A life flight coming in from EIRMC (Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center). We have life flights almost every day. If the patient can't fly out due to weather or weight restrictions, it's a 4-5 hour ground transport (one way) to the nearest cardiac hospital in Idaho Falls, ID. It's only a 2 1/2 hour drive to Jackson or Cody, but they don't have cardiac specialists. 

 
This is a large grizzly boar(male). He caused quite a stir and traffic jam this day. We spent well over 4 hours keeping people away from the bear and directing traffic to keep the flow going. He wandered in between the river and the road looking for a dead bison that the rangers hauled away for safety reasons. The bison was where people could get close to it and this is dangerous because of bears like this guy. They turn very territorial when guarding their food and if people walk too close taking pictures, they may get mauled. 

 
Kristen looking out over the Yellowstone River as it flows through the canyon. This view is totaly worth the 12 mile hike. 

 
I love being in the forest. It's so peacefull and pretty. Keep an eye out for bear though. 

 
One of the thermal areas on trail. The water boiling up look really black and hot! 

 
The mountain in the background is Washburn. We walked up the left side and walked down the right. The trail took us through some really gorgeous forest, meadows and thermal areas. 

 
A very young big horned sheep. It's horns are still very small. There was a heard of about 6 or 7 hanging out on the back side of the mountain. 

 
A nice shot of the fire tower as we were walking up the mountain. 

 
This is a view looking north from Mt Washburn. 

 
A view looking south from the top of Mt. Washburn. From this angle you can see the trail we hiked up, the canyon and even the lake. The trail up is about 3 miles, the trail we took back was about 9. We hiked down the backside of the mountain and came out in Canyon near one of the overlooks. 

 
Kristen Schnepp, myself and Anita Filer on top of Mt Washburn. On top is a fire watch tower. A ranger lives there all summer and keeps look out over the park and plots fire coordinances for the park service. There are a lot of fires in the park this year. The magpie fire that I posted pics of earlier in the blog is over 1800 acres now. 

 
Life is so hard! Lucia after a morning romping on the beach. 

 
We had a fullmoon bonfire party on the lake front. About 20 people showed up. Lots of fun and food. S'mores are the snack of choice, of course. Two of us went for a 20 minute moonlit paddle. It was just beautifull being on the water under the moonlight! 

 
Full moon over Lake Yellowstone. At the spot where this was taken, a moon jam formed. It's kinda like an animal jam, but everyone was stopping to take pics of the moon rising instead. 

 
This is Mary Ann. She and her husband Jim do a wonderfull job rescueing australian shephards and border collies. At any one time, they could have 12-20 dogs living with them. Several of them are her own of course. All the time and money spent on the dogs comes out of their own pocket or from donations. They are not outside funded in any way. Recently Mary Ann has run into some health issues and has come out of remission from her renal cancer and it has spread to her lungs. I am posting a website I would like everyone to please check out. She needs all the help and prayer she can get. The drugs she needs are not covered under her insurence and their cost is outrageous! If anyone has a couple of dollars to spare, just give up lunch out for one day, please check out her web site. She has spent much of her life trying to save the lives of the less fortunate. I think she deserves to have that same help sent her way.
www.helpmaryann.com
www.petfinder.org/shelters/ID48.html

 

 
This is one of Mary Ann Lindsey's border collies working sheep. This is such a cool thing to watch. I've seen it on tv, but never in person until now. It's amazing to watch her work the dog and how easy she makes it look. This is the recue place that Lucia was staying in before I picked her up. 

 
This is Rocky(left) and T(right)(Zookie's owners). They were supposed to have their first kayak lesson that day, but as you can see by the waves, it was not a good idea to go in. We'll try again another day. 

 
Lucia and Zookie on their first play date. Zookie is my neighbor's australian shephard. They look an awefull lot a like. I took my friend's two boys and the two dogs to the lake that day to paddle the kayak and romp in the water. 

 
Lucia is very into her ball and the water. She will play for hours in the surf if I lets her. It makes for a very tired puppy before I leave for work. 

 
This is Lucinda Mae. Lucia for short. She is my new border collie pup that I got from Inland Northwest Rescue in Hayden Lake, ID. Rescue dogs are the only way to go. She is about 8 months old. Lucia has a wonderfull personality. Very quiet in the house and very excitable outside. Just the way it should be. We are working on getting her adjusted to her new life style. Lucia is coming along very nicely. I picked her up on Aug 4th and in just the few days she's been here, has settled in pretty well. 

 
Another really cool formation. 

 
Some of the people on the tour heading up a staircase through the "popcorn" formations. I was actually on a children's tour. I didn't want to wait for the next one leaving. It was actually pretty nice. Our tour guide was great with the kids. I think there was 15 of them. 

 
I love how all the cave features are so unique. 

 
The cave pictures were taken in Lewis and Clark Caverns. It's a state park about 3 hours north of Yellowstone. It's a pretty neat place. Not one of the prettiest caves I've seen, but worth the $10 tour. 

 
Last Friday morning I was leaving the park about 7am and saw this grizzly walking through the morning mist next to the Yellowstone River. It's sites like these that remind me why I live here.