The weather feels balmy today after the sub-zero
temperatures we’ve been enduring for the past month or so. It’s strange to step outside and hear the
drip, drip, drip of snow melting off the roof. We’re used to sticking our noses out the door and feeling them “crackle”
from the immediate cold slap in the face.
Enjoy it while we can, indeed, for there is a lot of winter ahead of us!
Let’s do a little recap of the past few weeks. Jake and I enjoyed a very low key and mellow Christmas here at the Lodge. We slept
late, watched too much TV, ate greasy food that typically you’d find in a gas
station, and talked on the phone with loved ones. There was nary a gift under the tree, but
Jake and I shared what we feel are our blessings with each other and even
though they didn’t come with bows, they were the best gifts ever. Health, happiness, togetherness, many good
friends, loving family, survival of our first summer as business owners, a good
dog, plenty of propane to keep warm, and an exciting future ahead of us. May we never take any of it for granted.
The Friday after Christmas saw Jake on our snowmobile
heading to town for the first time since we parked the truck out at Henry’s
Lake right before Thanksgiving. Of
course there was trepidation. What will
the drifts be like? Can you get over the
Pass? Will the truck start? Well, Jake
made it to the truck just fine. He said
he had to “bury the machine” (which I think is guy speak for really giving it the
gas) while going up the Continental Divide but the rest of the ride was
easy-peasy, if a little cold.
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| Photo taken earlier in December. |
It was the return trip that turned into a bit of a
nightmare. There is an area through what
we call “The Flats” known as Hell Roaring Creek. It was there Jake got sucked down into the 3’
of snow in the ditch, perhaps because some other snowmobilers had been playing
and messed up the snow, or because Jake was going too fast, or a combination of
both. No matter what the reason, He.
Got. Stuck. After a quick call to me to
let me know his predicament, he got busy with the shovel. He shoveled for a long sweaty hour before he
was able to get our beast of a machine back on the road. By his admission, it’s a good thing there
wasn’t a daycare center or playground nearby because the words flying out of
his mouth were just about hot enough to melt the snow.
I sighed a huge sigh of relief when I heard the snowmobile
approaching in the distance. I peered
out the window and to my amazement spied a young bull moose loping along inside
the jack fence that surrounds the Resort.
He was none too happy there was a noisy machine pushing him along, and
when he got boxed into the corner of the fencing, he simply sprung up and
over. I was amazed. I had no idea an animal that huge could jump
so high! Ever the one to make lemonade
out of lemons, Jake commented later that had he not gotten stuck, we would
never have had that moose experience.
That was moose number two for me here at Elk Lake. The first was a big ‘ole bull just hanging
out in the trees next to the Ranch House.
It was in the next day or two that the phone started ringing off the hook with people wondering when we were going to reopen for lunch. Jake and I had been scratching our heads about that very question since we knew the Collins’ used to open about a week into January, but we had been given feedback from some locals that we should open earlier. The clamoring public made the decision for us. We firmly decided New Year’s Day would be the perfect day to reopen. It makes sense, then, that we served 18 lunches on December 31st. Flexibility is the name of the game and we were happy to have the business and company.
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| It was so bright outside! |
After three days of snowmobilers coming out for a burger and
a beer, Jake and I made the startling discovery that we had not stocked up with
enough supplies! A bottle of Jack
Daniels disappears amazingly fast when you have a bunch of thirsty
snowmobilers, and I (in my ignorance) hadn’t even considered how much cocoa we
would go through. Ah, the learning curve
continues. So Jake made an impromptu
trip back into West Yellowstone to get us closer to being ready for all our winter guests. (For those of you who haven’t
been to Elk Lake, there really is nothing such as an impromptu trip” to town,
even in the summer. Every trip is based
on necessity and is a commitment, especially in the winter when there are 25
miles of snowmobiling on either end of the trip.)
Fingers crossed, we are now better prepared!
1 comment:
Even with the mishaps it sounds awesome.No time clocks,no politics just life!!!Be safe ,enjoy and Happy New Year!!!
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