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Update - Living the Dream in Yellowstone!

Timeshare Von

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Well I have arrived! It was a nice, uneventful drive from Milwaukee to Gardiner, MT. I got settled into my apartment on Monday/Tuesday and started my summer seasonal gig on Thursday. Here is the link to my blog, where I will be posting from time to time about living, working & playing in Yellowstone National Park.
 

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Well I have arrived! It was a nice, uneventful drive from Milwaukee to Gardiner, MT. I got settled into my apartment on Monday/Tuesday and started my summer seasonal gig on Thursday. Here is the link to my blog, where I will be posting from time to time about living, working & playing in Yellowstone National Park.

Glad you made it! I was wondering how things were going. I'll check the blog.

Dave
 

Timeshare Von

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For those curious or concerned, I am doing fine here in Gardiner, MT (just outside the North Gate into Yellowstone). As you've probably seen on the news, the Yellowstone River is above it's HIGHEST flood stage ever recorded (in 1918) and still hadn't crested as of last night.

For anyone who is interested in what's happening, as being reported locally from people living, working and vacationing here, check out my Facebook page. I've posted a lot of stuff which is available to the public to view/read.

I appreciate the friendships and concerns here on TUG. Please pray for others who have lost their homes, etc. The town of Gardiner is amazingly resilient and have been wonderful to their guests & visitors.
 

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Those of us who have been vicariously sharing your journey appreciate knowing you're ok. Thanks for this update.

I haven't seen anything about damage in other parts the Park. Do you know anything about that?

Dave
 

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The only silver lining in all of this is if by some miracle some of the water runoff ends up going into the Colorado River Basin?
Not sure of the topography? Is this runoff on the west side of the Continental Divide?
 

DaveNV

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Timeshare Von

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Those of us who have been vicariously sharing your journey appreciate knowing you're ok. Thanks for this update.
I haven't seen anything about damage in other parts the Park. Do you know anything about that?
Dave

I appreciate the concern of my TUG friends :)

As for the damage inside the park . . . right now what I know (and is public information) is the road from Tower Junction (AKA Roosevelt) out through Lamar Valley and up to the NE Entrance has sustained damage, which is still being assessed. Cooke City and Silver Gate are in very bad shape from the flooding there. The road from Gardiner through the North Entrance to Mammoth has devastating damage and will take significant work to reopen. I doubt that will happen this year.

The "lower loop" roads of the park, including the West, East and South entrances seem to be in decent shape.

As of 1p MDT, there were still sections of the park without power, including Mammoth, Canyon & Fishing Bridge.

This is all I'm really at liberty to say publicly. I'm sure there will be more released from the NPS and local authorities in due time.

THE GOOD NEWS . . . Montana DOT (and Park County Sheriff's Dept) have announced Hwy 89 has been reopened, to include a detour, to allow visitors stranded in Gardiner to get out of town today. Only inbound traffic allowed will be residents and delivery company vehicles bringing necessary goods to our community. From the Park County Sheriff (via Facebook):
Park County Sheriff's Office, Montana
We have the road open to Gardiner for local traffic and services only. The speed limit through the canyon and on East River Rd will be set at 35 mph in the areas we are still working. Please be very careful if you must travel this route, but we do have road passable to service the community of Gardiner. Outstanding work done by our road crews! Stay safe.
Sheriff B
###
 

slip

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I appreciate the concern of my TUG friends :)

As for the damage inside the park . . . right now what I know (and is public information) is the road from Tower Junction (AKA Roosevelt) out through Lamar Valley and up to the NE Entrance has sustained damage, which is still being assessed. Cooke City and Silver Gate are in very bad shape from the flooding there. The road from Gardiner through the North Entrance to Mammoth has devastating damage and will take significant work to reopen. I doubt that will happen this year.

The "lower loop" roads of the park, including the West, East and South entrances seem to be in decent shape.

There are still sections of the park without power, including Mammoth, Canyon & Fishing Bridge.

This is all I'm really at liberty to say publicly. I'm sure there will be more released from the NPS and local authorities in due time.

THE GOOD NEWS . . . Montana DOT (and Park County Sheriff's Dept) have announced Hwy 89 has been reopened, to include a detour, to allow visitors stranded in Gardiner to get out of town today. Only inbound traffic allowed will be residents and delivery company vehicles bringing necessary goods to our community. From the Park County Sheriff (via Facebook):
Park County Sheriff's Office, Montana
We have the road open to Gardiner for local traffic and services only. The speed limit through the canyon and on East River Rd will be set at 35 mph in the areas we are still working. Please be very careful if you must travel this route, but we do have road passable to service the community of Gardiner. Outstanding work done by our road crews! Stay safe.
Sheriff B
###

Boy, I bet you never had this in mind before you took on this adventure. You will never forget this. Stay safe. :thumbup:
 

Timeshare Von

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Here is a link to the official NPS press release from last night.

