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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 |
Thursday, 8-12-99I’ve nearly worn out the hinges on roommate John’s ice chest showing off the brook trout I caught today in Blacktail Pond. I think everyone in Mammoth Hot Springs has peeked into the ice chest and oohed and aahed, from the attendant at the gas station to everyone in Aspen Dorm. After breakfast this morning, I headed up to the confluence of Indian Creek and Gardner River. In the space of two hours, I snagged and lost two good Jake’s Stream-A-Lures, and never saw a fish. I’ve never had much luck spin casting in streams, but have always done well in lakes. So I got into the pickup and looked at the map. There are few lakes in northwestern Yellowstone; most lakes in Yellowstone are in the south. On the road from Mammoth to Roosevelt is a spot called Blacktail Pond. My map of Yellowstone says that Blacktail has both cutthroat and brook trout. So, I think, eight miles away, game fish, why not? Well, I got to Blacktail Pond and couldn’t believe my eyes. Blacktail Pond is actually a large puddle. I hiked down from the parking area and noticed the carcass of an elk — actually just bones — a rib cage here, hip bone over there, ligaments still attached. Either a wolf pack or a grizzly had been around. Walking around the pond I noticed two more elk carcasses. I decided to try my Jake’s Spin-A-Lure that worked so well in Lake Yellowstone years ago. If ever there was a classic Yellowstone trout lure, this is it. My first cast landed on the opposite shore. We’re talking small pond, folks. My second and third casts were more on target. On my fourth cast, I reeled in the splendid brook trout! I really tried hard for a second one because roommate John had two friends arrive from West Virginia this morning and we were planning a fish fry with four fillets. But the rain increased, and by 1:00 P.M. I had to run for the truck. When the rain subsided, I drove toward Gardiner along the Gardner River in pursuit of that second trout, but the river was muddy as hot chocolate because of the heavy rains — not good for fishing. After showing this magnificent fish to everyone who would look, I filleted it, parboiled it, and pickled it. And it only cost $45. Twenty bucks for the Yellowstone National Park fishing license, twenty bucks for the shirt on my back which I tore to pieces with a cast which snagged me instead of landing in the lake, and five bucks for two Jake’s lures that I’ll never see again. You know, I’d do it again if it cost $100. ***** Tonight I attended a slide show in the Mammoth Hot Springs Conference Room by the authors of Yellowstone’s newest book, “Revealed! Yellowstone: The Discovery of Its Waterfalls.” I’m not positive that is the name of the book because it won’t be published until spring, but that’s the name on the flier. Lee Whittlesey, Paul Rubenstein, and Mike Stevens have spent the past five years discovering 250 waterfalls never before photographed, mapped, or written about. Their criteria for a waterfall is that it must be at least 15 feet high, vertical drop, and permanent (non-intermittent). The only exceptions are waterfalls that have already been named and mapped — some of which are ten feet or less but in prominent locations. Lee, Paul, and Mike found world-class waterfalls — one over 500 feet tall — on unnamed, unmapped streams and both photographed them and located them precisely with GPS. They used existing contour maps to know where to look. When contour lines get really close together, water can’t flow, it falls. Seems pretty basic, but you should have heard Lee talk about the day he came close to death trying to get near one particular waterfall. That evening he and his wife decided he’d better get some life insurance before finishing the book. The book will have all the now-famous Yellowstone waterfalls with the history of their discovery, mapping, and interesting facts; and 250 previously undiscovered waterfalls with color photos, proposed names, and notes by Lee, Paul, and Mike. Having seen the presentation by the authors, I can say without reservation that this will be one of the finest books on Yellowstone. As the authors mentioned, Yellowstone’s geysers and mega-wildlife have overshadowed one of the area’s real treats: hundreds of spectacular waterfalls and cascades.  |
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