MTgirl's Yellowstone and Grand Teton travel thread

Firehole Lake Drive Temporarily Closed
Firehole Lake Drive in Yellowstone National Park has been temporarily closed due to a damaged road surface.
Extreme heat from surrounding thermal areas has caused thick oil to bubble to the surface, damaging the blacktop and creating unsafe driving conditions on the popular, scenic road, located off the Grand Loop Road halfway between Old Faithful and Madison Junction in the park’s Lower Geyser Basin.
The 3.3-mile loop drive takes visitors past Great Fountain Geyser, White Dome Geyser and Firehole Lake.
The road will remain closed for the next several days while maintenance crews make repairs. The date for reopening the road is uncertain at this time, and will be determined after crews assess the effectiveness of their efforts.
Updated Yellowstone National Park road information is available 24 hours a day by calling 307-344-2117 or visit http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/roadclosures.htm.

 

New trends for Yellowstone summer tourists:
Old men in itty bitty shorts
Asian women with large umbrellas...I recommend protective eyewear to avoid being stabbed by the umbrellas (had a couple of close calls )

 

Almost forgot! Salmon fly hatch is on in Yelly for all of you fisherman types. People were freaking out when the flys were landing on them I'm fine as long as they're not trying to climb up my shorts, down my shirt or on my face...

 

I was referring to the bugs not the tourists

 

Sitting at old faithful right now...keep an eye out for me on the roads!

 

I'm going to suggest that the park service install the "invisible fences" like you can get for your dog on all of the boardwalks and then collar all of the tourists. That'll stop people from wandering out where they shouldn't be.
Had to yell at 3 different groups of people today because they were walking on the thermal areas. Then I saw one of the groups doing it again at a different geyser basin but thankfully there was a park employee there so I made her go talk to them...and that was all before 10am

 

Hope you have a good time! Let me know if you have any special requests - hikes, restaurants, good animal spotting locations, etc.
Should be pretty crazy that weekend - being labor day and all - be prepared for crowds. Do yourselves a favor and get an early start. The park doesn't really get busy until around 10 - too many people wanting to sleep in and have breakfast, etc. Just get up and get out! I almost turned around and came home last weekend because it was so busy. But I got a camping spot and decided that I just needed to stay out late and get up early - and it worked! I hung out at camp for the afternoon then when everyone was heading out to have dinner in town I headed back into the park and had the place pretty much to myself. And the next morning I was up and out of camp by 7am - crowd free until 10am

Kinda hard to miss the pink stickers and RTT I watched for you too but didn't see ya. Hope you guys had a good time! I thought it was the week before that you were going otherwise I would have let you know in advance that I was there.
The elk at Mammoth are pretty cool. I love camping there in the fall and listening to the boys bugling all night. Last year I happened to be there during a full moon and it was quite the conversation the boys (five of them maybe) were having all night long. Not so cool when they move into camp and you have to make a run to the potty in the morning...

 

Too sad Both would still be alive had they of followed the rules...
Young Girl Dead After Fall In Yellowstone
A young girl died Sunday morning after falling into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
The girl and family members had parked their vehicle in a trailhead parking area along the North Rim Drive, a short scenic route off the park’s Grand Loop Road near Canyon Village.
The group was about two-thirds of the way down the trail to the Brink of the Lower Falls observation platform when the child reportedly stepped off the trail and then lost her footing. She fell approximately 550 feet into the canyon.
Park personnel retrieved her body around noon Sunday.




Body Of Missing Georgia Man Recovered
The body of a young man missing in Yellowstone National Park since Monday evening has been recovered.
Twenty-two year old Darien Latty had gone tubing Monday with friends on the Lamar River near Tower Junction.
Shortly after reaching the point where the Lamar River flows into the Yellowstone River, his two companions managed to get to the river's edge and get out of the much faster moving water. Latty was last seen being swept downstream, separated from his inner tube and without a life jacket.
Search efforts began Monday evening. At its peak, over 50 people were involved in the search including a helicopter, three dog teams, and several groups of searchers on foot.
Late Friday searchers spotted what they thought was a submerged body pinned to a large rock in a very steep and dangerous section of the Yellowstone River, about 1/4 mile downstream from where Latty was last seen.
A swiftwater rescue team from Gallatin County, Montana, was called in Saturday to navigate the river. Using kayaks and a raft anchored to both banks of the river, they were able to dislodge and recover Latty’s body Saturday afternoon. A helicopter was utilized to remove his body from the remote area.
The corner made a positive identification Saturday evening.
Latty, who was from northeastern Georgia community of Demorest, was in Yellowstone working as a summer seasonal employee at Roosevelt Lodge. An autopsy will be conducted to confirm the cause of death.
Floating the river is prohibited by park regulations

 

Travel alert....pack your mittens, folks! It snowed last night!