Friday, July 16th

Boy golly gee whiz is it cold!!! As I said, Marilyn got up in the middle of the night and did a great job of starting the fire. First you break off a piece of starter then you build a tepee with the preformed wood disks. No one told us, though, that you have to use nearly the whole bucket of disks! When we wake up it is miserably cold. Marilyn throws on some clothes and drives up front to get someone to help us.

Carie Jane to the rescue! She builds the fire and tells us about the quantities of wood that you go through! Today is mostly a down day, so it is good to be warm! Sure glad we showered last night!

Marilyn comes running in saying, “Get your camera!” She had been up front when a ranger came in asking if she knew where the bear was! We don’t get to see the bear but we do see the ranger who flashes us a peace sign and shows us the gun he used to scare him away. He says it was just a black bear, because he would have never used that little gun on a grizzly! He also points out a huge pine that has come crashing down! It missed our cabin but did a little damage to one close by!

We have our left over corn muffins for breakfast and decide that today is a good time to completely reorganize our suitcases. We’ve been stuffing gifts and souvenirs into nooks and crannies and are feeling very disorganized. We also realize that it will soon be time to do laundry. There are no facilities here, so we’re planning on going in Gardner when we hit Mammoth Hot Springs tomorrow.

Once everything is straighted away we take our computers and sit on the front porch of the lodge. We figure we’ll write and download photos until we get hungry for lunch or run out of power, which ever comes first.

Actually, they pretty well coincide and we go back to our cabin to plug in our computers, fix pbjs and sit at the picnic bench to eat and breathe the mountain air. There is a ground squirrel that would very much like to join us!

Back to the porch for a bit longer and then we put away our computers and get ready to walk down to the corral for our chuckwagon supper!

We wander down the gravel road and see the corral and all the horses. We check in and get our wagon assignment and join the rest of the “cow pokes” listening to Marshal Mark tell us about Yellowstone and, in general, warm up the crowd. Marshall Mark Brooks (not to be confused with his famous cousin) tells us about the Fourth Earl of Dunraven, who was so taken with the park that he went back to England to tell all his friends about the wonders he had seen. When he was “done ravin’” they were so impressed that they came, too! Dunraven Pass is named after him.

We get some real data, too, like the park was founded in 1872 and contains 2.2 million acres! It is our first national park and is the site of the world’s largest volcano. Hopefully it won’t erupt! We are also told that there are as many bison, about 3,000, in the park as there are park employees. President Grant is the person who signed it into existence.

Soon we see the matched pairs of Belgian draft horses being led out and hitched up to the yellow covered wagons that will be taking us two miles out into Pleasant Vallley for our cookout.

We have a shotgunner, Matt, who tells us stories all the way there and back, and a driver, Travis, who keeps Frank, the headstrong horse, and Slim, his partner, in line. The trip took about half an hour and Matt kept up a steady patter the whole way. He discussed the geology of the area as well as telling us some of the history of this part of Yellowstone. Especially he told us the story of C. Evert and Yellowstone Jack. Mr. Evert got separated from his exploration party and wound up spending 37 days alone in the wilderness. When Yellowstone Jack found him he had gone from 230 pounds to 90! He subsisted on elk thistle, which Matt says tastes like a cross between rotten potatoes and celery!
Mr. Evert’s family refused to pay the $600 reward they had offered because they said it was only for his body, with no life or soul left in it! Since he was alive, it didn’t count!

Yellowstone Jack later build a bridge over the Yellowstone River for the miners who were searching for gold. He charged two bits a head, even if the head was of a chicken!


Mr. Yantze opened a hotel in the valley to which we’re going. Unfortunately he decided that he wanted to travel to the north entrance to see President Roosevelt install the cornerstone for the welcome arch and on the trip he caught pneumonia and died. He left the hotel to his nephew, Chicago Dan, who didn’t enjoy the hotel industry and eventually it “mysteriously” burnt to the ground. If it weren’t for his hotel and the fact that this part of the park was already “disturbed by man”, we wouldn’t be able to come out here of our feast!

And speaking of the feast, it consisted of boneless New York strip steak, cowboy beans, corn, potato salad, cole slaw, sliced watermelon, corn muffins and apple crisp. For beverages there was water and lemonade and tea and hot chocolate and sodas and cowboy coffee – the high octane stuff! Each and every morsel was delicious! Everyone gets his steak cooked just the way he likes it and the seconds are endless! It makes me mad that I can only hold one plateful!

Before, during and after dinner Marshall Mark sang and played guitar, asking for requests and even making up some verses for Sponge Bob Square Pants! The final song of the evening was “Happy Trails to You” by Dale Evans. Then it was time for everyone to mount up, some literally! First the one-hour trail riders left, then the two-hour trail riders and finally the rest of us climbed back into our wagons for the trip home.

Matt finished the story of Mr. Evert and pointed out some of the features of the valley. We even saw Bullwinkle and Rocky! When we passed the cooks we all yelled out God Save the Cooks and the Coffee Maker. It is a contest to see which wagon can yell a saying the loudest! We also yelled Thank you to the two ladies who stop traffic on the highway so the wagon can cross. Travis and Matt tell us about the Poison Cliffs, so named because one drop will kill ya!

When we got back we stopped into the lodge to see if they have a stamp and to get a copy of the recipe for cowboy beans. As we come out we see the chuck wagon and the cooks coming back. They work a LONG day, beginning at ten when they start preparing the sides. Jason, the manager of the cookout says he plans enough food for 300 people, although they only sell 230 reservations. He usually has enough, but sometimes comes up short of muffins. He can move all those people through two lines in only an hour. Quite a feat!

A stop at the general store to buy a second Yellowstone album and some drinks is next. The lady behind the counter is excited to hear that we enjoyed the cookout because she and her husband are signed up to go next Monday! Then we take our dusty and exhausted bodies to the shower room to wash and shampoo and tuck ourselves in. It is so beautiful out that we don’t even start the fire. Well, not until the next morning!