King Avenue West.  Yeah, I guess I'm a traitor to Super 8, but they had some front desk problems that day, so I stayed somewhere else.  That first evening Jean and I had dinner at Red Lobster.  We hadn't eaten at that restaurant in a really long time, and we both considered it to be a treat.  The next day we went to Best Buy and looked around at all the neat electronics.  What can I say?  I'm easily entertained.  The Best Buy in Billings is closest to Gardiner, and that's about two and a half hours away from us.

Afterward, we finally went to the Montana State Fair.  Jean and I went to see most of the exhibits and animals while we were waiting for Tim, Zana, Kassie, and Jared to arrive.  Unfortunately we didn't see any pigs/hogs or horses.  Also, we got to see how extensively damaged the MetraPark really was from the tornado they recently had.  According to some newspaper reports, it will cost $15 million to repair.

Once the rest arrived, I went on several rides with Jared while Zana took Kassie and Jean got to catch up with her brother Tim.  Jared had a really good time, and even went on the Zipper.  It was funny because he almost puked on that one, but he didn't have any problem with any of the rides that went from side to side.  I guess it was just stuff that made him go forward and backward.  Watch Jared as he does this ride--it's funny:

So after we had all sorts of fun, Jean and I drove back to Gardiner.

Since then Jean and I have been working on the house.  Jean has been doing a lot of housecleaning, going through closets, boxes, and various things that have been in Grandma's house forever.  Myself, I've been helping by going through some of the paperwork.  It's interesting to find things that are so old.  Much of it I am preparing to put in my family tree that I have built.

Dad and Bonnie came over to the house for a short visit on August 28, the day before Dad's birthday.  Dad's continuing to work on another book.  His first book is in the publishing phase.  We had dinner together at Rosie's.  Rosie's is a good place for us to eat because Dad hates cheese and Bonnie doesn't like seafood.  Rosie's offers Italian and steaks, so both of them can find things on the menu that they like.

September 1 Jean and I went to Bozeman to do some shopping, hauling, and watch a movie.  Jean couldn't remember the last time that she had been to a movie, and I knew that the last movie I watched in a theater was Clash of the Titans back in April, the day before I went on my vacation to the Bahamas.  We watched Takers since there wasn't a movie that we both really had to see.

This month we've been seeing a lot of bears in the area.  We have a grizzly boar around our house.  Jean and I witnessed him trying to cross the Yellowstone toward our side of the river.  There were a lot of tourists who were trying to get as close as they could so that they could take pictures.  Fortunately for the idiots, the bear changed his mind halfway across the river and doubled back.  These people just didn't realize how unpredictable a grizzly bear is and that they are the safest in their cars when a grizzly is that close.

A black bear sow and her two cubs have been frequenting the trash cans in Gardiner.  One day the mother even put her nose against our glass door at Super 8!  Black bears aren't as scary as grizzlies in my opinion just because they are scavenger bears.  Idiots were still getting way to close on purpose but no one was hurt; black bears are usually docile anyway.  However, I was working one day at Super 8 about 5:00 a.m. when Roger, our maintenance man, came to the lobby to get some morning coffee.  He left and then came back in a couple minutes later a bit shaken.  He said that he had walked outside with his coffee and then saw that the bear was right in front of him!  By that time the doors on the hotel had already closed so they were locked again.  He dropped his coffee and the bear and he ran away from each other in opposite directions.  I thought it was funny, but I'm glad it didn't happen to me!

My cousin Jared recently had an accident which we just found out about last week.  Some kid threw a rock at him; the rock hit Jared on his left cheek.  The wound turned into an abscess and doctor had to do surgery on Jared.  He's healing up pretty well, but still I think that charges should be brought against the other child for assault just to show the boy how serious rock-throwing is, since the parents obviously aren't teaching him.  Zana showed the mother of the culprit a picture of the wound and what Jared's cheek looked like after the surgery and the culprit's mother almost vomited.  I thought it served her right for being a bad mom.  I saw the pictures too, but my reaction was more of shock than anything else; I've seen bad wounds before.

