Ski Bumming 2020 & COVID

The plan is to head Wyoming, where there are no shelter-in-place orders, and then make our way to the Fontanelle Reservoir. It was really sad to leave Montana as we really love it here. But since we feel like we are now living on the lam, we must go.

We took our time in the morning getting Beastie organized for getting back on the road. We really wanted to pack up a bunch of our ski gear and send it home to give us more room, but in the end, we decided not to. This is tough, because having to look at my skis and ski boots every day knowing they can't be used is depressing. Oh well. At least we were able to squish down a bunch of our bulky gear and get them into a box which stores perfectly in the bottom cubie shelf.

We only drove a couple hours via US-287. Along the way, here the things we saw and places we past before we stopped for the night:

Here's just one example of the many reasons I love these road trips. You never know what you're going to see. This was in the middle of nowhere...

Earthquake Lake

We initially planned to camp here, but when we arrived, there were no facilities. It was late in the day, so we had to do a quick drive-by tour and take in the interpretive signs and snow-covered views. It was windy and FAH-REEZING, so guess who jumped out and took all the pics and read the signs to the one who stayed all cozy behind the wheel?

What happened at Earthquake Lake on August 17, 1959 was so tragic. From the US Forest Service website:

It was near midnight on August 17^th, 1959 when an earthquake near the Madison River triggered a massive landslide. The slide moved at 100 mph and in less than 1 minute, over 80 million tons of rock crashed into the narrow canyon, blocking the Madison River and forming Earthquake Lake. This earth- changing event, known as the Hebgen Lake Earthquake, measured 7.5 on the Richter scale.  At the time it was the second largest earthquake to occur in the lower 48 states in the 20th century. Twenty-eight people lost their lives in the event.

The signs along the highway recount the details of that horrific night. I can't begin to imagine how scary and awful it was for all the people who died or experienced what is the most devastating modern geological disaster in the Rock Mountains.

To experience Earthquake Lake in the rapidly darkening sky, bitter cold and whipping winds made thinking about all those who died, and how they died, that much more profoundly sad. It also hit home that events like these could happen any time and any place. Hopefully it will never happen to us or anyone else.

We continued on and past what is, for me, the greatest, vast expanse of white I have ever seen. For miles and miles, we drove alongside a large, frozen Hebgen lake. Keep in mind it was difficult to photograph this as we were driving. Clearly it was difficult to capture the expansiveness of the scene since the images don't do it justice...

It's interested to learn how the earthquake that form Earthquake Lake impacted the dam at Hebgen Lake.  From the Visit Montana website:

Hebgen Lake is approximately fifteen miles long and four miles wide. Hebgen Lake has been called the premier stillwater fishing lake in Montana.

Hebgen Lake is a man-made lake, retained by an earth-fill dam. It was and is a popular vacation and fishing spot, near Yellowstone National Park. In 1959 an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 occurred along a fault that crosses the Madison River. The quake damaged the dam, but not severely. 

The most spectacular and disastrous effect of the earthquake was the huge avalanche of rock, soil and trees that cascaded from the steep south wall of the Madison River Canyon. This slide formed a barrier that blocked the gorge and stopped the flow of the Madison River and, within a few weeks, creating Quake Lake almost 53 meters deep. The volume of material that blocked the Madison River below Hebgen Dam has been estimated at 28 - 33 million cubic meters.

It was getting too late to continue, so we pulled off the highway with the hopes of finding a place to tuck in for the night. It took awhile, but we eventually found a nice spot off a snowy road near a launch ramp for Hedgen Lake. and settled in.

Luckily 1der didn't mind going outside to grill burgers for dindin. Yum...

While we don't like pulling into a place as it's getting dark / nighttime, one of the fun things about doing so is seeing where we really are when the sun is out.

Look where we woke up!

Beastie was all tucked in last night, and we were all snuggly and cozy.

Our amazing, temporary home.
When we arrived, we had no idea how long we would stay, hence the "doctoring" of the dates and number of nights."

The “knock” came this morning at 9:30am. “Hello, hello,” she said gently. 1der was up, so he called back: “Yes, good morning!”

“Good morning, this is the park ranger. Yellowstone National Park is closing today, and you have to be out of the campground by 4:00 this afternoon.”

“Oh, okay,” 1der replied.

We knew our days were numbered, so we weren’t surprised by this. After all, everywhere we’ve recreated on this trip, the place closes while we’re there or just after we leave. Who knew we were so unpopular?

Luckily our home at this moment is always completely contained, ready to move within a few minutes of getting the “knock.” Since we had plenty of time to pack up, we took our time. Besides, it was cold (surprise!!!), windy and lightly snowing, and I was still in my sleeping bag.

First thing I needed to do (after we filled Beastie up with water - always a top priority while on the road) was to write a “love letter” to the NPS staff. We are so appreciative of everything they’ve done to allow us and others to experience such splendor and beauty.

The people in the site across the way must have left early for a day excursion, because clearly they didn't get "the memo." Imagine their surprise when they come back to camp only to find this nice little present:

Party's over; thank you for coming. Now pack up yer stuff and get outta here!

Next stop was to drop off the Bear Spray and letter at the clinic and hopefully see John again before we left. Unfortunately, he was not working today; he’s actually not in Yellowstone at all, but at his home in Missoula.

I told John's super nice colleague (Ginger) that I hope a lot of people read my letter, and she said she would make a copy and circulate it throughout the team, including giving it to her husband who works with Kevin (the head back-country ranger). I was thrilled to hear this, as we really wanted to thank Kevin but didn’t get his contact info when we met him the other day.

It was so sad to leave this amazing, magical place. So many amazing things have happened, and we will never forget the incredible gift we’ve been given to be here during these uncertain, downright scary times.

So what to do now? Head to our next amazing destination: the laundry mat in Gardiner.

We left the park (wheaaah) and went to Gardiner. The town was again, completely dead; not a soul on the streets except for the construction crew working on the bridge. It was Ground Hog day again. So weird and eerie.

John texted earlier to let us know we were welcome in Missoula. What did this mean? Could Missoula be where we were heading next? We talked with him about how we’ve been unusually socially isolated since February 3rd and also expressed our concerns about social responsibility, staying away from small towns, etc. As a medical practitioner, what were his thoughts about us traveling to his town?

Considering the circumstances, he didn’t think it was a problem. Imagine our surprise when he offered to have us stay at their house (driveway) and use the shower — what an amazing invitation from someone we hardly know. We were blown away by his continual generosity and graciousness. I shared our motto in our lives and marriage: Life’s Magic Dance and told him he was part of this magic. Missoula here we come; we’ll see John and his wife tomorrow late morning!

Just as we were driving into Bozeman, we regrettably received a text from John stating some logistical challenges came up, and the timing is not good after all. The invitation, however, still stands for another time, and we hope to see them in Missoula or San Francisco and be their host.

The penultimate stop of the day was Costco for re-provisioning. Talk about a reality check. The couple parked nearest to us were wearing masks. A guy in the store was wearing an N95 mask and dressed in full camo gear. I found him to be particularly unnerving. The place was empty, and we were on high alert for social distancing. I thanked so many Costco workers for being there as I would be terrified if I had to deal with the public.

As of two days ago, there were 34 COVID-19 cases total in Montana, 10 of which are in Gallatin County, which includes Big Sky and Bozeman. The US has 35,206 cases total.

