July

More Yellowstone!

Plans

Make no mistake, that chipmunk is plotting hard about destroying that boat. I can personally vouch that the animal is evil. It chased us halfway down a mountain. There were verbal threats exchanged.

Grand

The Grand Tetons are beautiful, inexpressibly (through words, photos, hand gestures) beautiful. I couldn’t even believe it.

I guess it’s sort of flattering, that some tired Frenchmen would see such a magnificently awesome sight and compare it to the most lovely thing they could imagine…boobies.

Wapiti

Elk are surprisingly bad-ass.

Mud

Crossing Fan Creek we faced a distinct set of problems. These included depth, current, slippery rocks, and foolhardiness. Unlike at our previous crossing, there were no gigantic Grizzly tracks. Only gigantic Jared tracks.

Crane Wife



"And she stood to fly, and she stood to fly away"

Top o’ the Evenin’

One day after a five mile hike we weren’t tired yet, so we climbed a mountain.

Winding Road

From the summit of Bunsen Peak.

Thermal Features

All of Yellowstone is a boiling, smoldering caldera of sulfur and mud and lava, just waiting to explode. Here and there this waiting temper shows through.

Jam

Every day I looked at all these rooms full of bulk (Sysco) food, and hated it, and thought it beautiful.

200 packets of jam, if you’re curious, cost $12.50. Then why are restaurants always so stingy with them?

Wyoming

Let’s level, Wyoming. You’re just messed up.

Ok, fine, you’re not as weird as Utah.

June

In June and July, I went with three friends to go live and work in Yellowstone National Park. I took about 1,000 pictures, worked over 40 hours a week in a cafeteria that served at least 1,500 people a day, drank too much beer, hiked 118 miles, and had the time of my life. It looked a little something like this...

Olden Times

No one ever smiles in Old-Timey photographs.

My god, we were sleep-deprived. So very, very sleep deprived.

Canyon

The entire two months that we lived in Yellowstone, we would behold magnificent sights and invariably say “We live here!”

That, or “Stop screwing with me, Yellowstone!” But that was mostly when it was screwing with us.

Path

I’d follow that.

Jaws of Death

After following wolf and bear tracks for many cold miles we came across the scattered remains of an elk, strewn among raven tracks, bloody fur, and melting snow.

Elevation

Think you can ride your bike in late June in Yellowstone? Not a chance! Despite the psychologically damaging effects of an extensively long winter, the snow did have its uses, primarily, keeping beer cold, which helped us deal with the psychologically damaging effects of an extensively long winter…

Lamar Valley

Let’s go!

How Tourists Get Killed

Josh is King of the Geysers.

Bouquet 2

These flowers look like sunset and twilight.

Travellers

I think that I’ve probably taken a total of two photographs of Tim in which he does not look either adorable or bad-ass. If Lewis and Clark were romantic or poetic in the least, it would look something like this.

Weather

We go for a walk. The first four miles are stunning. Warm sun, flowers nodding in the breeze, good rocks for the clamberin’ and waterfalls for the appreciatin’.

Then it begins to rain. I say, “It can’t rain forever!”

I was right.

The next four miles, all uphill, it snows.

May

I apologize sincerely for letting this project go to seed. This is the first time since May I've had internet fast enough to post anything at all. I will post ten pictures each for the months of May, June and July, and then see what I can do about August.

We Own the Streets




In this moment, with our backpacks, bikes and bags, and a rainbow in the sky, in this moment we were free.


Alley

To know a town you must know it at night.

Perspective

I proved them all wrong when they told me that anchors couldn’t be found at the bottom of the cup. Turns out they had actually said “answers”.

Post-College

The week after graduation a friend and I squatted at another friend’s house, and for those few days, life was perfect. We went on long walks, sang songs, cooked food, had potlucks, talked until late at night, and started drinking before noon.

Post-College 2

Let me here reference The Graduate.

Mr. Braddock: Ben, what are you doing?
Ben: Well, I would say that I'm just drifting. Here in the pool.


Alexandria



In 1898 some farmers found the Kensington Runestone, launching a huge debate about where Vikings went, and when. Everyone now assumes that there were totally Vikings in Western Minnesota a long time ago. This statue is evidence of that. For the record, no, you can't look up his skirt.


Moving



Let me here reference Les Miserables.
"Empty chairs at empty tables, where my friends will meet no more."



And the pity tis, tis true.