On August 18 my husband and I (editor Beth Chapple) entered Yellowstone via the West Entrance after flying our Evektor Harmony light sport airplane into West Yellowstone airport for our first time. We had completed the flying all in one day from our home in Grant County, eastern Washington, because weather forecasts were predicting we would not be able to cross the Rocky Mountain passes if we waited too long. Since it was a day before our first in-park lodging reservation at Grant Village, we had the evening to spend in town. After dinner at the Yellowstone Beer Company we walked to the edge of town across Boundary Street behind the Wild West Pizzeria and walked to the bank of the Madison River on Riverside Trail. We weren’t the only ones enjoying the pleasant temperature, and it isn’t a good place to see wildlife. But the river was pretty and so were the flowers. We later learned that this flower at least is an invasive one, Dalmation toadflax, introduced from Europe.

The trip began in earnest the next day, when my mother, author Janet Chapple, got a ride through the West Entrance with our friend Mike and geologist Jo-Ann Sherwin.

An added bonus for people who can visit any park early this season is that admission will be free to all from April 22 through 26 in celebration of National Parks Week.

The town grader and operator were sent to assist with the removal of ice and snow under the direction of the National Park Service on Monday. This means it looks highly likely that the West Entrance will open on Friday, April 26 [2013], after all.

2010