CELEBRATING 150 YEARS
1872-2022
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the creation of Yellowstone National Park, the world’s first national park. Join us and Yellowstone National Park in 2022 as we reflect on the past 150 years, explore what makes Yellowstone wild and unique, and take steps together to ensure the park remains inclusive and impactful for the next 150 years and beyond.
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WHAT’S
INSIDE
A MESSAGE
8 Miles North of Gardiner
From Superintendent Cameron Sholly ........................6 Welcome to
WYOMING............................................................. 7 Greetings from
MONTANA ............................................................8 YELLOWSTONE AT 150
Sacred place with a pulse .........................................10
Hours
TIMELINE
9:00am - 9:00pm Tuesday - Sunday
of human history in Yellowstone ................................16
YellowstoneHotSpringsMT.com
Making the most of your
YELLOWSTONE VISIT ................................ 20
CONQ
FAMILY TRIPS TO YELLOWSTONE
YOUR NEXT A
Continue to delight all ages ..................................... 25 A wonderland in all seasons .................................... 29 Making
MEMORIES ....................................................... 32 EDITOR: Brian Martin
WRITERS: Carrie Haderlie, Jerry Painter, Amber Travsky
AN ADAMS PUBLISHING GROUP PUBLICATION
DESIGNER: Darla Allen
© 2022
ON THE COVER: Bull bison graze along an ephemeral pool in the Lamar Valley. Photo by Jacob B. Frank, courtesy of National Park Service
4 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
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Photo courtesy of National Park Service
150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 5
A MESSAGE FROM
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK SUPERINTENDENT CAMERON SHOLLY
March 1, 2022, marks the 150th anniversary of the establishment of Yellowstone National Park. Signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant, America’s first national park was set aside to preserve and protect the scenery, cultural heritage, wildlife, geologic and ecological systems and processes in their natural condition for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.
of Yellowstone. Multiple Tribal Nations will be present throughout the summer at Old Faithful as part of the Yellowstone Tribal Heritage Center project, where tribal members will interact directly with visitors about their cultures and heritage. Tribes are also collaborating with Yellowstone to install a large teepee village in the park near the Roosevelt Arch in August.
Yellowstone serves as the core of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the largest nearly intact natural ecosystems remaining on the planet. Yellowstone has the most active, diverse and intact collections of combined geothermal features, with over 10,000 hydrothermal sites and half the world’s active geysers. The park is also rich in cultural and historical resources, with 25 sites, landmarks and districts on the National Register of Historic Places.
This anniversary is an important moment in time for the world. As stewards of this inspiring place, it is an opportunity for visitors, partners, stakeholders and employees to reflect on the lessons of the past and strengthen Yellowstone for the future. Let’s continue making decisions that aim to protect the health of Yellowstone for centuries to come.
Based on the park’s location at the convergence of the Great Plains, Great Basin and Columbia Plateau, many Native American Tribes have traditional connections to the land and its resources. For over 10,000 years before Yellowstone became a national park, it was a place where Native Americans hunted, fished, gathered plants, quarried obsidian and used thermal waters for religious and medicinal purposes.
During this anniversary year, Yellowstone will open 40 new employee housing units throughout the park, along with groundbreakings on projects totaling more than $125 million funded through the Great American Outdoors Act. These projects include two of the largest historic preservation projects in the country and a range of transportation projects that will address aging infrastructure. This year will also mark the reopening of Tower Fall to Chittenden Road (near Dunraven Pass), a $28 million road improvement project completed over the past two years.
Visit go.nps.gov/Yellowstone150 and follow #Yellowstone150 frequently in 2022 to stay current on commemoration information.
Yellowstone is bigger than its boundary and sits within three incredible states (Wyoming, Montana and Idaho) that include many counties, communities and stakeholders. Each plays a vital role in helping make decisions that not only protect Yellowstone for future generations but also improve the many positive conservation, environmental, economic and social impacts the park provides this region and the country. Beginning on March 1, the park will host and participate in a wide range of activities to commemorate 150 years
6 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
Photo courtesy of National Park Service
WELCOME TO
WYOMING
Jennie and I want to take this opportunity to welcome you to Wyoming and to our nation’s oldest national park. We are eager to help you discover what we love about our state. We know Yellowstone well, from Old Faithful to the remotest parts of the Thorofare and the Bechler River. These are just some of the gems of Yellowstone National Park, which is celebrating its historic 150th anniversary.
While you may be aware that Yellowstone was the first national park in the world, you should also know that 96% of the park is located in Wyoming. Many of the more than 4 million annual visitors to the park arrive by car, where they are afforded the opportunity to get a firsthand taste of our beautiful state. Relax and enjoy what you can find here. Most visitors to Yellowstone never get farther than half a mile from the road, and yet the magic of this national treasure, and its spiritual horsepower, is best experienced the farther from pavement that you get. Yellowstone’s setting, like that of a fine diamond, is equally wonderful. We would be remiss not to let you know about some of our lesser-known, equally precious spots like Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area to the east of the park and Grand Teton National Park and Togwotee Pass to the south. If you are willing to step off the beaten path, you will be rewarded with expansive views; rugged mountain ranges like the Bighorns or the Wyoming range;
abundant wildlife in our national forests; and the unique flavor of authentic rural communities. Remember, Wyoming’s state park system is second to none. Buffalo Bill, Hot Springs, Boysen and Sinks Canyon State Parks offer a wealth of recreational opportunities, including camping, boating, fishing and hiking. And don’t forget, there are some wonderful rodeos, museums, homecooked foods and great things to do almost anywhere you go in big, wonderful Wyoming. Jennie and I would like to formally congratulate Yellowstone on its sesquicentennial anniversary. I hope that Wyoming’s warm Western hospitality accompanies you throughout your Yellowstone adventure and wherever your travels take you in our state. Enjoy, and find out for yourself why the writer Wallace Stegner said, “National parks are the best idea we ever had.” Sincerely,
Mark Gordon Governor of Wyoming
“National parks are the best idea we ever had.”
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GREETINGS FROM
MONTANA
This year, we celebrate 150 years of our nation’s first national park, Yellowstone.
Signed into law in 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant, the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act was a visionary, pivotal piece of legislation protecting over 2 million acres of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Long before explorers, lawmakers and others advocated its protection, present-day Yellowstone was home and hunting ground for generations of Native Americans, including tribes in Montana today. They are an integral part of the park’s story. Seventeen years after Yellowstone National Park was established, Montana was admitted to the Union as our nation’s 41st state. Since that time, we’ve served as a gateway for people around our country and the world to experience the beauty and wonder of the first national park, and our communities have been enriched as a result. From Gardiner to West Yellowstone, Montanans have built businesses, hotels, churches and schools in the park’s
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gateway communities. As we celebrate 150 years of Yellowstone National Park, President George W. Bush’s words ring true: “Our national parks belong to each of us, and they are natural places to learn, exercise, volunteer, spend time with family and friends and enjoy the magnificent beauty of our great land.” Yellowstone National Park, too, belongs to each of us. As stewards of this remarkable place, we all share the responsibility to ensure it is treasured and protected. Sincerely,
Greg Gianforte, Governor of Montana
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YELLOWSTONE AT 150: A SACRED PLACE WITH A PULSE
10 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park
By Carrie Haderlie Yellowstone is a place with a pulse. Archaeologists now know that people have been using the landscape for thousands of years longer than its 150 years as a national park. This summer, during a six-month commemoration of the establishment of Yellowstone National Park that extends through August, the park and its partners will reflect on successes within the ecosystem over the last century and a half. Leaders will also discuss lessons learned from the past, while addressing current challenges and the park’s future, according to the National Park Service. The United States Congress established Yellowstone National Park in 1872, and on March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law. Eleven thousand years earlier, someone carried a Clovis point made from Teton Pass obsidian into that same remarkable place.
