Escaping Yellowstone

by Larry LaVoie

  Elliott had not waited for Cody to cross the bridge, and had been on Cody’s bumper the whole way. When the Jeep hit the slide, it came to an abrupt stop and Elliott couldn’t stop in time and rammed into the Jeep. Steam billowed from the front of the van.

  “Is anybody hurt?” Cody asked. He could see some abrasions on Lisa’s hands and face.

  “I’m all right,” Lisa said.

  “Wendy? Blake?”

  “We’re okay. A little rattled. What now?”

  “We walk,” Cody said.

  Elliott and those riding in the van had already piled out. They stared at a mass of snow, uprooted trees and boulders stretching in a mountain ahead of them.

  “Everyone okay in your rig?” Cody asked Elliott.

  “I told you to warn me about those quick stops.”

  “Thanks for not heeding my advice about waiting to see if I made it across the bridge,” Cody said. “We’ve got to get the hell out of here.”

  Cody led them up the pile of rubble, over fallen trees, and over frozen chunks of ice the size of a house.

  He climbed around a bolder the size of his Jeep that looked like it could break loose and roll down to the river with the slightest movement. He prayed there wouldn’t be another quake until all of them had passed underneath. He stopped long enough to check on everyone. The advancing flow of lava was devouring everything in its path. The air was filled with the sound of explosions like dynamite going off. Flames were erupting and then being extinguished as the lava snuffed them out, only to start new fires in front of the flow. He saw complete destruction of everything where they had just been. He had made the right choice getting everyone out. He had no idea how far the lava would advance. From his perspective he could see the landslide would be no match for it. He hoped they could make it to the other side before they became part of the conflagration.

  “Hurry. We need to keep moving,” he encouraged, as Wendy and the kids approached. Wendy gave him a pitiful look. He picked up Tyler and placed him on his shoulders. “Come on buddy, want a ride?”

  Wendy gave him a weak smile. She was too exhausted for words. Lisa gave him a worried look. Cody stayed on the north side of the boulder until everyone had made it past. He was startled by a crack that sounded like lightning, but without the flash. The lava flow had reached the bridge and completely blocked the river. Trees were snapping and exploding like dynamite. The burning mass was being churned up in the molten lava and bursting, sending lava bombs the size of boulders in to the air.

  “Hurry,” Cody said again.

  “I’m scared,” Tyler said, but he wasn’t the only one.

  Terror showed on every face. Cody fought the thought that none of them would make it out alive. He led them up until they reached the high point on the landslide and could see the road on the far side. Everything looked so peaceful.

  “Do you see lights?” Cody asked Lisa. He could not hold back the excitement he was feeling.

  “I think I do. We can’t be to Gardiner yet, can we?”

  Cody helped her over a tree that was leaning with its roots exposed. “We’re almost there,” he shouted back to those behind them.

  Cody said to Lisa, “You go ahead and see if you can find help. I’ll stay here and make sure everyone catches up. If you can find anyone let them know how many are back here.” He watched Lisa move over and around the mass of debris, but she was going downhill and was making good time. With Tyler still on his shoulders, he helped his mother and Hilda over what looked to be the final large obstacle. He encouraged those in the line to keep moving and not admire the scene ahead. He knew the lava would not stop because a mountain had crossed its path. It would devour the slide, including the place where they were standing right now. In a thousand years a future geologist would be trying to figure out what had happened at this spot. Another ten minutes and Cody saw the lights more clearly. Fifty yards past the slide, a Cat, a front loader and a dump truck with a blade on the front were parked. He saw Lisa appear from behind some rubble, walking on the highway. Cody quickened his pace, stumbling and nearly dumping Tyler to the ground. He caught himself before hitting the ground.

  “You think you can walk?” Cody asked Tyler, lifting him off his shoulders and standing him on the ground.

  He heard an explosion behind him and saw a ball of lava the size of a car hurl over the slide and land on the Cat near where he had last seen Lisa.

