Yellowstone Treasures Blog

There may be a serious recession, but visitation to Yellowstone was up about 17% this May over May of 2008. Reports of unexpectedly large crowds in June have surfaced, too. Of course, gas cost about a dollar more per gallon last year than this, and that… more »

I've just learned that President Obama has designated this month as National Wilderness Month. That is certainly a step in the right direction. Some years ago, having been amazed to learn that there is no designated wilderness inside Yellowstone Park, I… more »

An online forum message posted earlier this month led to an extended discussion of how public transportation around Yellowstone and the Tetons could be managed. Michael Pearlman began it, citing the propane-powered buses that shuttle visitors in Zio… more »

Born and raised in Billings, Montana, I was the second daughter of musician parents: my mother gave piano lessons for most of her life, and my father taught piano, organ, and voice until the World War II years, when he became a teller and later an office… more »

I recently came across a blog with some interesting posts maintained by an employee of Yellowstone General Stores, who worked at Canyon during the summer and is now at Mammoth for the winter. Robyn gives us lots of information about and pictures of anima… more »

On the National Parks Traveler Web site, a former park superintendent discusses some interesting issues about the parks that were not covered in Ken Burns’s fine TV documentary aired this past fall. I agree with much of what Rick Smith says. However, he… more »

Opinions and controversy concerning the wolves near Yellowstone continue to appear in media stories. Here are two recent examples.On January 29 the state of Wyoming and a U.S. Justice Department lawyer presented arguments before a U.S. District Judge… more »

The recent flurry of media and internet excitement over this month’s earthquake swarm in Yellowstone reminded me of the interview with Professor of Geology Emeritus Bruno J. Giletti that appears at: http://www.yellowstonetreasures.com/supervolcano.htm.… more »

Visitation to Yellowstone Park set a record in 2009, despite the recession and last winter's relatively low number of snow-time vacationers. According to the Billings Gazette (disclosure: that's my hometown newspaper): "The previous record for visitat… more »

Things are off to a slow start this year, with snow cover just sufficient to open the roads to over-snow vehicles on December 15. As of Dec. 27, Old Faithful and the West Entrance had 15 inches of snow on the ground, the East Entrance had 14, and Mammoth… more »

There's not much snow yet, but the southern part of the park could get three to six inches this weekend, and visitors who want to enter on snowcoaches or snowmobiles on opening day, December 15th, may be in luck. Or they may have to go the only way allow… more »

I thought I had a pretty good passive vocabulary. Then I came across the word charrette and hadn’t a clue what it meant. Out came the Merriam-Webster, but the word wasn’t there, so I tried my nine-pound Random House. Success! “A final, intensive effort t… more »

I read this recently on an anonymous blog and was reminded of the only time in over fifty years of driving that I've ever been stopped for speeding. It was where park employees have a cross-walk from Old Faithful Village to their dorms. I was going 25 or… more »

According to the Defenders of Wildlife Web site, the judge agreed that, in delisting the bears in 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not "take into consideration the continued decline of the whitebark pine, a critical grizzly food source threat… more »

Autumn is a beautiful time to visit Yellowstone, but you need to plan your route especially carefully this year. You’ll find construction and even closed roads in a number of areas both in and approaching the park.Here are some places to avoid or plan around: more »

I just read today that both blacks and grizzlies are coming out of their dens a little early this year. It's not really surprising, since the snow pack is way below normal, and it has been relatively warm in Yellowstone. Tracks and bears have been sighte… more »

Just as the park is about to open for what is optimistically called the summer season, nature has dumped what looks like about a foot of snow on the Old Faithful area (see http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/oldfaithfulcam.htm). Winter was relatively dry t… more »

Wanting to get an idea of the larger picture of the ongoing controversy about wolves, I recently bought and read my fifth book about Yellowstone and wolves, but this one from the point of view of a journalist, Wyoming resident, and (in recent years) shee… more »

The Spokane, Washington Spokesman-Review published the following figures on March 21st, gleaned from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: In addition to at least two packs each in the states of Washington and Idaho, they have counted a minimum population… more »

The day after I posted my sort-of-book-report about wolves, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition put up a very thoughtful article on the same general subject. Interested readers might take a look at the URL from the New West Blog that I'm sending here. more »

Tomorrow, April 16, the park opens to wheeled vehicles now that the roads have been (at least mostly) plowed. Better yet, if you go this weekend the $25 entrance fee is waived. Wish I could be there! more »

In case you haven't heard yet, the entrance fee for Yellowstone and the Tetons and probably all of the national parks will be waived on three weekends this summer. The dates are June 5-6, August 14-15, and the one day, September 25, which is National Pub… more »

