Yellowstone, my beloved
I spent the summer of 2021 working for a concessionaire in Yellowstone National Park. The hours and physical labor of housekeeping were not easy, but everything else about the experience I wouldn't trade for anything.
When I applied for and got the job, I was partway through taking a semester off from college in spring of 2021. The fall semester of 2020 was really rough, having to go through covid, a messy situationship, and realizing my friends weren't really my friends. My mom had mentioned a program for working a seasonal job in a national park, and I thought, why not? In February I had my phone interview and my acceptance email. In May I quit my job at a local candy shop and packed up my family's little Corolla with just about all I owned and started the two day drive to Wyoming.
The first few days there were trying. I was thrilled to be in such a beautiful place, but I felt so alone. The other employees were all my age or older, and somehow already friends with each other. I remember calling my mom one night and crying to her about how I wanted to come home. She encouraged me to push through at least a few days more, and I'm so glad I did.
Towards the end of my first week, I had been invited on a large group hike above the Yellowstone Canyon. On that hike I met a handful of employees that I ended up spending the whole summer with. We were fast friends. I wouldn't have made it without them.
Some stand out memories:
Hiking out in the dark to Storm Point on Yellowstone Lake and being brought to tears seeing the night sky with no light pollution
Being under the influence, lying next to a campfire, watching the sky dance for me and laughing with my friends
Participating in my friends' pretend wedding, complete with a first dance and someone impersonating Elvis
Going on a hike with llamas
Getting to see a rodeo in Cody, the rodeo capital of the world, on the 4th of July
Having a bison walk up behind me without my knowledge and scaring me half to death
By the end of the summer I had decided to drop out of school completely and move on to another seasonal job, this time at a ski resort in Montana. I and a good handful of my friends from Yellowstone road tripped to Big Sky where I stayed for a few months before moving back home.
I've been in one spot for nearly three years now. I'm happy to be near my family but I miss travelling and living in different places, even if moving every 3-6 months was exhausting. Maybe some day I'll find a better balance that works for me.