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Being the game warden in a district that borders the Thorofare certainly has its advantages. I was game warden in the neighboring Sunlight district for 27 years. During this time, I was lucky enough to be able to make several jaunts into the Thorofare. It was the best of both worlds. I had many memorable experiences.

I have made several trips into the Thorofare country, and they all have been memorable. One of the most enjoyable was the trip when I took my wife, Debbie, in to oil the cabin and tack shed.

On August 2, 2000, we packed up and left the Eagle Creek trailhead. We traveled up Eagle Creek and over Eagle Creek Pass to the Yellowstone Park 's Howell Creek cabin. The trail was in good shape and we made good time. We stayed at Howell Creek for the night and then packed into the Thorofare cabin. The weather was great. Deb was in awe of the scenery. We made it in without any horse problems.

On August 4 we began to oil the cabin and clean out the ditch from the spring to the cabin. The oiling went well. The south and east sides really soaked up the stain.

Late in the day of August 5, we finished the oiling and rode up the Thorofare River to Mountain Creek to check fishermen and game. We didn't find either. When we turned to ride back, a thunderstorm rolled in over us. Wind gusts were blowing over dead trees, and the thunder echoed with a deafening volume off the face of the Trident. The noise and jittery horses made quite an impression on my wife. That's when you really appreciate the corrals and dry cabin waiting up ahead.

August 6 we checked for fishermen at Bridger Lake and on the Yellowstone River . We climbed to the top of Hawks Rest for a view of the area. What a vista of the Yellowstone River Valley . Makes you feel small. That night around 2 am we were awakened by a herd of elk feeding around the cabin—quite a bit of noise with the cows and calves talking to each other.

On August 7 we packed up and started out. Neither one of us wanted to leave, so we got a late start and arrived at Howell Creek cabin at dark. In the trail dust that day, we observed footprints left by a black bear sow and her cub. The next day we packed out to Eagle Creek trailhead. It was a great trip and one that will be in our memories forever.

Another memorable trip was with John Hyde in late September. On September 22, 1999, John and I left the Nine Mile trailhead on Yellowstone Lake and packed into the Cabin Creek Y.N.P. cabin and then on into the Thorofare cabin. We spent September 24 and 25 checking elk hunters on the Thorofare drainage and around Bridger Lake .

In the late afternoon of September 25, the wind began to blow hard. It sounded like a hurricane blowing. You could hear the trees that had been burned by the fires in 1988 falling in every direction. We heard seven burned trees fall fairly close to us.

On September 25 we left the Thorofare cabin and started toward the Cabin Creek cabin. When we hit the first patch of trees, we started running into trees fallen across the trail. It took us several extra hours to make the trip to Cabin Creek because of the downed trees. We finally made it and were dreading the trip from the Cabin Creek cabin on out to the trailhead the next day.

We met Y.N.P. Service employee Patty Bean at the cabin and learned she had cleaned the trail from Nine Mile trailhead to the cabin that day. We thanked her for making our trip out a lot easier.

On September 27 we left the Cabin Creek cabin and packed out to Nine Mile trailhead on a freshly cleaned trail. The trip was great.