Place as Text Gardiner

Today, we explored Gardiner, which is where we have been staying the past couple of days. Gardiner is beautiful, with a beautiful mountain view. Our initial impression of the town was that the theme was very authentic and not forced like Jackson. The scenery is gorgeous, right behind our hotel we see the Yellowstone river and the snowcapped mountains in the background. Here is a picture of a map of the main road in town.

Today we went white water rafting and spoke lots with our guide Libby, she was your typical nature girl that you’d expect to be leading an adventure like this. She shared lots of cool information about the local spots and intriging myths about the rock formations in the mountains. After rafting she recommended we walk over to the famous elk burger place next door to try their elk burger. We tried the burger and thought it tasted great. While we were sitting outside eating, the biannual “Hell’s Aroarin’ Horse Drive”  was happening. We went to the sidewalk and had front row seats to watch all the horses run through town along with all the other tourists and town members. This was exciting and a highlight of our trip.

As we were walking through town we noticed the modest looking buildings. The modesty of the buildings matched the simplicity of the people we encountered. We found a couple help wanted signs on the buisnesses and several of the bar-like restaurants were advertising their specials outside daily.

We have enjoyed Gardiner and hope to do some more exploring and meet some more people since we have some free time this evening. #TheGrizzLU

Place as text Livingston

Today, May 25th, at around 1pm, we went to Livingston, Montana which is about an hour outside of Gardiner. Some of the first things we noticed as we got inside the town was that the upkeep was poor, compared to the other places we have visited such as Jackson Hole and Gardiner. The town scenery wasn’t as pretty because there were only a few mountains in the background, which seems to be the reason why the town was not as touristic as Gardiner. Here is a map of what we walked past in the town.

We walked all around the town, but there wasn’t much to do, so we went to the sport’s bar and ended up talking to the bartender, Natasha, for a while. She was cool and she said “tourism does not bother me because it brings business to our small town”. While talking to Natasha, she informed us that the main attraction of the town is fly fishing. We observed many public documents displaying fish including a sculpture of a fish, and  a picture of a sticker on a car that says “fish on”  hadn’t made the connection until Natasha told us fly fishing is the main attraction of the town.

Inside the bar and town, we noticed that the population was older generations. The buildings were not flashy, but the town did not really have a theme either (kinda boring). The burger that we all ordered was pretty good and cost about the same in Gardiner.

Livingston was interesting, but unless you’re into fly fishing, it could come off as boring.

Stay tuned for our next adventure #TheGrizzLU

Jackson Hole Place as Text

Hello world! Once again we are Sierra, Corinne and Shane and we are students from Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia taking a week long adventure through Yellowstone National Park. Today, Tuesday May 23rd, was our first full day in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and we went exploring to find out more about the town and the people in it. We started our adventure around 5:30pm near the Jackson Hole recreational center and Davey Jackson Elementary School. (See below for map sketch of our adventure!)

Map part one and Map part two

First, we noticed as we looked around that we were surrounded by mountains and hills, we were literally in a hole (get it Jackson…..HOLE). The scenery around us was beautiful and we noticed it was a touristic town where there were many gift shops, town decor and a variety of people. We began to walk down the streets and picked up on the woodsy feeling of the homes (and even the sidewalks!). The houses started to develop a theme such cabin style and short heights. We came to the conclusion that they don’t want the town to take away from the beautiful scenery, but to compliment it. As a pack, we agreed that the town was consistently giving off an outdoorsy/rustic feel (not city-like). Our opinions were shared with a couple, Margaret and John Stevenson, whom we met downtown and described Jackson Hole as a “small western American town”.

We became aware of several public documents scattered throughout the town. Some of the documents we saw said, “Sorry, no dogs allowed” and “Please drive slowly, We love our children”. Based off of the signs and the people we met, Jackson Hole gives off a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere.

Stay tuned for our next adventure!! #TheGrizzLU

About Us!

We are extremely excited for our adventure to Yellowstone National Park and are eager to learn new information. We want to tell you a little about each one of us.

My name is Sierra Garland and I am a rising Junior double majoring in Spanish and elementary education. I am most excited to see animals that I have never seen before and to learn about the people who live in and around Yellowstone National Park. I hope to use this experience in my future classroom to make connections with outside communities.

My name is Corinne Fear, I am a rising junior majoring in Criminal Justice with a double minor in Psychology and Communication Studies. I am looking forward to visiting Yellowstone for a second time because of the natural beauties and wildlife that I will come across. I am also looking forward to going on hikes and white water rafting. I know that this experience will be amazing and cannot wait to take on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

My name is Shane Crean, I am a rising senior majoring in Biology with a Chemistry minor. I am looking forward to going to Yellowstone National Park for the first time and getting a chance to see animals in their natural habitats. I’ve always enjoyed seeing animals at the zoo but it will surely be an eye opener to see how they behave and the natural beauty they have in the wild. I am also excited to hike and be on the white water rafting group! Seeing all the wildlife and meeting the locals around the area is what I believe will be the highlight of my trip.

While we are in Yellowstone we will be focusing on the question of whether or not grizzly bears should be taken off of the endangered list. Stay updated to see our findings and to follow all of our adventures!!

 

The Pack

Shane Crean, Corinne Fear, Sierra Garland