Hello Everyone! Time really starts to fly when I go back to work. When last we met, I was headed out on my first trip of the season and thought I knew exactly where I would be the following week. Little did I know that torrential downpours would wash out roads and bridges in the northern section of Yellowstone, closing the park indefinitely the day before our arrival. This meant that my tour couldn’t visit the park around which the entire itinerary was developed, leaving me with an unhappy group and four full days to fill. Talk about crisis mode! Thankfully if I’ve learned anything over the last few years it’s that I can only worry about the things I have control over, so I took a deep breath, put a smile on my face and moved forward.
When I was a kid, I played basketball and when I was a teacher I coached our school team. In both instances, I really admired the kids who wanted the ball when there were three seconds left and we were down by two. That was never me, but there was always someone who believed they were the best person to have their hands on the ball when the pressure was on. That’s how I felt on this tour and I’m glad I was there because this was a great group of people who needed someone to give them 110% and try and pull this tour from the ashes. Throw me the ball, coach, I’ve got this.
And I did. I talked with our General Manager and pulled out my maps and got to work on Plan B. It wasn’t the same as the first thing I would tell a group in that particular park is that there is no other Yellowstone. But that didn’t mean that we couldn’t have fun and see some extraordinary things along the way. After all, planning trips to places I’ve never been is literally what I’ve been doing for most of the last few years and you all have seen the results of that firsthand. I sat my group down and made sure that they understood that I felt terrible about the situation but that, going forward, when I was positive and upbeat it wasn’t that I had forgotten what had happened. I also made sure they remembered that their vacation had been ruined, but others had lost their homes and livelihoods.
We ended up staying an extra day in Jackson which gave us an extra day of hiking in Grand Teton National Park. The weather was stunning and everyone enjoyed our bonus day. From there, we detoured around the park and visited Bannock, an old Montana ghost town preserved as a state park. We hiked the Humbug Spires and spent a quiet night in Butte. We spent an extra day in Glacier National Park as well, my favorite place on the planet. Even though there was still snow on the ground (two months after I got cooked out of Phoenix by the heat), we had a marvelous time. We saw grizzlies and hiked and even went on a boat ride on Two Medicine Lake. We had some wonderful meals between the East Glacier Lodge and the Izaak Walton Inn out in Essex and while the weather was up and down we did pretty well at avoiding the storms (although the thunder and hail was loud enough in the night to wake us all up). On the day we left, we made a visit to the National Bison Refuge where the bison thankfully made an appearance allowing me to at least replace one aspect of the Yellowstone experience.
Finally, an extra day in Coeur d’Alene allowed us to do an amazing hike down to Lake Pend Oreille, a beautiful northern Idaho lake we would have never otherwise seen. All the while I kept telling stories and trying to keep everyone well fed and laughing. At the end of it all, we made a pretty good go of it. One or two of my passengers even said that they had almost forgotten that they were supposed to go to Yellowstone the previous week. Bringing that trip home was very satisfying for me, especially since it was only the second trip I have run since the pandemic hit. We had a blast and I know that we will all have “forever memories” from this tour.
When this trip finished in Seattle, I had only a day and a half to get myself and my van and gear back to San Francisco and it was a long and tiring drive. I was able to make a quick visit to Shadow Catcher and take her for a quick spin while I swapped out some gear and clothing from the cold north in preparation for a much warmer few weeks in California. Then I headed into the office and did what I could to get ready for my trip departing the following day.
The next trip on my schedule was a 5 days hiking excursion to Yosemite National Park. I arrived in San Francisco on Friday afternoon, met my group on a Saturday evening for dinner and then we were off and running on Sunday morning for the Sierra Nevada. I was blessed with another wonderful group of people who made the last week of my life a real pleasure. We climbed mountains, saw amazing wildflowers and waterfalls and generally just explored the beautiful landscape of Yosemite. It was crowded, but not nearly as crowded as I’ve seen in the past thanks to their new reservation system. Unfortunately a lot of the park’s services (restaurants etc.) were severely lacking, but the beauty and majesty of the landscape was able to make up for that in many ways. We had a great short break to the park and returned to San Francisco late yesterday afternoon.
I spent a few hours in the office today and then will meet a new group tomorrow and head back to Yosemite on the same tour on Sunday morning. It will be a much smaller tour with only four passengers, but hopefully it will run a little smoother now that I know what to expect.
No rest for the weary though as the sun is shining and it’s time to make hay. I hope this will explain my absence over the last few weeks, and I will be writing these updates whenever I can find the time. I’ve been thinking of you though and hope you’re all having a wonderful start to your summer. I can’t believe July is upon us. Unfortunately, I have to run as I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. Take care out there and I’ll look forward to seeing you next time.
-Mike