Happy Birthday YELL!

June 20, 2022

What a week this has been for my park. This summer is the 150th anniversary of Yellowstone being declared the world's first national park.

I'm sure that no one has ever seen signs like this before.

This is what the West Entrance looks like on a normal summer morning with the line extending about two miles back. That's my boss down there conversing with the RV. Oh how I've missed my coworkers this summer. So many people have said it was a good thing I wasn't there this summer.

I have to disagree. This is what the gate has looked like since the park closed. This is a fee collector's dream to not have anyone at the gate. Although my coworkers now have to man the gate 24 hours a day to keep people from sneaking in at night. Currently they have one booth open to allow employees and other authorized visitors entry into the park. I imagine the rest of the crew is cleaning, picking up trash, etc. to get their 40 hours per week in.

My boss sent me the above photo of that "house" that was swept into the river last week. As you can see it did not used to sit directly on the riverbank. The top photos shows just how much erosion occurred with the flooding. My good friend who worked for Yellowstone Forever lived in the condos behind that building. We used to sit on her balcony after a hike and enjoy the view.

That "house" was actually government employee housing for National Park Service workers based at Mammoth. It contained five separate apartments that housed permanent and temporary Yellowstone workers. Those employees had minutes to retrieve important items and pets and most of them lost everything. There has been a Go Fund Me set up to help them replace their belongs. As of this morning $55K has been raised.

The plan is to implement a reservation system for the rest of the summer to restrict entry into the park, but it's going to take a few weeks to get it going. On Wednesday, June 22nd the southern loop in the park will reopen using an odd/even license plate number for entry. On even numbered days those with a license plate ending in an even number will be allowed entry. On odd numbered days those with a license plate ending in an odd number (or letter) will be allowed entry. I don't envy my coworkers for having to deal with turning visitors around who try to enter on the wrong day. I hope people will be kind and understanding, although my experience tells me different.

Let's hope Yellowstone can dry out for awhile!