Coronavirus COVID-19 dashboard data for yesterday, March 23, 2021.

This is the first time we are in a COVID-19 infected area, and thus anything that comes into Beastie needs to be cleaned. We are extremely diligent and cautious about everything. Our bubble has been completely busted, and we now know what our family, friends and neighbors are going through. Yikes. Everyone we’ve spoken to back home has said don’t come back. It’s better to stay away, they said, as we are much safer. Boy, y’all aren’t kidding…

It is now nearly midnight, and we’re getting ready for bed. We’re parked at our home here in Bozeman, also known as the Walmart Super Center Parking lot 🤣, and there are a lot of other “boondockers,” some of them with giant trailers or motorhomes with multiple push-outs. At least two are towing cars, which tells me these people probably left their locked-down locales and have escaped. Hope they’re not spreading anything; I'm sure they're thinking the same about us.

Who knows where we’ll be tomorrow. Stay tuned!

1. The super nice man from the Mammoth Medical Clinic who gave us the trail maps and lent the 🐻 spray.
2. Aaaah yeah, of course that's what happens when you make something free and millions of people are in lock-down. Helloooo!!! What were they thinking???!

We woke up, and once again, it was snowing. Would our plans to snowshoe be derailed because of the weather? Luckily, it cleared in about an hour, so after buttoning up our moving home, we took off for the Blacktail Plateau Ski Trail.

The Blacktail trail is on the road to Tower. We wanted to check it out because John¹ said it was a good one. The big parking lot, located right at the trailhead, was empty, which was fantastic since it was a Sunday. Hopefully this meant minimal numbers of people were in the park today / this weekend. The less number of people, the better, because maybe, just maybe, this will help keep the park open. Huge crowds have been descending on other National Parks², to the point where they have to be shut down. People, stay away from Yellowstone, please!

As we approached the trailhead, something didn't look right. Oh no!!! The trail was closed so the bears can do their thing in Spring. We were very happy to stay away. Who wants to surprise a bear when it's waking up from hibernation?

Plan B: the Lost Lake Trail.

Lost Lake is a small lake that’s tucked in the forest behind the Roosevelt Lodge. In winter, it's frozen.

The Lost Lake Trail is a four-mile (6.4-km) route that has two entry points: one at Tower, and the other at the Petrified Tree Trailhead.

The trail passes by the Petrified Tree, Lost Lake, the Lost Creek waterfall, and Calcite Springs Overlook. Plan B sounds like a really good alternative.

We started at the Petrified Tree side. Parking was ample and easy because during winter, the only place to park is in the turnout across the highway. However, I'm sure any time outside of winter, it would be very difficult to find parking in the turnout. But... during the summer, you can actually drive to and park near the tree. Way too easy.

Once you get on the trail, you can see the highway. Shortly after getting started, we saw a bunch of cars stopped along the road. In Yellowstone, this always means there is wildlife nearby or actually on the road. We stopped and scanned the road and the snow-covered terrain on both sides of the highway.

Then we saw it: a large red fox on the other side of the road. Out came the binoculars, and we watched this magnificent, beautiful creature.

Despite being called red foxes, the fur on these animals is not always red; their coats can also be black, brown or silver. This fox had an orange / red coat, a fluffy, matching-colored tail, and a handsome face sporting a slim, long white snout. Its chest was also white, and like all red foxes, it had the distinctive black markings on all four legs that made it look like it was wearing socks or stockings. When it turned around, I could see the black markings on the tip of its ears. It was stunning.

By the way it was moving, it appeared to be injured. 😱 It would start and stop, almost limping, then put its head down as if it needed to rest. And then it suddenly pounced into the snow. It wasn't injured at all — it was stalking and hunting! It didn’t catch anything and kept on walking.

We needed to do the same.

We didn’t stop at the Petrified Tree on the way in, but we’d catch it on our way out.

The trail was beautiful and easy.

1der walked up an embankment to check the depth of the snow.

Near the lake, intersecting “our” trail at 90 degrees was a single-file bison trail.

It was so impressive to see how wide is their girth, how deep are their tracks, and how far apart are their legs. These beasts are humongous, and since we are (thankfully) never standing next to or in front of one, this was a way to get a perspective of just how gigantic they really are. Do the "Tourons" who approach them have any idea how huge they are??? Guess not.

I asked 1der to pretend he was a bison and play "Twister" inside their tracks. The point was to give reference to their size. He was also really interested, so he stepped inside.

"I couldn't believe how deep the tracks went. I don't know how they're able to plow through the snow while picking up their legs."

"The distance between their tracks is amazingly far. There is no way I was able to span the distance while on all-fours. And I could smell them. It smelled like musk."

We put the ski pole down as a reference point. The pole is 49" / 124 cm long. When looking at a bison, imagine more than 49" between their front and back legs. Then consider how much they weigh and how wide they are. Yikes.

We continued along towards the lake.

The ski and snowshoe tracks cut right through the lake, but at this late period in the season, we didn’t want to risk falling through melting ice, especially since we didn't know the lake's depth. We stayed on the side, and at times, cut some fresh tracks.

Now I know where someone got the idea for corn dogs. Do you know anyone who eats at Hot Dog On A Stick? Yuck!!!!

I was quite taken with how beautiful the hot-dog-on-a-stick became as it aged. The lighting and the way I shot this makes me zen-out when I look at it, especially up close.

As the day progressed, the wind picked up and it was getting really cold. We made it as far as the frozen waterfall and needed to turn around after eating a snack. On a whim, we turned on our phones to see if we had a signal. A most unexpected surprise!

Messages can flooding in, including cute pics of our friends Vino and Mark who live in Oakland. They went to a local park during the “Stay At Home” order to get some fresh air and exercise (all legal, BTW), and they wanted to know where we were and what we were doing.

I love taking and sending "Find Mario's Items in Luigi's Mansion" type images, so I sent this one and said "can you find 1der?" So easy to see him. I also relayed we had stopped for a snack.

Vino replied, “eating a snake? What kind of snake?” I thought this was hilarious. This is why you don’t text when your hands / fingers are freezing…

I snowshoe'd over to the nearby bridge to see the frozen 40-foot Lost Creek Waterfall.

The Falls were frozen.

It was time to turn back, and when we got to the Petrified Tree area, it was around 5pm. 1der didn’t want to snowshoe up the path to see it, so off I went, navigating the incline pocketed by deep bison prints and scatterings of their poop bombs. Not easy with snowshoes, especially when the path was uneven with steep sides, and, in some spots, narrow due to minimal snow coverage.

When I got to the tree, the only sound I could hear was the wind blowing through the surrounding trees. I got out my camera and started looking at / taking pictures of the petrified tree. It’s a travesty that in the past, people completely picked away at the two (closely situated) petrified trees for souvenirs, resulting in the existence of only one tree today. Luckily, there’s a iron bar enclosure to protect it.

Suddenly, something caught my eye, and I froze.

OMG.

A small red fox was in the enclosure, sitting next to the tree!

This poor baby was stuck inside, and I figured that’s why it was so small. I was mortified, and I immediately starting thinking about how to notify the rangers ASAP so they could open the locked gate and let it out.

