The Tabernacle Choir practices on Thursday evenings and most of the practice is open to the public. We took advantage in the opportunity and got to hear the world famous choir and the 11,000+ pipe organ. The Sunday service where the radio program is broadcast from is also open to the public and we have placed that on our list of to do things for our next time through Salt Lake City.
We just happended to find out about a 140th anniversary of the Golden Spike Ceremony at Pronimatory Point near Salt Lake City where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads met completing the building of the trans continental railroad. We were quite impressed and moved by the significance of the event.An easy three hour drive took us to the Lava Hot Springs in Idaho. Run by the state of Idaho, these commercial hot springs are very nice. There were about 5 different pools with temperatures ranging from about 102 degrees to 110 degrees. We started at the cooler pools and ended up in the hottest. These pools are open year round and the photos in the brochure show bathers in the pools with snow covering everything around the pools. That would be a treat. We will probably stop back here sometime and maybe we will be fortunate to catch some snow.
One day at the hot springs was enough to cleanse our systems and we continued another three hours to Craters of the Moon National Monument. This is a weird place to say the least. Lava flows from over 15000 years ago to as recent as 2000 years ago have created a landscape that defies description. The lunar landing astronauts trained here for a reason although the moon’s surface is pocked from meteor impacts, not from lava. Cinder cones and spatter cones dot the 50mile by 30 mile park. Displays and movies in the visitor center describe the various types of flows and lavas. Nether Sandi or I have had much experience with volcanoes or lave so we were like to kids in a new and exciting learning environment. Though the lava in this park is predominantly basaltic, we are still able to relate some with our Yellowstone experiences where much of the lava is rhyolite. Interestingly enough the calderas that form a smile like arc through Idaho along the Snake River all occurred when the continental land mass moved over the hotspot located now where Yellowstone is.Sandi and I drove the seven mile loop road and climbed to the top of Inferno Mountain which is a relatively recent cinder cone, a volcano that was active only 2000 years ago. After hiking through one of the lava tubes, we figured we had experienced Craters of the Moon and decided to continue towards Yellowstone.
A short two hour drive brought us to Rigby, Idaho, just north of Idaho Falls. Our purpose here was two-fold: 1) Meet with the technician who set up our internet satellite system several years ago and 2) Tour the Titanic Artifacts exhibit. The exhibit was interesting. The tickets we purchased were boarding passes and each of us had a pass with information about an original Titanic traveler. At the end we were able to check our names with a list of all passengers and found out that neither of us completed the voyage although Sandi’s traveler had a wife and two small children who were rescued.
The technician solved my internet problem by replacing a slightly warped dish and then allowed us to remain in his driveway for the evening. His wife’s parents, the Fenstermachers, trace their ancestors to Berks and Lehigh Counties in PA and were interested in meeting us so they came to the RV for a visit. Mrs. Fenstermacher is a genealogist for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and offered help when I needed it. We had a great visit.
We made it to Yellowstone National Park, arriving just a couple days before our training. Our season got off to an exciting start when we fortuned to get to see a small pack of three wolves harass and then kill a wounded elk. The head wolf researcher in Yellowstone has only witnessed ten kills so we felt extremely fortunate to have been able to watch this somewhat gruesome but very natural cycling of energy in the food chain. Our pre-season training on the resources was exceptional with great presentations on wolves, history, and geology.
Finally in the park ranger uniform, I am fulfilling a life long desire. I am a park ranger and am loving it. Sandi is back on the job as a volunteer at the Madison Visitor Center. Two of Sandi’s days off coincide with mine but she gets an additional day or two off every week. It has been a while since either of us has put in 8 hour days and sleeping comes easy nearly every night.Time off for me has been devoted almost entirely to preparing the minimum of seven programs that I am scheduled to present. As I get closer to completion on these preps, I can finally get out to cast a fly in nearby trout streams. Sandi has been catching up on some of her sewing and together we have been visiting and touring other visitor centers around the park. Yesterday we hiked the Lake Overlook trail near Grant Village. The two-mile moderately strenuous hike took us through prime bear country but all we saw was some bear scat and a few elk including one spotted new-born.
Yellowstone is still the wonderland we experienced two years ago and our experiences this year have been every-bit as enjoyable and exciting as those we had in the past. My duties include far more than just doing the programs for the Junior Rangers as well as adults but the gratification I get from helping youngster make a connection with this park is ample compensation and outweighs the drudgery of selling entrance permits and occasionally manning a road barrier. So far this season at Yellowstone appears to be heading in the right direction.
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