I can't believe it has been a month since I have arrived to work. The weather has finally changed from hot to chilly. We are getting highs in the 70's to low 80's and at night the temps dropped to the 40's. Which makes sleeping a lot more comfortable in a dorm that is not air conditioned. Storms that have hit us recently have been quick. The area is under drought conditions and I was reading that the local Powder River has stopped flowing around July 23rd. That is a major river for some and from what I gather the fish have found deep pools to survive in until the river starts flowing again. It is amazing to me with all the water around me that the area can be under drought conditions. I can walk 10 minutes in any direction and reach flowing water.
This week I met several more Continental Divide Trail hikers. Some were heading south to Mexico and some heading north to Canada. I still feel the north hikers will have a better chance of finishing the hike before weather gets too bad.
I have witnessed several people stealing from the store over the years I have been here, but mostly they get away before the manager can get involved. This week we had a different story. An under aged kid grab a vodka bottle and headed out of the store. Unfortunately for him a park ranger was at the door at the same time. He was arrested and since this is a federal park, he was transported to Madison jail to await a judge to come and hear his case. Stupid decisions can cause a lifetime of regret and I am sure he is regretting the action as he sits in a cell for several days because judges don't reside here all the time.
The store has seen business drop off this week. They expect that to happen, as every year the kids go back to school. Business will pick up again around Labor Day. So Delaware North has cut hours for several workers and has given some workers three days off versus the normal two.
There has been a cook crisis in one of our general stores at Grant Village. It seems that all the cooks, including the head cook left. There was only one cook helper left to feed the entire store. So Delaware North has asked our cooks to do double duty. So one of our cooks gets transported to Grant Village a couple times a week to cook. The lower store is also sending one or two of their cooks also to help out. This is a very tough issue for Delaware North, as it is too late in the year to bring in a person who can not only cook but run the employee dining room. So far this year there has been several issues with store managers also. Our manager has to run our store and run the lower general store at the same time. Our managers husband, who was supposed to be running the lower store was transferred to Canyon to run that store. So Delaware North has been doing a lot to keep the general stores running this year. I would not want to be in charge of having to staff all the general stores in this park with temporary workers.
On my day off I decided to go see a special historical town called Three Forks Montana. Historical for those that like history and study it. Three Forks refers to the three rivers that converge to form another major river that was important in the United States expanding to the west. The Madison, the Jefferson, and the Gallatin rivers converge to create the Missouri river. It was at this spot that Lewis and Clark had to leave the river and start their arduous trek across the mountains to Oregon. The sport where the rivers converge in located in a very nice state park. The town of Three Rivers has two very nice museums and an historical hotel call Sacajawea. I have included pictures below or the trip. I spent a few hours in each museum and talked to the local volunteers who oversee the museums. One was a railroad museum and one was a town history museum. Both we excellent and the staff was great to talk to.
Not too much else about week four other than pray for my back and my new knees. The job has been putting a lot of stress on both.
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