The Halfway Point

We arrived here in early May with snow on the ground and a chill in the air, not to mention the sub-freezing temperatures at night.  Now we have had perfect summer weather with blazing blue skies and highs in the low 80s or mid 70s.  The breeze generally keeps most of the mosquitoes at bay.

We have by now helped hundreds of visitors make their plans.  Some have a week here while others want to squeeze the whole park in on their way out to Cody or Jackson Hole.  The park is almost 3500 square miles which presents a challenge for the short-timers.  One lady from New York was not happy that there is no hot spring that she could sit in like a hot tub.  She had driven across the country to do just that and now saw no point in doing anything else, like enjoying the mountain scenery, looking at wildlife and wild flowers, exploring the geyser basins.  In contrast, one family was here with their 93-year-old grandmother who had Yellowstone in the number one spot on her bucket list.  The whole family was thrilled to be here.  They were also lucky to be at Madison on the day more than 100 bison settled in for the day.

The bison were very accessible to visitors on foot, some of them not very bright.  It was difficult to be civil when shouting at families with young children approaching these large and dangerous animals.  One man learned how dangerous bison are last week at another location in the park when he was tossed ten feet into the air and suffered numerous broken bones and abrasions.

I had a Christmas Vacation moment at the station the same day all the crowds were there for the bison.  We had been watching a baby squirrel all morning as it ran back and forth on the window ledge, eyeing the open screenless window.  Shrieking and scrambling for safety erupted when the little guy darted inside.  The ranger hurried the visitors outside, and we tried to get the squirrel to exit the open door.  Poor thing was terrified and ran up my pants leg.  I was laughing like a mad woman!  We did get him out and closed the window.  It didn’t take him long to appear again outside looking in.

 We have learned about some not-so-public sights to see in the park.  This geyser, the Chocolate Pots, is on one of the main roads but it has no sign.  You just have to know about it since it is also not marked on most maps.

The following are some of the sights we have seen recently.