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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, 8-19-99Today I headed toward the lakes in south Yellowstone to fish for trout. I stopped at Old Faithful to watch it erupt. It’s just as breathtaking now as the first time I saw it. While in Old Faithful area I decided to get the U-joint in my truck replaced. Rick Railson brought me the part from Butte and the joint has been rattling for weeks. I’ve been meaning to do it myself, although I probably don’t have all the required tools with me. If I remember correctly, something has to be pressed on or off or something. So I figured that I’m better off inside the park than outside, since the service stations are all regulated by the federal government. I was right. The repair was completed for $39.75 while I ate lunch at the Old Faithful Employee Dining Room. I toured the West Thumb Geyser Basin on my way to Lewis Lake. The most interesting hot pot there is just a few feet from the edge of Yellowstone Lake. It is named Black Abyss. As I gazed into the depths of this stunning blue hot pot — probably 50 feet — I wondered why it was called Black Abyss. About then, a father started reading to his family the story of Black Abyss. It seems that in early 1991 it started to get hotter and killed the bacteria that made it appear black. In August 1991 it got so hot that it erupted. It hasn’t erupted since, but it has stayed near the boiling point and now appears a magnificent blue. The thermal features in the park are dynamic — always changing. Many of them increased or decreased after the earthquake of 1959. I drove south to Lewis Lake and parked and fished. It’s supposed to have brown, brook, and lake trout but I sure couldn’t find any. Back to Yellowstone Lake. I fished from the dock at Grant Village and still nothing. Driving north from West Thumb I stopped at Lake Yellowstone Hotel. It was the first time I’ve seen it. It’s just as stately as I had always imagined. The lobby is enormous and blends right into a classy restaurant in the west wing. The front portico overlooks the lake just a hundred yards away. Next stop was Fishing Bridge which I also saw for the first time. It is a wooden structure with a pedestrian walkway on the north side. The south end of Yellowstone Lake ends at Fishing Bridge and becomes Yellowstone River, flowing north for about twelve miles before dropping over Upper Falls and Lower Falls into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Fishing from Fishing Bridge has been prohibited since 1973. Prior to then, fishers stood elbow to elbow across the bridge snagging themselves, each other, and even passing motorists with baited hooks. Below on the river was a floating bait shop and boat rental. Boats jammed the river from Fishing Bridge to a mile or so north. Why? Fishing Bridge area of Lake Yellowstone and Yellowstone River is the world’s largest cutthroat trout spawning ground. Before the fishing ban, fishers nearly wiped out the cutthroat trout population in Yellowstone, hauling in thousands upon thousands. Fishing is more difficult in Yellowstone now and I like it that way. If you’ve been reading past issues of my journal, you’ll notice that I’ve only caught one trout so far. There’s a Hamilton Store at Fishing Bridge with a large fishing department. I was in there replacing my lost lures and talking to Bill Huggins and somehow the conversation got around to the Internet. I mentioned that I write and upload a journal everyday and Bill said, “So do I!” I haven’t had a chance to see his yet. The addresses on his business card are: http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Canyon/3352/ and http://it99.virtualave.net/FOY/index.shtml While in the store I bought a 100-picture CD-ROM of Yellowstone
for $9.95. Since my journal is non-commercial, I believe I can
use some of the pictures here for your enjoyment. Look for them
in the future.  |
Previous 8/1 |
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