The park will remain closed for the coming days, with a reopening planned that will limit visitors to the lower (southern) loop. There is still much to assess in terms of damages to the parks roadways and infrastructure.

Here in Gardiner, MT (the community at the North Entrance), the road north (to include a detour) has been reopened to allow visitors to get out of town safely. Incoming traffic into Gardiner is limited to essential services, deliveries and residents. The community is really pulling together . . . neighbors helping neighbors!
My work commitment through 10/6 is not in jeopardy, as I am still planning to be here through the summer.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and concerns.
 

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I have a friend and college classmate who had a second home on the Stillwater River, just north of Yellowstone in Montana. I visited last fall for the first time, beautiful area north of Yellowstone and Custer Gallatin National Forest, right next to the Stillwater Mine the only Platinum mine in the US. He and his wife got out safely with their two vehicles, everything else is gone. The volume of water in the Stillwater River is twice what was the record and the river is 8 feet higher than norms. Lots of stranded campers in the wilderness areas being evacuated by National Guard Chinook helicopter. While Yellowstone is THE news, the area affected is much, much larger.
 
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Timeshare Von

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I have a friend and college classmate who had a second home on the Stillwater River, just north of Yellowstone in Montana. I visited last fall for the first time, beautiful area north of Yellowstone and Custer Gallatin National Forest, right next to the Stillwater Mine the only Platinum mine in the US. He and his wife got out safely with their two vehicles, everything else is gone. The volume of water in the Stillwater River is twice what was the record and the river is 8 feet higher than norms. Lots of stranded campers in the wilderness areas being evacuated by National Guard Chinook helicopter. While Yellowstone is THE news, the area affected is much, much larger.

Sorry to hear of your friend's losses. Yes, the damages and loss of property extend far beyond "just" the national park. There are families and businesses that might not recover from what's happened to them because of these devastating floods.
 

rickandcindy23

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@Timeshare Von
Stay safe and keep us updated on the reopening of the park. We were going to take a drive that direction sometime late summer.

How are you doing with the dry air of Montana? It's similar to Denver. I apply lotion constantly and really suffer after we return from a humid climate.
 

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Sorry to hear of your friend's losses. Yes, the damages and loss of property extend far beyond "just" the national park. There are families and businesses that might not recover from what's happened to them because of these devastating floods.
I have a friend and college classmate who had a second home on the Stillwater River, just north of Yellowstone in Montana. I visited last fall for the first time, beautiful area north of Yellowstone and Custer Gallatin National Forest, right next to the Stillwater Mine the only Platinum mine in the US. He and his wife got out safely with their two vehicles, everything else is gone. The volume of water in the Stillwater River is twice what was the record and the river is 8 feet higher than norms. Lots of stranded campers in the wilderness areas being evacuated by National Guard Chinook helicopter. While Yellowstone is THE news, the area affected is much, much larger.

They went to bed at about 9:30pm with the river at a 'normal' flood stage. So the story goes, they had years ago, adopted a stray runt of the litter cat, thus saved its life even though they weren't cat people. Before midnight Roscoe the cat started going crazy. The river had risen 2 feet in 2 hours. They left to stay with friends on higher ground, taking both cars, but the indoor cat, Roscoe, could not be found. Road out to their house and the Platinum Mine was still intact when they went to check at 6:00am the next morning. They found their house surrounded by 2 feet of fast moving water. They heard a big CRACK and watched the whole house go down the river. Roscoe may well have saved them, RIP Roscoe.
 

Timeshare Von

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The park will be reopening, with restrictions on Wednesday 6/22. Here is what the NPS announced yesterday:

Yellowstone National Park

⚠️
6/18 UPDATE
⚠️

Yellowstone National Park’s south loop will reopen to the public on June 22; Visitors traveling to park in coming weeks must stay informed about the new interim visitor entry system
At 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 22, Yellowstone will begin allowing visitors to access the south loop of the park. The south loop is accessed from the East (Cody), West (West Yellowstone), and South (Grand Teton/Jackson) entrances. Accessible areas include Madison, Old Faithful, Grant Village, Lake Village, Canyon Village and Norris. As part of reopening planning, park staff have engaged over 1,000 business owners, park partners, commercial operators and residents in surrounding gateway communities to determine how to manage summer visitation while the north loop remains closed due to flood damage.