Grandma and Betty are doing alright, though Betty's health is decreasing.  She's having frequent falls.  As a dementia patient, I wouldn't be at all surprised if she does eventually pass away as a result of falling (direct or indirect).  Alzheimer's patients tend to be obsessive walkers, but they also suffer from gait problems.  The combination can sometimes be fatal.  I certainly hope that isn't the case, but Jean and I are prepared for that possibility.  The nursing home wants to do a CAT scan on Betty to help determine the reason that she's not vocal at all.  They think that she has partial paralysis, but again, she has dementia.  Sometimes dementia patients just forget how to make sounds.  The last time Jean and I saw Betty, she didn't recognize either of us; that is a bit unusual.  She typically thinks that I am my father, and sometimes she recognizes Jean.  We also noticed that she favored her left side as if she's had a stroke.  Don't misunderstand me; I don't think she's had a stroke, but I think there's a possibility that she's had mini-strokes or that her frequent falls have affected her in this way.

Grandma is still pretty much the same.  She is mostly bedridden unless other people help her out.  At least in the natural it appears that she won't regain her physical strength.  When it comes to her mind, she has good days and she has bad days.  Sometimes she can understand what goes on around her, and other times, she doesn't.  Regardless of what we see, I still believe in a God capable of healing even the most hopeless cases.  Some might question why I look for God to heal a woman who has lived a long life of 82 years.  It doesn't seem right for her to linger the way she is.  She still wants to live too.  So unless God tells me otherwise, I pray for her healing.

Yesterday Jean and I went to Livingston to celebrate birthdays for several people: Chris and Bonnie (whose birthdays are on the same day), Dad, Janet, and Wilma.  I was surprised at Wilma because she was an elderly lady and she was bragging about the tattoos that she just got!  They looked good too.  She's a substitute lunch lady at one of the elementary schools in Livingston.  I'm sure the kids give her lots of attention. :)

Union Falls Backpacking Trip

August 11-13, Trever and I backpacked to Union Falls in Yellowstone National Park.  I have been wanting to go to Union Falls since March and have talked with quite a few people who have backpacked in that region to know what is there.  I realized that it was too soggy to go in May with Kevin, so I had to postpone it until later.  The area dries up and is better to hike in August or September.  Although Janet (from Livingston) wanted to go, her schedule was too busy to come with Trever and me this year.  I made last-minute reservations at 9U5 for a couple nights, and then we changed it to 9U4 for the first night and 9U5 for the second since 9U4 was already booked for the second night.  (Anyone who knows back country trails in Yellowstone Park will know where these campsites are.)

Trever didn't have most of the supplies that he needed for this trip, and I wanted to supplement what I already had, so we both ended up spending some money preparing for this trip.  Trever hadn't done a lot of camping and backpacking, so this was going to be a learning experience for him.  I made sure that he had the bare necessities by giving him a list.  One of the things we kind of overdid it on was the food.  We both bought food for about five days and had to take about half of it back with us.

The drive from Gardiner to Grassy Lake Reservoir (map courtesy of Google)

 We started August 11 early in the morning.  As a matter of fact, anything before noon is early in the morning for me because of my work schedule, which has me up until after 6:00 a.m. on weekends.  Trever and I got together about 7:45 a.m. and got to Mammoth a little after 8:00 a.m.

We received our backpacking permit and I made sure Trever saw the bear safety video that they present.  Only at the end of the trip did I realize that we had nothing to fear from bears.

From there we drove to Old Faithful through the construction zone between Norris and Madison.  They weren't kidding when they said that there would be half-hour delays!  On the other hand, I'm very glad that the Park is finally getting a better road for that area because it had previously been in terrible, horrible shape.

We ate lunch at Old Faithful and saw it go off.  It was our last real meal before we would go into the middle of nowhere.  I had seen Old Faithful go off on many occasions, so to me it isn't anything terribly special.  We continued to Flagg Ranch and then went to Grassy Lake Reservoir by way of a gravel road that was somewhat maintained.  From start to finish, it took us about five and a half hours to get to the reservoir with all the interruptions.

Grassy Lake Reservoir

From Grassy Lake Reservoir we had to hike to our first campsite.  Going in seemed a lot longer than getting out.  Part of the reason was because our bags were a bit heavier than they were coming out.  But as well, by the time we were ready to come back home, we were a little more fit for the job.

