I can't get enough of this place, I really don't want to ever leave! One thing I will say is that Yellowstone is not for the budget conscious in the winter. Not that staying in the cabins were expensive, they were very reasonable rates for what you were getting, but not something I could continue to afford. The summer months on the other hand when you can camp every night for $25, I could have stayed much longer. Lodging has definitely been my biggest expense thus far. I am somewhat surprised by this since I was expecting to camp a bit more but with all the snow that became an issue. I know lodging with not be a concern for the first few weeks that I am in California because it has already been arranged so that is a relief. Today I decided to hike all of the geyser basins around Old Faithful which was about 5.2 miles but I went off and added at least 2 miles to that with one other basin I did. I also took the Mystic Falls trail off the back end of biscuit basin which was a 3 mile uphill loop to a waterfall. So total was close to 10 miles today. At about the halfway point a full on blizzard started but don't worry I was prepared with two coats, gloves, and a hat. The trail of course was empty but this was a pretty popular area because of all the geysers so I was not scared of bears today. See I am starting to get the hang of this 😉 I did have an elk within 50 yards of me on the trail which was which pretty amazing. She didn't seem too concerned with me and continued to graze. Just as I started the steep incline up to the falls overlook it stopped snowing and the sun came out. It is incredible how quickly the weather patterns can change on you. It was gorgeous and sunny, just like that! I completed the hike in about 5 hours with tons of stops for pictures at the different geysers, hot springs, and waterfalls. When I returned back to Old Faithful I decided I would head to the Sawtooth National Forest which spans three states. I would be heading to Ketchme, Idaho. Why? Well Ketchme was the most direct route to San Francisco so it made sense to go there. It just so happens that Ketchme, Idaho is having a huge event this weekend and I made it just in time. The trailing of the sheep! This is where they bring all the sheep down from the mountain for the winter from Ketchme to Hailey, ID. 😂 I think I had my fill of rounding up of livestock so I don't think I will be sticking around for that but I found that pretty funny.
Song of the day "All We Ever Knew" The Head and The Heart. So far all the people I have encountered and spoken to along the way can be broken into two distinct categories. People that work to pay the bills and people that do something they are passionate about. Dan, Amy, Loren, all very clearly told me they don't like what they do, they do it because it's a job. It pays the bills.
Then I met Rob and Paul, tour guides, that left jobs that paid the bills to do something they were passionate about, work at Yellowstone. Now in both scenarios these people chose a lifestyle. Dan, Amy, and Loren chose jobs that afford them a nice house, vacations, not worrying about finances. Rob and Paul chose living in a RV doing what they love, having a minimalist lifestyle, and busting their ass everyday to make $10/hr plus tips. Where is the person making a shit ton of money doing something he is passionate about? Mark Zuckerburg? A pediatric surgeon? Maybe a pro surfer? Do they exist? So the question remains. Do you just suck it up and do a job to pay the bills to afford all the fun or do you work in the environment you want to play in so essentially you are getting it for free? I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. It would be amazing if I were able to work to pay the bills but devote a lot of my time to something I was passionate about. I feel grateful that I have never used the phrase "it pays the bills" to describe the way I feel about my job. However, I long for the passion that I saw in Rob and Paul, how happy they were to come to work everyday.
The song "All We Ever Knew" is from The Head and the Heart's latest album that just was released in September and this was the first single. We all do what we are used to. Creatures of habit. Rob and Paul took a risk. That is what this trip is, the risk of the unknown, the unfamiliar. Take chances, something amazing might happen! Arooo wooo!!
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Spotify https://open.spotify.com/user/cteijelo/playlist/1uNEjK1mra1y0s3gAkTEZ4
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