Surprise Yellowstone Adventure

After being in and out of work with loosing my voice through June, I decided to see the doctor just to get things checked out. Well she took me out of work for about a week so I could rest my voice. So I decided with a week out of work to go heal myself with wildflowers, wildlife, waterfalls, and my family in Yellowstone. Since mom and dad are hosting there this summer, I decided to go spend a couple days with them. 

On the first day we drove to Cody to have their camper serviced. On the way out we saw a grizzly and cub. We dropped the camper off and had breakfast at a dinner in town. We did their grocery shopping for the next couple of weeks at the Walmart. I visited a cute little local bookstore for a couple of Yellowstone field guides. The camper was fixed early, so we got back to the campground and set up early enough to go wildlife viewing. 

We spent the next few days doing tourist things around the park. It just so happened my parents had all 3 days that I was visiting off of work. We covered every inch of the parks road system in those 3 days. We watched geysers erupt, waterfalls dropping hundreds of feet, and wildflowers blooming everywhere. We had picnics on the shore of Yellowstone lake, and watched bears, bison, and elk for hours. Over those 3 days we drove almost 500 miles around the park.

It was great to get out of Ketchikan for a few days and to get to spend some time with my parents. My voice didn't completely heal, but it was well worth the trip. Here are some pictures of the Never Ending Adventure and the Ramblin' Ruis's weekend in Yellowstone.

Yellow-Bellied Marmot 

Elk

Sunset over the Yellowstone River

Beehive Geyser

Arch at the North Entrance  

 

Pronghorn

Trumpeter Swans

Lower Yellowstone Falls

Dad and I at Yellowstone Falls

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Yellowstone Lake

Lupine

Baby grizzly playing among the wildflowers

Swimming bison called submarines 

Little baby bison

Grizzly bear and Bison in the valley

Sandhill Cranes

Old Faithful

Bear watching

Old Faithful

The Junior Rough Rider Teddy 

My 4 days in Yellowstone were a much needed adventure! But until October when the Never Ending Adventure and Ramblin' Ruis's meet up in Utah, I said goodbye to my parents for a few months. And with that I will leave you with this posts quote, from none other than Teddy Roosevelt. 

There are no worlds that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy, and its charm.

May and June...

This month has been filled with work, work, and more work. The beginning of May was filled with training. Then on the first Friday in May our busiest day of the season happened with 7 cruise ships and about 13,000 people visiting Ketchikan in one day. I was very thankful to have a job where I take less than 150 of those people out into the wilderness. 

May was pretty much all about work. There was a surprise trip to Petersburg for a boat swap one week. There were a few days off where we got to go and play on the beach. There was a -4.5ft low tide which led to incredible tidepooling one morning before work. I also developed a weird death cold that was trying to kill me. I lost my voice for about a week at the start of June. And my voice has been in and out since then, coming and going as it wants.

So far it has been a pretty cool and rainy summer. This makes for beautiful and breathtaking views in the Misty's. The rest of this post is just going to be pictures. I got a new camera in May, so there will be lots of pretty pictures to share.

In June Tristan and I snuck away to the muskeg to play among the wildflowers and the dragonfly larva for an afternoon, between both of us being sick. Since I was pulled out of work for a week because of my voice, I got to visit my parents in Yellowstone. Tristan and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary at the end of June. Then I was whisked away for an adventure on one of the Dream Cruise boats at the end of June into the first week of July (another post for this one as well).

Sorry it has taken me so long to post, but I have been pretty busy since the season started. So here are some pictures throughout May and June.

The captain on his first solo Misty trip 

I love when Eddystone floats in the mist

An afternoon hanging out in the Hammock 

Moonsnail love

Leather seastar with Eel grass, Bull Kelp, and Rockweed

Sailfin Sculpin

My love looking for dragonfly larva in the pools

Shooting stars

Breaching Orcas thanks to Claire 

Cute little Black Bear

Petersburg

And this post's quote:

At some point in life, the world's beauty becomes enough...

A new season is here...

And just like that another season has arrived. I finished up teaching for the year at the beginning of April, and started my 3rd summer with Allen Marine. This month has been super busy. Mostly we have been cleaning and stocking boats, doing drills, training new staff, and prepping for new tours. There have been some long days and weeks already, and we aren't even into the summer yet. 

To start off the month we had a crawfish boil to celebrate my birthday (April 5th) and my friend Matt's birthday (March 31st) and him passing his captains class. Danielle had the crawfish shipped up overnight and Tristan made cheesecake. The boil was similar to a Low Country boil, just with crawfish instead of shrimp. The crawfish were very tasty, but nothing compared to some good SC shrimp. 

Crawfish boil with Victoria, Jason, Matt, Tristan, Bryce, Danielle, and Jamie (picture taker)

One of the perks of being back to work so early was that I got to do a charter to the Misty's in early April. It was a different perspective, since I haven't  seen the Misty's that early into the season. The day was filled with sunshine, snow covered peaks, a few Humpback whales, and about 100 Dall's porpoise. 

We have been busy training for the new wildlife and beach bonfire tour as well. This means lots of days on the water pointing out wildlife to our new naturalist, and lots of times practicing building fires. We got to do a sample tour with friends and family which was great. We saw seals, humpbacks, eagles, scooters, murrelets, many more birds, and my first Alaskan Minke whale!! We had a great evening of roasting s'mores and reindeer sausages on the beach, with a beautiful sunset.

Yesterday was our first official Misty tour. We took a group of locals and all of our new staff out. It couldn't have been more different from my trip earlier this season. It was a typical Ketchikan day with drizzling rain and mist...the best weather to visit the Misty's. It was a special trip, because we got to venture back into a part of Rudyard Bay we rarely get to visit. It's named God's Pocket for it's beauty. And it didn't disappoint. There were tears that came along with the beauty and the wildlife...it was so wonderful to be back in this beautiful place! 

God's Pocket...photo by Danielle

Tristan the expert wildlife spotter...photo by Claire

Waterfalls in the Misty's...photo by Claire

Jenett came along for the ride

Not only did we have beautiful views and snow flakes falling on us, we also had a wonderful wildlife day. There were 2 beautiful humpbacks and porpoises on our way out to Rudyard. The tide was super low, so we could see all types of tidepool creatures at the base of the rocks on all of the islands. But the winners of the day were the 2 black bears spotted in Rudyard and more mountain goats than we could count. Unfortunately I have no pictures of any of these beautiful animals, but it was an amazing day.

A few more pictures from April to leave you with...and a beautiful quote from John Muir.

Everybody need beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to the body and the soul.