We had to ford Falls River, and that was pretty easy.  The water was only about knee-deep and the current wasn't very swift.  The river wasn't very wide--maybe only fifty feet.  Once we got to the other side, our feet felt really good.

Trever hikes across Falls River.

Wayne on the Falls River

During our 4 1/2 hour hike to our campsite approximately 6 1/2 miles from Grassy Lake Reservoir, we saw many Boy Scouts.  They were all coming back from swimming in Scout Pool, which is only about 4/5 mile from Union Falls.  We also had to cross one more creek before we got to our campsite: Proposition Creek.  That creek was much easier since it was shallower and also had logs that went across it.  We truly were in the middle of nowhere.  There wasn't a sound anywhere around us with the exception of an occasional group of Boy Scouts or other hikers and squirrels.

We got to 9U4 at about 6:00 p.m. and immediately set up our campsite.  We were pretty tired from the long day, so we stayed there.  We did build a fire, which was a saving grace because of the number of mosquitoes.  The smoke from the fire kept them at bay.  We did have mosquito repellent, but they still bothered us by flying around us all the time without the campfire.  We made dinner for ourselves and then went to bed around 10:00 p.m. after talking for a few hours.

 

After breakfast Trever and I cleaned up camp a bit.  In case the people who had reservations for 9U4 showed up that night we wanted to be able to quickly pick up camp and move it.  Reserving a campsite in Yellowstone in the back country only costs $20 up front, but if someone wants to cancel it, they don't get their money back.  Since there is no incentive for people to actually cancel, we figured we'd wait and see if the people who reserved actually came before moving our stuff to 9U5.

Trever and I then hiked to Union Falls, a 250-foot fan plunge waterfall.  The hike was uphill, but was fairly easy and only about 1 1/2 miles from 9U4.  It's a pretty impressive site and the main trail ends at a great vantage point.

Wayne at Union Falls

Trever at Union Falls

We decided that we wanted to go down a steep trail that went to the base of Union Falls.  Although Trever had a little bit of difficult, he was able to conquer his fear.  The base was just as beautiful as the vantage point, though significantly wetter.

From there we hiked off-trail up one of the tributaries of Mountain Ash Creek.  We started on the west side of the creek but discovered that it was very marshy.  We saw Early Morning Falls and an unnamed falls.

Early Morning Falls

Unnamed waterfall on Mountain Ash Creek tributary

Since it was so marshy on the west side of the creek, we opted to cross the tributary at the unnamed falls to the east side, where it appeared to be dryer.  We were correct and found hiking on that side of the creek much easier.

Eventually we saw Morning Falls, an impressive 60-foot waterfall with a width of 100 feet.  To the east of Morning Falls we could see Riverwalk Falls on yet another tributary of the creek.

Morning Falls

We opted not to get closer to Riverwalk Falls, though.  Instead we wanted to see the Dawn Cascades.  We rested at the base of the first of the four cascades for about an hour and then walked back to camp.  On the way back, we hiked on the east side of the creek way above it so that we stayed out of anything marshy.  From up there, we had a great view of the mountain on the other side of the creek.  The area was well forested.

Once we got back to camp, we saw that the people who originally made reservations for 9U4 were already there, so we quickly packed up camp and moved to 9U5.  The other campers didn't seem to know what to make of us and didn't say a lot.  Their leader seemed to know the area though and may have been local.  Everyone was understanding and agreeable, so there weren't any misunderstandings.

We did make some discoveries, as you will realize in this next video:

The hike back was easier than the hike in.  The toughest spot was between Proposition Creek and a resting area about half a mile above the crossing.  It was a steep incline up some sort of terrace.  I wish I knew more about geology to describe it better!  We took our time a little more than we did on the way in as well.  We starting hiking about 11:00 a.m. and got back to the Gardiner about 7:30 p.m.  In all, we hiked about 20-25 miles.  For 13 of those miles, we wore heavy backpacks.  We avoided the construction between Norris and Madison by driving on the east side of the Park.