Park Superintendent Cam Sholly said the 150th anniversary is a milestone and the perfect time to reflect on the region’s past, present and future. The “150 Years of Yellowstone” celebration is not only about Yellowstone as a national park, it also represents an opportunity to listen to, and work more closely with, the 27 associated Tribal Nations connected to Yellowstone and to better honor their significantly important cultures and heritage in the region, according to the National Park Service. “The 150th is something that, as Americans, we can be proud of in many ways,” Sholly said. “But it is also a point in time that we need to reflect on the lessons of the past and, in many ways, the mistakes of the past.” Yellowstone National Park Historian Alicia Murphy said that since 1872, the management style in the park has changed. Until 1915, people came to the park mainly on horseback or by stagecoach. “If I were to pick one singular decision that we made in the management of Yellowstone that has made the most lasting impact, I would probably pick that day in August of 1915 when we started letting cars — private automobiles — in the park,” Murphy said. “It changed everything.”
“We know that somebody, dating 11,000 years ago, was at Yellowstone Lake,” Douglas MacDonald, a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Montana, said in the spring of 2022. MacDonald, who has studied Native American pre-contact history of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains with an ongoing research project in Yellowstone National Park since 2007, is also the author of “Before Yellowstone: Native American Archaeology in the National Park.”
The park suddenly became much more accessible and was no longer a destination for only the wealthy. A 150th anniversary cake is pictured May 6, 2022, at the Yellowstone National Park Lodges 150 Years of Inspiration Event. Photo by Jacob W. Frank, courtesy of National Park Service
MacDonald said obsidian collected at Yellowstone’s Obsidian Cliffs was used by Native Americans for around 12,000 years, likely by Blackfeet, Nez Perce, Shoshone, Crow and many other tribal people. That obsidian has been found as far east as Ohio and Michigan, as far south as the Gulf Coast and as far north as the Great Lakes region. MacDonald said his team found the base of a Clovis point made from obsidian gathered near Jackson at Yellowstone Lake. “A Clovis person traveled from the Jackson Hole area, probably following the Snake River, and that person, carrying that obsidian Clovis point, could have been the very first person to actually see Yellowstone Lake,” MacDonald said. “That is an amazing thing.”
• A TIME TO CELEBRATE AND REFLECT •
“All of a sudden, it became more financially feasible to visit the park,” Murphy said.
Before 1915, trips were for the wealthy, involving a train ride and seven-day group treks by stagecoach. Suddenly, people were able to visit sites along the famous upper and lower loops, from Old Faithful to Canyon Village and from Grant Village to Norris, in just a single day. “The park becomes more accessible, more feasible and probably more attractive to young families,” she said. “By the time we get to the post-World War II era, we have a very well-established car culture in Yellowstone, as well as the tradition of the American road trip.” In those early years, there was a “paternal” feeling toward park management, wherein people felt the need to “provide” for the animals without really understanding that those animals had existed for much longer than park management itself, Murphy said. That led to remarkable things in Yellowstone’s history. 150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 11
A rainbow is seen near the base of Lower Falls. Photo by Bianca Klein, courtesy of National Park Service
Until the mid-1950s, tourists could attend nightly shows, lining stadium seating while Yellowstone’s bears feasted on garbage and leftover vendor scraps. “At one point, the concessionaires would take all of their trash, and the visitors would come, and there would be a bandstand,” Murphy said. “It was a big deal. Every night, you could go and watch them feed the bears. First it would be the black bears, and then the grizzly sows would come down and run them off. Then the (male grizzly) boars would come down.” Until the 1960s, park staff also farmed thousands of acres of Yellowstone to feed elk and bison, because they worried the animals wouldn’t survive without human oversight. “When Yellowstone was established, wildlife ecology wasn’t a thing,” Murphy said. “‘Natural environment’ or ‘ecosystem’ were not terms that people were aware of or used. We had this paternal feeling related to the need to provide for these animals, not really thinking it through that 12 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
they had existed here for much longer than we had.”
• SHIFTING TO ‘HANDS-OFF’ MANAGEMENT • In 1970, a new bear management plan eliminated open-pit garbage dumps in the park, and management styles continued to shift. “Now, we are very hands-off with management,” Murphy said. “It’s tragic when you see an animal with a broken leg, but we largely don’t do anything about it, because we’re trying to have this be as natural as possible. Yellowstone is one of the largest, intact temperate ecosystems in the world that is left to its own devices to manage itself.” Sometimes, to protect its own infrastructure or to protect people, management is more hands-on, as in the case of natural disasters. On Aug. 17, 1959, a magnitude 7.5 M earthquake struck west of Yellowstone, killing campers in the Gallatin National Forest and affecting infrastructure and thermal areas inside the park. Murphy said the quake changed some of Yellowstone’s
Black bear near the Northeast Entrance. Photo by Neal Herbert, courtesy of National Park Service
famous thermal features, causing some that had never before erupted on record to spout, and increased the regularity or intervals of others. “It was fascinating to see this dynamic landscape even more dynamic than usual. Thermal features are always changing, but these were overnight changes,” she said. A chimney in an Old Faithful Inn dining hall fell down, and the park was left without communications for several days. People sent frantic telegrams seeking information on their loved ones, but no one was injured or lost inside the park, Murphy said.
Today, alerting the nation to the seriousness of the fires. “That picture ran across the nation in early July, and it basically said, ‘We’re not going to stop this,’” Bower said. “I went to a firefighter meeting later that night, and they said this fire wasn’t going out until the snow put it out.” Bower was also at Old Faithful on Sept. 7, 1988, when the fire rolled over the geyser basin. “I was at Observation Point to get an overview picture, and I watched the fire work its way along the southern ridge behind the basin. As the wind shifted, I watched this massive cloud stand up and come back toward Old Faithful,” Bower said. “It started dropping embers and spot fires, and so the fire service people said, ‘OK, to the media people on Observation Point, you’ve got a fire to your left, evacuate to
In 1988, the “Summer of Fire,” more than 790,000 acres of the park were affected by wildfire. Robert Bower, a retired photojournalist from the Idaho Bull bison graze at Blacktail Deer Plateau. Photo by Neal Herbert, courtesy Falls Post Register, remembers of National Park Service that summer well. He was at Grant Village in July when a windstorm brought fire through the right.’” the area and took an iconic photo of firefighter Gary Wegner Bower, who retired after a 42-year career, said he continues of Libby, Montana, looking ragged and exhausted. Bower’s photo was picked up by the Associated Press and ran in USA to visit and photograph the park. 150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 13
Grand Prismatic Spring. Photo by Jacob W. Frank, courtesy of National Park Service
“It has been fun to watch the regrowth, and now, it has recovered so much that unless you point it out to people, they might not even realize it,” Bower said. “But then, 1988 was a long time ago.” Park management exists on a continuum of learning, Murphy said, adding that 150 years from now, people may look back on the current management decisions and wonder about them. “That is because we are still this big experiment, and I would like to think we are still always learning and improving,” Murphy said.
Yellowstone was established five years before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Scott Frazier, director of Project Indigenous, noted at the same event. Chief Plenty Coups, the principal chief of the Crow Nation at the dawn of the 20th century, saw the importance of setting pieces of land aside for the future, Frazier said, and his home is now a Montana State Park that bears his name. “Native American people, as traditional scientists, we see the land as our mother, we see the land as sacred and important,” he said.
• LOOKING AHEAD • In looking to the future, Sholly said the park is working to reduce its environmental footprint and increase sustainability efforts, and has made a 10% reduction in the park’s automotive fleet over the past two years. Staff is also looking toward alternative energy sources like solar power and hopes to increase electric vehicle charging stations within the park.
with tribes” a big part of the summer commemorations.
Sunset from Canary Springs Overlook; NPS National Park
In a spring of 2022 virtual Wind River Inter-Tribal Gathering, Sholly discussed the future of the park with members of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes, saying that his office has made “opening partnerships and dialogues 14 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
Frazier, who is now 72, said he was camped near Pebble Creek in Yellowstone during the 1959 earthquake, and was also in the park during the 1988 fires. He was there to see the reintroduction of wolves / Jacob W. Frank. Courtesy of Yellowstone in 1995 and said it is important that humans allow Yellowstone to refresh and heal itself from intervention over the years. “I believe that Yellowstone is a sacred place,” he said. “I believe that Yellowstone has a pulse.”
