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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 |
Tuesday, 9-14-99The weather in northwestern Yellowstone, and probably all of Wyoming and Montana, has been fabulous for the last week. Although the nights are down to freezing, the days have been in the 70s with clear blue skies. A real Indian summer. The elk are rutting now and, like all summer, hanging around the lawn of my dorm. The difference is that we have several bulls with harems now, where all summer we had large groups of cows and calves. The bulls were farther south all summer. They’re smart: They spend all summer in the Yellowstone high country “smokin’ and jokin” while the cows are in the Northern Range raising the kids. Then in the fall, the bulls separate and head south to chase the girls. We’ve got some 7x7 racks and plenty of 6x6 racks. The smaller bulls without a harem occasionally spar on the lawn and in the parking lot. Some spend hours at it. Sparring is the locking of antlers, partly in play and partly in practice for the real battles. They carefully approach each other head on and lock antlers. Then they twist the other’s head. Without a mirror to see what they have, they can only imagine what’s growing out of their skull. Sparring helps them understand and delineate their antlers, and therefore their self-image. The biggest and baddest knows he’s the biggest and baddest and eventually ends up with the best harem. The other day, two bulls were sparring in the parking lot and edged their way between two parked cars. Everyone watched in astonishment as they banged their antlers on the side windows, doors, and quarter panels. Later, I walked between the cars to inspect the damage and was surprised to find that the Saturn had considerable scratches in the paint, but the Honda car sustained no damage whatsoever. Well, maybe I’m not surprised. My roommate John, who owns a bar in West Virginia, says rutting
isn’t confined to deer and elk. “Just come into my
bar any Saturday night around 11:00 P.M. and watch.”  |
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9/3 9/5 9/6 9/7 |
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