When we got back, Trever had to go to work for a couple hours, but I had to go to work at 10:00 p.m. for eight hours.  When I got off work, I had been awake for about 22 hours.  I had a pretty long day.  Saturday, I did absolutely nothing.

Anyway, Trever and I had a great time and we both considered this a trip of a lifetime.  Trever did well as a greenhorn and he came back from it a better man.  Trever's excited and wants to go on more difficult hiking trips.

Trip to Virginia City and the Park County Fair

Last week I went to Virginia City and Nevada City with Jean.  We went with Stan and Penny Welch, who are Bruce's brother and his wife.  We only had one day there--July 29, 2010.  We met Stan and Penny at Famous Dave's where we had lunch.

Afterward we drove to Virginia City.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the scenery.  Once we were there we looked at a few of the old buildings and museums.  We had to walk through the candy store of course and we ate ice cream in one of the stores.

We also went to Nevada City where we panned for gold and garnets.  The ground had a lot of garnets, most of them heavily fractured, and Jean and I were able to get a little bit of gold out of each bucket that we were given.  We might have $0.25 of gold apiece.  Mining is definitely made for obsessive-compulsive people.  It's definitely not for those who have short attention spans.  It was fun to learn a little about the rocks though.

August 4 I entered three pictures into the Park County Fair.  Tonight I got a call from my Dad saying that I had one first place for my grizzly bear picture, and third place on my blue and gold macaw.

Grizzly Curiosity

Blue and Gold Macaw

Innocence of Summer

Montana Anyone?

I had a fun week. Wednesday was really the day of most of my activities.

Greg, who owns the Yellowstone Basin Inn a little north of where I live wanted to have fun with me on July 14 since it was his birthday. We started our day off around 12:30 or 1:00 pm (since I get up late in the day because of my strange schedule). We took our bikes up Crevice Mountain at the edge of the Crevice Mountain Guest Ranch property. From there, we rode down the mountain about 9.2 miles to Gardiner. We've had such bad weather for most of the spring and summer so far, so I was really grateful to God for such a beautiful day. We drove down Crevice Mountain Road, and then down the Jardine Road. The views were magnificent as much of western Montana's views are. Once we got down to the bottom, we took my car to the top and picked up Greg's and then went to our next fun spot.

Greg and I went white water rafting on the Yellowstone River. It's pretty much an annual tradition with me to go. Because Greg and I are hotel workers, the rafting companies and other businesses in the area like to give us either discounts or free rides because they want us to recommend their businesses at the front desk when anyone asks us about area activities. We started from where the Gardner River merges with the Yellowstone River and went to a pick-up point just south of Corwin Springs. Greg and I have been doing this a long time so we both took front positions. Yellowstone River is not very difficult at all for us.

I still think it's amusing to think about one of the people that was on the raft with us. It was a hot day and the river, of course, was cold. Greg and I would get water in our mouths from the splashing and whatnot. This guy said that it was tempting to even swallow the water because it was so refreshingly cool, but then again he knew that the water wasn't clean. It's funny. I had no such temptation at all. I'm a jaded local! Ha ha.

When I got home from those two activities, I found that Dad and Bonnie were at the house. They were working on their Suburban in one of the garages and had sat down for a moment's rest. Eventually, Steve, Dad's friend, came by and then Dad, Bonnie, Jean, and Steve had lunch out on the picnic table by the river bank. I had already eaten and I was looking forward to a good barbecue that night (I eat at strange hours) so I just sat and visited. After their dinner Dad and Steve continued working on his Suburban and finally went back home to Livingston.

That night I went to Trever's and Veronica's apartment to have dinner with them. Originally we were going to have a barbecue, but the plans slightly changed. We had prime rib instead! It was good to have fun with them and to hang out and talk. After dinner Trever and I watched a movie; Veronica had to get up early to work so she immediately went to bed.

Thursday July 15 Jean and I went to Livingston because I made a doctor's appointment. Since about a week ago, I have been having sinus problems. Having hay fever, I am no stranger to a clogged or runny nose, sneezing eternally, itchy and watery eyes, and eczema (believe it or not eczema and psoriasis are conditions related to hay fever). Unfortunately I had some kind of irritant in one of my nostrils which I couldn't remedy. The doctor couldn't find any obstructions or anything like an obstruction, so it was his opinion that I had inflammation. He prescribed for me some better medicine for my condition (including a nasal steroid) to help deal with my summer allergies.

