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.

No Particular Place to Go

This past week has been fairly busy around the house.  Tim has come over to the house on a weekly basis to work on the greenhouses at our house and Betty's.  He's gotten a lot of it done.  I don't have a construction bone in my body, and I'm happy that he's able to do it.  Jean has been cleaning up in the greenhouse and in the cemetery next to it where Grandpa is buried.

I've been digging a ditch through the yard nearby where I will eventually put an Internet cable.  It's a long project because I have to dig through 125 feet of the yard through tree roots and the like.  We have bought a cable that can be buried.  I'll thread the cable through a plastic conduit which I will bury in the ditch I'm making.

Today Jean and I had a care conference for Betty in Livingston at Evergreen Livingston Health and Rehabilitation Center.  Betty is doing alright and it looks like she'll live forever!  I'm glad that she has a good quality of life there.  When I initially put her in a nursing home, it was one of the most difficult decisions Grandma and I have made because we were concerned about the consequences.  In the end, it was the best decision we could have made for Betty.  Now that she's away from her home, she's much happier than she was when she was home not understanding why she wasn't independent.  A test was recently done on Betty's vocal chords and it was determined that some of them are paralyzed for an unknown reason.

Grandma's situation right now is unchanged except that they are working with her on swallowing nectar-thickened water.

Afterward, I took a couple Colombian girls to the Social Security Office in Bozeman.  They shopped for clothes and we ate at Applebee's.  Now I'm at home and I'm going to watch TV with Jean.  It's been a big day.

I still have a pile of unopened mail, but at least the pile isn't as big as it was.  Next week promises to be really busy too.

Update on Grandma's Condition

I saw Grandma last on June 5 during the evening before I had to go to work that night.  I stayed with her for about half an hour to an hour.  When I got there, she was asleep, but I woke her up so that I could talk with her.

The last time I saw her before that was May 22.  At that time, she made some incredible improvements in a short amount of time.  She had been given a swallowing test and was able to swallow water thickened with pudding and water thickened with honey.  Since then she has not been able to go on up to more difficult things to swallow.  She also looked much better and was more alert than she had been before.

On a daily basis, the nursing staff make sure that she sits in her recliner each day and help her shift positions.  As well, physical therapists help her to regain movement in her body.

When I saw her on June 5 she was able to move her left hand and fingers more easily than before, and with a little help she was able to move her left leg.  I did a few exercises with her which helped prompt some of the movement in her leg.

Grandma recognizes everyone that she should.  Unfortunately she doesn't have any short-term memory.  That evening she was asking me how long she had been bedridden and then asked a similar question a little later on.  She doesn't exactly know where she is still, but she knows she's in Livingston.  Sometimes her answers don't make sense on her whereabouts.  She also doesn't really know when it is; she thinks that she is approximately 80-90 years old, but didn't know how old I was.  That is an improvement from before because she used to think it was 1958 and she was in Denver, Colorado (by the way, she was in Gardiner in 1958).

She still has a feeding tube fitted to her stomach, but at least she is getting some nutrition.

I wish she would get better faster; I know that after about six months, there won't be much more she can regain.  When we admitted her to Evergreen Livingston, the nursing staff thought that she might be able to go back home in three months.  It's been two months since she had her stroke, and I don't see enough improvement to continue thinking that she will be able to go back home in a month without God's help.

I've been regularly praying for Grandma's healing.  With God anything is possible (Mat. 19:26).  Jesus' last act when he died on the cross was to raise many dead people from their graves during an earthquake (Mat. 27:51-52).  Jesus healed many sick people while he was on Earth, and he still does now that he has ascended.

Rachel’s Graduation

Rachel graduated from high school May 30, 2010. Everyone in our family is very proud of her and her accomplishment. She has done this through some serious adversity and while being a single teen mother. We all wish her the best in life and hope this serves as a beginning, and not an ending.

Because work has been pretty crazy lately, I had to make arrangements to see Rachel's graduation early. I chose to come to work on Saturday May 29 at about 4:00 pm and stay there until 6:00 the next morning to help with the lack of people taking shifts on that weekend. I loaded up on coffee that morning since I only got about three and a half hours of sleep and drove an hour to Livingston. The drive is about three hours from Gardiner to Deer Lodge where Rachel lives, so I had to leave Sunday at about 11:00 am to get Dad and Bonnie in Livingston and then go on to Deer Lodge. Jean and Bruce were going to meet us there. I made it safely to Dad's and Bonnie's house and Dad took over driving for the day.