For those of us who live too far from Yellowstone to make it practical to take bikes along when we visit, there are now bikes for rent in Old Faithful Village. The concessionaire Xanterra announces that “the bike shop at Old Faithful Snow Lodge offers hy… more »

For an amazing list of animals just sighted during a very few days in Yellowstone, click on “More” at the bottom of the post for Day Four of the South Salem, New York’s, Wolf Conservation Center trip, at: http://nywolf.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-four-in-ye… more »

Here’s a short outdoors blog by Brett French that I just have to pass on. My sentiments exactly! http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/gazoutdoors/article_aa8f5cc2-8b8a-11df-a252-001cc4c03286.html Let’s send the crowds to Hawaii—but, no, for… more »

Knowing about the current construction projects might help in planning your Yellowstone visit. There are four of them currently listed for the park. Be aware that the first one I will name includes totally closing the road between 10 pm and 8 am, so you… more »

For everyone planning to be in Yellowstone later this month, you are invited to attend the dedication of the large new Visitor Education Center that has gone up during the past year and more at Old Faithful. The center will be dedicated at 11:00 am on Au… more »

The top of the food chain is always the most controversial. Last week U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Montana overturned last fall’s decision by the Interior Department to remove the gray wolf’s Endangered Species protective listing. The previous de… more »

As I pack for my annual trip to Yellowstone, people ask me if I worry about the escaped Arizona criminals being in the area or the potential eruption of the so-called supervolcano. My answer is no to both, since the chance of running into the criminals i… more »

Before I left for a visit to the park, I sent along some comments and a URL about the monitoring being done on the potential eruption of the volcano under Yellowstone. Looking at that post's title again, I realize the word "ready" is ambiguous there. We… more »

Back from Yellowstone for a week now, I have lots of things to write about and will start with a few personal experiences and observations.This year we opted to drive from our home in California rather than flying and renting a car. It's always nice… more »

My routine whenever I’m at Old Faithful Village is to go to the Visitor Center when it opens at 8:00 am to check out the geyser predictions for the day. Last month I was able to catch most of my favorites—except Grand and also Fan and Mortar eluded me.… more »

We were there when the new Old Faithful Visitor Education Center was dedicated and opened on August 25th. A sizeable group of visitors and interested employees of the park attended. The ceremony began with a real mounted color guard presenting the flag a… more »

This time I want to write about three separate subjects that only relate to my recent trip to Yellowstone because they center on people in the park.First, I want to publicly thank Yellowstone's Park Historian, Lee Whittlesey. He has been encouraging… more »

Doug Smith, the biologist in charge of the Yellowstone Wolf Project, gave an important report on the state of Yellowstone’s wolves last week In Cody, Wyoming. Speaking at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Smith mentioned that fall is “the hardest time… more »

Here is a wonderful wolf report from last month by one of our best observers of Yellowstone wolf behavior, Kathie Lynch:http://wolves.wordpress.com/2010/09/07/kathie-lynch-late-summer-yellowstone-wolf-viewing-is-sparse/#more-13864.I’ve been meaning… more »

This is the basic question underlying current research by geologists who study Yellowstone, according to “Ring of Fire,” an article by John Dvorak in the Fall 2010 issue of National Parks, the magazine of the National Parks Conservation Association.D… more »

It’s been said with good reason that Yellowstone, a park with an elevation of mostly 7000 to 8000 feet, has only two seasons, summer and winter. Mid October is the end of the summer one, not just because the aspen leaves have turned golden and snow may b… more »

Back on April twelfth, I posted a sort of book report about Cat Urbigkit’s Yellowstone Wolves book and its eye-opening take on the 1990s wolf introduction from a Wyoming rancher’s point of view (see Yellowstone>Wildlife here for that post). The item t… more »

As of this morning all interior Yellowstone roads are closed, with the exception of the lowest elevation road—the one between the North and Northeast Entrances, which is kept open all winter for the convenience of residents of Gardiner and Cooke City. No… more »

Here’s a nice story about how a small Montana town was able to deal with an apparently confused trumpeter swan: http://www.westyellowstonenews.com/news/article_1790edc0-ef2e-11df-8d19-001cc4c03286.html When he took off from the Madison River outsid… more »

Hurray! From today until early March you can travel over Yellowstone's snowy roads by snowcoach, snowmobile, skis, or snowshoes. Seeing the park in winter is a not-to-be-missed experience.And those of us not able to visit this winter will be consoled… more »

Behold! Another mode of transportation I didn't know existed: a snow bicycle, in particular one made by Surly Bikes. This is not a commercial, and I know very little about bikes, but it seems like an interesting idea to me. Here's what I read about it:… more »

Much has been written in the past few weeks about Yellowstone’s bison and their brucellosis problem. I will not go into details here, which are much too complicated to be dealt with effectively in a guidebook writer’s post, but I will send along the URL… more »

