James
at our back country campsite at Ice Lake, Summer '97. I couldn't believe
I actually talked him into going backpacking. He was the one who
got the reservation. He asked for the easiest backcountry site.
The ranger told him about one that had a paved trail to it, a handicapped
site, at Ice Lake, but it was already reserved. He was disappointed,
and had to settle for one about a mile further on. 
Me,
blocking a fine shot of Grotto geyser. Thanks for the picture Jen.
My
sister's former boyfriend Frank. This was taken on the Mount Washburn
Trail summer of '97 on a trip they took. This snow might have been the
first snow that Frank had ever seen. It doesn't snow much in South
Florida. Thanks for the picture Jennifer.
The first snow I ever saw was either at Yellowstone of Glacier or thereabouts. I remember in first grade I drew a picture of this place my dad had said we would go that was called Yellowstone in the summer. I drew a yellow canyon with bromeliads growing on the rocks. Bromeliads for the botanicaly ignorant are tropical plants that usually grow in trees and resemble pineapple tops. Yellowstone wasn't what I expected, but it was even better. I also learned in Yellowstone that summer that it is a really bad idea to run down hills at high speed because you cannot stop. We don't have many hills in South Florida either.
My
sister Jennifer, climbing back up Uncle Tom's Trail. Uncle Toms Trail is
an amazing trail that is sort of a staircase that climbs down the wall
of the canyon right in front of the Lower
Falls of the Yellowstone. It is a very awe inspiring thing to get that
close to such a big waterfall. Jennifer says that it is torture climbing
all those stairs. She gave me this picture, so don't blame me if you cant
see her face. I do have a picture of her taken
when she was about five or six. I do like the rainbow. My rainbow
pictures rarely turn out so nice. 
Now,
be afraid - Yellowstone employees in their natural environment! This
is Matt and Robin out cleaning cabins. Matt is kind of typical of
most of the summer employees - young college age, bright, adventurous,
and unconventional. Most of them worship the Grateful Dead.
I think they all get the adventures they are after, but many are shocked
that they have to actually work like dogs for minimum wage. A lot
have never had to work hard or even make their own beds before. Almost
none have done the jobs they will be doing for the summer. Fortunately,
most, but not all, adapt. A few always quit at the time of their
first puny paycheck. A few like it so much that they stay for years,
but most get their fill after one season.
Not
all employees are young. Some, like Phil and his wife Julie were
older than me even. I was old for Yellowstone, "older than dirt"
according to some. Quite a few gray haired people work in the park,
either from wanting something interesting to do, or to get insurance, or
adventure, or they need a job and it beats working at a grocery store.
There is a club called the Silvertips for them. Older grizzly bears
are called silvertips. Phil and Julie were there each summer I was
there. They were way cool, beatniks I think. They could speak
Esperanto, or at least claimed to be able to. I wouldn't know Esperanto
if it bit me. Phil offered to pull a tooth for me when I had a toothache
one time, save me a trip to the dentist. I declined the offer.
You can see the horrible molly carts the room attendants have to use to carry stuff to the cabins. They are plywood things with bicycle tires and a vinyl cover to keep the rain out. Poor cabin room attendants have to work off those primitive things in the rain and snow and wild animals, have to guess how much of what they will need to load onto them in the morning, have to put everything back on the shelf neatly that is left over at the end of the day. It's hard work it is.
This
is Jenny hamming it up for the camera. I was running housekeeping
for 100+ cabins that summer, and, except for Phil and Julie who didn't
particularly want to be supervisors (smart move there), had no one with
any experience. Then Jenny showed up. I would probably have
gone completely insane without her help. Thanks Jenny.
Here
we have a typical Yellowstone manager getting ready for the evening with
help from a friend. That's Wally and Jenny (not my sister Jennifer
and not the Jenny above). I remember when my mom came to visit my
first winter working there Wally was my roommate. Mom got introduced
to Wally with him in a black evening gown and on skis. Mom took it
well I guess. He was wearing an evening gown because it was the day
of the drag race in the Yellowstone Winter Olympics. Get it, drag
race? They have actual winter sports competitions, albeit some unusual
ones, that are actually reported in some regular Montana papers.
OK, maybe this picture is not so typical because Wally only did drag on
special occasions. Normally he had a kind of semi-sleazy semi-biker
look. Although, if he was a full time transvestite that probably
wouldn't have been considered all that unusual in Yellowstone.
Geoff
and Kevin, riding a bombardier to start
work at Old Faithful Snow Lodge at the beginning of the winter season '96.
Geoff (the bald one) was a bit grouchy and hung over that morning as he
had been out drinking the night before, his last night in the civilized
world for a while. He must have been near death to be able to sleep on
a noisy, bouncy bombardier. Kevin was being his usual clownish self.
Someone,
I forget who, snapped this picture of me one 40 below zero morning as I
arrived for work. At 40 below skiing to work was more like walking
with big long sticks strapped to the feet, the skis don't slide well when
it gets that cold. I guess I looked amusing. By this point
the mustache was already melting, but the glasses were icing over.