I was so captivated and worried, I could barely breathe. The fox, however, was calmly looking at me and not moving. We had lots of eye contact, and this, along with watching the wind gently flutter its beautiful red coat, calmed me down. Several minutes passed, and I felt like the Fox Whisperer. And then...

It got up, and squeezed right through the vertical bars.

I was so relieved.

As it walked behind the enclosure, I took three small steps to my left. It then moved to the same side, which gave me a straight, unobstructed view. I stood as still as possible and held my breath.

Then it started walking toward me and stopped about ten feet away. I didn’t move, except to zoom in and start recording. The fox saw / was aware of me the entire time, and it wasn’t fazed one bit.

After watching it for about a minute, I knew 1der would be concerned with how long I was gone, so I started to make my way back. Oh, how I wish he were with me and could experience this!

The fox turned and also started to walk in the same direction. Luckily, it was much further up the hill so I could keep a distance.

It kept moving parallel to me. I zoomed in all the way with my little point-n-shot camera, but I couldn't get a close-up. So I cropped this image (below), which luckily shows the exquisiteness of this creature.

Then it decided to mosey down the hill and cross my path. This utter beauty with black-tipped ears and "stockinged" legs was so calm in my presence and wasn’t afraid of me. I wasn’t afraid either, but I was being extremely cautious the entire time.

I immediately stopped and let it cross. At this point, I was able to make non-verbal contact with 1der and point out what I was seeing. He was able to see that the fox was now walking towards me, just on the other side of the path's fence. I stood still, frozen, except for my panning and zooming arm and camera, while my little red fox passed about 15 feet away from me. It stopped a few moments later and sat beside a tree.

I scurried down the rest of the path and was bursting with excitement. “Did. You. See. That???" I exclaimed while panting. “Thaaaat was incredible!”

1der was blown away by my account and the little bit of what he was able to witness.

As we continued down the trail, he pointed out the fox, which was still sitting by the same tree. It was just hanging out, as if we were part of the forest, which is exactly what we were at that moment in time.

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The world is falling apart, and yet here we were, on a clear and cold night, standing outside to witness the spectacular display of stars and identify brilliant celestial formations.

What a glorious day. So much gratitude and thanks, for this is, indeed, living.

1. 1. Don't even get me started!!!
   2. A potentially re-torn ACL AND Bison poop smeared all over me. Lovely...

Yesterday's Coronavirus case count in the US: 18,170, with 241 deaths.

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We woke up to a rare, warm, sunny day.

The campground was peaceful, though a bit more crowded since it's a Friday. This means there are probably no more than 15 sites occupied, but we're betting the weekend will be a lot more crowded. No!!!!

We didn't want to drive anywhere today, so we decided to walk to a snowshoe trail that started about half mile down the highway from the campground. I saw the sign yesterday, and it was one of the good snowshoe treks John from the clinic mentioned: Undine Falls.

Even though the trail was (one way) 4.3 miles / 6.9 kms to the Falls (which there was no way we could do that distance in our snowshoes, even if we wanted to), we still went knowing we would just turn back at some point.

1der looked on the map and noticed we could chop off a mile if we accessed a different trail entry point much closer to the campground. That trailhead was obscurely located somewhere inside the residential living area for park employees, which was across the highway from the campground.

We carried our snowshoes and reluctantly walked into the "Park Employees Only" area. We weren't sure we were allowed in there, but we decided to take a chance.

Unfortunately, our map did not clearly lay out where this other trailhead was located, and when we looked at the terrain behind the houses, it was clear we were on a bluff and the trail itself was way down below across the river.

We decided to head over to the normal trailhead. As we were nearing the residential area's entry point, we crossed paths with a man.

"Hello!," I said. "Is it okay for us to be in this area, and can you please kindly tell us where is the trailhead near here for Undine Falls?"

Imagine our great surprise when he said, "Sure you can be here, I'll even take you to the trailhead!"

What a stroke of luck for us. Turns out we were so fortunate to meet up with Kevin Dooley, the senior backcountry ranger for all of Yellowstone National Park. He's been working there for 25 years, and his knowledge about the park is enormous.

He walked us down a long road, and we chatted the entire 10-minute walk.

We learned where the kids of park employees go to school. We passed the old school that is now used as rec center because there are too few kids to keep it in use. Park employee kids now go to school in Gardiner, the town just outside the park's northern entrance.

Kevin also talked about how much the culture has changed for these kids. Hint: Amazon Prime has fostered instant gratification and eliminated the prior mountain-living culture of patience and need versus gotta have it, and I want it now.

I think about how magical it would be to grow up in Yellowstone National Park and how all its wonder and wildlife would be our endless source of entertainment. Sadly, most kids today seem to prefer a much coveted video game / social media / massive amounts of screen time. I've seen it in many places where the kids would rather stay in the car playing video games instead of getting on the trail. So sad, but I digress.¹

We wanted to know Kevin's story about how he came to be a ranger, and how he end up in Yellowstone. It's always wonderful to hear how people have pivotal moments in their youth that inspire them to pursue a career. Kevin is no exception, and it's his love and passion for Yellowstone that keeps him here.

We ended up at the "Boneyard" (more below on this), and we parted ways with his last piece of advice: the bears are out, so be prepared. Thank you Kevin Dooley!

Indeed Kevin lead us to an official trailhead, though it definitely didn't look like one. Again, more later on why this trailhead was so obscure. Had he not lead us here, there is no way we would have thought we were in the right place.

Upon entering the trail, there was an immediate steep descent that lead us down and across the river. It was really slippery with mud and snow, and it was made ten times worse because it was basically a mine field of giant bison poops. Ugh.

I was really nervous navigating the descent. This was the first time I was on a slippery, steep trail since my ACL surgery, and I didn't have my knee brace on. If I slipped and fell, it would be a scene from a really bad movie.²

This image was taken after the steep, muddy part. I would have been in deep doo-doo if I didn't have my ski poles to use as hiking poles. In order to plant my pole in front, I had to really lean over, especially because the pole would sink pretty deep into the mud before becoming stable enough to bear weight.

It took more than 30 minutes to go a very short distance. Thank goodness 1der was carrying my snowshoes and we had our ski poles, but it was even more difficult because we were wearing our snow boots and not hiking boots. And remember, my snow boots are not grippy.

We finally reached the suspension bridge that would take us across the river so we could intersect with the main trailhead. 1der was correct: we cut out about a mile coming this way.

From the middle of the bridge, here's the view to the right:

And here's the view to the left:

Once we got across, we spent a bunch of time looking for the trail. No such luck.

We found a few narrow trails, but they clearly were game trails that lead to the river. Oh, and did I mentioned there were a bunch of bison in the distance glued to our every move?

After walking a bit, we found the real trail. A muddy, gushy, slippery trail with bison and elk poop all along the way. This official trail had been trampled with big bison prints imprinted in the wet mud, which made it even harder to navigate.

Ah, so this is why it's called the boneyard. Not really...

We slowly made our way up the trail, constantly moving to the side to find some snow versus sinking / slipping in the mud and hearing goosh, squish, shluuup, faaaawop, etc. How many onomatopoeias can you come up with for walking in the mud and navigating bison and elk poop?

Does "oh sh#t" count as a sound effect?

The views along the way were beautiful.