  “Lisa,” he shouted. He grabbed Tyler under his arm and ran through the remaining debris and along the highway. He raced toward a light that was still burning even though it had been knocked over. “Lisa,” he called again.

  He stopped and lifted Tyler to his shoulders again. “Tyler, do you see Lisa?” He ran toward the burning mass that had once been a Caterpillar D-10. Across the road from the burning Cat, the dump truck roared to life. Cody stopped and watched as the lights came on and the gears ground and the truck began to move toward them. Cody flagged it down. “Lisa, what the hell?”

  “I thought we might be able to pile everyone in the bed of this and get them farther away, but there are so many gears, I can’t figure it out.”

  Cody lifted Tyler down and stood him on the blacktop. “Get out and I’ll drive it,” Cody said. He heard a siren and saw a vehicle approaching with its lights flashing. He stood with his hands in the air. “Looks like we’re busted.”

  “What do I do?” Lisa asked, still in the truck.

  “Give up. Let him take us in.”

  The sheriff’s cruiser came to a screeching halt, twenty feet from them. A man jumped out. His headlights shined toward the slide and the others coming from the slide.

  “You’re the folks who were trapped in Yellowstone?” the officer asked.

  “Cody Street,” Cody said, shaking the deputy’s hand. “There are fourteen of us.”

  “I’m Deputy Nolan. You can call me Clarence. Which one is Elliott?”

  “He’s in the middle of the pack.”

  “You’re the geologist?”

  “That’s right,” Cody said. “Whoever made the call to evacuate the park made the right call. We need to get out of here, there’s a lava flow just on the other side of the slide.”

  He looked up at Lisa. “You aren’t going to drive that thing, are you?”

  “I was going to try. We need to get as far away from here as possible.”

  Another explosion knocked them over and the ground shook. A rumble like a locomotive filled the air and the slide started coming down again. Lava bombs exploded around them, like a fireworks display gone bad.

  As best they could everyone ran toward the sheriff’s vehicle. The deputy reached inside and called for backup on his radio. “We have a man staked out in Gardiner. He will be here in a minute.”

  Already, they could hear the siren in the distance. The deputy opened the back doors of his cruiser and started packing people in. “We only have two vehicles, so double up. If you can take someone on your lap, do it. Don’t worry about seatbelts.”

  The deputy stayed long enough to inform his back up and they filled the cars and each carried an adult in an open trunk. They drove three miles to Gardiner where they waited for transportation to arrive from Bozeman.

  Chapter 25

  The town of Gardiner had been evacuated for a day when Deputy Sheriff Clarence Nolan asked for volunteers to find a way into Yellowstone to save the survivors. He solicited Montana State Highway workers on Christmas Eve to try and clear the slide, sufficient to get emergency vehicles through, but the task had been too great. When USGS informed them of the latest activity, they widened the red zone from the Yellowstone Park boundary to the city of Bozeman, thirty miles beyond. The evacuation of Gardiner was still in progress when the latest call came through informing Deputy Nolan of a volcanic eruption. The voluntary evacuation had been changed to a mandatory evacuation. With that news the highway crew had abandoned their equipment and retreated behind the safe zone. Many decided to go back home so they could spend Chris
tmas with their families. From his office in Bozeman, Nolan had overseen the rescue activity and took it upon himself to check on the progress, but when the mandatory evacuation was ordered, there was nothing he could do but send everyone out of the area. Only one other deputy remained in the danger zone with him and he had just finished checking every home in Gardiner. When Nolan contacted him, he was waiting for the word to return to Bozeman, Montana, the outer edge of the red zone.

  Deputy Sheriff Nolan was making his final check of the area when he saw the lights go on in the dump truck. “If you wouldn’t have started that truck,” he told Lisa, “you might still be hiking out of there.”

  An hour later, Cody and the others were guests at the Holiday Inn in Bozeman. After taking hot showers, they all met in the dining room for a hot meal. Cody walked Lisa back to her room. They stood there, both so tired they couldn’t find words to say. Cody leaned down and kissed her.

