Arriving at Lake Village, YNP
I must work in the Yellowest place in the world: a Yellow hotel, in Yellowstone National Park. Ooo la la! In fact, the hotel that I am working in is the oldest hotel in any of the National Parks in the country, and the lake where it’s set is the biggest lake above 7,000 ft. Amazing.
I arrived at check-in in Gardiner, not knowing what to expect at all. I was a bit nervous about where I would be assigned to work, as there are 9 locations within the park where an employee could potentially be placed. As the season goes on, openings become available in different places. So I guess it’s a matter of luck, really. But I guess I got lucky, because I got placed in Lake Village, which people say is tied with Old Faithful for the most beautiful place in the park. Of course, every location is probably gorgeous. The people telling me these things might just be biased. But I have to agree, it is insanely gorgeous here. This is the hotel where I will be working:
Terrible, huh? Looking out over this lake I am so content, and so happy I was placed here. There are a couple of interesting connections I have to this place. The first is that the lake is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano on the continent, and one of the largest in the world. What makes this special to me is that my biggest fear, although entirely irrational, when I was younger, was volcanoes. I used to have terrible dreams about Pompeii, and about volcanoes erupting outside of my house in Lambertville. And here I am, 20 years later, living on top of an active supervolcano that is “due to erupt.” How’s that for getting over fears?
My second connection to this place is that I can look at the water and slip away into daydreams about Cape Cod. The Cape once won my heart with it’s gorgeous lakes and the ocean, and I was sad to be leaving the water. This lake has helped me in my transition by letting me not feel so far from home. I have the water I love, surrounded by the Grand Tetons. Amazing.
So clearly, I am very excited to have been assigned to work at Lake. The other cool thing about Lake is that it is located pretty centrally within the park, so getting to the other locations will not be too much of a drag. Well, it will be hard either way, as it is about a half hour drive from the next village, and 2 and a half hours to the nearest city (Bozeman or Jackson). It is smack dab in the middle of the wilderness, but also in the middle of the park. So it will make my days off easier.
Lake village is a little village of its own. We have our own medical clinic here (unlike many of the other locations in the park), a general store, a post office, and an employee-only pub. There is also no cell signal here at Lake, which doesn’t affect me either way, but makes for a nice atmosphere where everyone around me is on a technology hiatus. We have wifi in the dorms, and that’s about it
By the way, this is my walk to work:
And this is my dormitory:
It’s quite a priviledge to be able to call a National Park home for a couple of months. Employees have access to anywhere they want to go in the park, and we can enjoy the amazing benefit of being able to go on tours and trips that cost guests upwards of $100 each, for free! Not to mention, we can take row boats out on the Lake any time for free as well.
So I guess so far, there is nothing to complain about. There is a bit too much of a college-vibe here, in terms of the social life of the younger employees, but I am getting the impression that there are different ways that you can spend your time here. There are the people in college that are here to have fun and party, and most of these people have gotten fired or are likely to be fired by the end of the season. Then there are the people that are here to work hard, make money, and enjoy the park, and they seem to be a bit older than college age and less interested in staying out late and coming into work looking like Homer Simpson after a long night at Moe’s. I will find my niche, I’m sure.
Now, it’s time for bed. I am having a rough adjustment to the elevation and heat, but sleep seems to do the trick. This is where I say “goodnight.”
