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Hi. I’m Ben Benton from Flagstaff, Arizona. I believe that you will enjoy my daily journal from Yellowstone National Park during the summer of 1999. I left downtown Flagstaff with my saddle and duffel in early July and lighted in the horse corral at Mammoth Hot Springs. My journal will continue through September 20th, unless the weather shuts us down earlier. You’ll read about adventures on the back country trails, Yellowstone history, people I meet, and anything else I can think of to write about. I’m the author of “National Park Employment Data,” a guide to working in national parks, which is available for purchase on my web site at www.gorp.com/nped/. I’ve been working in national parks and ski areas off and on for over twenty years. Because I want the data in my book to always be fresh, I continually test the concepts, employers, and tips that I provide. Right now, I’m working for Amfac Parks and Resorts. They are a top notch concession company because they place employee training, morale, and amenities first. |
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Previous 7/16 |
Saturday, 7-31-99During my second year at Arizona State University, Grand Teton Lodge Company advertised that they would be interviewing for all positions at the job service office. As you know from yesterday’s journal, I had seen their hotel and horse corrals overlooking Jackson Lake. This “summer in Wyoming thing” was in my blood by now so I showed up for an interview. I took “Western Equitation 101” in the fall semester so I was sure I was good to go in the Jackson Lake Lodge horse corrals. I was interviewed by the manager of the gas station who was also a Wyoming rancher. I told him I’d been around horses all my life — I just didn’t tell him it was on the other side of the fence. I got a contract in the mail in April or May from Jackson Lake Lodge Company offering me the job of wrangler. I was pretty darned excited. When the spring semester ended, I packed a foot locker with what little stuff I had, including a cheap Western hat, and shipped it separately. I hitchhiked to Jackson Hole with my backpack and showed up at the horse corral. Standing there was ol’ Vern. “Can I help you?” he said. “I've been hired as a wrangler, sir,” I replied, as I handed him my contract. “Where’s your hat?” “I packed it and its coming by bus,” I said. “Wait here a minute.” Vern disappeared into the corral office with my paperwork, then returned. With a scowl he said, “Oh, you’re the cook.” ***** Every morning I got up early and helped saddle the horses in the chute. Then we all headed up to Jackson Lake Lodge in the pickup for breakfast. After breakfast I went to the kitchen for my trail breakfast supplies and a big tub of bacon fat for the pancakes. I loaded the pickup and headed out to the cookout spot where I built a wood fire and controlled it with bakery sheet pans at various angles depending upon the wind. I got very good at this — more about this later. In one huge steel skillet, I cracked 240 eggs and scrambled them. In the other one, I placed 90 pieces of sugar cured ham with half water and half pancake syrup and a small scoop of bacon fat. Vern insisted that the Lodge buy only Krusteze pancake mix. He said it had to pure white cake flour — no cornmeal. I mixed two bags of Krusteze in a 5 gallon bucket and added several pints of bacon fat, 12 eggs, and two quarts of Seven Up. I’m not making this up — we really used Seven Up and became world famous for it. The carbonization added to the bubbles on the grill, added a touch of sweetness and a touch of lemon. The pancakes were so light you had to put a rock on them to keep them from lifting off the plate. About 90 dudes rode out on horses or in the wagon and I fed them all everyday. I learned that the breakfast, especially getting the griddle heat just right for the pancakes, had been a persistent problem in the past. I took pride in getting it right everyday despite the weather or wind. But I wasn’t riding horses. One day as I rode in the pickup with Vern, I decided to put my breakfast success to the test. I said, “Vern, if I don’t start ridin’ soon, I’m going to have to mosey on up the road.” I had practiced that line for several days. Vern just looked at me and kept driving and never said a word. The next day after breakfast, Vern had my horse ready. Ol’ Vern worked with me everyday and showed me everything I thought I knew, but didn’t. Every afternoon I started leading the two-hour, three-hour, and four-hour rides. I couldn’t have had a better teacher. To be continued . . . |
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