THE MAMMOTH GAZETTE

Back when the West was brand new (for us non-Natives that is), newspapers were pretty sensational. The reporters were encouraged to ‘embellish’ and often lurid language, like Wolves Ripped My Flesh, could be found in headlines. In  Journalism school, I learned that objectivity was the most important cornerstone for modern journalism, and well-researched stories should be the industry standard. We came to trust news sources – well mostly. I usually take Fox news with more than a shakerfull of salt.

 

As a society, we still like the ‘news’.  So a disclaimer, these little news snippets are purely my interpretation of the news and are not fact-checked. But lots has happened in my little village and I thought you might like to know some of the themes that are impacting our days here.

 

At least two of the big news items relate to lightening. Lightening is a fact in mountain cultures, the mountains creating a big barrier that stops weather fronts and lets clouds gather. Our mountain clouds usually start building in the west. Last week, we had a couple storms with lightening.  One, on Thursday, started a small fire near Emigrant Peak just to the North (ok maybe 40 miles). Quite a few of my coworkers have been affected by this fire because of the proximity of their homes to the fire perimeters. The fire is definitely up IN the mountains but when you can see flames from your porch, you still worry for your home.  The fire quickly spread to 40 acres as of yesterday and hot shots were called in to protect any structures in the area.

 

Lightening caused a death here in the Park as well.  A young Gardiner man was hiking alone up the tallest peak in the Park, Electric Peak, when lightening hit the area hard.  The young man was not an employee of the Park but his coworkers in Gardiner called the Park to report the young man missing when he didn’t show up for work. They knew where he intended to hike and the Rangers found his car at the trail head.  After a search involved horses and Rangers, they found his body below a cliff. An autopsy confirmed he has been struck by lightening.

 

The same week, three hikers in Glacier National Park were stuck by lightening. All three were removed to a hospital and I don’t know if they have recovered sufficiently to have been released.

 

Like rain, lightening is a tool for Mother Nature to cleanse the forest. I’ve been reading a bit about the huge 1988 fires and promise a post on just that conflagration. Frankly it scare me just a bit to be hiking up in the Grand Tetons right after these events, but my need to get into the wilderness always means I will be subject to the Mother’s intentions for the deserts, forests or mountains. To Mother Nature, I am just one more creature along the track.

 

Other big news for me is the imminent departure of several of my friends. Young Ben in Recreation is leaving at the end of this month. Several friends are leaving early in August. We are all beginning to discuss what we ‘will do next’. Some already know they are working in another Park, with about a month off before that season begins. I, too, have begun thinking about what I want to do. The other night, watching the sun set over the mountains near the Madison River, I realized I will miss these mountains terribly. I will miss the sunsets, the sunrises, the sun lighting up the Terraces in the morning. I will miss seeing bear, elk, bison and other wildlife every day.  It will feel like a loss. I’m not sure what that means for me, though.

 

In my entire lifetime, there would not be enough time to do all the things I would like to do just in Yellowstone alone, much less in this beautiful West. So all I can do right now is to literally put one foot in front of the other up and up and up to the Teton Crest starting tomorrow. I will be backpacking for five days and will not be out until late Sunday night. This means I will not get to my usual weekend posting. But I hope to bring back visions of magical places to relate to you.

 

For now, good morning and I’ll catch up with you at the end of the trail.