After nearly two hours, we stopped at some fallen trees and had a snack. Remember those snowshoes? The ones we strapped to our backpacks that are not made for carrying anything heavy? Yeah, we brought them for nothing... Of course I had to thank 1der for schelpping my snowshoes the entire time until we had the snack.

Something (or should I say someone - me!) possessed us to keep going. But then it got worse. Really bad, as if it weren't already bad enough. I was having fun because, hey, it was an adventure! But 1der was done.

Underneath the water was thick mud, and stepping on the snow wasn't better because we just sunk into more mud. 😱

If you look closely, you can see just how much mud is stuck to the bottom of my boot and round the toes. All the gunk stayed on and was not released, so each step just got more and more slippery, and more and more heavy, as the mud was smooshed in and stuck all over the bottom of the soles, especially up by the toes.

We turned around and made our way back. Search, avoid, step, goosh, repeat.

We saw a small herd of bison in the distance. We watched them for quite awhile as they grazed while moving downstream.

I wanted to finish the hike at the "real" trailhead down the road from the campground and not where we started. Thus, after crossing the bridge, we made a right instead of going to the left where we came down. Unlike the beginning, the trail to the right was nice; mostly flat, with dry and hardened ground. We were happy.

But a short while later, just as we rounded the corner, something in the distance caught my eye. Oh crap!!! Two giant bison and their juvenile had their butts parked literally right across the trail. Darn it!

Of course I zoomed in to the max to get this shot.

There was no way around them the trail as it was narrow were they were. We watched them for a few minutes, and they were not moving. We looked to our left and saw way above some fencing that looked like an overlook from the highway. We decided to risk our lives 😆 and climb up the very steep, snow covered hill versus risking our lives getting taken out by Momma bison. But who knew where we would end up?

So up we went (it was dicey, no joke).

Imagine my GREAT disappointment when we crested the hill and I looked up. We were back at the far end of the...

Boneyard!!!

This is the entrance to the Boneyard. We came out of the hike at the opposite end, near those reddish / orange shipping containers.

We walked our way past the rusted shipping containers, discarded machinery, old cars, etc. and back onto the road. It was getting really cold and windy, and it was late.

We got back to Beastie, had dinner and got ready for bed.

In spite of what we encountered, we had a great day (at least I did!) Hopefully it makes for a great story we can laugh at in the years to come.

We close our eyes with sadness, knowing tomorrow will bring more bad news with the dark COVID cloud.

On this day two years ago, I tore my ACL. I really, really wish we were skiing today, but oh well...

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Even though we figured today was our last day of minimal crowds before the weekend throngs arrive, we decided to stay “in” and do some housekeeping. This meant organizing Beastie after going up to the visitor’s center for WIFI and water replenishment.

We were in front of the infamous bathroom when we saw a man wearing a bright yellow sweatshirt with CAL written across.

“Berkeley!,” 1der exclaimed.

Unlike the last people we encountered here, this man and his wife were very pleasant. We spent the next 20 minutes chatting with this nice couple / recent Bozeman transplants who moved there 1.5 years ago after spending decades in Sacramento.

It was great learning about W & K’s move, what it was like to live in Bozeman, and how different their lives were after leaving California. Their son went to school at and now lives and works in Berkeley, so they still have ties to the Bay Area.

Word must be out throughout Montana about the grizzly and the drowned bison because the couple knew about it and were going to check it out.

Happy wildlife viewing!

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Once we got up to the Visitor’s Center, I was quite pleased to see the area was still deserted. Yes!!!

This view is looking out from the steps of the Mammoth Visitor's Center. This is where we would freeze our you-know-what's-off when we parked ourselves here to access WIFI at the end of every day. Thankfully, the rangers left the access open even though the Visitor's Center was closed indefinitely because of COVID.

Of course I had to get a pic of the post office.

... because of the two adorable bears flanking the entrance.

They are so cute with their colorful and snuggly scarves.

As we were heading “home,” we saw a big herd of bison on the road a bit past the campground entrance. We went to check it out. They moved before we got there. For the record, we would never approach them.

There wasn’t a place nearby to turn around, so we kept heading down the road to the next turnoff, which was past the Boiling River Hot Springs parking lots. The lots were blocked off and the entire area closed due to COVID. Again, we expressed our gratitude that we went there on Monday and didn’t wait until later in the week. That would have been a HUGE miss.

I was happy to pass this sign, which I saw the other day on our way into the park but didn’t stop. Pretty cool, eh?

Unfortunately, we didn’t find the time to organize Beastie. Funny how time flies when you’re doing nothing.

As the sun was going down and I was getting dinner ready, we heard a car stop in front of our campsite. A woman’s voice said, “I think that’s them! Hello! Hello!”

I guess it's hard to be incognito with Beastie... 🙃

W & K (the couple from this morning) found us. We were so happy to see them again! They went to see the grizzly and got some great pictures. Luckily for K, he had a real telephoto lens, though my method takes more skill. 🤣

I’m so glad we exchanged information; we look forward to seeing them again either in Montana or in the Bay Area.

Most certainly grateful that all body parts are in tact today. 👏🏼

It took me awhile to calm down from this morning's bathroom incident. I was so upset at the stupidity, ignorance and racism in this country, and I couldn’t help but to be reminded of one of the most painful things I’ve ever heard. It breaks my heart whenever I think of it.

When I was in college and visiting my most beloved Daddy, I asked him if he could do it all over again, what would he be? The context, of course, was his profession, for as a physician, he was always so sickened and angered by how the politics at the hospital always got in the way of providing the best patient care. I was completely floored when he said, “I would be white. Then I wouldn’t have to experience racism and prejudice.”

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We went up to the Upper Terraces parking lot to snowshoe around that area.

We started along the Snow Pass ski trail, but since it appeared the trail just followed the road for a while, we decided to change directions and follow a snowshoe trail to see where we would ended up.

We did that a couple years ago in Jackson, but the tracks we followed on that excursion lead us far into the forest and then stopped in the middle of nowhere. We didn’t want that to happen this time, but of course it did just that when the path dead-ended. Fortunately, this time it was close to the beginning of our jaunt.

We ended up in in a small, makeshift snow-camp site. There was even food still hanging in the tree! I was quite surprised by this since hanging food in the Eastern Sierra is not legal. I guess Yogi hasn’t figured it out up here…

We decided to go our own way deeper into the forest. Because of our compass readings, we knew we wouldn’t get lost. Boosting our confidence was knowing our fresh tracks would not be covered up / were clearly visible on this beautiful, sunny day.

Within a few minutes, we encountered more “rogue” snowshoe tracks, so we changed directions and went towards the direction of the Upper Terrace Ski track. After meandering through the forest, we found an established hiking trail that was intermittently exposed from the spring thaw. It was cool to see shoe prints that were frozen under the winter snow.

Eventually we intersected with the Upper Terrace ski track, right by the Orange Spring Mound. What a cool mass of travertine terraces which house a complex network of fractures and fissures that bring hot water to the surface.

There is an actual spring inside the mound that flows from vents from the top and side. We could hear it gurgling, and since there was no one around, this was the only sound paired with the gentle wind.

It was so unique, it really required a study of its structure and the beautiful colors and gradations caused by the thermophiles that live in the spring's hot water. Isn't it amazing how these microscopic organisms can live and thrive in boiling water?

