Days off

Well I just lost another blog post after my computer decided to turn off, this is extremely frustrating! But I’ll go over it again...
So I had a day off on Tuesday and on Wednesday also, although the weekends might be cut down to just one day because most people are leaving already. On the first day I went hiking up Mt. Washburn with two friends, it is just a 10 minute drive away from Canyon. The hike was 3 miles to the top, which was a nice amount. Although, I found it a little hard to breathe at times as I am not yet fully adjusted to the great difference in altitude. The views were stupefying; my English eyes were not used to this kind of beauty. The edge began steeply with pale sand and rocks, then blended into a sea of green (‘Christmas’ trees rolling like smooth waves). They descended into the ocher canyon and rose up once again at its end in miles of continuation. The horizon was built of darkly carved mountains and watching over, a sort of majestic purplish set of peaks with bleached tops made their way through the haze. A tourist or more aptly named with staff dialect, a touron – as in a moron - stretched out his aged finger and claimed loudly that these were the Tetons, though I was assured by a friend of his inaccuracy.
On our ascent we came upon a big horned sheep and her child, she stomped her feet in anger so we quickly proceeded on. However, we met even more of them on the way down with one even blocking the trail in stubbornness. Along with a collection of other hikers we slowly backed away onto a small hill and walked a semi-circle to return to the trail past the sheep, they can apparently become quite vicious and charge. When we reached the top it became bitterly cold after a few minutes with roaring winds, so we stayed only long enough for me to eat an apple, of which some native squirrel plucked the core from my side and began a miniature feast. It was my first real hike of Yellowstone, or in fact for many years.
On my second day off I went with two other friends, Jordan and Johanna, to a place called Trout Lake which was around an hour drive clinging to the hillsides and flatlands. I saw my first Buffalo or Buffalos where they stood as armies on huge dirt/grass lands. All around dust clouds formed sporadically as the Buffalo, or Bison as they usually call them, rolled around violently on the ground. One even walked right by us on the correct side of the road as if it was another car. Before we got to the lake we stopped at another Xanterra lodge in Roosevelt where we got exactly the same food as we do at Canyon, although it’s nice to be able to travel around and still get free food. When we eventually got to Trout Lake we had to climb a small rise and then down it to reach the start of the lake, which was more the size of a big pond. It was a calming haven of quiet with the trout swimming at our feet. We sat under a shaded tree from the white sunlight, gazing into the densely green hills and forests with the reflection of the rocky mount above. It was supposedly an otter swimming ground, so Jordan pondered and peered through his binoculars many times, often sounding from the excitement of a splash, but to find nothing more than a diving duck or some lone tree branch I had hurled in earlier. After a while we left from this pleasant sunny afternoon, returning to Canyon once more. Working here is really worth it if only for our two days off.