"Stir" takes to the road again!

[Stir Young]

Hey, its me, Gary Young! You know, the smart alecky guy who was gonna go out west??? I thought I might try doing one of these blog thingies about my trip to Yellowstone Park and back.

So who is Stir? Well, that's been my nickname since I was in high school. I was originally called "Youngster" by one of my friends, I guess because I only looked about 12 years old when I was a Junior. As time went on, "Youngster" got shortened to "Ster", or "Stir", as I prefer to spell it, and people just ASSUMED that the shortened variety came about because I "stirred" up trouble. Why, nothing could be further from the truth....c'mon, you know me....I'm a peacemaker!

Well, anyway, about 2 years ago, I embarked on a quest to find people whom I'd worked with in Yellowstone Park in the summer of 1969. It became a cooperative project as I found others, and they started looking too. Along the way, we've been able to account for about 12 people, and the idea for an employee reunion came about. That reunion took place on August 14th and 15th 2009, in Gardiner, Montana, and the story that follows will hopefully tell a little about the summer of 1969 in Yellowstone Park, and my journey back there 40 years later.

And just who is that mischieveous looking guy up above? Why that's me, in the summer of 1969, of course.

[Stir Young]

This is Tower Falls, more properly known as Tower Fall, as there is only one. Its quite impressive. Old postcards show a large boulder sitting at the top of it....i read where that had fallen sometime after 1969.

[Stir Young]

I then drove back down the service road to the Tower Falls Store. The parking lot was jammed with people and cars, so I parked off the side of the road, and walked to the store.

Before entering the store, I decided to walk the short trail to the actual Tower Falls. Along the way, there was a sign advising that the trail to the bottom of the falls was no longer in use...it had washed out. i remembered reading that somewhere earlier. I contented myself with walking to the observation area, where I took a picture and left, backtracking to the store.

[Stir Young]

Here's the replacement for Nake's old dorm. I believe the old building on the right was actually the girl's dorm in 1969. There was a sign advising that this was private property, so I didn't venture too close. There were several people around the building, and I decided to obey the sign, although now I wish I would have gone up there and bored them with old fart stories from 40 years ago!

[Stir Young]

My boss in the accounting department was a guy named Bob Eilers, from Covington, Kentucky. I'll have more about him later, but he had a peculiar way (peculiar to a couple of smart aleck Yankees, anyway) of saying Tower. When he said it, it came out Tar. Well, Nake and I found that so hilarious, that's what we called Tower as well, and to this day we STILL call it Tar! I think I'll switch over now, and call it Tar, for old times sake.

The short jaunt to Tar took a little longer than it should have. There was a traffic jam at a scenic overlook. A ranger was directing people through. There didn't seem to be an accident, and there were no visible signs of wildlife....I guess it was just a case of too many people trying to occupy the same space.

Just before reaching Tar, I did remember clearly a section of road that ran right next to a sheer cliff, with cut stone guardrails to the outside. I remember meeting Nake on that section once, he in the offical Tar van, and me in the offical accounting pick-up. Nake was going like a bat out of hell. I had a passenger that day, our buddy from home, "The Governor" (no not the real governor, that was just his nickname). The Governor had driven out to Yellowstone for a surprise visit, but he could only stay a few hours, and then had to drive back. Needless to say, taking a passenger in a company vehicle with money aboard was strictly against the rules, but we were all pretty foolhardy back then. I dropped The Governor off just before we came to the store at Tar, and he hung out until he could make contact with Nake. The Governor and I were laughing like crazy at Nake's driving techniques on mountain roads. In fact, in due time, I just may relate a little more about Nake's driving adventures.

Well, here in 2009, however, I made it to Tar, and guess what? It was jam packed with vehicles here too. I decided to head up the hill to the site of Nake's old dormitory, and the adjacent campground. I rounded the curve at the top of the hill, and looked to my left, and Nake's dorm was no longer there! It had been replaced by a two story building that looked something like a ranch house in a city subdivision. I got out of my car, and tried to call Nake, back home, to tell him the devastating news, but I was in a no service area, so I snapped a few pictures and left.

[Stir Young]

The store at Roosevelt Lodge!

[Stir Young]

The road eventually came into the LaMarr Valley, a broad expanse. Occasionally, there were groups of vehicles pulled off the road, and people lined up with binoculars, telescopes and cameras focused on something at quite a distance. I presume it was wildlife....maybe grizzlies or wolves. I never actually saw anything. There were also a few people fishing, where the Lamar River ran close to the road.

I believe that I was only ever on this road once or twice in 1969, probably making a fun run to Silver Gate or Cooke City. I did have a recollection of the Lamar Valley...after all those years it seemed familiar.

Nake took several trips on this road to the Northeast Entrance. It was the closest civilization to his work place at Tower Fall. He has related a story to me about how he and his co-worker, Billy Clemens, once went out that exit to go to a bar. While they were in the bar, the bartender and another guy stepped outside to fight!

I didn't dally going through the Lamar Valley....I really wanted to check out some places that I had connections to in 1969. I was exicited!

Soon I came to the place where the Northeast Entrance Drive met the portion of the loop road that connected Tower Fall with Mammoth. At this junction of roads sat Roosevelt Lodge, and next to that lodge sat a little general store that I remembered very well from 40 years ago.

As I pulled in to the Roosevelt Lodge parking lot, I was amazed at the traffic and congestion...this place was packed! But sure enough, there was that little store, looking much as I remembered it.

Back in 1969, part of my job as an Assistant Accountant for Hamilton Stores was to stop at that store every other day and clear the cash register, take the receipts and leave a new cash drawer to start over. There was a retired lady who ran the store back then, and a retired guy named Jim who sometimes worked there as well.

Well, Jim was a pretty cool guy... he never gave Nake nor I a hard time if we wanted to buy beer or booze for parties. We were over 21, and thus legal, but most of Nake's coworkers were under 21, and Jim knew exactly where the firewater was going. I have to laugh now, because last spring I learned that Jim was actually a cousin to the husband of Nake's boss. I wonder if Jim was singing like a canary? Nothing was ever said, if Jim indeed was ratting us out.

Things were so congested there at the Roosevelt Lodge that I snapped one picture of the store, and left...next I wanted to see the Tower Fall Store, dormitory and campground. It was only about two miles down the road to the south.

[Stir Young]

This was along the side of the road at Soda Bluff Creek, not too far into the park.

[Stir Young]

As I made my way into Yellowstone National Park, the scenery was just incredible. Mountains rose on either side, and it was thickly wooded at lower elevations. I stopped and took a picture, including the VW camper, of course. It was a "I can't believe I'm really here" picture.

[Jolene]

Beautiful Picture Gary

Just beautiful, I sure wished you would of stopped for coffee it would of been nice!

[Chez moi]

Yep... still waiting... I guess you're gonna come back and tell us the rest of the story by the campfire on the chilly fall evenings... I'll bundle up.

Love it so far, Gary. Thanks for sharing with us.