According to the NPS website, the temperature of the hot springs in Yellowstone is approximately 198°F / 92°C (the boiling point of water at Yellowstone's mean altitude). The vents pump out steam reported as high as 275°F / 135°C. Now that's frick'n HOT. And to think just how many brain cells are missing in the imbeciles who think it's a good idea to dip their toes and bodies in the water...

We could hear the spring sputtering and see water coming out from the top. The glistening shininess all round the mound is from the water.

The view constantly changed due to the steam generated all around the terraces.

This was the perfect location to grab a quick snack.

We then continued on the established trail and caught this expansive view of the valley.

I love informational signs and always read them. I also like to take pictures of them so when I'm viewing images years later, I know what I'm looking at. In this case, it's great to understand just what we're look at / seeing.

We encountered an unexpected visitor on the trail.

We passed more beauty.

And more amazing, heat seeking / resistant micro-organisms.

We eventually we found our way to the exact point where we saw the “rogue tracks” and made our way back to Beastie. While we were de-gearing, two rangers passed and started talking with 1der. He told them what happened this morning.

They were utterly disgusted and apologized on behalf of Yellowstone for the a-holes I encountered this morning at the bathroom. Why should Yellowstone have to apologize for those effing idiots. Yuck...

They also said they would look for them if we had their license number. Sadly, we didn't.

Thankfully, 1der was able to talk with this very nice husband and wife ranger team about positive things. They just got re-assigned to Sequoia National Park and are moving there next month. They said to be sure to look them up next time we’re there. We look forward to seeing them closer to home.

When we got back to the campground, we stopped to pay for four more nights. Imagine our great surprise when we saw the campground fees were suspended. We get to stay here for free! Now that is icing on grand cake…

As we drove through the campground, the elk were all over. More wildlife, more reminders of my / our incredible life. My Daddy would be so happy with how the day turned out.

Nature always heals the soul.

I put this post in my "favorites" category, not because it's a favorite, but because I didn't want this buried amongst all the other posts. I want readers to know what kind of stuff can happen while on the road, when we're outside the bubble of like-minded people.

More importantly, it's so incredibly sad to think about what's happened since the day of this post: March 19, 2020. Just how many lives have been lost due to complete disregard for others? How many people are suffering, at incomprehensible and reprehensible levels, due to the same shameful behavior, attitudes and actions of people just like the ones you'll read about below?

Where are the people, who are the subjects of this post, now, and how are they conducting themselves??? Have they changed their ways, their thinking, their cruelty? One can only hope...

*****************************

Well it finally happened — today the bubble was busted.

We have been blissfully “isolated” from the world as the chaos with the Coronavirus has been unfolding like an unexpected eruption of Krakatoa. We ended up here in Yellowstone by a stroke of awesome luck, and we have been grateful to be away from it all. As 1der said tonight, he feels like we are watching Mad Max via the news. But most regrettably, this is not a movie.

Unfortunately, the only bathroom open at the campground is the one right next to the road, so it’s used by the “public.” When we pulled up today around noon, another car was there and two 40-something women got out and followed me into the bathroom. This was only the second time in six days that I have been in an enclosed space with someone other than 1der. Before now, no one has been even remotely near this bathroom when we've used it; this is how sparsely populated it is here.

Since the bathroom is small and I am practicing social distancing, I immediately stepped out and waited for them to finish. As I was standing outside the door, they started talking about me in a mocking voice. “I guess she was scared of us so she left. Ha ha.”

When they came out, they were surprised to see me. As they passed, I politely said, “it’s called social distancing.” They both whipped around, and one of them glared at me, and loudly, aggressively and very nastily said, “REALLY??? Oh FUUUCK IT.” They turned and walked away.

At that moment, an older woman arrived and asked if the bathroom was occupied. I explained it wasn’t and that I was politely giving those two women their space and how I was treated. I got emotional and teared up I was so angry. I told her this country is so messed up, so completely polarized, and with this virus, there is so much anti-Asian sentiment now, to the point that innocent people (women!) are getting beat up or punched in the face simply because they’re Asian. I told her about the looks I was getting from people while I was shopping in Bozeman (which is where she was from), and I said if she hears people call the Coronavirus the "Chinese virus," to please point out that it’s this type of language that incites violence and vitriol.

I was blown away at the first women’s rudeness and seemingly lack of seriousness around the situation. One would assume others would greatly appreciate what I did. But based on her actions, I’m assuming she thinks this is a hoax or, just like some politicians and celebrities, she is not being respectful or responsible to protect herself and others.

Immediately after talking with the older woman, one of the men that was with first women got out of the car and started mock coughing really loudly and repeatedly in the direction of the bathroom. What kind of people do that? What is their mindset? What source of information / news are they seeking / consuming, who are they believing, and what else are they doing in their lives that is so disrespectful, irresponsible and idiotic? And what if he actually does have the coronavirus or something else — he is a bioterrorist in my book, and I hope beyond hope none of them have kids.

I can only imagine the words that were being said about me and my ethnicity as they continued on their day. The situation made me absolutely livid: there are millions and millions of people in this country who think and act like them, believe what they’re told, and are highly influenced by others spewing poison. The most dangerous and deadly things in the world, at any point in time, are not viruses. They are willful ignorance and stupidity.

Later in the day, 1der met two Rangers and told them what happened. They were absolutely disgusted and said, “On behalf of Yellowstone National Park, we apologize to your wife for what happened. And if you see them or can identify the car, please report it to a Ranger so we can handle it.” Unfortunately, we didn’t get a license, though we did look for the car around the areas we were in, but were not successful.

How sad that these wonderful Rangers had to apologize for those lowlifes. All I have to say is “Karma’s a bitch…”

3/25 Update:

I hope the moronic imbiciles who did this now feel shame. If not, and they continue to conduct themselves in the same manner, they need to read about George Falcone.

1. If you're from Flagstaff, then you know it snows during the winter and one should always be prepared. ↩
2. I've been told it's too hoity toity to call them opera glasses. Oh well. I guess I'm a snob. Ha! ↩
3. No, I'm not interested in purchasing a gadget that turns my phone into a zoom lens, but thanks for the tip! ↩

We've been camping the last three nights at the Mammoth Hot Springs Campground, the only campground open all-year-round in Yellowstone. Funny it’s called Mammoth; I guess you could say we were in Mammoth this winter after all. 🤣

This morning we woke up to heavy falling snow, and three to four inches on the ground from the nighttime storm.

A short while later, there was a knock on the side of Beastie.

“Do you happen to have a shovel?” asked the millennial couple from Arizona. Luckily, we are fully equipped and 1der dug them out. They were completely unprepared. No chains, no shovel, no nothing in their two-wheel drive without snow tires. Really. Really. Dumb. And she was from Flagstaff, so we have no idea what she was thinking (or clearly not...).^[1]

We decided to drive to Tower, about 20 miles from the campground, with the hopes of checking out some snowshoe trails. As anticipated, it was a beautiful drive, with intermittent snow and partly cloudy skies.

Who knew marshmallow fluff could be so beautiful?

I love cloudscapes like this. They make me want to chase them all over the sky.

We saw a bunch of bison (AGAIN!!!). They walked within a couple feet of Beastie while we simply pulled over as much as possible to let them pass.

Is it possible to get "bisoned-out?"