150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 15
Stagecoach near the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River; Frank J Haynes. Courtesy of National Park Service
View of Front of Old Faithful Inn; Frank J Haynes; 1923. Courtesy of National Park Service
TIMELINE
OF HUMAN HISTORY IN YELLOWSTONE Paleoindian Period AT LEAST 11,000 YEARS AGO A Clovis point from this period was made from obsidian obtained at Obsidian Cliff.
10,000 YEARS AGO
Folsom people were in the Yellowstone area as early as 10,900 years ago – the date of an obsidian Folsom projectile point found near Pinedale, Wyoming. Sites all over the park yield paleoindian artifacts, particularly concentrated around Yellowstone Lake.
9,350 YEARS AGO
A site on the shore of Yellowstone Lake has been dated to 9,350 years ago. The points had traces of blood from rabbit, dog, deer and bighorn sheep. People probably used this area in the summer while hunting bear, deer, bighorn and rabbits, and perhaps making tools and clothes and seem to have occupied this site for short, seasonal periods.
Archaic Period 8,000-1,500 YEARS AGO
Beginning 8,000 years ago, until 1,500 common era (CE), people leave traces of camps on shores of Yellowstone Lake. Note: CE (Common Era) replaces AD.
7,000 YEARS AGO
Vegetation similar to what we find today begins to appear. Projectile points begin to be notched.
3,000 YEARS AGO
Oral histories of the Salish place their ancestors in the Yellowstone area. Artifacts dating to 3,000 years ago have also been discovered on islands in Yellowstone Lake, leading some archeologists to speculate that indigenous peoples used watercraft to travel there.
1,500 YEARS AGO
Bow and arrow begins to replace atlatl (throwing spear); sheep traps (in the mountains) and bison corrals (on the plains) begin to be used in the Rocky Mountain region.
16 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
500–1700s CE 1400
Oral histories of the Kiowa place their ancestors in the Yellowstone area from this time through the 1700s.
1450
Little Ice Age begins.
1600S
North American tribes in the southwest begin acquiring horses in the mid- to late 1600s. Ancestors of the Crow may have come into Yellowstone during this time.
1700S
Lakota Sioux begin exploring the Yellowstone area.
Photo of William Henry Jackson on top of Mt. Washburn; W.H. Jackson; 1871. Courtesy of National Park Service
Late 1700s1840s CE LATE 1700S
Fur traders travel the rivers into the Yellowstone region. Tribes in the Yellowstone area begin using horses.
1804-1806
The Lewis and Clark Expedition passes within 50 miles of Yellowstone.
1807-1808
1850s-1871 CE 1850S
1872
Little Ice Age ends, climate begins to warm.
Yellowstone National Park Protection Act establishes the first national park.
1860
1877
First organized expedition attempts, but fails, to explore the Yellowstone Plateau.
Nez Perce (Nee-me-poo) flee U.S. Army through Yellowstone.
1862
Northern Pacific Railroad reaches the north boundary of the park.
Gold strike northwest of Yellowstone.
John Colter likely explores part of Yellowstone.
1869
1820S
1870
Trappers return to Yellowstone area.
1834-1835
Trapper Osborne Russell encounters Tukudika (“Sheep Eaters”) in Lamar Valley.
1872-1900 CE
1886
Folsom-Cook-Peterson Expedition.
Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition; Old Faithful Geyser named.
1871
1883
The U.S. Army arrives to administer the park. They stay until 1918.
1894
Poacher Ed Howell captured; National Park Protection Act (Lacey Act) passed.
First Hayden expedition.
150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 17
The Yellowstone National Park Master Plan from 1932 is encapsulated in mylar in this image from 2015. Courtesy of National Park Service
1901-1917 CE 1903
President Theodore Roosevelt dedicates arch at the North Entrance by laying its cornerstone at Gardiner.
1906
The Antiquities Act provides for the protection of historic, prehistoric and scientific features on, and artifacts from, federal lands.
1908
Union Pacific train service begins at West Yellowstone.
1915
Private automobiles are officially admitted to the park.
1916
The National Park Service Organic Act establishes the National Park Service.
A linen map of the Yellowstone Park highway system, circa 1925-1927. Courtesy of National Park Service
1918-1939 CE
1940-1959 CE
1918
1948
1929
1949
1932
1955
U.S. Army turns over park management to the National Park Service. President Hoover signs first law changing park’s boundary. President Hoover expands the park again (by executive order).
1933
Civilian Conservation Corps established, works in Yellowstone through 1941.
1934
The National Park Service Director’s Order prohibits killing predators.
1935
The Historic Sites Act sets a national policy to “preserve for future public use historic sites, buildings and objects.”
18 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
Yellowstone receives one million visitors. Nineteen snowplane trips carry 49 passengers into the park in winter. Mission 66 initiated. The first concession-run snowcoach trips carry more than 500 people into the park in winter.
1959
Magnitude 7.5 M earthquake strikes on Aug. 17 west of Yellowstone, killing campers in Gallatin National Forest, and affecting infrastructure and thermal areas in the park.
This image was taken from the Haynes Souvenir Album of Yellowstone National Park, Copyright 1940. The caption reads “The Grizzly Bear Grounds on Otter Creek near Grand Canyon is the scene of the thrilling grizzly bear show early each evening, when the wild bears come from their daytime haunts to sample the delicacies only man can provide.” Wildlife biologists now discourage feeding bears human food. Courtesy
1960-1975 CE 1963
The Leopold Report is issued.
1966
The thermophile Thermus aquaticus is discovered in a Yellowstone hot spring.
1970
New bear management plan begins, which includes closing open-pit dumps in park.
1971
Overnight winter lodging opens in park and continues yearly.
1975
Grizzly bear listed as threatened species in the lower 48 states.
A fall sunrise is seen over Roosevelt Arch. Photo by Jacob W. Frank, courtesy of National Park Service
1976-2000 CE 1988
Public Law 100-443 protects hydrothermal features in national parks from geothermal development on adjacent federal lands; Summer of Fire: more than 790,000 acres affected by fires in Yellowstone.
1991
Clean Air Act Amendments require air quality monitoring at sites including Yellowstone, a Class I airshed.
1994
Congress enacts a law allowing a percentage of park entrance fees to be kept in the parks.
1995
Wolves are restored to the park.
1996
2002
National Academy of Sciences confirms effectiveness of Ecological Process Management (aka natural regulation).
2007
Yellowstone’s grizzly bears removed from federal threatened species list.
2008
Scientific review panel recommends an increase in lake trout removal operations on Yellowstone Lake.
2009
Grizzly bears returned to threatened species list. Bioprospecting final EIS completed; Science agenda established for Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
2011
Federal buyout of gold mine on Yellowstone’s northeast border is authorized.
Grey wolves removed from the endangered species list in Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Remain listed in Wyoming until 2017.
1998
2016
The National Parks Omnibus Management Act is passed.
2000 Parhelion and rime ice are seen in Upper Geyser Basin. Photo by Neal Herbert, courtesy of National Park Service
2001 CE-Present
Interagency Bison Management Plan is adopted by federal, state and tribal partners.
National Park Service Centennial.
