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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 |
Monday, 8-2-99Tom Brokaw was in Mammoth Hot Springs today and broadcast the NBC Nightly News live from here. If you missed it; too bad. I didn’t tell you in advance because nobody told me. I was guiding a one-hour ride during most of the broadcast, which was right next to Opal Terrace across from the Hamilton General Store, but caught the tail end of it on TVs placed all through the employee dining room. My cellular phone arrived today. When I found out Yellowstone has Cellular One service I had Kelley send it. There’s a tower in Gardiner, Montana, about 5 miles from Mammoth Hot Springs. The calls are very clear. Other towers are at Grants Village, Old Faithful, and atop Mt. Washburn. The Washburn tower allows communication in Roosevelt Junction, Canyon Junction, and into some of the more remote areas of Yellowstone. Pretty wild, eh? I rode the trail rides today with my boss, Amanda, to hear her commentary. She’s been working Yellowstone several years and gives an excellent presentation on the rides. She knows a lot about the geologic history, place names, and theory of thermal activity. We are required to give historically accurate commentaries — the Park Service sends spies on the trail rides to make sure — so I have to be careful to keep the tall tales to a minimum. The visitor counts are starting to drop off. Last week you couldn’t buy a parking spot within a hundred yards of Mammoth Hot Springs Dining Room and Hamilton’s General Store. Now you can find one by circling around once or twice, like downtown Flagstaff. Last week every trail ride was fully booked; this week we’re having a few rides with four or six people instead of the normal 15 or 20. Next week the 7 P.M. rides end because it’s getting cooler and darker earlier and the week after that we lose the 8 A.M. ride. Then my twelve hour days will become eight hour days.  |
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