By the time we got to Tower and had lunch, it was too late to hit any trails. But no worries at all, for the highlight of the day, and an incredible, possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, was seeing a coyote and a grizzly bear eating the carcass of a bison (at separate times, of course).

Backstory: yesterday at dusk, I spoke with a man (10 feet apart 😊) who told me that over the past three days, a grizzly bear's been eating a bison that drowned in a pond, and everything can be viewed from a road turnout. The bear's been coming out in the early morning and consistently at around 5pm.

To get a great parking spot, we arrived around 3:45 and saw a bunch of ravens picking at the carcass. Strangely, it was only skin and meat; no skeleton could be seen anywhere.

Luckily we found a pair of my old “opera” glasses^[2] in Beastie, so we were able to get a decent view and tune into another episode of the Nature Channel.

Things started to get interesting when a coyote showed up about 30 minutes later. We watched for a bit, and I attempted to take pics with my little pocket point-and-shoot as well as the phone’s camera. Neither of these yielded more than a nearly indecipherable dark spot against the white snow^[3]. This wasn’t going to cut it.

I decided to put the completely zoomed in iphone camera up to one of the binocular lenses to create an instant zoom on steroids for the phone. It was really difficult (you should try it sometime if you don’t believe me), but I got it to work. I struggled throughout the duration with this method, so when you see the pics and watch the video, you can hopefully appreciate how difficult it was to shoot them.

At 4:56pm, guess who sauntered down the hill like clockwork — the grizzly was gigantic, and after pulling the main carcass out of the snow where "he" buried it earlier, he put on a real show of ripping hunks of meat off the bone and walking around.

 Check out the video to see the bear in action:

We watched “him” for nearly an hour hour. We’re so glad we stayed on for as long as we did. We were rewarded in the end with him walking to the other side of the water, digging in the snow, and pulling out his secret stash from before: large parts of the bison skeleton with big chunks of meat on it. Grizzlies are known to be very intelligent animals, and this just proves how clever they really are.

Today was truly a “pinch me, this can’t be real” day. Again, our hearts are bursting with gratitude and thanks.

1. If you got to this post from the Favorite Blogs and don't know how we got Yellowstone, read this first.
2. ...though we did play it safe and bought a single, individually wrapped roll of TP yesterday at the Mammoth store. Someone saw my purchase and said, "you came all this way to buy toilet paper?" She thought I was desperate. Of course I was laughing inside...
3. I would be honored if you took some time from your busy life to read about my Daddy.
4. The fellow Sportsmobile forum member and his family we met last night as we drove through the campground.
5. Be like us and do spontaneous excursions. But don't be like us: do as much research as possible before you lose cell service. Then you won't miss exceptionally cool stuff if your friends don't invite you...
6. Even though it's been 17 months post-op, I'm still vulnerable as it takes 24 months to fully heal / the graft to revascularize.
7. Update (Aug 14, 2020): Thank goodness we respect these animals, unlike some people who don't have a brain. Or pants...

So here we are, our second full day in Yellowstone¹, and the entire Bay Area is in lockdown. The situation in Italy is extremely scary, with high death rates and just under 28,000 cases and counting. All the major ski areas in North America shut down as of yesterday. Suddenly, there is now a deadly disease potentially looming in our own backyard, which means back at home and in Montana Thank goodness we are somewhat away from the masses.

We are practicing social distancing (which is what I do anyways 😆) to the nth degree. It's absolutely surreal being here, where we're safe, warm and comfortable in Beastie, with all our needs met and an adequate TP supply², all while seeing through the news how the whole world is going to sh*t.

To be this fortunate during this time is really strange and foreign, especially being the daughter of a dirt poor immigrant. My father lived in abject poverty when he came to this country as an 11-yr-old³, and here I am. So humbling.

One of our friends / neighbor, who suddenly lost her active, young, healthy husband four years ago, saw the images from yesterday and said, “Now that’s living.” I really appreciated her words, because we are indeed living an amazing life, and we are bursting with gratitude and thanks for all that made it possible for us to be here and live as we do.

R and S⁴ invited us to join them and their three boys for a soak in the Boiling River Hot Springs. We are very thankful for the invitation, because we didn't know about this place.⁵

The Boiling River Hot Springs are located between the park's entrance and the campground. These hot springs are what we LOVE, and yet, they are so rare to find these days anywhere. This is not a hot spring where hot mineral water is piped into a pool. No, this is a river, where literally boiling water runs together with super cold water coming from the spring melt. Translation: when walking down the river, one leg is burning from scalding hot water, and the other leg, just a couple inches away from the other, is equally painful because the water is super icy cold.

To get to the official entry spot, there is a nice, easy and beautiful less-than-a-mile walk hugging the river.

The path is basically flat. We wore our snowboots to keep our feetsies warm, but some people were wearing flip-flops. Yikes.

Be sure to read the sign, especially if you have kids so they can learn all about the geological activity.

There's an established area with benches to drop your clothes and your things. Admittedly, I was worried about stuff getting stolen. I saw people leaving their phones stuffed in their shoes. Thankfully, we didn't hear of any problems or have an issues of our own.

There are rocky ledges like stairs to navigate the lower elevation / small drop into the river. Getting in is super dicey, as it's all rocky on the bottom. I was scared to death because of my knee, as I'm still not fully healed from my ACL reconstructive surgery⁶). One slip, and there goes the reconstruction, or, an equally worse nightmare: there goes the ACL on my right knee.

We had to be extremely careful getting in. The bottom is uneven and extremely slippery. It's also difficult see what you're walking on because there's so much steam. There are also people walking in and / or sitting in the water, so you have to dodge them, especially during a pandemic and social distancing.

There's also the crazy phenomenon of one leg burning, the other freezing. You MUST keep moving, otherwise you will get scalded. This is no joke.

The best way, but the most psychologically difficult, is to just submerge oneself and swim down river. But this means you will likely freeze as you're getting in, and we all know how much we hate that experience.

Luckily, we got in safely. Thank goodness 1der let me be Velcro / Cling Wrap on him because of my knee. He was ahead of me, relaying whether our legs were going to boil or freeze, and then steering us appropriately.

Once you get in the water, you can go up and down the river as far as you want. Obviously, keep safety in mind at all times.

We made our way down river and found everyone. They scored the perfect spot, temperature and current-wise. We hung out for nearly two hours and enjoyed every minute of the soak.

Getting out was much easier, as we comfortably swam out as we were used to the water, hot and cold.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time here; definitely want to come back before we leave Yellowstone, and it's a must-do anytime we return.

After the soak, we went back to the Visitors’ Center to use the WiFi, which we discovered was available outside of the closed visitor's center (good tip for y'all!). Thankfully they left it on, just for us! 😁.

Since the visitor's center is closed and pretty much no one is around, we parked to the side and extended the awning so we could hang our wet stuff to dry. For the record, we would NEVER do this under normal circumstances.

Let the lunch entertainment, which was straight out of the Nature Channel, begin...

We first saw the two giant bison as they were crossing the large field in front of the Visitor's Center parking lot. We believe our things flapping in the wind scared it, and we felt so bad disturbing these magnificent creatures, but there was no way we were getting out to remove the bag.⁷

 The bison continued to hang around the Visitors’s Center; I think they’re trying to bond with Beastie. Either that, or they’re trying to get to our toilet paper stash. 😆

1. Let's hope they don't shut down the campground (or the park itself 😱) like what happened with the ski areas!

In the middle of the night, we were awaken by a soft, distinctive Hoo. Hoo. Pause. Hoo Hoo. We couldn't see it, but there was an owl perched on a nearby tree. Sooo cool.