After the doctor's visit, Jean and I went to Dairy Queen for some ice cream. We've had kind of a difficult week because of decision making at the house, and sometimes comfort food makes all the difference. I washed the car since earlier that day when Zana and the kids were at the house during the morning someone fingered "Wash Me" on the hood." I love people with a sense of humor! When we got back to Gardiner, I showed Jean where Greg and I biked since she hadn't been in that area in several years, and then we went home. I was kind of tired after all the activities I had done this week, so I veged in front of the TV until bedtime.

Next week Jean will be out of town, so I don't know if I'll see her at all. I always enjoy her company, so I'll miss her.

Mush

Yesterday while I watered the lawn, I worked on some of my family history information.  Among the things that I saw was a love letter that I had scanned into my computer awhile ago.  It's written by Albert Bolt to Angie Parratt.  They are my 2x great grandparents on my Dad's side of the family.  From the content, I can gather that they were probably engaged by this point—even if not formally.  The letter was written February 11, 1891.  At the time Albert wrote it, he was 25 years old.  Interestingly, they married February 9, 1892 on Angie's 20th birthday.

Albert was living at Hillsdale College in Michigan and Angie was in Fond du Lac County in Wisconsin.  After this letter, either Albert graduated from Hillsdale and went to another college for post-graduate study, or transferred to Kalamazoo.  I know that he graduated from Kalamazoo in 1897.

Their marriage lasted until Albert died of typhoid pneumonia in 1911—two months short of 20 years.  They had five children, but one of them died as a baby.

Here is what was written in the love letter from 119 years ago:

Hillsdale College,

February 11, 1891

My Own Dear Aangel [sic],—

I am quite sure you will look for a letter next Fri., and so I will not disappoint you because I love you very dearly; and then if you did not receive a letter I am afraid you might invite the “Blues” in Fri. evening to help you overcast your future with somber “improbabilities.”  Now, dearest, don’t say I am “naughty” and so begin to scold me for you know your Albert only tries to help you by telling you that he loves you and that he very seriously objects to your being so familiar with the “Blue” family.

Now, my “prima donna”, if you don’t stop having the blues I shall whip you, —or shut you up,—or let you alone—or—“h-u-g” y-o-u, or—kiss you 1,000,000 times.  Therefore if you will have the “Blues” around you must suffer the awful consequences.  Which of the above penalties do you prefer?  Either of them is almost equivalent to a living death.

Last Sun. afternoon when you were feeling so bad and wanted to see your Albert he was alone with his tho’ts and so slipped your letter out of his pocket and read it—wishing that he might answer it by coming to your side and giving you many sweet kisses.  Strange wasn’t it?

My dear, would you object to telling me as much as possible about what you and your mother said concerning “our wedding” (if it should occur)?

I am very curious about such discussions, you see, because—well because I am an interested party.  Do you wonder at it?

I know how very hard house-cleaning is because I have helped do it many a time.  Only last spring I helped clean house for a wk.,—beginning at the garret and stopping at the bottom of the cellar—and I know how very, very, very tiresome it is.  There is much about house cleaning that a man can do so much easier than a woman—and I am afraid my dear, that you will overtax yourself and have a relapse of your trouble.

Of course, it would be impropriety for me to help you in that hard task—under circumstances that will then exist but you know I would gladly do the house-cleaning for you and let you have the time for rest.  I love you, my little darling,— I do indeed love you with all my heart.

Do you doubt it any more?  Do you fear that I will see some one else within a yr. and change my mind?

I do wonder how my Angie if is feeling tonight!  I hope she is happy and is remembering how much Albert loves her.  Oh! It has been a lovely day, but I had to stay in the house and study.

I send my regards to “grandma”,—you may kiss her for me but don’t tell her of it, i.e. that you kissed her for me.

All my love to you, dearest.

Your Albert.


