Our day started by joining our son Dylan for breakfast at the Youth Conservation Corp camp just outside Mammoth. Dylan has been a Ranger at Yellowstone for 4 years. This year he is working with the YCC which brings in about 80 high school aged kids for the summer. The kids get to experience Yellowstone and also help out with projects such as trail maintenance and putting in Bear boxes.
At breakfast we were able to meet some of the students and some of Dylans fellow rangers. At breakfast Dylan told us he had to do some last minute work for 3 or 4 hours and he would join us for lunch.
We decided to head out to Lamar Valley again while we waited for Dylan to join us. We stopped and took a short hike out into a field to get a look at a herd of Bison. We were following all of the rules staying the proper distance from the herd, but someone forgot to tell a bull Bison the rules. On our way back to scout we came around a curve with a steep hill to our left and a creek with a 5 or 6 foot drop on the right and ran into a bull Bison about 20 yards in front of us. Ron decided to retreat towards the creek figuring we could jump down in the creek bed if the Bison took offense. As we moved down toward the creek Ton grabbed Ron just before he stepped on a snake. At this point the bull pointedly ignoring our little show sauntered on past and went on his way down the trail.
Deciding we needed Park Service supervision we headed back to Mammoth and picked up Dylan. We went to lunch in Gardiner just outside the park entrance, and then headed over to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Dylan opted for home Thai cooking for dinner and invited one of his co-workers to join us. Ton made some of her famous Larb, and we enjoyed a nice dinner while hearing about Rangering with teenagers.