My Yellowstone Adventure
An Introduction as to Why I am Keeping this Blog
My name is Shona and come fall '12, I will be a junior at Saint Peter's College. I am a sociology and art history major, with a minor in anthropology. You might be thinking to yourself, "Gee, that's an odd combination - what can you ever do with degrees in those fields??" Well, my dream job is to go into archaeology, but as Saint Peter's doesn't offer this as a major field of study, some of my professors and I have come together to make a composite major that is directed towards the archaeological field.
I have grown up listening to stories from my father and grandfather about Yellowstone National Park (YNP), America's first National Park. My grandfather used to run the park from about 1976-1987 and my dad spent several years of his late-teens and early twenties working and playing in the 3,472 sq. miles of park, including mountains, active volcanoes and hot springs, and numerous wild animals. Since my grandfather first started working at YNP, it has become sort of a family tradition to spend at least one summer working at the park, 96% of which is located in Wyoming with 3% in Montana and 1% in Idaho. My dad worked in the park from '81-85, my aunt was actually born in Montana outside of the Park in 1984, and my Uncle was the most recent to ...ahem...shall I say, 'grace the park with his presence' in 2002 (Best remembered for rolling a mattress down the side of a mountain at Roosevelt). Ever since I was a little girl I had been told that I had to get out there at some point in my life, and the opportunity arose after I was offered a job by Xanterra Parks Services (who basically run every aspect of the park from food/beverage services to attending campgrounds, technological maintenance, and park retail). It wasn't necessarily easy getting the job (no family connections were involved), but I did have to apply online two years in a row; the first time I applied in February, which was probably a little too late for the applicant pool, and the second time was between December and January, and I was notified in March that I had been offered the job.
While I was picking classes for the upcoming semester with the head of my sociology department, I casually mentioned that I would be working in Yellowstone for the summer, and my professor immediately suggested using Yellowstone as my Junior Field Work for credit, so this is where my blog comes in to play. From June 4 - August 23, I will be using my blog to communicate to my professors, friends, and family back home (that is, if I even get internet service in the park!) my observations, comments, and experiences in Yellowstone, as well as the many adventures I am sure to have with the people, wildlife, and environment that Yellowstone has to offer. I will mostly be focusing on the demographics of the park area. Demographics are data collected about the characteristics of a population in a certain area. Characteristics, for example, include location, gender, race, ethnicity, age, and occupation.
Yellowstone is a modern marvel that has miraculously survived being effected by the technological world that has developed around it. The terrain, along with its unpredictable weather, allows for frequent power surges and outages, and this has effected the ability to put up radio towers, television receptors, and even cell phone services, and this means, yes, you guessed it! NO TV, RADIO, or CELL PHONES!!!.... okay, I lied, there are two cell services offered in the park, T-mobile, and Verizon, .....neither of which I have..... which means I will either be switching my service or going without for 2mnths 3wks (as a product of the 21st century, I think you know what I will be doing). Plus my mother wants me to call to make sure I'm still alive and haven't fallen into a hot spring and been deep fried (170°F and hotter) or mauled by one of Yellowstone's endangered grizzly bears or grey wolfs among other wildlife including moose, elk, deer, and coyotes. The frequent power outages often times makes employees late for work as their digital alarm clocks lose power in the middle of the night - so hopefully this doesn't happen to me!
The Grand Prismatic Spring: The largest hot spring in the United States located at Midway Geyser Basin @ YNP. It's 160°F and appx. 160ft.deep.
While at Yellowstone I will be staying in lodging provided by the Park services; I'll be paying for it myself along with my meal plan, though it will be taken directly out of my paycheck before I get paid every two weeks. Daytime temperatures are usually between 70-80°, and occasionally get as hot as 90°. Thunderstorms are common in the afternoons, and evenings get very cool, sometimes even dropping below freezing (yes, even in the summer). Weather changes dramatically in Yellowstone, mostly due to the elevation, so you have to be prepared with a wide range of clothing to acclimate anything from snow to rain to heat waves. Oh yeah, and another service I forgot to mention I will be doing without – AIR CONDITIONING.
There are six locations within the park, which are more like little towns, where employees are stationed and there are services for tourists including museums, historical sites, and natural wildlife and scenery as well as hotels, food services, gas stations, general stores and gift shops. The locations include Mammoth Hot Springs, Old Faithful, Grant Village, lake Yellowstone, Canyon Village, and Roosevelt Lodge. Each location along the Grande Loop – the one, “figure eight” road which links the locations and the park together, has between 120-425 employees, making a total of over 3,000 employees. The park employs over 1300 seasonal employees for concessions alone, so I am sure I will find other kids out there around my age (min. age to work in Yellowstone: 18) who have similar interests and are out there for the same reasons as I am….or at least I hope so!
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