Yes, I leave Oregon in less than a week to weave my way to Yellowstone. First I'm going to stop and see my cuz Lesly in ST Maries, ID. Then on to Montana to visit friends and then into Yellowstone a couple days early to acclimate to the altitude (7000+ ft) I have found in the past that I have a bit of a headache upon arriving. I chalked this up to driving like heck to get there, but upon close thought, I think it's the altitude. I got the same headache when I climbed Mauna Loa. When I got to 14,000 ft to camp at the summit, I was in a wired state the whole night, and couldn't sleep, even though I was exhausted. yep, altitude.
so, I'm going to get in a couple days early, so I will be in good shape when I check in on the 15th to report for work.....
My snowshoes arrived 2 days ago!!! I sure hope I get to use them for all the trouble it took me to research and buy them on EBAY. I hear that the snow is insane in Yellowstone right now. The grazing animals are really suffering. Which on the other hand has been good for the carnivores. The poor bison have tried to leave the park to get to lower elevations and they just get hazed back toward the park. Here's another interesting piece. They tried to relocate some bison out of the park. They drove them out, then tested them for brucellosis. the ones that tested negative, they drove out to another area, leaving half the heard behind. Well, Bison are family oriented. they didn't like that one bit. once they got to where the cowboys wanted them, they just turned around and went back. they even crossed a river to do it!!! It's been a crazy winter in Yellowstone, dealing with the bison.
I only hope I have warm enough socks and long underwear...........