  She held her hand on the back of his head. “I love you.”

  Cody smiled, wondering how it was even possible. “I love you, more,” he said. He made it back to his room just in time to see the digital clock blink to 11:59. One minute until Christmas, he thought, staring at the clock. He flopped down on the bed and was asleep before midnight.

  At six in the morning there was loud banging on Cody’s hotel room door. It took a moment for Cody to orient himself. He got up and peered through the peephole and could only see the top of Tyler’s head.

  He opened the door. “What do you want, Tyler?”

  “It’s Christmas. Santa Claus came last night.”

  “Come in, buddy.” Cody sat Tyler on the bed. “I think Santa brought us all here safely. That’s our Christmas present this year.”

  Tyler’s lips turned down and tears streamed from his eyes.

  “Hey, buddy. We can have Christmas later, okay?”

  Meghan came through the open door. “Uncle Cody, Tyler said Santa came last night. It’s Christmas.” She stopped when she saw the tears in Tyler’s eyes. “Santa came like you said, didn’t he?”

  Tyler nodded. “I saw him. He put presents under the tree. Uncle Cody, he did come, I saw him.”

  Cody looked up to see Wendy standing at the door with her hands on her hips. “Tyler, Meghan, what do you think you’re doing, leaving the room without telling me?”

  “It Christmas,” Cody said, giving her a look to go easy on them. “I think Tyler is right. Maybe Santa came last night.”

  “Can we go open our presents?” Meghan asked, pulling her mother’s arm.

  “Cody, what’s going on?” Wendy asked.

  “I don’t know. Tyler, where did you see Santa?”

  Tyler hesitated. “Am I going to be in trouble?”

  Cody looked at Wendy. “I think you’re okay. After all, it is Christmas.”

  “Downstairs, under the tree,” Tyler said. “But he didn’t come down the chimney.”

  “Really.” Cody said. He saw the confusion on Wendy’s face and shrugged.

  “He used the door. I saw him,” Tyler said.

  “Well, we can’t open them until the whole family is up,” Cody said.

  “I wish you would tell me what’s going on,” Wendy said. “you know something, I know you.”

  Lisa showed up at the door. “I heard your voices. Is everything all right?”

  “Santa Claus came last night,” Tyler shouted.

  Lisa looked at Wendy, who was shaking her head, indicating she had no idea what Tyler was talking about. She looked at Cody. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t have a clue,” Cody said. “If Tyler says he saw Santa, then who am I to argue. I guess he wasn’t told he had to be asleep or Santa wouldn’t show up.” He grinned at Wendy. “Someone didn’t do her job as a mother.”

  “For gosh sakes, Cody. Stop being my obnoxious big brother.”

  “Impossible,” Cody said. He went over to Lisa. He was wearing a white hotel bathrobe. In fact, everyone including the kids were wearing hotel bathrobes. The only clothes any of them had were what they were wearing when they arrived. Their clothes were torn and muddy beyond salvage.

  “You girls look like twins,” Cody said.

  Lisa laughed. “Honestly, we look like we’re all members of a cult.”

  “Why don’t I see if I can rustle up some cocoa and coffee,” Cody said. “Let’s see if we can get everyone to gather around the Christmas tree in the lobby.” He leaned and whispered in Lisa’s ear. She turned and left without saying anything.

  Cody went to the kitchen and fixed hot chocolate and poured several cups of coffee and brought them to the lobby. In the hotel lobby, the Christmas tree was surrounded with colorfully wrapped boxes stacked high. The hotel clerk on duty watched from behind the counter, amused that so many would gather in bathrobes to celebrate Christmas in a hotel lobby.

  As the family members arrived, Cody offered coffee and hot chocolate.

  “See Meghan, I told you,” Tyler said, grabbing a box from under the tree and shaking it. “Mom, is this one for me?” He handed it to her. She gave a sideways glance to Cody.

