Mt. Washburn

10/5/17

Sean Dowling

Today was a special day, even though it was our last full day in Yellow Stone. Not only did I get to sleep in a little later this morning but I also didn’t have to expose my hands to the bitter cold while cooking or cleaning dishes. What a Great start! Instead I sat in the warm bathroom, charging my phone and reading my assigned book while waiting for a hearty breakfast of cinnamon toast, bacon, and cuties… sweethearts… tangerines… or whatever you want to call those tiny oranges. This fueled us up for a nice long hike to the top of Mt. Washburn. Not sure what we were getting into we zipped up our coats, put on our mittens, and pushed forward. It was long before we realized how important breathing is and how easily it was to build up a sweat even when there’s snow on the ground. Before reaching the top we came across a strange Earth Child who taught us to think differently about the fires in Yellow Stone. At this point a few of us decided to finish off the hike to the top where we took some fantastic pictures of the view around us and checked out the visitor center inside the Fire Watch Station. Then it was time for the easy part, walking back down where we came. On the way back down we came across another stranger was also eager to share some knowledge and a story about a trapper named John Coulter and why we should never get on the bad side of a Native American tribe. When we finally made it back down to the bottom of Mt. Washburn we braked for a well deserved and delicious lunch before heading to Canyon Village where most of the group got ice cream. A strange treat after walking through snow. We then got then got some more great pictures at the Grand Canyon of Yellow Stone. At this point you could tell it was getting later in the day because our group was beginning to get a little goofy… well goofier than normal. On our way to our last stop we noticed a large gathering of tourists seemingly looking at nothing. Thankfully we stopped to ask because apparently they had spotted wolves! We all quickly grabbed our binoculars and began looking with them, but after short glimpses of their heads behind cover we moved on and got yet another lesson from a stranger about Indians, white men, and National Parks. On the drive back we stopped one more time at the wolf sighting where only a few tourists remained. And then it happened! Those who were patient enough to wait and lucky enough to stop were blessed with the sighting of at least 7 wolves walking in a line way out across an open field. Though they were still small, almost blobs in my binoculars I can still take away this Yellow Stone trip as a complete success because when we get back to school we can really make our classmates and professors (Hemmingway) jealous of our experience.