2022
Yellowstone National Park marks 150th anniversary. Timeline courtesy of National Park Service
150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 19
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR
YELLOWSTONE VISIT Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park
Experts say planning ahead makes all the difference By Jerry Painter After working for the past eight years in Yellowstone National Park, Linda Veress says exploring some of the park’s more than 900 miles of trails remains one of her favorite things to do. “I love hiking,” said Veress, who works in the park’s public communications office. “Pretty much any trail, if you walk a little ways, you won’t see anybody, and you’ll have that wilderness experience.” Veress recommends visitors to the world’s first national park plan ahead to have the best experience. Planning accommodations, activities and schedules can make a difference when it comes to fighting crowds and avoiding headaches. “Planning is very important when visiting Yellowstone, because we had a record-breaking visitation last year,” she said. Last year’s park visitor numbers topped 4.8 million — most came during the summer months. 20 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
A good place to start planning is at the park’s website, by clicking on the “Plan Your Visit” button or going directly to www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit. Here, you’ll find information and videos on topics such as fees, services, camping, wildlife safety and things to do. “Yellowstone’s abundant wildlife is as famous as its geysers,” the park says in its planning information on viewing wildlife. “In the park, animals have over 3,000 square miles of habitat available to them, so seeing them usually involves both luck and timing. Check at visitor centers for information about recent sightings.” Veress recommends visitors download the Yellowstone app at www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/app.htm prior to coming to the park. “It’s really, really handy,” she said. “You’ll want to do that in advance, as well, because cell phone coverage is spotty (in the park). You get maps of the park, geyser eruption times, all kinds of useful information.” Whether you want to hike, bike, horseback ride, fish, watch
Hikers follow a trail along the Yellowstone River with Electric Peak in the background in Yellowstone National Park. Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park
geysers or just sit and toast marshmallows, the park has a handy website guide to things to do. “Yellowstone has something for everyone,” the park’s guide says. “Whether you delight in the challenge of a strenuous hike or prefer to sit quietly and watch the sunset, the park offers a great diversity of activities for you to enjoy.” Exploring the park online before you arrive will help you optimize your time and energy when you pass through Yellowstone’s entrance gate.
If avoiding the big crowds is important to you, the park offers a key strategy: Go to the major attractions early in the day or late in the day, when things are less busy, then hit the trails during the middle of the day. Veress said the iconic places, such as Old Faithful, Canyon, Norris Geyser Basin and Midway Geyser Basin, get very busy during the middle of the day.
“For those very popular places, definitely try to get there early morning or late in the afternoon,” Veress said. “We have long days for much Campers enjoy toasting marshmallows at the Lewis Lake Campground in of the summer, with good “You can plan out your trips Yellowstone National Park. Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park available light, so try to avoid in advance before you come, those areas in the middle of the day. If I was planning a trip, I as well as learn about the park,” Veress said. “When you get here, you’ll know what you’re looking at.” would hit those areas first and then go to a place that’s not so 150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 21
busy.” The park also recommends visitors buy their entrance passes online in advance as well to save wait times at the entrance gates.
construction season,” Veress said jokingly. Two major road construction projects underway this year include work on the Lewis River bridge and on the Yellowstone River bridge. Some delays are expected at various times.
The increase in visitor numbers has prompted a few recent changes. The park’s campgrounds have moved to a reservation-only system, and backcountry campground permits for specific sites can also be reserved in advance. Reservations can be made online at recreation.gov. Prior to the reservation system for campgrounds, visitors would often find themselves lining up early at campgrounds in hopes of finding an available site.
On the upside, two major construction projects were recently completed that should benefit park visitors.
“That would cause a lot of traffic congestion with lines backing up out into the roadways,” Veress said. “A lot of times, they wouldn’t get a campsite, and they would end up driving around and around looking for a campsite. As you know, Yellowstone is a big place to get from one campground to another. It’s a long drive, and they would get really frustrated. With the reservation program, they will at least know that they have a campsite.”
With the reopening of Dunraven Pass, visitors will once again have access to the popular Mount Washburn Trail. The trail offers grand panoramic views of the park.
Campground sites can be reserved up to six months in advance, and the park recommends checking back regularly for cancellations. For visitors who can’t secure a park campsite, there are alternative accommodations, such as camping outside of the park in nearby national forests, private campgrounds or staying in a motel.
One project is the park’s North Entrance, which was expanded and updated to offer multiple lanes and shorter wait times. The second project is the road going over Dunraven Pass. “Dunraven Pass is going to open this year,” Veress said. “It’s been closed for more than two years now.”
Visitors who want to venture into the park’s backcountry can find trail and campsite descriptions at www.nps.gov/yell/ planyourvisit/backcountryhiking.htm. Backcountry campsites in Yellowstone can also be reserved at recreation. gov. The park will continue to offer some backcountry campsites on a first-come, first-served basis up to two days in advance. “I would highly recommend doing research about the different areas of the park’s (backcountry),” Veress said. “It varies quite a bit on where you would like to go.” Useful information to have ahead of time can include trail distances, elevation, water sources, what type of food security you’ll have and what weather to expect.
Grand Prismatic Spring. Photo by Jim Peaco, courtesy of National Park Service
Some of the Forest Service campgrounds can also be reserved. Here is online information for the surrounding National Forests: Custer Gallatin National Forest, www.fs.usda.gov/detail/ custergallatin Shoshone National Forest, www.fs.usda.gov/shoshone Caribou-Targhee National Forest, www.fs.usda.gov/ctnf Bridger-Teton National Forest, www.fs.usda.gov/btnf Motels can be found in the towns not far from each of the park’s five main entrances. Being connected to the park’s webpage at www.nps.gov/yell/ planyourvisit/parkroads.htm will also help you avoid some road construction waits. “In this area, we have the winter season and the road 22 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
“It’s nice to know those things in advance,” Veress said. “Always know the way to secure food out in the backcountry. That’s really important. Some campsites will have a bear pole, and some won’t. Know how you are going to secure the food.” For those hoping to visit the park when it’s less crowded, Yellowstone recommends the “shoulder season” during spring and fall. Besides fewer visitors, this time of year can be particularly appealing to people who live within a few hours’ drive. “If you’re able to swing that, it’s recommended,” Veress said, “but be prepared for changing weather. A lot of the locals come here during spring and the fall. They look at the weather and head over.”
2022
150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 23
24 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
FAMILY TRIPS TO YELLOWSTONE CONTINUE TO DELIGHT ALL AGES
Safe seflies in Norris Geyser Basin near Constant Geyser. Photo by Jacob W. Frank, courtesy of National Park Service.
By Carrie Haderlie Visitors of all ages are invited this summer to reflect on the past, present and future of Yellowstone National Park while also experiencing the wonders of the landscape. Yellowstone is a place that can be enjoyed by the young and old alike, from the accomplished outdoors person to the novice. Whether driving the famous upper and lower loop roads or hiking into the backcountry, a visit to the park can be tailor-made to any family’s needs. “For nearly seven generations now, the American people and our guests have been able to experience the beauty and majesty of Old Faithful, Minerva Terrace, Morning Glory Pool, the Grand Prismatic Spring and the Yellowstone River, and marvel at the bison, wolves, elk, wildflowers and many other breathtaking sites,” Chuck Sams, director of the National Park Service said in a letter commemorating the March 1 anniversary of the park.
Yellowstone offers 12 campgrounds with more than 2,000 sites, and during the park’s busy season, from the beginning of May through the fall, all campsites can be reserved. Arriving without a reservation, though, means the chances of finding a campsite in the park are slim to none, according to the National Park Service. Yellowstone National Park Lodges operates nine lodges, both hotel- and cabin-style, in the park, with more than 2,000 rooms. All are open from late spring through fall, but only two are open in the winter: Old Faithful Snow Lodge and Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Children are encouraged to explore the park by becoming a Junior Ranger through a self-guided program that will introduce kids to the park and their role in preservation. Booklets are available at park visitor centers, as are National Parks passport stamps. Joshua Mahan, who runs Yellowstone Hiking Guides with his wife, Emily Jo, leads three guided hikes a day. He anticipates this summer will be a busy one. 150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 25
A family poses for a portrait at Artist Point on Aug. 3, 2018. Photo by Jacob W. Frank, courtesy of National Park Service
“We’ve been taking reservations since November,” he said. “It has been increasing beyond anything we have seen in the past.”
The Park Service offers guides a day-long training on the park’s flora and fauna every season, Mahan said, and he said he is always bear-aware.
Michael Burns, who runs Cody Wyoming Adventures, said he also anticipates a busy summer. He offers driving tours of the park, with trips in a 15-passenger van to a luxury ride in a Cadillac Escalade or a day trip in a Mercedes open-air van.
“I’m a Wyoming local. I was born in Jackson and grew up in Darby, Montana,” Mahan said. “I’ve spent my whole life out here, and sometimes people are looking for someone from around the area to go out with them. People are worried about bears, and we do run into them on our trips.”