Here's where our home will be until we decided to leave (or until the decision)¹ is made for us...)

Beastie did a great job yesterday playing snowplow!

 

He got dreads so he could pretend he's a bison.

We take social distancing very seriously. So does our son.

We always like to go to any Visitor's Center to pick up info and learn about the places. We were very surprised and dismayed to find the doors to the Mammoth Visitor's Center locked. No information was posted on the door, and no pamphlets or information were available.

Thankfully, another tourist came up, and she had the "newspaper"-style brochure. I took pictures of it. I mentioned this because if you can't get maps, don't have cell connection, etc., take photos of information pasted on windows, ask other tourists, etc.

We wanted to explore the Mammoth Hot Springs area and the Lower Terraces (please note that one cannot go into the water at these hot springs). It's so beautiful during winter / early spring. The walkways are still mostly covered in snow and slippery, so I was really happy to have my spikes.

The lower terraces of the Mammoth Hot Springs.

We have been called nauseating by some younger family members.

Coming here during winter presents a whole other level of visual sumptuousness. The contrast of colors, the steam and moisture refracting in the sunlight, the whisps of white moving through the brightness. The only sounds: moving water, steam and the wind. How can one not give so much thanks for being alive at this moment?

Along the way, we passed John, a gentleman on cross-country skis (there's a ski and snowshoe trail all around the Terraces). He was taking off his skis to cross an area where the snow melted away, which was the asphalted parking area of the upper terraces. We asked about his snowshoe trails familiarity on this side of the park.

Turns out he works at the Mammoth medical clinic (in the park), and he was extremely knowledgeable and provided excellent info about the trails. He also warned us about bears. They are waking up now from hibernation, and we needed to carry bear spray. Unfortunately we left ours at home, because who needs bear spray when you're alpine skiing? I guess us, when COVID breaks out in the middle of your Ski Bumming, Yeah Baby! trip.

John so kindly offered to drop off (to our campsite) a map with all the ski routes. This info will be great, especially since the visitor's center abruptly closed and no info is readily available (and there's no cell service at the campground).

On the way, we had our first encounter, sort of scary, with a bison. We were parked on the side of the road, watching at a distance, and then...

Two surprises when we got back to the campground:

First: As we rounded the corner, 1der spotted another van with a pop-top. We slowed down, and he proceeded to rattle off the year and version of that top. Wow. And I thought he was good at reciting movie lines... A couple and their three kids were setting up camp. The man comes over and starts chatting. Indeed it is the year and model of the top.

The guy is a forum member! When 1der introduces himself by his forum handle, I urge him to reveal his "real" identity. When the guy found out it was 1der, he said, "I can't believe I'm meeting 1der!" It was so cool to hear this, as it makes me so proud to have my soul mate be such a well-respected van dude. We made plans to see them tomorrow.

Second Surprise: Hanging from the site marker at our campsite were snowshoe trail maps, a hand-written card, and... John lent us his bear spray and harness. Keep in mind we are complete strangers. We are very touched and grateful for John's generous spirit and trust in us. We'll return the spray when we leave, which means, hopefully, in a long while. Also hoping, of course, we will return it unused...

1. Actually, we did make it to Yellowstone in winter, but just not in a conventional way. On our Ski Bumming 2016 tour, we took a day off from the slopes and did a one-day snowmobile excursion into the park. It was incredible. One of these days I'll write up that experience and update this post. But in the meantime, don't hold your breath... ↩
2. I specifically mentioned Montana, because the park spans between Montana and Wyoming in the town called West Yellowstone, which is where, you guessed it!, the west entrance is located. To reiterate, the only one open during winter is the north entrance, just outside of Gardiner. ↩
3. At any campground, even at primitive ones, be sure to always go to the board (at the entrance) to claim / pay for your spot. Before depositing the payment envelope into the drop slot, pull off tabbed end and "mark" your spot by clipping it to the board. That way, people know the site is occupied and for how long. Also pull off the other tabbed part to clip on the post at the actual site; be sure remove it when you are vacating your spot. ↩

Yesterday's post marks the day when everything changed — profoundly — forever, and I'm not referring to this trip.

We know COVID-19 is developing into something we never thought we'd experience in our lifetimes, and we're extremely frightened by the wrath it could bring to the world.

Words will never adequately express the incredible amount of gratitude and thanks we have for what we've experienced on this (and every) journey. We are so incredibly fortunate to be where we are now, in every sense of the word. Nothing is taken for granted.

1der woke me up this morning with an urgency in his voice. He waited as long as he could so I could sleep in a bit since I didn't sleep well after all that happened yesterday.

"If you want to ski anymore this season, we have to get going now, because BigSky is closing after today."

I groggily took in what he said. "What time is it?"

It was already 9:15 am. I was still in my sleeping bag and jammies and did the math: at least 30 - 40 minutes to get up, get ready, lower the top / button up Beastie, and buy fuel. Then an hour's drive to get to Big Sky.

Add in another 20 mins to gear up, then 10 - 15 mins for the wait and ride on the people mover to get to the slopes.

All of this was very do-able, and we could get on the mountain by noon.

"So what's the weather like?" I asked.

"Stormy."

Crapola. I already knew the answer, but I asked anyways: "Do you want to ski?"

"No," but I'm happy to drive you there, and I'll just hang in Beastie until you're finished."

And that is just one of the reasons why I love 1der so much: he would drive me all the way to the mountain just so I could ski.

But I didn't want to spend the last day on the mountain — the first day of not knowing when things will ever be "normal" again — without him. All of this was too sad anyways, and not being together would make it even more sad.

"Nope. Let's pass."

Now for anyone who knows me, giving up a day on the slopes, especially when who knows when we'll get to ski again, is HUGE. Almost unheard of. But it's where my heart was.

First things first: some hot food and beverages for the guy "nextdoor." Unfortunately he left (I must have been really tired to have slept through his engine starting), and I sure hope he's going to be okay...

We spent the next hour talking about what we were going to do next. It is not possible to return to San Francisco at this time because a friend is staying in our house while we were away. She has been working at the gym (can we bacterial breeding ground?) and for other people, and living in a major metropolitan area where cases are rapidly increasing. Going back to San Francisco is waaay more risky than where we are, which is in a safe cocoon.

Keep in mind at this point, we have been on the road for six weeks. The entire time, no one has been in Beastie except for us. We have not been in anyone's house since March 6th (we've actually only been in three houses since February 3rd). We have only been in sparsely populated areas or ski towns since we left Salt Lake City more than a month ago. We have eaten nearly every meal in Beastie the entire time we've been gone. For all intents and purposes, we are very safe, and thankfully, the only few cases in this region are from traveling vs. community transmission.

So the best we could come up with? Let's to go Yellowstone.

We've always wanted to go to Yellowstone during our other Ski Bumming trips, but it was always too far from Jackson Hole, which is the furthest north / closest we traveled before the IKON pass^[1]. If you're wondering why we didn't just go from Jackson: the roads are closed during the winter, and the only way to get in is through the North entrance, near Bozeman.

