Our summer is flying by! How about yours? We have been busy working at Johnny Sack Cabin and Mesa Falls. both owned and operated by the U.S. Forest Service.
Mesa Falls is a beautiful place. 2 falls Upper and Lower. The upper falls
is one water fall, while the
Lower falls is a series of water cascading down. The water source is the Henrys Fork, which starts at Big Springs, the location of the Johnny Sack Cabin. The water falls are the attraction.
However the Big Falls Inn is an attraction all its own, as it is also listed on the Historic Register too. The Inn serves as the Mesa Falls Visitor Center, with lots of information about the history and the wildlife that call the area home.
Our jobs are not glamorous, but do help the staff during the busy times. I stay out front at the Self-Registration Station and assist our visitors by filling out the fee envelopes. We have a $5.00 Recreation Access Fee. Loretta helps me sometimes and also works in the Visitor Center, mainly helping the kids with coloring or working with them in the animal room, explaining about many of our furry friends.
We have on our days off, besides doing laundry and grocery shopping, ventured into Yellowstone 3 times. As we have seen most of the “Scenic tourist sites” we drive the roads hoping to get a bear, elk or Wolf sighting. So far we have seen 1 Elk, a ton of Buffalos(actually several tons!) 1 black bear cub and one that looks like it has a blond toupee!
Cinnamon bear shedding?
Although we did not see Moose at 
Yellowstone we did see Moose where we are camped and along a creek near Johnny Sack Cabin. Some have seen the Moose in the Big Springs, but we have not yet!
I have 2 trail Cams I place out around the Island Park Ranger Station where we are located. To date the cameras have captured only Moose. No bears yet! However one of my cameras got hit by a bear paw! It turned the camera 90 degrees and his claws punctured the lens covering of the motion sensor!
Camera still works! This was my 3 day old camera too. No picture of the bear as it was too high to take his picture up close and it took a picture as it was turned. I have put the at a lower level so if he tries to destroy it again I will get a picture!
A few mornings ago, while walking Brody, it was still dark so I had my headlamp on and was doing a sweep of the area to see if anything was out there, when I spotted 2 glowing objects. As I was close to the storage yard I thought it was reflectors. I moved my head away and then swing it back and now there was a pair of glowing objects! I swing away and back again and they were still there. The next time I did a sweep they were gone! Bears, Wolf? What did I see? I checked the area out one afternoon and could not find tracks as the soil was very hard. I moved one of my cameras to that area, so maybe I will get a picture!
Several events are or will be occurring this month. Happening now is the Persides Meteor Shower. Not optimal viewing as the moon is too bright. I am trying to get photographs. The other event is the Total Solar Eclipse on August 21st. We will be going a little south of here along the river to set up for our viewing/ i will have 2 DSLR cameras, and 2 Gopros and maybe my drone flying to capture photos of the event!
That about wraps up our update. Hope all are having a great summer and keep in touch!
HAPPY TRAILS