“That is a really big hit. A lot of people want the fresh air, to smell the smells of Yellowstone and hear the river or the animals when they are there,” Burns said. For those taking a driving tour, either with a guide or alone, there are plenty of stops along the upper and lower loop roads for a short boardwalk stroll or a picnic. Popular stops include the Norris Geyser Basin, the hottest, oldest and most dynamic of Yellowstone’s thermal areas, and Fishing Bridge at Yellowstone Lake, which was built in 1937. For more adventurous hikers, Mahan suggested several areas, including the Lamar Valley and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. His guided hikes are open to all ages, and he said his youngest client was around 3 years old. “We did about four miles out on the trail, and he was pretty impressive,” Mahan said. Yellowstone Hiking Guides offers three hikes a day, six days a week in the summer. “We take people across the generations out. A lot of times, we see the parents, the grandparents and the kids, and sometimes even have great-grandparents along, even if they do shorter walks on the boardwalk,” Mahan said. 26 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
But Mahan said he is more likely to encourage his hikers to pay attention to the small things: heat stroke, weather preparedness and dehydration. “I always tell people the thing we deal with day in and day out is that sunshine, and water intake is huge,” he said. He advises hikers to bring a rain jacket with them and at least two liters of water on hikes. He carries bear spray and, of course, sunscreen. Day hikes in the Old Faithful area include a loop around the entire basin, where Mahan said visitors will see famous hot pools and will pass half of the world’s geysers in one hike. The area also boasts a breathtaking view from Observation Point. Two hours to the north, the Lamar Valley is a great place to see wildlife, he said. “That is one area that people just keep returning to and always want to go hiking in,” Mahan said. Another popular hike is the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike above the Yellowstone River, where hikers can view the park’s complex geologic history from a variety of overlooks. On longer hikes in the area, people will find backcountry lakes, thermal areas and meadows, Mahan said.
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150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 27
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28 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
Courtesy of National Park Service
YELLOWSTONE
A WONDERLAND IN ALL SEASONS By Amber Travsky I glance to my right, and the pitter-pat of my heart clicks up a notch. I have second thoughts, but it is too late to reconsider my decision, since I’ve already made my move. I pop my bicycle into high gear and pedal for all I’m worth. Just 25 feet away, a burly bull bison moseys down the highway. My goal is to get past him as quickly as possible, praying he doesn’t react. I’m on my way back to West Yellowstone after visiting Old Faithful with other cycling friends. The weather is typical for early May: some blue sky, some clouds and even some snow. I dress in cross-country ski attire, and it serves me well through the day. Only a few roads are open, and motorized traffic is minimal. The trick, though, is maneuvering past all the bison wandering on and near the highway. Initially, when there were a few motorists on the road, I’d flag one down and ask
them to serve as a shield, driving past the bison with me on the other side. That worked great until the traffic decreased to a trickle. With the day on the wane, I can’t wait for the bison to wander off the road; I need to get back to West Yellowstone before dark. I figure meeting a bison on the road in the dark might not end well. My plan with this bull is to dash by as far away from him as I can get — and to do it all quickly. As I pull even with him, his size is truly impressive. I, on my bicycle, come to his shoulder. “Be nice,” I whisper, only half joking, and pick up my pace even more. Luckily, Mr. Bull gives me nary a glance. No pause; no turn of the head. He doesn’t miss a step in his meander down the road. Once past, I let out a sigh of relief and move back to my side of the highway. 150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 29
A bison pauses above Lamar River in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley. Bison are quite plentiful in this northern portion of the Park, and it also is where grizzly bears and wolves often roam. Photo by Amber Travsky
A magnificent royal elk lounges alongside the highway in Yellowstone National Park. Because of such close proximity to the highway, the result was an “elk jam,” with cars backed up in both directions. Photo by Amber Travsky
By the end of the ride, I saw close to 1,000 bison and several hundred elk. There were also geese, mallards, bluebirds and chickadees. I even saw fish rise in the river.
steaming hot springs and doing our best to give the lounging bison a wide berth.
Yellowstone is amazing, no matter the season, but this spring bicycle ride took the cake for wildlife viewing. As a Wyoming native who has been around quite a few decades, I have been to Yellowstone many times and in all seasons. I was even there on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the Twin Towers. Every trip was a marvel, with stunning scenery and opportunities to view wildlife that were unprecedented. Even in the heat of summer, with all the tourists, it’s amazing. In the middle of winter one year, my friend Kate and I went in via snowcoach. We got dropped off at the trailhead leading to Lone Star Geyser. As the two of us skied off, pulling our sleds with gear, the other snowcoach riders waved goodbye. They were a group of senior citizens from California, and they waved as if we’d never be seen again. During that trip, Lone Star Geyser cooperated. Just as we skied up and waited a couple minutes, the geyser obligingly erupted — to our utter delight. Overnight, the mercury dipped to about 10 below, but we skied out from our basecamp. We ogled bison in the distance, just making out their silhouettes through the dense snow flurry. A few days later, we met the snowcoach as scheduled to get a lift back to the park entrance. Two winters later, I went the posh route. My friend Teri and I rode the snowcoach all the way to the lodge at Old Faithful. We stayed there and made daily forays, skiing among the 30 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
I admit that having a hot shower and fancy dinner each night was a treat compared to the previous trek when roughing it. One evening, I wandered out from the warmth of the lodge, swaddled in my puffy down coat. I walked over to Old Faithful and, right on time, it erupted in the moonlight. I was the sole observer, aside from the elk lounging nearby. I also cycled in the early fall one year. During that trip, elk wandered through the campground. The bulls bugled not far away. While traffic was greatly reduced from summer volumes, there was enough to create “elk jams.” The biggest occurred when a massive bull elk decided to lounge alongside the highway, bringing traffic to a standstill. Other times I’ve gone to Lamar Valley in late fall, before roads closed, just to see wildlife. I’ve observed both wolves and grizzly bears — all from a safe distance. I’ve not returned to Yellowstone in a couple years. I fear the reported increased traffic volumes might mar the experience. Still, my hat is off to President Ulysses S. Grant, who had the foresight, 150 years ago, to make this our first national park. It remains a true wonder. Amber Travsky is a wildlife biologist from Laramie, Wyoming, who earned master’s degrees in wildlife zoology and exercise physiology from the University of Wyoming. She runs her own environmental consulting company, Real West Consulting, as well as a martial arts school. She authored “Mountain Biking Wyoming” and “Mountain Biking Jackson Hole,” both published by Falcon Books. She is the tour director and founder of the Tour de Wyoming bicycle tour, which crosses the state every July.
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MAKING
MEMORIES
We asked residents living in the states surrounding Yellowstone National Park to share some of their favorite memories of the park, along with favorite places to visit, hidden gems that may be a bit off the main roads and some of their favorite photographs. Here’s a selection of what they so generously offered.