The graduation ceremony was typical for a small town; scholarships and grants were given during the ceremony. Rachel's class had a little more than 50 students.

After graduation, we met at Rachel's and Anita's house for the graduation party. Many people were there: Tim and Anita, Bruce and Jean, Justin and his girlfriend Melody, Rachel and her daughter Latashia, Dad and Bonnie, various friends of their family, and me. Barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs were on the menu with several other side items. It was a pretty good dinner; I certainly enjoyed it and visiting with all the family I hadn't seen in awhile.

Latashia and a little black kitten really stole the show at the card and present opening. It was a lot of fun to see!

After the party, Dad, Bonnie, and I headed back to Livingston, and then I went back to Gardiner that evening. I'm proud of you Rachel!

Tim, Rachel, and Anita

Jean’s Kidnapping

It was Kevin's last week in Montana before he had to go back to Germany. He arrived on May 13 and was scheduled to leave on May 28 (but actually left May 29). I hadn't had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with Kevin, and I had some ideas as to how we could spend our time together. I originally made plans to backpack to Union Falls in Yellowstone Park. After doing a little research I found this plan to be impractical, so I made other plans. I reserved a camping spot along the Slough Creek trail where it was more feasible for us to hike. At the last minute, Kevin and I decided that it wasn't worth our while because the weather wasn't cooperating with us and we would probably be miserable the entire time. Although bad-weather backpacking trips make great stories, they are still wretched.
 

I picked Kevin up from Dad's and Bonnie's house in Livingston on Tuesday May 25 since I had to go into town anyway to have the Blazer fixed. At that point we were still undecided on what to do. While I was at work that evening, I had an inspiration: go to Philipsburg! Jean and I had wanted to go for a long time but hadn't had the opportunity. This would be a great time to do it! We planned on leaving May 26 and returning to Gardiner May 27.

Kevin and I kidnapped Jean and forced her to come with us. She was absolutely heartbroken because of all the housework that was left behind. We left leisurely in the afternoon since Jean and I haven't had enough sleep lately. May was a really busy month for us all.
 

We stopped in Bozeman to eat a late lunch at Applebee's. We all like that restaurant a lot.
 

On the way to Philipsburg, Kevin said that since we were going to be in the area anyway, he wanted to see our cousin Rachel in Deer Lodge. Kevin hadn't seen her for two or three years and she graduated from high school May 30. Unfortunately Kevin wasn't going to be able to see her graduate because of his flight and Army schedules.
 

We went to Deer Lodge first. When we arrived at Anita's and Rachel's house, Rachel had just finished mowing the neighbor's lawn. She saw us drive in and was completely ecstatic; I've never seen her so happy before. We visited with Rachel and Anita for a couple hours and then got a hotel room in town before we got a late dinner at McTerrible's (because no one else is open late at night).
 

Kevin, Rachel, and Wayne in Deer Lodge, MT
 

The next morning we got breakfast at the local 4B's Restaurant and then drove north to take the Pintler Scenic Loop south. The Pintler Scenic Loop is basically Montana Highway 1 and is pretty scenic. We got to Philipsburg in the early afternoon and walked through their quaint downtown area. The town is known historically for gold mining, but the reason tourists go there is because of the sapphire mine and the candy store.

First we stopped at Sapphire Gallery. We educated ourselves a little on sapphires and the area before we "dug in." We bought a bag of dirt which was taken from the nearby sapphire mine and watched as a worker washed the dirt and mud for us. She put it on an indoor picnic table for us and we sorted the small stones for sapphires with tweezers. We found quite a few of the precious stones, including a pink sapphire and two garnets. The larger of the rocks we paid to have heat treated so their colors would be more brilliant.
 

Mining for sapphires can truly be appreciated by those of us who suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
 

Next we indulged ourselves at the Sweet Palace. Wow, was that place heavenly! We watched as a worker packaged the salt water taffy in front of us. They make their own taffy at that candy store, and they have hundreds of different kinds and flavors of candy. If you want real licorice, go there! They had just about every imaginable kind of hard, gummy, chocolate, and chewy candy. We couldn't stop ourselves—we bought about $90 in candy.
 

Afterward, we ate a late lunch at Doe Brothers. Lunch was great, as was dessert (ice cream!). Somehow we managed to gain an appetite by walking through a candy store.
 

Then we drove home for the day. We finished the Pintler Loop in the rain. Even with a heavy downpour, Georgetown Lake was pretty. I'd love to do that loop again sometime when the weather is actually nice.