  Lisa had her arm through Cody’s and stood with him enjoying the excitement. “I don’t think I was ever that excited about Christmas,” she said.

  “I was,” Cody said. “It runs in our family.”

  Elliott and Catherine showed up, both yawning and wiping the sleep from their eyes. “What the hell, are we being evacuated?” Elliott said.

  “He’s this way until he’s had his first cup of coffee,” Catherine said.

  “Elliott, grab a cup,” Cody said, pointing to the tray on the table.

  “Got anything stronger?” Elliott asked.

  “Have two cups,” Cody said.

  Mike stood barefoot near the fireplace, sipping on a cup of coffee. Chase sat in a nearby chair.

  “Who wants to play Santa?” Cody asked. “Oops, looks like Wendy already has the job.”

  Wendy checked the tag on the package and saw it had Tyler’s name. “How… “

  “Give it to him, Santa,” Cody said.

  They all watched as Tyler tore into the package. His eyes were wide when he removed the item from the box. “A dump truck. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world.”

  Susan had decided to help Wendy play Santa and sorted through the stack of packages until she found one with Meghan’s name on it. She handed it to her granddaughter.

  Meghan’s eyes lit up. “Santa really did come.” She tore open the wrapper and tossed it in the air. “A doll, Momma, a real live baby doll!”

  Susan and Wendy handed out presents until everyone had a package. Lisa, now sitting next to Cody, set her coffee aside, leaned into him, and kissed him. “I was wondering what you were doing when you were talking to the deputy after we arrived.”

  “It wasn’t my idea,” Cody said. “He’s a member of a local lodge that hands out presents to the needy. I guess we looked like we could use a little Christmas cheer. As soon as Tyler said he saw Santa putting presents under the tree, I figured it out.”

  “Don’t lie to me, I saw you hand him some money.”

  “A donation,” Cody said. “I wanted to make sure no kids missed Christmas because we showed up on his doorstep at the last minute.”

  Lisa kissed him again. “You’re going to make some kid a great father someday.”

  “You think so?” He smiled and they kissed again. He shook his head and his eyes teared up. “I’m so sorry how this all turned out.” He wiped his eyes with his hand. “I wanted this vacation to be perfect. Now your parents probably hate me. I’m an unemployed geologist without a home. Everything that could go wrong, did.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself. None of it was your fault. As for the vacation, I can honestly say I’ve never had a more exciting time in my life.”

  The automatic door in the lobby slid open and a cold breeze caused them to look up.

  It was Deputy Sheriff Nolan. “I just stopped by to tell you that the airport is o
pen and the FAA has cleared them for all flights.” All eyes were on him. He removed his hat, rubbed his forehead and smiled. “You folks look like you could use some new clothing. I talked to the manager of the Walmart, and he agreed to open the store exclusively for you this morning so you can purchase whatever you need.” He went around the room, his eyes going from person to person, “Ah hell, if you want to give me a list of what you need and your sizes, I’ll go shop for you. It’s a little cold out there to be in a bathrobe.”

  At breakfast, the TV was tuned to national news. The reporter was standing on a stretch of Highway 101 in Southern California. They were showing houses on the ocean dropping into the sea. The moderator said, “California Highway Patrol has just informed me that this stretch of the highway will be closed as soon as the businesses and homeowners on both sides are evacuated. They expect the high tides to claim several hundred yards of shoreline making those homes up on that hill potential future ocean front properties. Billions of dollars will be lost in this part of the state and Governor Gerald Green has declared a state of emergency for the entire 900 miles of California coastline… ”

  “What do you think will happen to Yellowstone?” Lisa asked.

  “It’s withstood hundreds of episodes like the one we witnessed. When this dies down the geysers will probably return along with the animals, trees and plants. Probably not in our lifetime, but some future generation will again wonder at the marvels of the place. I just feel lucky to have lived to have seen it at the height of its glory.”

  “I doubt you’ll ever forget it,” Lisa said.

  Cody smiled. “I hope not.”

  Epilogue