I
n 1971, I readied my Harley sprint bike for the long trip from Kansas to Yellowstone, where I had taken a summer job working at the service station in Mammoth. My parents got nervous and loaned me a car for the summer. It would come in handy. One week after I started work, Hamilton Stores employees arrived, including a tall blonde with a soft North Texas accent. Two days later, I asked her to go with me on an evening trip to the brink of the Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. At the time, I did not know that it was one of the most romantic date destinations on the face of the planet. Before the summer was through, we had made our plans. The next May, with a fellow Yellowstone employee as best man, we married and headed back to the park to work during its centennial celebration. We worked three seasons there, and then returned to the “real world,” with careers and a growing family. We have returned to Yellowstone on a nearly annual basis over the course of our lives. For many years, when he saw us come into the general
Then
store in Mammoth, longtime manager Ted Lowe would run through the aisles, grabbing presents for our four small children. After he died, it was a decade before we could enter that store without tears. In 1988, we were teaching in a tiny Montana school, near the park’s northern border. We watched as the fires raged and hoped for the best. In 2019, having retired from teaching, we returned to Yellowstone to work a full, magical season. This year, we will return to Mammoth to celebrate our 50th anniversary. We will hold hands again as we walk behind the service station. We will stand in a parking lot and “see” the photo shop that is no longer there, and in our collective memory, we will see and hear our friends who worked with us long ago. We will travel to the brink of the Lower Falls and Artist’s Point. In the spring night, as a gibbous moon rises above the canyon wall, we will renew our commitment to each other. Yellowstone boasts amazing natural landscapes, but it also harbors an immense tapestry of landscapes formed by countless human lives — lives forever altered by the park’s
32 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
Now power and beauty. John Forsyth Laramie, Wyoming
I
n September 1971, my wife and I made our first trip to Yellowstone National Park. We planned to sleep in the back of our pickup beneath a metal shell. Our first night, it snowed large wet flakes, tents sagged and collapsed, roads were closed and fires virtually impossible. In the morning, we drove to the Old Faithful Lodge and inquired about lodging. Due to road closures, tourists couldn’t make it and a few rooms were available. We chose a small dormer room with comfy single beds. The bathroom, down the hall, had a large copper tub. The best soak I ever had. We were able to schedule dinner in the lodge and both ordered lamb chops — the best ever eaten. We managed to find two seats near the large fireplace and listened to the fire snap, the people talk and the front door constantly open and close. The next day, the sun shone, temperatures rose, snow melted, roads cleared, people returned and we were relegated to cooking over a Coleman stove and sleeping in sleeping bags in the back of a pickup.
I
read in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that you are collecting people’s memories and favorite places about Yellowstone Park. Reading that article brought to mind one of my favorite memories, from my early childhood, back in the late 1950s (I couldn’t have been more than 3 or 4 years old at the time), when many people still didn’t know not to feed the bears. (Living in Wyoming, my family knew very well not to do so, and I was ALWAYS taught not to feed them, but I recall that in those days many tourists still did feed food scraps to bears and other wildlife.)
September 1971
When we return to Yellowstone, we always stop at the Inn, try to recreate our first snowy visit, but nothing has compared. Old Faithful Lodge is our favorite, and a snowstorm helped create warm memories. Richard L. Gilbert Cheyenne, Wyoming
Wyoming and Montana, I’ve had other encounters with bears, but none at such incredibly close range, nor with such a wondrous impact as that one. Betty Stroock Bozeman, Montana
Great time camping at Yellowstone!
I have a very distinct memory of being in the back seat of my family’s auto on a warm early summer day in Yellowstone — (probably a big suburban with the fake wood paneling along the side!?!). My parents were not in the car at the time, for some unknown reason, when a big bear ambled alongside the vehicle and suddenly stood up and put its front paws on the (thankfully closed) window no more than 2 or 3 feet from my awestruck face. My eyes must have been the size of saucers. That bear and I stared at each other with nothing but the thin window glass between us for I know not how long, but it left a lifelong imprint on my memory. I never felt threatened in any way by the bear, and I suspect it knew that I posed no threat to it either — it must have been as curious about me as I was about it. Eventually, without my moving a muscle or making any noise whatsoever, the bear ambled along, and that was the end of the adventure. In the years since, over a lifetime spent outdoors across
“This photo brings back memories of our family vacation to Yellowstone. Great time camping.” – Bob Thomson, Cheyenne, Wyoming 150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 33
M
y father worked for the Taggart Construction Company out of Cody, Wyoming, and in 1937, Taggart received a multi-year contract to construct the roadways throughout Yellowstone National Park. Since there was no housing available for the construction crew in the park, the men built makeshift mobile homes for their families. My parents, older brother and I lived in a mobile home my father made from an old hay wagon. Over the course of four summers, Taggart built temporary trailer parks/campsites at Jenny Lake, Mammoth Hot Springs and Pelican Creek (just east of Fishing Bridge) so the families could stay near where the road construction was occurring. The trailers were always parked in a rough circle at these campsites, and each had a picnic table and fire pit built outside. The men constructed an asphalt tennis court in the center of the circle, with horseshoe pits and tire pitching posts set around the court. Evenings around the camp were a fun time, like having a big picnic every night. While the men worked on the roads, the wives and children explored Yellowstone. Days were spent watching the geysers erupt, swimming in the swimming pool at Old Faithful, boating on Yellowstone Lake, climbing the many stairs and viewing the waterfalls at Canyon, touring the fish hatchery at Lake and watching the bears feed and fight at the bear feeding grounds near Mammoth.
Photo of the Taggart Construction Company building a road in Yellowstone National Park.
Family at Yellowstone The Moore family mobile home (converted hay wagon).
Speaking of bears, one of my most memorable experiences living in Yellowstone was of being chased by a bear. I was bringing a roll of toilet paper to a fellow in the outhouse when a bear stepped out on the path behind me. I let out a war whoop and started running around and around the outhouse with the bear right behind me! The fellow in the outhouse burst out of the door, hollered at the bear and joined the chase. When the women heard the commotion, they hurried over to help. When they got there, they found me, the bear and the fellow — who was trying to keep his pants up — all running around the outhouse! The women succeeded in chasing the bear off with their brooms, and everyone laughed and told stories about the incident for quite a while. Living in the park, with all its natural wonders, was a fantastic experience for me. It was only four short years, but the memories have lasted a lifetime. Kenneth Gene Moore Laramie, Wyoming (Submitted posthumously by his family) 34 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
Ken & Bob Ken and Bob Moore in Yellowstone National Park.
150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 35
g Old Faithful puttin on her show!
The different colors in the pool are due to the different organisms living in the water. The pools are hotter in the center and cooler at the edges. – Rusty
England, Cheyenne, Wyoming
Old Faithful faithfully putting on her regular show. – Rusty England, Cheyenne, Wyoming
W
hen I was a child in Laramie, Wyoming, in the mid-1950s, my parents liked to take us kids on driving vacations around Wyoming. Often we camped with a big Army tent with rooms (!), but when we got to Yellowstone, my parents splurged on a small cabin in the park. I remember walking down a path (likely to the lavatory block) in the early morning, wearing a bright coral dress with black flowers and black rick-rack trim. When I looked up from admiring my dress, I was standing about five feet away from a bear! I
One of many pools scattered around the park. – Rusty England, Cheyenne,
Wyoming
wasn’t frightened, I was fascinated! Neither of us seemed to know what to do; we just stood there, looking at each other. Finally, the bear, which seemed very large to a 5- or 6-year-old, slowly closed the distance and took the hem of my dress in his mouth. He started to pull, and I lost my balance. One step forward to catch myself, and he was out of there like a bat out of hell! I think that was my earliest personal encounter with a wild animal, and it is imprinted on my memory in
36 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
every detail. Of course, I realize now that, like me, this bear was quite young. I also think that mama bears, both ursine and human, are likely now much more careful about their children wandering around unsupervised! Favorite thing about Yellowstone: The mudpots, which I hope are still there, as I am returning to Yellowstone for the first time in 66 years in September! Christy Bidstrup Laramie, Wyoming
M
y memories of Yellowstone National Park go back a long way — over 80 years. My first trip was in 1940, after my grandparents moved to Livingston, Montana, from Nebraska in the late 1930s. My family lived in Columbus, Nebraska, at that time.
1943
We have visited the park in all seasons of the year. It is always with a sense of awe at the amazing sights and sounds. Yellowstone in the winter presents sights that are truly amazing and beautiful. It is a must-see for the adventurous. My favorite area of the park to visit is probably the Geyser Basins, especially the Upper Geyser Basin, where Old Faithful is located. On one trip, we walked the entire Upper Geyser Basin and have seen all the major geysers erupt at one time or another. When I was about 6 or 7, we were staying at Fishing Bridge when a bear almost walked into our cabin. I was in the car, and my Mom was so afraid I would try to get out. I surely do miss seeing the bears. My husband and I are in our 80s, and
I
worked 47 years as a seasonal interpretive park ranger in Yellowstone and now serve as a backcountry volunteer, so this is a tough task. But here are my top three: 1. My first visit to Artist Point at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone in 1968. It was early in the morning, and visitors were speaking in hushed tones, as though in a revered cathedral.