[On the last page in the margin] Good-morning, my little darling.  It is indeed a “good-morning” here, it seems so much like spring and so forcibly reminds me of those boyhood days in the “sugar bush”

[On the third page in the margin] Will you get tired of that old, old, message “I love you”?  I am afraid I say it too often.  I wish you success and a happy day.

[On the second page in the margin] Darling, I must tell you again this morning that I love you, love you, love you, love you.

[On the first page in the margin] This is the fourth letter you will receive this wk.  Have you rec’d them all right?  I love you dear.

[On the first page in the top left corner] 200 Kisses my own true love and 3 long embraces all of which say I love you dearly.

[On the first page in the top right corner] 10 very sweet extra kisses for Sun. 10 Mon. my dear

The Hoodoos and Beaver Ponds

Even though we've faced bad weather on almost a daily basis, I'm still going inside Yellowstone Park to hike. I don't like to be out in bad weather, so I try to avoid the storms, but it's not always possible. I just don't want to get caught in a thunderstorm. On the other hand, I take rain gear with me every time I hike anyway, so as long as there isn't any lightning in the area, I'll be alright.

Last Friday (June 18) I hiked through the Hoodoos. The Hoodoos are a fascinating part of the park located on Terrace Mountain, just south of Mammoth Hot Springs. Terrace Mountain is aptly named because the summit is fairly level and is made of travertine, the deposit that is left from hydrothermal springs. Based on both models of Evolution and Creation, the Hoodoos were formed only thousands of years ago. During some terrible geologic event such as a landslide or an earthquake which caused a landslide, some of the travertine terrace at the top slid down the slopes of the mountain to form the Hoodoos. The Hoodoos today are a jumbled bunch of boulders that face in every direction and truly beg the question, "Who did this?" Google Earth clearly shows the Hoodoos from space, and it is quite a magnificent sight to behold. One can only imagine the kind of landslide that created such a landscape.

I started the hike from the parking lot located just outside the Golden Gate canyon in Swan Lake Flat near Bunsen Peak and Rustic Falls. First I hiked through some forest and then along the cliff edge of the Golden Gate Canyon. From there I was able to see Swan Lake Flat and Rustic Falls. Swan Lake even in overcast weather is beautiful. I hiked down the edge of the cliff on a good trail to the Hoodoos. There is a lot of fallen timber in the area, and in the recent past about three logs fell over the path, but they were hardly a hindrance. Once I got to the Hoodoos, I was completely amazed. There were small caves everywhere. Who knows what all was hiding in those caves. The travertine laying around had various colors—gray, white, pink, and orange. It really was spectacular to see. By the time I got to the end of the Hoodoos along the trail, it started raining, so I tried to double-time it back to my car. It didn't rain very hard, but I was still glad to bring rain gear. By the time I got back to my car, it was sunny again. It's funny how that works.


Swan Lake Flats and Rustic Falls


Orange and pink travertine



The Hoodoos



The Hoodoos and Bunsen Peak



Rustic Falls

Yesterday Jared, Kassie, and I hiked to the Beaver Ponds. Jared and Kassie had a lot of energy and they were a bit in the way of Jean and Zana getting things done around the house. I figured I could take them in the Park to see some animals (and hopefully not see any bears!). The loop was about five miles long, starting and ending in Mammoth. It's funny because so many Xanterra employees see the Beaver Ponds, the Hoodoos, and Osprey Falls right off when they live in Mammoth, but it's taken me about six years to see two of those.

We did see a lot of animals. We heard an elk make a noise and then saw several cow elk and one brand-new calf run toward the call. We also saw least chipmunks, Uinta ground squirrels, American beaver, lesser scaup ducks, and some other ducks that I couldn't identify because we were too far away. I was amazed to find iris blooming along the meadows near the Beaver Ponds.

Jared and Kassie look at a small creek from a bridge.
 

Kassie smells a flower 

One of the Beaver Ponds

American Beaver at one of the Beaver Ponds

Both Kassie and Jared are adventurers and did great along the hike. When we were done, Kassie zonked out in the car before we left Mammoth! While I was away, Zana and Jean got a lot done, and Jean was absolutely tired from all the work she did. Fortunately I still had some energy and I continued to water the lawn, made dinner, and watched "I Love Trouble" with Jean.