OUTDOORS: Nothing like Yellowstone to put a pandemic in perspective

It was a trip I didn't know if I should take. And a lot of other people I'm close with felt the same way.

Now, anyone who knows me, and if you've been reading my columns since March you know, I have been taken this coronavirus pandemic very seriously. So, it would stand to reason that, even in the summer, traveling would be out of the question for me.

And yet, there is absolutely no way I could spend an entire year without visiting one of our two Montana treasures - either Glacier National Park, or Yellowstone. Not even "The Rona" was stopping me.

So, a mere two weeks ago, off Amy and I went, heading south to Gardiner and the North Entrance of Yellowstone. It was a journey into the unknown in more ways than one. First, while we've visited Yellowstone plenty of times, we've never visited Gardiner, had never seen the historic Roosevelt Arch in person, and had never driven through the North Gate of the grand old park. More on that later though.

Secondly, we were off to the unknown because, despite my concerns, despite the time spent in quarantine, despite that I've been wearing a mask since April, and admittedly, despite all my fears of COVID-19, there we were, essentially driving right toward the virus. There we were, traveling during a global pandemic. To say we were unsure of ourselves, unsure of what we'd find in Yellowstone, and obviously, unsure of the final outcome, that would be putting it mildly.

And yet, in so many ways, my fears would ultimately turn to surprise, and mostly pleasant ones.

We were in Yellowstone a week before Gov. Bullock's mask mandate, and, in Wyoming, where no such mandate exists. And yet, masks were as prevalent in Yellowstone as the beautiful bison herds that roam the park. And that was a surprise to me.

I have to admit, with all of the politicizing and controversy over masks, I actually wondered if it would be the opposite of what we found. I actually wondered if, masks would be as rare in Yellowstone as wolf sighting are on a hot July afternoon. But that wasn't the case.

For our fourth trip to Yellowstone in the past 20 years, Amy and I saw nary a wolf. But, we did see thousands and thousands of people wearing masks. We saw masks in what facilities were actually open in the park, we saw masks on people at popular boardwalks and thermal features, we saw folks wearing masks in their cars, at turnouts and overlooks. And, in two days of awesome hiking, we even saw hikers wearing them up and down the trails.

And because I saw so many masks, on people from every state in the union, and even on people who were visiting from abroad, that fact, if only for a weekend, briefly restored my faith in the human race. It seems as though, at least in Yellowstone National Park people really did care about each other, and that was part of what made the trip very special.

The trip was also unique.

Traveling in a global pandemic is strange. There's a weird sense of tension, especially in a place like Yellowstone, where, though it's the great outdoors, people still gather in huge crowds to watch Old Faithful blow, to visit the Mud Volcano, or to view a bison jam on the road. Those things attract big crowds, and big crowds are the worst thing during a pandemic.

So, that was strange. And yet, at the same time, it still felt normal. Yellowstone was still Yellowstone, it was beautiful, it smelled amazing, and the weather was such that the beauty of the park was showing off.

From that standpoint, it was as if Yellowstone had no idea the kind of chaos that's going on in the world right now.

Gardiner was the same. My first visit to Gardiner was weird, but fun at the same time. Plenty of masks and COVID precautions were being taken in the awesome gateway community that I best knew for the state champion Bruins basketball team of some time ago. The Yellowstone Pizza Co. lived up to the hype and our cottage was pretty cool, too. Yeah, like the park itself. Gardiner almost made me forget there was a deadly virus lurking in town.

Of course, when we got home though, we couldn't forget about COVID. That's because, though we were diligently masked up, and though we washed our hands hundreds of times, and we ordered take out and spent very little time inside a building on our trip, when we returned, we decided to partially self-isolate, as was recommended before Bullock lifted Montana's 14-day travel quarantine. No, we didn't hide under our beds for the next two weeks, but we pretty much kept to ourselves. We stayed away from our parents and other vulnerables, I took two weeks off from my golf team, spending days playing all by my lonesome, and so on. We just felt, after visiting Yellowstone, it was the right thing to do.

Now however, the two weeks are almost up, and I'm going to assume things are OK. At least I feel like they are. And that has allowed me to reflect on the one thing I just can't let this virus get in the way of - hiking, the outdoors, Yellowstone and Glacier.

A good friend of mine told me recently, when I was criticizing people for being cavalier about the virus, that it's their choice, it's their choice to accept a risk. I didn't think of it then, but obviously I made that same choice by traveling to Yellowstone, and while it was weird, it was also worth it.

It was worth it because, we don't get those chances often. The season is short, the time to really enjoy Yellowstone and Glacier is now, and you gotta take that opportunity when you can. It was also worth it because, with the world we're living in, I needed that escape. I needed to be in that park, surrounded by those mountains and thermals and animals. I needed to experience the feeling that a grizzly bear might be lurking around the next bend in the trail, and honestly, in those moments, I am a hell of a lot more scared of getting COVID-19 than I am of being attacked by a bear while hiking, and I'm not afraid to admit that.

Neither happened, though, on this latest trip to Yellowstone. Instead, what did happen was an realization. What I realized is, I'm right to be diligent when it comes to protecting myself and my loved ones, and my fellow man from COVID-19. My fears feel justified. But, at the same time, because of that diligence, because of that fear and that respect for the virus, I was also able to safely enjoy something my wife and I love, and that's visiting our national parks.

I love it, I needed it, and there was no way I was going more than two years without it. Not even COVID-19 was stopping that.

Take care all, be safe in your travels, Mask Up For Montana, and whatever you do, enjoy your summer, because it's already almost over.