M
y family and I visited the park the year before the big fire. I remember the forest being so lush, almost jungle-like. Then came the fire.
1940
Local black bear, Fishing Bridge cabins, 1943.
Walking with my uncle at Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful Geyser, 1940.
we are planning another trip to the park in May 2022. We love the park.
Cathy Conard Windsor, Colorado
2. My first major backpacking trip in early September of 1969 to the wild southern region of Yellowstone’s backcountry. As I stood on the Continental Divide, all I could see for miles in every direction was wild country. Tears came to my eyes.
up, eventually totaling seven. The pack had me almost surrounded in a semi-circle. Not one of the wolves snarled at me. No baring of teeth. No rising of neck hair. No growling. The wolves looked at me nonchalantly, then walked off. I walked over and sat down on a log, trembling and in awe at the experience.
3. While on a day hike in central Yellowstone, I encountered a wolf pack that had bedded down in deep grass. I guess I surprised them and interrupted their day nap. One big black wolf after another stood Two years later, I visited the park with a group of fourth graders. One of the places we went was an area set up to show how the forest recovers from a fire. It was
Orville Bach Bozeman, Montana fascinating to see and to again experience the power of nature. Linda Oswald Cheyenne, Wyoming (formerly of Cody)
150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 37
M
y dad’s voice had a tone of urgency as he roused us, stating, “Wake up! You have to get out of the tent. There is a bison crossing the creek and heading straight for us.” At first, my family thought he was joking to motivate us to get out of bed. Once we scrambled out of our warm sleeping bags and into the crisp morning air, we saw that he was not kidding. About halfway across the shallow 50-foot-wide creek, a large bull was carefully stepping his way toward us. We scrambled up the hill from our walk-in campsite and watched as the bison bull made it across, then dwarfed our tents as he passed. It was our final morning at our incredible campsite along Slough Creek in northeastern Yellowstone National Park in July 1992, when we drove to Wyoming from our home in upstate New York. The temperature
was probably around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and the humidity along the creek made it seem much colder, but I hardly noticed as, still pajamaclad, I stared in wonder at the hulking brown animal slowly crossing through the campground. As a 9-year-old, I truly loved these majestic creatures, and every night at the campground I would carry around my stuffed bison, pretending he was running through the camp. My older siblings and cousins would laugh and pretend to run away from the bison loose in camp. Little did we know that Mother Nature would make that act come true. When I returned to Yellowstone 20 years later, my wife and I were Wyoming residents, and we have been back frequently over the past decade. Scott Sink Cheyenne, Wyoming
T
95 January 12, 19
he highlight of my 17 years as a park ranger in Yellowstone came on Jan. 12, 1995, when I carried one of the first wolves from Alberta into the Crystal Creek pen. I was directed to tell Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Mollie Beattie where in the pen to place the wolf they were carrying. Park photographer Jim Peaco captured the moment I was whispering that message to Secretary Babbitt. Others in the photo are biologist John Mack, Superintendent Mike Finley and, far right, maintenance foreman Jim Evanoff. Norman A. Bishop Bozeman, Montana
Arches over arch – Mike Coil, Bozeman, Montana 38 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
A young grizzly can barely be seen swimming in Yellowstone Lake. – Joyce Stone, Cheyenne,
Wyoming
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wo very distinct, but definitely different memories pop into mind when I hear Yellowstone National Park mentioned. Some 37-odd years ago, my recently acquired husband and I headed to Yellowstone after getting married at the top of Signal Mountain. That, in itself, was notable because, being a flatlander, he had never been at those heights or seen the spectacular views from such a vantage point. His mouth was already hanging open as we headed into the park (on a motorcycle) and got caught up in the looky-loo antics of tourists roadside glimpsing and photographing various wildlife. He was already getting nervous as we passed buffalo, elk and antelope, but when a bear wandered down the barrow pit beside us, he nearly needed medical attention. After all, he was used to rabbits, squirrels and pheasants! Tensions mounted to another level, though, when we started approaching mud pots, bubbly ponds and geysers. His curiosity was trumped by his fright that, at any moment, the earth below us could open up and draw us in, or explode and send us into the air. I did not dare
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n the summer of 1983, as a college student, I rode a Greyhound Bus from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to take a job at Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone. I was a cabin maid, a job that earned free room and board and just about enough pay to cover the cost of travel there and back home. I was also a volunteer for a Christian ministry in the national parks, a job that had no pay but many nonmonetary benefits. It was the first time I had seen mountains, not to mention the enormous expanses of Yellowstone’s wild and beautiful landscapes. Each morning, my work partner used a broom to shoo away a mother bear and her two cubs feeding at the trash bins so we could get to the cabins we needed to clean. On warm days after work, we’d walk to the shores of Yellowstone Lake to sunbathe with fellow park workers. Often at night we’d gather on the shores of the lake around a campfire. Someone always had a guitar, and we’d sing folk songs under a canopy of the brightest stars I’d ever seen. On our days off, we hiked on mountain trails or hitched rides to see other parts of the park: Old Faithful, Lake Lodge, Upper and Lower Falls, Tower Falls, the mud pots and thermal pools, encountering elk, bison, deer, bears and eagles along the way.
tell him earthquakes had been experienced in the whole general area in the past! Long story short, we did not linger long! We did, however, have reservations (even pricey then) for lodging in the park for that night. The couple traveling with us, also on a motorcycle, had mistakenly (I think) spoken for two rooms with two beds, so, on our wedding night, we walked into a quaint room with TWO twin beds. Again, long story short, it did not take the new husband long to rearrange the room so the beds were side by side. We were not, apparently, through getting a close-up encounter with Yellowstone’s wildlife … suddenly, across our bed runs some animal. Now, as I think back, it was probably as spooked and scared as us, but, at the time, we were up and out of those beds instantly, turned on the light, only to find a woodchuck hovering in the corner, just wanting to get out in the wild. Oh, yes, very fond memories of a beautiful, breathtaking area, and so glad we got to experience it on a beautiful, breathtaking day in our lives!! Scoop Kriegh Laramie, Wyoming
My view of the world was not only expanded, it was transformed. This was God’s creation on a scale I had never seen before. I took some photos (black-andwhite back then) to show family and friends, but more importantly I took mental photographs that remained with me — indelible reminders of Yellowstone’s spectacular beauty and a way of life lived close to nature. After that summer, I returned to Oklahoma to finish college, eventually becoming a wife, a mother and a schoolteacher. Yet I always longed to return to Wyoming. In those years, I made a couple of trips back as a tourist. Then, fortunately, 20 years later, I had an opportunity to teach in western Wyoming. I jumped at the chance to live close to Yellowstone. Finally, my Yellowstone dreams to live an outdoor-focused life in a western landscape became a reality. I have lived in Wyoming for 35 years now and have made numerous trips to Yellowstone in all seasons. Those visits have renewed my affection for the park, revived my mental photographs, refreshed my memories and filled me with gratitude for that life-changing summer in Yellowstone National Park. Marcia Hensley Laramie, Wyoming 150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 39
July 25, 1988
“Sign of things to come” ... On July 25, 1988, it became increasingly clear to regional fire officials that the fires burning in Yellowstone, the nation’s first national park, would most likely not be put out “until the snow flies in autumn.” This sign is/was at the entrance to Grant Village on Yellowstone Lake. – Robert
Bower of the Idaho Falls Post Register
July 25, 1988
It was July 25, 1988, and Yellowstone’s Grant Village was under siege by the Shoshone Fire. One of the first pictures released to the Associated Press by the Post Register was of firefighter Gary Wagner (of Libby, Montana). He was shown clutching a hose as he sprayed a protective coating of foam onto the buildings of Grant Village. His exhausted face was spattered with fire retardant foam. The firefighting photo received widespread usage through AP. It moved National Public Radio commentators enough to mention it on “All Things Considered,” and USA Today used it on their Second Front Page. The eyes of the nation and world soon became focused on Yellowstone, as fires burned for the next two months. – Robert Bower of the Idaho Falls Post Register
Bison in winter
