July 3, 2011

July 7, 2011
The big news here this morning concerns the man and wife who surprised a sow grizzly and her cubs yesterday while hiking and the sow attacked the man and killed him.  First bear related death in the Park since 1986.  Still undetermined what will be done with the sow as it appears she may have only been naturally protecting her cubs from a perceived danger.  Very unfortunate for both the man and the bear and I'm sure we'll have a zillion questions from our Park guests at work today. Not sure if the man and wife were carrying the recommended bear spray or noise makers (like bear bells).

We were able to jump on a park tour this past Sunday and seats are free to employees if not filled by paying tourists. Catch is that paying customers can bump us off the bus at any of the key stops and then it's up to us to "hitchhike" a ride back to OF. Surprising, its not hard to hitch a ride back...you just make a sign that reads "Xanterra Employee OF" and one of our 1,700
fellow employees drive by every few minutes and will pick you up. Ann and I have already picked
hikers up and it works quite well. (never thought we'd be hitchhiking at our ages...it
really is like being back in school!)  After two tours we haven't had to hitch a ride yet
but we'll let you know when we do and how it goes. (Our luck a grizzly would pick us up :) )
 
Our day long tour (named the Circle of Fire Tour) took us over the continental divide and everyone wanted a picture so we took one too. Notice there is no snow in this one as opposed to an earlier blog.


 Another shot of the Absoroka range looking out from Lake Hotel built in 1893. When the hotel was built the developers and investors thought it should look like a posh east coast hotel to ensure tourists would feel comfortable after making the long journey west.  The yellow color of the hotel really stands out and we're told it will stay that original color forever to preserve tradition.

Seeing lots of bison in the park now with lots of babies in tow.  They call them red dogs around here until they get their adult bison coloring.



Below is the Upper Falls.  It is 109 feet tall compared to the Lower at 308 feet.
Both are beautiful and an enormous amount of water going over due to the snow melt from a record year.


A couple of elk with velvet still on their antlers.  Can you believe they don't start growing these things until February or March when they shed the previous years?




Also another pic of the Lower Falls - never tire of this view.  This is the area that the couple was hiking in when they were attacked.  It is called the Wapiti trail (Indian for white rump) and it circles from Canyon Village area to the Lower Falls overlook.  It is a really popular trail.  Rumor in the park has it that they surprised the mama grizzly and continued to advance toward her.  The woman laid face down on the ground and the grizz picked her up by the backpack and dropped her and then went after the man. Pretty sure nothing will be done to the bear since this is their normal behavior.  If the park service locates her they may chase her up to higher ground but the trail will be closed for a while.


Included a picture of the Madison amphitheater because we took our girls there in 1994 for a ranger talk in the evening.  When the talk was done we had to wait almost 1/2 hour for the elk to clear the parking lot so we could get to our car.





Celestine Spring is on the Fountain Paint Pot loop as are Silex Spring, Clypsydra Geyser and the Mud Pots.  Celestine Spring boils constantly at 200 degrees and we included this pic because back in 1981 a young man dove in head first in an attempt to save a buddy's dog.  The buddy pulled him out but he died less than 24 hours later after being air lifted to Salt Lake City.  The dog didn't survive either. They aren't kidding when they say "stay on the walk".
Clepsydra Geyser has been erupting constantly since the earthquake in 1959.  The boardwalk pic shows what a typical day is like around here in July.  We are definitely busy now.  It was standing room only in the gift shop all day yesterday but then Wednesday is our busiest day.  I've yet to figure that one out.  There was also a grizzly crossing this boardwalk yesterday.  We are anxious to see one in the wild but from a distance.


More updates to come.....
Ann & Jim