Wanting to keep my readers informed, I’ll pass on the fact that you have only six more days this season to enjoy going through Yellowstone by snowcoach or snowmobile. All such travel ends at 9 pm next Tuesday, March 15, and plowing the roads will begin w… more »

I find it ironic that on the very first day of road closure, the most snow I've seen on the Old Faithful Webcam all winter has piled up around the Old Faithful Geyser sign, and it's still coming down in mid afternoon! This has been a spectacular wint… more »

Take a listen to this on the first days of spring! At the following Web site, you’ll find a short video that will introduce you—and all those kids who’ve been brought up on Kermit—to the real thing. A remarkable little park inhabitant that will be co… more »

Carolyn Loren, a Yellowstone Park interpretive ranger who keeps excellent tabs on the geysers and is spending this break at Old Faithful—when almost nobody is there and the roads have not yet been plowed—posted this today, answering questions others had… more »

While we wait for a court decision about a March settlement between conservation groups and the U.S. Department of the Interior concerning the Yellowstone wolves, I will pass along a few details of that settlement and also parts of an interesting winter… more »

With spring opening scheduled for next Friday, traditional income tax day (4/15), Congress and nature are vying for which one can cause the National Park Service the greater worries. It seems that the feared park closures have been averted, at least for… more »

Just in time for National Park Week (April 16 through 24), when entry to Yellowstone and all other parks is free to all visitors, things have changed for the Northwest’s wolves and bison. First, the agreement between conservation groups and the U.S.… more »

In a week or so I’ll be going on my first-ever visit to Zion National Park. Besides wanting to see the incredible scenery and geology, I am interested in finding out just how the shuttle system they have there works. I’ve felt for some time that Yell… more »

Although I know that the National Park Service has in the past considered inaugurating shuttle service in Yellowstone to alleviate road congestion and cut down on carbon emissions, perhaps the following plan has not yet been broached. I suggest that only… more »

If you happen to have a lot of time on your hands and are interested in the probable plight of the wolves in the U.S. Northwest, now that Congress has stepped in and mandated delisting in Idaho and Montana, you may want to read this very long post on the… more »

Today I’m wearing my Supervolcano T-shirt, acquired at a preview showing of the 2005 BBC/Discovery Channel movie of that name. It was a scary movie for anybody, and the internet spin it engendered has continued, since apparently many people have taken th… more »

During the time I allowed myself to stay in and near Yellowstone last month, I spent several days learning more about wildflowers in two Yellowstone Institute classes. One beautiful day we went up the Beartooth Highway, the switch-backed climb to almost… more »

I’ve been neglecting my blog lately, writing about once a month instead of meeting the once a week goal I had set for myself. It’s not as if I weren’t thinking about Yellowstone most of every day. But most of that thinking, reading, and writing are relat… more »

Fifty-eight thousand people were interested enough in how future winter travel in Yellowstone will be managed to write comments on the latest draft plan. Their issues needing further analysis include air and sound quality measurements, cost of avalanche… more »

Here is an early heads-up for the days in 2012 when entrance to Yellowstone and all other National Parks will be free. The usual $25.00 fee per carload good for one week will be waived on these dates:January 14 to 16 (Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend)… more »

As Hallowe’en excitement draws to a close, I’ll pass on to any of you thinking of visiting Yellowstone soon that you have only one more week before almost all the roads close for the autumn break. From 8 am Monday, November 7, until December 15, the road… more »

I've just learned that a study being completed this week by wolf experts and volunteers has found that the number of wolves living in Yellowstone is up this year to about 120 as opposed to 97 counted last year. This is good news for the many eager wolf-w… more »

My best excuse for neglecting my blog this late fall is that I’ve been working non-stop with my colleague Suzanne Cane to send off our new Yellowstone manuscript to a publisher. We’ve translated into English a French book called La Terre des Merveilles.… more »

Back in 2009, when Yellowstone grizzly population had reached about 550, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to remove Endangered Species Act protections for the grizz. But Chris Servheen, acting for the USFWS appealed that decis… more »

The eight-day countdown has started for my winter trip to Yellowstone, and my excitement is building! For a devoted fan like me, each trip is as fulfilling as the last, but it’s been six years since I got to go in winter.I was getting a little worrie… more »

Not having the time quite yet to post my pictures and reactions to the wonderful winter tour I took last week, today I'll just essentially quote what I wrote to Brenda and Randy, the leaders of my Tauck tour.What I liked about the Tauck Winter in Yel… more »

Having thought I would write an illustrated post about my recent winter visit, I did not realize how longggg my report was going to be—totally unsuitable for this blog. I chose the highlights, but even so it needed to be put on my website instead of here… more »