Waterfall I must admit to loving Yellowstone. Like many “baby boom” families, my first visit to Yellowstone was a road trip in the 1950s, when black bears were still allowed to beg for food from the cars of tourists; not visiting again until after moving to Laramie 30 years later. Between 1989 and 2022, I’ve spent nearly 200 days hiking Yellowstone’s seemingly endless trails and exploring and photographing its many features. So, trying to select my favorite memories or favorite photos of Yellowstone is extremely difficult. But, included are a few. The first is a “Bison in Winter,” taken near Mammoth Hot Springs (Yellowstone is a magical place during the winter). The next is “Castle Geyser,” taken during the summer. One of my favorite things to do in Yellowstone is hike the boardwalk of the Upper Geyser Basin early in the morning. Next is a photo of a “Grizzly bear walking in the snow,” taken near Madison Junction during the fall. (For me, my favorite memories of Yellowstone include the excitement of slowly driving through the park, unsure of what you’ll see next.) Finally, Yellowstone is blessed with waterfalls. My favorite waterfall tends to be overlooked by many park visitors: Fairy Falls. Though located just about three miles from a parking lot (and only 10 miles or so from Old Faithful Geyser), Fairy Falls is secluded enough it tends to have few visitors. To stand beneath this tall (197 feet) wispy waterfall, with a lovely pool below is to feel the calm splendor of Fairy Falls. I find a great deal of comfort perched on one of the surrounding bench-like logs, taking in this very special place. – Michael Day, Laramie, Wyoming 40 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
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ellowstone Lake offers many different adventures, and not one with the same feeling or exciting experience. I started kayaking the lake in July 2004 with a one-day excursion to Stevenson Island from Gull Point. I did not realize the beauty or the danger Yellowstone Lake possessed. The danger I would soon discover on my return voyage to Gull Point. Noticing an afternoon storm bearing down in the western sky toward Stevenson Island, my girlfriend decided it was time to leave the island and make haste from open water to Gull Point Bay. About a mile from shore, I decided we were safe enough to show off by demonstrating an Eskimo roll. Knowing the water was warm by placing my hand underwater, I set up for the roll. Looking at her, I said, “Watch this.” Down I went. As my head broke the water surface, I realized sticking my hand in the lake was quite different from submerging half my body. This, I believe, was the fastest setup and perfect Eskimo roll I had ever performed, but when I broke the surface, I was hyperventilating and suffering a splitting ice cream headache. It is seldom that anyone drowns on Yellowstone or Shoshone Lake. Most deaths occur from the frigid water. My brush with hypothermia educated me about that danger. Since then, I have kayaked and camped at least 15 times, with most being solo excursions on Yellowstone Lake. What is the fascination that draws me to this lake? It offers sightings that could not be seen when trail hiking along the lake. Deer nestled down, bedding between fallen trees for protection from prey; coyotes roaming the shore, scavenging food or an occasional drink; otters
Kayaking playing in the water or hunting; birds swooping to snatch fish; a herd of bison soaking along the lakeshore, or even an occasional bear swimming across the lake. An avid photographer, my camera is always at the ready, tucked between my legs in the kayak where I can access it at any moment. However, there are times when I would like to pull it, but am prevented because of the choppy water. I am reminded of that ice cream headache. Kayaking Yellowstone Lake taught me its immense size. I have been forced to make decisions that have become wiser than that earlier decision to impress my girlfriend. I have learned the wisdom of waiting it out on shore, even if it requires unplanned camping. Paddling the Yellowstone can be smooth, like gliding on glass, but that glass can shatter, then every paddle stroke becomes harder, depending on the wind-driven waves, and it’s a fight to keep moving or to make shore. Tony Assante Bozeman, Montana
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he summer of 2018, in the month of June, my parents took their youngest grandson, Cameron (14 years old at the time), to Bridge Bay Marina on a charter fishing excursion. Cameron, like his great-grandfather, loves everything about fishing and dreamed of catching “the big one” from Yellowstone Lake! The weather that day was terrible, so the tour guide took Cameron behind the island for a chance to catch something in calmer waters. Cameron ended up catching the biggest lake trout of the season thus far that year, as seen in the attached photograph! His great-grandfather (who also loved Yellowstone, and a native of Wyoming) would have been proud! Stan Sorensen Thornton, Colorado 150TH ANNIVERSARY • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 41
Four friends enjoy some quality time together in the water at Yellowstone National Park. – Debbie Feigle, publisher, Discovery Map of Bozeman/Big
Owl. – Mike Coil, Bozeman, Montana
Sky/Livingston
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timber and overgrown roads. The magic of this spot is worth it.
y husband and I have lived in Bozeman, Montana, since the early ‘70s. We had both visited the park as children, but we quickly returned and still return at least three or four times a year. We camped in a VW camper van for our first 20 years of park visits. Our favorite spot was Goose Lake, now only accessible by bicycle and foot. Fountain Flat Drive was a paved road that went through to a bridge at Midway Geyser Basin. The north end of this trail is still rather quiet compared to the south end due to the new lookout for Grand Prismatic Spring. For many years, we drove in to Goose Lake and camped in what we thought were established campsites, but perhaps not. You had the lake on one side and the Firehole River on another side. It was peaceful, and we were joined by bison and many other critters, perhaps even a bear. We also hiked into Fairy Falls. We ride our bikes and visit this spot at least once a year. It is now difficult to get to our favorite campsite due to downed
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Truthfully, every part of the park is magic to me, no matter the season. Winter skiing and watching Old Faithful totally alone is special. The spring biking, when the roads are closed to cars, is fun. Watching a storm cross Yellowstone Lake from the comfort of the Lake Hotel is breathtaking. In 1988, I was so fearful it would all be destroyed by the fires. So many people joined forces to save the structures. I am saddened by today’s traffic and do fear we may love the place to death, but am also glad so many people get to see it and enjoy it. I do hope to enjoy the park until I no longer can and then will ask that a pinch of my ashes be scattered in the park! The park is truly for the enjoyment of the people! Mary E. Murphy Bozeman, Montana
ellowstone is my happy place. I took my two young girls to Yellowstone for a day trip Memorial Day weekend 2014. As a newly single mom. I needed some peace. Nature always gave me peace, so I thought a trip to Yellowstone would be just the ticket. So, living in Cody at the time, I had the perfect opportunity.
survive the long, dark, cold winters and bring new life into the world in the spring. It was at that moment in Yellowstone where I found the strength and peace to know — really believe — that I could do it, too. I could raise my daughters to be strong and independent, no matter the challenges.
I had never been to Yellowstone, even though I had lived in Laramie for nine years. My girls and I stopped at the lake overlook on that brisk, blue-skied morning. It had already been a successful animal-sighting day as we had watched a brand new baby moose nursing and a grizzly digging for food.
Spring had sprung in my life that day. The peace from Yellowstone kept me going through the next year as I got laid off from my job and had to move to Utah. This very spot would also be the place where my current, wonderful husband would propose. He knew how much that spot meant to me, and by proposing here (and later getting married in Yellowstone), it brought my life full circle. Another spring had begun in my life that day.
When we stopped, l looked out over the lake and thought of all the adventurous, brave explorers who came before me and explored Yellowstone. I thought about all the life in the park that was strong enough to 42 • YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK • 150TH ANNIVERSARY
Regina Harris Salt Lake City, Utah
DID YOU KNOW? Wolves essential Wolves are an essential keystone species.
Yellowstone,the the return return of of InInYellowstone, thewolf wolfhelped helpedcorrect correct the the the destructiveover-population over-population destructive of elk and coyotes, allowing of elk and coyotes, allowing plantsand andanimals animals to to thrive. thrive. plants
Fewer coyotes coyotes mean mean more Fewer more small animals like rabbits small animals like rabbits and voles voles that that other other and predators and birds predators and birds of of prey prey rely on for food. rely on for food.
With With fewer fewer elk, elk,the theaspens aspensand and willows willows have have grown grownback, back, revitalizing revitalizingYellowstone’s Yellowstone’slandscape, landscape, and inviting the return of another and inviting the return of another ecosystem ecosystem engineer engineer––the thebeaver. beaver.
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