To balance the demand for visitor access, park resource protection and economic interests of the communities, the park will institute an interim visitor access plan. The interim plan, referred to as the Alternating License Plate System (ALPS), was suggested as a solution by gateway communities during major public engagement with the park this past week. Park managers and partners have agreed this system is the best interim solution to ensuring the south loop does not become overwhelmed by visitors. The National Park Service will actively monitor the license plate system and is concurrently building a new reservation system that will be ready for implementation, if needed.

Alternating License Plate System (ALPS)
- Public vehicle entry will be allowed based on whether the last numerical digit on a license plate is odd or even.
- Entrance will be granted based on odd/even days on the calendar.
- Odd-numbered last digits on license plates can enter on odd days of the month.
- Even-numbered last digits (including zero) on license plates can enter on even days of the month.
- Personalized plates (all letters, for example "YLWSTNE") will fall into the “odd” category for entrance purposes.
- Plates with a mix of letters and numbers but that end with a letter (for example "YELL4EVR") will still use the last numerical digit on the plate to determine entrance days.
- Entrance station staff will turn away vehicles attempting to enter the park when the odd/even numerical digits do not correspond to the odd/even calendar date for entrance.

Exceptions
- Current commercial use operators with active commercial use permits will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number. This includes commercial tours and stock groups.
- Visitors with proof of overnight reservations in the park will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number. This includes hotels, campgrounds, and backcountry reservations.
- Commercial motorcoaches will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number.
- Motorcycle groups may enter on even dates only.
- Essential services like mail and deliver, employees and contractors may enter regardless of license plate number.

The interim license plate system will ensure that visitors have access to the park during this period of high demand. Park managers and staff will monitor the license plate system and impacts on resources, infrastructure, operations, and staffing, and may adjust or implement a reservation or timed entry system, if necessary, after three to four weeks.

View the most up-to-date information about the Alternating License Plate System, including a list of FAQ's on our website: go.nps.gov/YELLflood

After reviewing the FAQ's on the website above, we want to hear from you! What additional questions do you have? Let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to answer them!
###
 

Timeshare Von

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They went to bed at about 9:30pm with the river at a 'normal' flood stage. So the story goes, they had years ago, adopted a stray runt of the litter cat, thus saved its life even though they weren't cat people. Before midnight Roscoe the cat started going crazy. The river had risen 2 feet in 2 hours. They left to stay with friends on higher ground, taking both cars, but the indoor cat, Roscoe, could not be found. Road out to their house and the Platinum Mine was still intact when they went to check at 6:00am the next morning. They found their house surrounded by 2 feet of fast moving water. They heard a big CRACK and watched the whole house go down the river. Roscoe may well have saved them, RIP Roscoe.

God bless & keep Roscoe. So sad, and yet he probably save their lives!
 

Timeshare Von

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There is a local fundraising effort for the community of Gardiner, MT. If you are so inclined, buy a really cool teeshirt or hoodie, and support the cause. Here is the link to order yours today. They will ship in early August, once all orders are placed and they can produce them together.

Gardiner Fundraiser.jpg
 

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They went to bed at about 9:30pm with the river at a 'normal' flood stage. So the story goes, they had years ago, adopted a stray runt of the litter cat, thus saved its life even though they weren't cat people. Before midnight Roscoe the cat started going crazy. The river had risen 2 feet in 2 hours. They left to stay with friends on higher ground, taking both cars, but the indoor cat, Roscoe, could not be found. Road out to their house and the Platinum Mine was still intact when they went to check at 6:00am the next morning. They found their house surrounded by 2 feet of fast moving water. They heard a big CRACK and watched the whole house go down the river. Roscoe may well have saved them, RIP Roscoe.

Oh no, poor Roscoe! I am so sorry to hear this. It would be wonderful if there was a happy ending with Roscoe riding the debris down the river and stepping off into rescuers’ arms. Sadly I fear that is not to be.
 

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I'm a little behind in my blogging . . . but I have posted a couple of times since June. Here's the link for anyone interested.

Nice read, Von! You're having a great Summer - complete with natural disasters and a lot of animal viewing. Hope you're enjoying your time there.

Dave
 

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Great Blog! Glad to catch up with you. Thanks!
 

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I'm a little behind in my blogging . . . but I have posted a couple of times since June. Here's the link for anyone interested.


:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: That's quite all right -- I'm a little behind in my reading it!! I do enjoy it so though, the blog and the pictures are wonderful!! Enjoy your time there, and keep sharing through your posts.
 

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Has the bison petting area been reopened yet? :ROFLMAO:

Not yet, but that doesn't seem to keep the tourists from doing dumb things :)
 
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