Before heading out to Yellowstone, we needed get some snowshoes for 1der. After visiting a couple stores and not finding anything decent for the budget, 1der had a great idea: Craigslist! And lo and behold, the perfect pair of snowshoes were for sale at a great price.

I mention this little story to plant a seed in all road warriors who haven't already thought about Craigslist as a resource while on the road. Definitely check it out. In addition to (hopefully) finding what you need, you'll have chance to interact some locals and find out the scoop.

The seller was really nice and gave us the lowdown on real estate prices in Bozeman. The market is crazy...

The nearly two hour drive to Yellowstone was spectacular.

We were driving late in the afternoon, so the lighting made the scenery even more beautiful.

There are several campgrounds along this route, and it would be nice to come back and explore them one day.

You know you're getting close to Yellowstone when you see some RV parks outside of the small town of Gardiner, Montana^[2], which sits just outside of the north entrance.

This welcome sign is actually in Gardiner, right around the corner from the Roosevelt Arch, which, BTW, is not the official park's entrance. That comes a short distance later when you arrive at the Ranger kiosk / booth.

The most incredible thing happened as we crossed the Roosevelt Arch. Almost immediately, we saw a bunch of bison in the distance to the right. Then just up the road, another group, which was pretty close. Then Elk. It was if we entered a wildlife refuge and the animals came out to greet us.

This is the second group of bison we encountered within seconds after crossing the Roosevelt Arch and before arriving at the official NPS entry / booth.

We arrived at Mammoth Campground, the only tent and RV campground that's open year-round. It's first-come, first-served, and we knew spaces were available because the NPS has an excellent webpage displaying occupancy data for each campground in the park.

We found the perfect spot^[3], but because of the storm, it was covered in nearly 10" of snow and Beastie had to play snowplow. luckily we got in are all settled for the night. can wait see what adventures tomorrow will bring us these unprecedented times.>

1. Beastie is big, but not so big to haul around a Costco bulk-pack of toilet paper!!! ↩

2. A group of 10 Australians vacationing in Aspen tested positive for the virus (one of them tested positive upon returning to Australia), with three others in their party — who were exhibiting symptoms (!) — refused to be tested. Talk about selfish.Two of those who tested positive and were required to isolate defied the health order and went skiing at Snowmass. What a bunch of complete a-holes. ↩

3. An interesting read here about the backstory of what actually happened in Colorado during the ski area shutdown. ↩

Since we left San Francisco on February 3rd, a silent, scary black cloud has been chasing us, and up until now, it's been easy to ignore. But now it's right on our tail, and we knew it would eventually directly impact our lives. We just didn't know it would be now, in such an abrupt way. Of course I'm talking about the Coronavirus / COVID-19.

We could never find the words to express the incredible amount of gratitude and thanks we have for what we've experienced on this (and every) trip. This post marks the day when everything changed — profoundly — forever. And I'm not talking about our Ski Bumming 2020, Yeah Baby! trip.

Because of the big storm that blew in last night, we are spending the weekend in Bozeman to replenish / restock at Costco and Target, do laundry, and then head back to Big Sky to ski our final day on Monday or Tuesday.

The drive to Bozeman was pretty gnarly. It was snowing heavily and visibility was bad. On the way down, we saw the aftermath of someone who skidded off the road and wrapped their car around a tree. Yikes...

I went into shock walking into Costco.

Prior to this moment, at all the places we've been since we left home, there have not been any overt signs of any problems or worries of a health scare, or any major problems for that matter. All the towns and ski areas were literally operating as normal; no one was talking about the virus or acting differently, and everything seemingly was just as it always was.

When you're living a blissful, simple life in Beastie, where all you have to do is pop the top and cover the windows to be in, no matter where you are, your little slice of heaven, it's easy to live in a cocoon. But for the last few weeks, we've been extremely worried reading about all that's been going on in a world that seemed to be in another galaxy, and it was only a couple days ago when our Mayor in San Francisco very smartly issued a Shelter-in-Place order for the City. We are really glad she did this. Everyone there is in lock-down mode, and all around the world, people are hoarding toilet paper. Absolutely surreal.

Two days ago, even though there were no virus cases in Montana, the Governor declared a state of emergency. He was also smart to do that, especially since yesterday, four cases were confirmed in the State, all from people who had traveled out of and returned to Montana. Luckily no community transmissions.

So here we were at Costco, and this is what we encountered at the entrance:

Clearly the hoarding is well underway, which is just nuts. And what's with NO froyo! I'm just kidding with the fake whining. I completely respect and get why we can't get it.

But hey, they have tons of instant ramen, unlike anywhere else in the world. But since I can't / won't eat this stuff, how about trading this for getting back the prepared salad, froyo and coffee drinks at the food court?

Remember, we are in Bozeman, Montana, the state that is:

• ranked 44th in population
• with only 1.08 million residents
• in the fourth largest state size-wise in the US, behind only Alaska, Texas and California
• with a population density of only seven people per square mile
• making it the 48th least populated state in density ratio in the US, behind only Alaska and Wyoming

And yet:

Shelves at WallyWorld (upper left) and Target (all other images) stripped clean, with no trace of toilet paper ever sold here. I'm at a loss....

Thankfully, we got everything we needed^[1], and the shopping experience wasn't bad. Except now we are keeping our distance and minimizing any contact or conversation with anyone. Which made going to the laundromat a very stressful chore. We were relieved it wasn't crowded, though the last 1.5 hours were dicey as more people came. Who knew the laundromat would be such a popular place at 9pm on a Saturday night...

While waiting for the clothes to dry, I was texting our friend in Aspen to confirm everyone in the family was okay as there was a very alarming breakout of cases in Aspen due to some visiting Australians.^[2]

Luckily everyone is safe, and she relayed the Governor of Colorado literally just shut down all ski areas in the state. The order went into effect immediately.^[2]

We knew at that moment that a tsunami would envelope the ski industry, and likely all mountains and Governors would quickly follow suit with closures. And us? Here we were, at a laundromat in Bozeman, wondering what will be our fate for Big Sky, the rest of our trip, our community, the country, the world.

Today is the day the music died.

*****************

It's been cold and snowing off and on all day, and right now at 1am, it's 1°F/ -17 °C outside. We're all tucked in for the night, pretending we're parked in a magical place with an amazing view ready to greet us in the morning.

I'm also pretending I don't hear the sounds from the constant stream of traffic, while fully knowing our view tomorrow will be the Rest Area located right in town, just down the street from Costco and directly adjacent to the Interstate's on-ramp.

But then I get supremely annoyed when the car parked next to us starts up and idles really loudly. Seriously people???? At this hour?

I look outside after listening to this for several minutes, and my heart begins to bleed. The idling car is a clunker, held together with "duct tape and bubble gum," and it's clear the man inside is idling to keep warm. This is his home. This is where he is sleeping tonight and likely the next, and where he probably slept last night.

This poor man must be utterly miserable in this environment. And here we are, in Beastie, all safe, cozy, warm and tucked in, right next to him, but a million miles apart.

Finally, he turns off the car, and I can now go to sleep, but not without first reflecting on how incredibly blessed we are, and the tremendous amount of gratitude I / we have for all the amazing gifts that life has given us.

Tomorrow I want to give him some food. Hopefully he'll be there in the morning.