Monday, May 9, 2016

Weather Delay, Oh Darn, Stuck in Yellowstone! :)

Weather

I have been watching the weather for the past few days, and I knew this spring storm was going to be upon us.  This morning we awoke to slight rain, but snow and rain up in the areas we want to travel to.  We thought about heading over to the north entrance and camp for $10 in the park (senior rate), and we even looked at the Fishing Bridge RV Park on our trip yesterday, but it is the same price as what we are paying now, would add extra miles, and we would not have any TV or WiFi Internet which would require us to use our aircard.  So we are staying put for two more nights.  Oh Darn!  Winking smile  And since the weather is not over Yellowstone today, we still get to go out and enjoy the park some more!  Double Darn!    Winking smile 

Yellowstone Road Map

The map above shows the open and closed roads currently in Yellowstone.  By the 13th nearly all the red will be green (which means open), with only the area from Tower Fall to Canyon Junction being closed until the 27th.  So far we have found the roads to be in good condition which just a few spots here and there that have pot holes or frost heaves.  We are at West Yellowstone, which is the middle far left of the map.  We traveled to Old Faithful (marked as Day One) on Saturday.  Yesterday we traveled to Yellowstone Lake (marked as Day Two).  Today we are traveling to the Lamar Valley (marked as Day Three).  We have seen Grizzly Bears each day, and hope to see more today.

Grizzly Bear, near Canyon Junction, Yellowstone May 2016

Yesterday’s bear was near Canyon Junction, and there was a line of cars lined up along side the road, with many people outside of their cars with those cameras that a lens that is a mile long.  We pulled over and got a few pictures, but this bear was camera shy…always had its back to us.

Grizzly Bear, near Canyon Junction, Yellowstone May 2016

This picture here gives you a better idea of how far away we were from it, and even his picture was zoomed in to at least 2-3 times normal…so the bear was “way out there”.  A park ranger arrived, and did not seem concerned at all with people being out of their cars, but I am sure she would stopped anyone trying to go out into the field toward the bear.  And don’t think people wouldn’t try it…we have seen some pretty stupid things around here, back in April there were viral Internet clips of a lady who petted a bison  (See Clip One and Clip Two).

Here are some pictures we got yesterday.

Between West Entrance and Madison Junction, Yellowstone May 2016

Yellowstone River,  Yellowstone May 2016    Yellowstone River,  Yellowstone May 2016

Hayden Valley, Yellowstone River, Yellowstone May 2016

Hayden Valley,  Yellowstone May 2016

Hayden Valley, Yellowstone River, Yellowstone May 2016

Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone May 2016

American white pelican, Yellowstone May 2016    Elk, between West Entrance and Madison Junction, Yellowstone May 2016

Elk, between West Entrance and Madison Junction, Yellowstone May 2016

Elk, between West Entrance and Madison Junction, Yellowstone May 2016

Buffalo, between West Entrance and Madison Junction, Yellowstone May 2016

Buffalo, between West Entrance and Madison Junction, Yellowstone May 2016

9 comments:

  1. Tough place to be stranded that's for sure. Your pictures of yellowstone are beautiful.

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  2. Just got back from our third day trip into Yellowstone, and stopped to get a bite to eat in West Yellowstone before getting back to the motorhome and it started to SNOW right after we sat down for dinner! Did we see another bear??? Gonna have to wait until I post again on Tuesday. :)

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  3. Is so happy that you're staying longer; enjoy! Blessings, Lynn

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  4. Gorgeous country. We didn't cross into Canada until June 1st and there was STILL snow on the ground AND the road. Be careful out there!!!

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    1. We will be careful, and I am pretty sure the winter was milder this past year, one of the reasons for the fires up in Canada.

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  5. Oh, darn:) I don't think people realize just how large Yellowstone is and how far you have to drive to get to the features. Not an easy park to visit without a lot of time. Enjoy!!

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    1. Oh yes, you are so right. Our next post later today (Tuesday) will feature our trip to Lamar Valley, and with the roads not all being open, it was a long, long drive, but well worth it.

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