What we’re about
** Please read this entire group description before joining the group. **
⛰️This is a Yellowstone National Park activity group. Activities include day hiking, backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, photography, wildlife watching, and educational events. A virtual book discussion has also been added.
🥾The primary purpose of this Meetup is to enjoy the surprises and joys Yellowstone has to offer with an emphasis on safety. In Yellowstone National Park, which is grizzly bear country, there is safety in numbers, which is one of the primary reasons for group hiking.
⛔You'll see a number of "don'ts" below. That's because someone before you behaved in a way that negatively affected the entire group, not just the event organizers. Please read everything below. We have fun on our outings; the rules we have are for the benefit and safety of everyone.
🥾The primary rule of this group is we hike safe or not at all. If you arrive at an activity ill-prepared in a way that could put you or others at risk, event organizers reserve the right to turn you away from the event.
💰To defray the $300 annual MeetUp subscription fee, members are asked to make a financial contribution to the group at least once per year. Any funds received that go beyond covering the subscription fee will be donated to a Yellowstone nonprofit. 💰
🦬 All hikes/events are moderately paced. If you like to see how fast you can complete a hike, this group is NOT for you. We stop to enjoy flowers, wildlife, views, etc. We engage in conversations with other participants.
🚙 Since we will often be using complicated transportation arrangements, like one-way hikes or ski/snowshoe outings, where we start at one trailhead and exit at another, or do the same thing off-trail, I need to know in advance who is participating, whether they are bringing a vehicle, and the passenger capacity of that vehicle. This is why I will only be providing meet point and meet time information to those who sign up in advance. The MeetUp app generally doesn't work in the park, so we rely on texting for communication.
🕰️ Do not participate in a hiking, skiing, or snowshoeing activity if you have other plans that same day or evening that require you to be back to the trailhead or your hometown by a certain time. It is not fair to other participants to have someone force their social schedule on the group. If you do it once, you will be reminded of this stated policy, and be stuck adhering to the group's schedule. If you do it a second time, you will be prohibited from future participation in this group. Part of the magic of the Yellowstone back country is that there are so many variables, be that a very special wildlife encounter or a rare geyser deciding to erupt while we are nearby. Having an arbitrary return time serves to ruin those opportunities.
📱 Members will be asked to provide their cell phone number to the Organizer prior to their initial Meetup. The Organizer will provide their cell phone number to the Member to facilitate 2-way communications on the day of an activity. This enables notification of any last minute changes due to unexpected developments, like accidents, carcass closures of trails, illness, road closures, vehicle malfunctions, weather-related problems, etc. This group has multiple organizers so you should always provide your cell number when RSVPing to an event.
🕰️ We always use "2:00 a.m." as the meet time for activities in Yellowstone, and we are deliberately vague about the meet location, in the Meetup announcement. This is done to insure that only Members who have pre-registered by RSVP'ing "Yes" have this information.
📅If your plans change and you can no longer attend an event, update your RSVP and let the event organizer know. Multiple no-shows will result in being banned from the group.
❗❗It is a violation of this Meetup's stated policy for any Member or Guest to proceed ahead of the Organizer of the Meetup while the group is on the trail. The group will stay together for safety. Keeping track of participants during an outing is akin to herding cats. Violation of this rule can and will result in being banned from this group. ❗❗
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Author George Bumann will be joining us to discuss his book Eavesdropping on Animals: What we can learn from wildlife conversations.
Summary:
In Eavesdropping on Animals, George Bumann shares the fascinating stories and insights he has gained from studying wildlife around the world for more than forty years, the last twenty of which have been spent leading popular programs on animal language and intelligence in Yellowstone National Park.
The book is available in ebook, paperback and audio formats.
Upcoming events (4)
See all- ❗CHANGED: Book Discussion: Evesdropping on Animals by George BumannLink visible for attendees
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Author George Bumann will be joining us to discuss his book Eavesdropping on Animals: What we can learn from wildlife conversations.
Summary:
In Eavesdropping on Animals, George Bumann shares the fascinating stories and insights he has gained from studying wildlife around the world for more than forty years, the last twenty of which have been spent leading popular programs on animal language and intelligence in Yellowstone National Park.The book is available in ebook, paperback and audio formats.
- Book Discussion with author Nan Weber: Mattie: A Woman's Journey WestLink visible for attendees
**UPDATE** Nan Weber, the author, will be joining us at this event!
Not unlike today, life for women in the nineteenth century served up hearty challenges on a daily basis, though the burdens of 100 years ago certainly were of a different flavor. Mattie: A Woman's Journey West offers a taste of that life through he story of Martha "Mattie" Shipley Culver, whose life passage took her from her childhood in industrial New England and work in the New York textile Industry to her role as the wife of a winter caretaker in Yellowstone National Park, where she died and was buried in 1889, at the age of 32. After discovering Mattie's grave, between Nez Perce Creek and the Firehole River, author Nan Weber followed her own curiosities through four years of research to trace the steps of this mystery woman's spirited life.
This book is available used at your favorite used book shops or it's available on Amazon. You can also purchase the book new from the author's website.
The author's website has a couple videos of Mattie's grave and personal possessions.
- 📚Book Discussion: Letters from Yellowstone by Jim CarrierLink visible for attendees
In the Spring of 1986, Jim Carrier, the Denver Post's "Rocky Mountain Ranger, traveled to Yellowstone National Park to begin a series of seventy dispatches about the park’s human and natural history. He admits he knew almost nothing about Yellowstone. Seven months later, after countless interviews, miles hiked, driven and paddled, time often shared with his daughter, Amy, he came home transformed. More than a "reporter's notebook" Carrier's letters reveal the impact the region had on him over the course of Yellowstone's four seasons. Whether hiking through grizzly country at night in search of medical help for a gravely ill colleague, or challenging the Grand Teton, Carrier's adventures will convince you that he was hardly a dispassionate correspondent. His letters demonstrate that the value of places such as Yellowstone may lie in the ways they transform all of us into more conscientious defenders of the wild.
The 30th anniversary edition is available on Amazon as a paper book and ebook. I found a 1987 copy at a used bookstore here in Bozeman.
- 📚Book Discussion: Haynes Guide by Jack Ellis HaynesLink visible for attendees
This one will be a bit of a challenge to find, so start now locating a copy.
I found a 1966, 64th edition at a used bookstore in Bozeman. This book is along the lines of the Wylie guide we read earlier. It's a visitors guide to the park with photos and other interesting information.
Whichever of the 64 editions you locate, it's fine. Our discussion will be that much more interesting as we compare editions. Happy hunting!
Sources to find a copy(links already have the search criteria for the book):
Abe Books
Ebay
Amazon
Isle of Books (Bozeman used bookstore who lists their books on Abe and Amazon).
