Everything here seems to be hungry, but nothing more so, than I. Each adventure teases my appetite for new experience; if you thought it was possible to see it all in this park, you thought wrong. The hunger is cumulative, the more I see, the more I realize I have not seen anything at all. Maybe it might be possible, to merely see enough and not all, and as a tourist, pass through this majestic property of Earth as a ghost. Seeing and absorbing the sights, but digesting nothing and rejecting that which was not planned or expected. Where is the fun in that? How can a person with a (what i would hope to be genuine) curiosity for the beauty of this park, stop simply at the boardwalks; how could they resist the urge to get out of their damned cars?
It's maddening to think that a person would cheapen the vitality of their experience in this place by 'just passing through', but I refuse to let that undeniable fact diminish my love of Yellowstone. I have never been a visitor here; I am sure when I came into Montana for the first time the mountains and valleys beamed at my arrival, and every time I depart (which has most times been by plane) the landscape shrieks up at me, pleading for me to return. These screams have echoed through my head in my absence, Yellowstone is one banshee of a conscience, demanding always, that I return back to it's folds of ridges, it's frigid lakes and streams, it's benevolent and euphoric waterfalls.
I needed to see Hawai'i, certainly, but I believe ultimately, witnessing the volcano of Halema'uma'u has only deepened my affection of the volcano here. The sheer devastation that volcano is responsible for is humbling; craters the size of football fields where vibrant rain forest used to exist and miles of solidified lava flows from the caldera leading all the way down to the ocean. As impressive as that Armageddon-like landscape was, it pales in comparison to the eventual destiny Yellowstone faces. The caldera is unfathomable in its size; I just stumbled upon an article that explained how scientists just discovered that the magma pool beneath my very feet is large enough to fill the Grand Canyon 14 times over.
Fourteen times.
I started writing this piece one of the first days I got to Old Faithful, and now on the eve of heading to yet another new destination, I find myself still inspired and driven to consume all this park has to offer me. To put it into further context, I have spent the last month working in the Geyser Grill. I have never worked a fast-food job before, and hopefully I never have to again, haha. Flipping burgers, dropping chicken tenders into a fryer, and taking payment from customers (which has GOT to be the most high-paced series of flippant interactions I have ever experienced) just doesn't do it for me. It's easy work that becomes stressful very quickly and, besides cashiering, every position sticks me in a corner to my miserable self.
But I'm not complaining.
That wasn't sarcasm. I'd shovel shit to be in this place and make memories here. In the time I feel I spent in purgatory at work, I made up for by seeing Sapphire Pool for the first time. Solitary Geyser, Beehive Geyser, Wall Pool, Observation Point. It will never stop! And as always, the geothermal features, the animals, the scenery, they keep challenging me to redefine what i see as beautiful and I love it, but the people I have met remind me of what I have always found to be beautiful. I have met countless people in my time here, but I am so thrilled and proud to say that i have found meaningful relationships here that I am sure will be lasting. I would list them here, but I find that just putting a name down betrays to people who don't know them how much they mean to me.
It's been great Old Faithful, really, but I have to move on.
Lake Yellowstone Hotel was erected in 1891 and is the oldest hotel in the worlds first National Park. It recently just became a National Historical Landmark.
"The Lake Hotel now joins more than 2,500 other sites across the country that carry this distinction. National Historic Landmarks possess the highest level of historic significance—there are approximately 90,000 sites on the National Register of Historic Places and less than 3% of these sites are designated as landmarks."
I took that from the NPS website. What a privilege, to be allowed to live within this park at all, and what a gift to be able to work in a place this revered. I know at first, it's going to seem as if I've been thrown into a washing machine (hopefully not a blender) of stimulus, but when everyone stops running around like their heads have fallen off and we finally start to get to know one another, I'm sure I'll be able to say I'm proud of my Lake team and family. I should have an update soon on that whole experience, but I might need some time to figure out what to say. I won't know what I'll have on my hands at first and I won't know what to make of it. There will be so many people to meet and so many hikes to go on and so many work-related challenges to face - give me some time to adapt. I'm positive i'll be able to talk anyone's ear off in no time.
Until then, cheers to the Park!
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| Solitary Geyser |
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| From Observation Point Peace from Rob Kelly |
Thanks for your article! I liked reading about your history with YNP and the comparison of volcanoes. Nice photos, too! Like the sign of Solitary Geyser!
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