Three months in Yellowstone, that’s how long I’ve been here. I had to read that back because it still doesn’t feel real. But I cannot think of a better way to start this next update than to let you all know that I was selected to be extended for another month, so my official end date will now be October 22nd!

Work has been good, lately I’ve been helping with a lot of behind the scenes projects such as fixing wheelchairs and building new canopies and I’ve loved it. As many of you know, I really enjoy working with my hands, so being able to build things at work and do some manual labor has been extremely fun for me.

For part of Yellowstone’s 150th celebration, we have been inviting different tribes to come to our new tribal heritage center and display their artwork as part of a recognition and celebration of the 27 associated tribes that came before us and lived on the land before we took it over. Last week, the Shoshone-Bannock tribe came and put on an event called Rematriate, which was a ceremony honoring the Indigenous women of their tribe by having females from all different generations come together and dance as seven moving bison that they built themselves. It was super cool to watch and I am really thankful for all these unique experiences this summer has shared with me.

As always, I keep my weekends busy with plenty of hikes and exploring new towns, but this month I have gone all out. I hiked Avalanche Peak which was 2.5 miles straight uphill with my buddy Colin and it was neat. The top was miserably windy though, wind chilled me to my bones, but it was another peak I could check off my list.

After that, we drove into Cody and checked out one of the coolest museums I’ve ever been to, the Buffalo Bill Museum of the West. Park Rangers get in for free, and I am definitely wanting to go back and spend the whole day there as I only got to see a glimpse of 2 of the 5 total museums they had. I also confirmed that the East Entrance is by far the best entrance into the park, and I have officially been through all 4 gates which is a fun lil tidbit.

To kick off my hiking marathon, (Sunday 9/4 – Wednesday 9/7) I did Mt Washburn on Sunday for the second time. This was a nice 6.8 miles and I did it with Lynda & Sandy so we took it nice and slow. Washburn is definitely one of my top park hikes, and it was awesome to get to the peak again & sign the log!

We saw a TON of wildlife too, on Washburn we saw 2 black bears, one yearling on the way up and an adult bear on the way down. The bears are prepping for hibernation so they were up in the trees gorging themselves on the fatty white bark pinecone seeds.

Since they were so close to the trail, Sandy, Lynda and I kicked into ranger mode and guided people away from the yearling to give it space to cross, and with the second adult bear he was in a tree right next to the trail so we led the charge with a group of 15 people: Lynda & me in the front with my bear spray deployed and Sandy in the back. We hustled by the bear and instructed everyone to move quickly and make noise. Definitely a ranger moment for the books and folks were grateful we helped them get by. After that we played tourist and checked out some pretty waterfalls, drove through Slough Creek and saw two more bears: another black bear at Tower Falls eating pine nuts and a Grizzly bear off a driving pullout when we were looking for wolves.

No wolves have been spotted yet, but 4 bears in one day isn’t bad to me! We wrapped up our adventure by driving into the town of Gardiner using the employee access road and had a nice early dinner at a cute local spot. When I got home, Zenja, Michael and I hung out at our place for a bit and chatted as we finalized plans our Tetons trip!

Monday, I got up at the crack of dawn, around 5:50am and hit the trail by 6:30am to hike Shoshone Geyser Basin with David and Colin!

This was a 17 miler roundtrip which consisted of 5 miles of biking and 12 miles of hiking, and it went down in the books as one of my favorite hikes this summer.

David, Colin and I rode our bikes about 2.5 miles in, as far as we could, to Lone Star Geyser and caught a morning eruption.

After we headed out to the basin and enjoyed the backcountry, we did a few river crossings and got to get up close to some funky thermal features and catch multiple eruptions of ‘Minute Man’ Geyser, which accurately named erupts every minute or so!

We then had lunch by Shoshone Lake and took some power naps before we headed back. To end our day, we got huckleberry floats at the general store and it was well earned!

Once Zenja got home, we departed for the Tetons and embarked on our final adventure before she goes back to school! Per Michael’s request, we played tourist, stopping to take photos at Moose Falls (where we all have sent plenty of visitors but never been ourselves) and took photos at the South entrance and Grand Teton sign… he was not happy at our funny faces though!

Zenja is leaving next week to go to Western Washington and get her Masters in Geology, so I’m super stoked for her but it is a bummer that she’s leaving. So as our last hurrah, I was able to take Tuesday-Wednesday off (her regular weekends) and go down to the Tetons with her.

We camped for two nights, and Tuesday morning we woke up early to watch the sun rise over the Tetons.

After that, we headed out for a hike through Death Canyon and up to Static Peak which is one of the few Tetons you can summit without climbing gear.

It was 9 miles one way, with 5,300 ft of elevation gain and by far the hardest hike I have ever done, but I summited a Teton!!! That is one of my proudest moments ever, and I got to call my grandparents at the top which was neat :’).

If this summer has taught me anything it’s that I am stronger and more capable than I ever thought I was. Living out here has challenged me to seek out new adventures and push myself to do things I’ll never forget. It took us about 6 hours to hike up and 3 hours to hike down.

After that, Zenja split from Michael and I because she had to go back home for a cool job shadowing opportunity with a volcanologist the next day. But that night, Paige came down to join us for her weekend and the three of us went into Jackson and got some much deserved wood fired pizza.

Wednesday morning we finally slept in, so in camping time it was about 8:00am, but it still it beats a 6:00am wake up.

Paige, Michael and I broke down camp and drove back into Jackson to get sworn in as Junior Naturalists at the National Elk Refuge. Since we were so courteous to the staff, they let us each take all 3 patches instead of taking just one. Thanks mom and dad for raising me with good manners. 😉

Afterwards, we went to The Bunnery and I got some of the most amazing breakfast ever, and coffee of course!

We had a chill afternoon and hiked Leigh Lake which was a flat 8 miler and gave us great views of the Tetons!

Shoutout to the cool Moose Visitor Center Ranger that gave us that recommendation. My mileage count for my weekend off was about 52 miles in 4 days, holy cow!! I’m definitely looking forward to my 3 day work week.

Ranger Baer signing off on my hiking updates with the wise words of Ranger Michael McDevitt “What is your favorite National park and why is it the Tetons?”

Besides hiking, I finally had the chance to swim in the Firehole River and can now officially say I have swam in Yellowstone National Park. The Firehole River Swimming Area was this unique thermal area where the hot spring runoff mixes with the river and makes the water warmer than the surrounding snowmelt. I can definitely confirm that is true, it was still a little cold, but I blame the 66 degree weather. Regardless, we all know I am a fish in water so I had to go in and don’t regret it for a second!

I also have been spending a lot of quality time with my roommate Zenja in my hammock, we usually just ‘hang out’ and talk about our days and life, since she’s leaving soon we are trying to soak in those last moments together.

Summer is rapidly coming to a close, and the crew is already getting smaller, one of my friends has for the summer, Cayley and Zenja leaves next week. It’s definitely a bummer because us 4: Me, Zenja, Cayley and Paige called ourselves the ‘Rangers on the Block’ as we were the two sets of female modular houses in our row and got really close because of that.

On Cayley’s last night, we watched a nighttime Old Faithful eruptions and told stories on the boardwalk. It was the perfect way to close out her season and we decided that this will become tradition as we prepare to say goodbye to more rangers in the upcoming weeks.

As summer wraps up and my friends start to leave, I can’t help but think back on how amazing this summer has been and I am thankful everyday for this opportunity I was granted to live out my dream as a park ranger at America’s first National Park.