For some strange reason we didn’t get to Yellowstone Park once last year. We decided we were definitely going to change that this year and further determined that, if possible and the weather permitted, we would go to Yellowstone on the first day that vehicular traffic was allowed into the Park. During the winter over-the-snow conveyances are all that can enter the park: snow coaches operated by authorized concessionaires and a limited number of snowmobiles, also operated by concessionaires. About three weeks ago all the over-the-snow traffic stopped until next winter. Today the West Entrance at West Yellowstone, Montana opened to the public. The roads from the West Entrance to Mammoth, Canyon, and Old Faithful had been cleared and were open to traffic. Other roads will be opened later in April and throughout the month of May until by Memorial Day, all the roads will be open.

We left home about 7:15 a.m. and arrived at the West Entrance three hours later. We made our way first to Old Faithful and then drove over to Canyon. From there we went back out through the West Entrance and arrived home about 7 this evening. It was a full, fun day!

We made many stops to take pictures of bison, elk, rivers, steam, geysers, and whatever. The day was just gorgeous with temperatures around 45°, no wind, and clear blue skies.

We were also surprised at how many other cars were in the Park! Obviously lots of people had the same idea as we had. Further, we were surprised at how many foreigners were at Old Faithful. At times we kind of felt we were in the minority.

The Park Rangers were also out in full force, brooking no minor offense let alone anything beyond that. Speeding was definitely not a good idea, nor stopping alongside the road other than in a designated turnout! “From the first day, make ’em pay!” seemed to be their motto. I kind of wondered what the enforcement would look like a week from now when first-day jitters had calmed down….

On the west side of the Park none of the side roads had been cleared, even though there was much less snow on the ground on the west side than around Canyon. The roads on both sides of the Yellowstone Grand Canyon were open and the pathways through three or more feet of snow to the canyon rims had been cleared.

We’ll be back to the Park a couple more times this year, but this visit turned out to be quite special. Tomorrow I’ll put a number of pictures in the picture album from our day at Yellowstone National Park.