"There is nothing so American as our national parks. The scenery and wildlife are native. The fundamental idea behind the parks is native. It is, in brief, that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us. The parks stand as the outward symbol of this great human principle." Franklin D. Roosevelt

Friday, June 5, 2009

The Other Side of the Mountain

In the weather department I will once again mention the cold and rain. Snow accumulations is forecast for the future. It really doesn't bother me having icky weather but it would be nice to have just a couple sunny days. It's pretty normal to have rain in the afternoons and it does seem to clear up a bit by 6:00 pm but some sun would be nice, too.

I worked Confections and for awhile I had Ronald shadow me. We got in a whole new group of people today and I have only met a few of them. The EDR is filled with new faces during lunch and dinner (I skip breakfast). It will be nice to have more bodies on the floor helping stock and cashier.

During my afternoon break I sat a a picnic table behind the store (a moment when it didn't rain) and watched 3 mule deer roam through the employee parking lot. There are 3 bull elks that every year stay in Canyon during the summer and they are developing huge racks. They are known as 'The Boys of Summer'.

After dinner I decided to see what the weather was like on the other side of Dunraven Pass. I headed up over the pass, through the clouds and found out the weather was pretty much the same on the other side. I did come across a bear jam on the other side of Tower. I took a picture and some video of the black bear, mostly to record the ignorance of the people who were standing within 10 feet of the bear!!! When the bear turned and headed for the road the people scattered and once it was on the other side everyone congregated within 10 feet of it again. They may have gotten some great shots but it could be disastrous for the bear if it becomes more habituated to people.

By Mammoth I can across a bison jam. A lone bison was passing time by standing right in the middle of the road. The rangers come along and try to stear them off the road by blasting bison calls through a loudspeaker on their cars. And that's just what a ranger was doing right after I got there. The bison just looked at him and moved slightly to the shoulder. Just enough for everyone to be able to pass.