A flooded and closed Yellowstone is not what we expected for the 150-year anniversary. Spring snow melt followed by a couple of snow storms and a whole lot of rain led to record high water levels.
Flooded Yellowstone
These photos are from the NPS Flickr website. It had either rained or snowed almost every day for the last 3 weeks we had been in Yellowstone. Given the spring snow melt, the rivers were full, so it wasn’t unexpected that parts of the roads in the northern section of Yellowstone either flooded or washed out. Unfortunately, the National Park Service closed the entire park, not just the affected sections, for an entire week despite there being no reported damage in the southern section and the rains had stopped and water levels dropped. It is a great opportunity for the National Park Service to rebuild the flooded upper roads better by making them wider, with more pullouts, more parking spaces and bike lanes to accommodate the massive number of tourists that now visit Yellowstone since the roads were first built. But time will tell if the NPS will actually make those improvements for the ever-increasing number of visitors.
Flooded Gardiner, Montana
We had a one-week reservation on the banks overlooking the Yellowstone River in Gardiner.
This video on YouTube is of a house that eroded into the Yellowstone River located just upstream of the evacuated RV park. The workers at the RV park watched it float past. Unfortunately, both roads into Gardiner were flooded and washed out, so we had to cancel our reservation. We also had quite a bit of stuff being shipped to Gardiner, so we either canceled or rerouted the orders. We stayed here before, so weren’t too upset, but we were looking forwarded to spending a week here again to possibly view newborn elk.
Fortunately, we were able to extend our stay at Grizzly RV in West Yellowstone. We needed to change sites and we were snowed on, but It gave us the opportunity to explore the surrounding area.
Despite all the rain and snow, there were periods of sunshine. We enjoyed most of Yellowstone National Park for a couple of weeks before it was closed.
Gibbon Falls near Mammoth Hot Springs.
A couple of elk in Mammoth Hot Springs.
Swallows were busy gathering mud and building nests.
Two different coyotes in different parts of the park. Their winter coats were very light in color.
This bison looked aggressive, so we didn’t stay for another photo. We didn’t want the truck attacked.
Sagebrush buttercup in early spring.
We saw bald eagle throughout the park, but they were usually too far away for a good photo.
Lamar Valley, which is now closed because of the flooding usually had bears. A cinnamon bear along the Lamar River.
The northeast entrance is always a favorite for spotting moose, bear, deer and grizzly. Unfortunately, it was also flooded and sustained significant road damage. A mule deer grazing.
We came across a couple of foxes. This one was just sitting in the woods.
Another one was trotting along the road, dug a rodent out of a burrow, then carried it away. It happened very quickly so we were lucky to get a photo.
Following the Madison River out of West Yellowstone there is Quake Lake in Montana. It was formed in 1959 following a 7.5 earthquake that caused a landslide blocking the river forming a new dam creating a new lake.
Nearby were a small herd of female bighorn sheep shedding their winter coats.
Island Park, Idaho
Island Park is about a 30-minute drive from West Yellowstone, Montana. A very scenic drive along the way. Less than 300 people live here. The area is known for trout fishing. We had lunch at TroutHunter, but they were out of fish. It overlooks the Henrys Fork of the Snake River. Wyethia were in bloom.
Mesa Falls Scenic Byway in the Targhee National Forest is about 30 miles long and located between Island Park and Ashton, Idaho. We enjoyed all the wildflowers.
Along the way are the Upper and Lower Mesa Falls. The upper falls are 114 feet high and 200 feet wide.
Big Springs produces 120 million gallons of fresh water each day. It’s the primary source of the Henrys Fork of the Snake River. Next to Big Spring is the cabin built by Johnny Sack in 1929.
Beautiful farmlands in Idaho with the Tetons in the background.
Virginia City, Montana
Along the way we stopped in Ennis, Montana. A very cute town with a small revitalized downtown. There were enough shops to entertain. We had lunch at Kalena’s Teas then a cold local beer at the Gravel Bar.
Virginia City was a gold rush boom town in 1863. It became the first territorial capital of Montana, which was later moved to Helena. Eventually the gold disappeared and Virginia City became a ghost town. The National Park Service and State of Montana have put together resources to preserve the city. Bed races down main street were about to start.
The town is a tourist destination with many of the old buildings partially restored to give a feel for what life was like over a hundred years ago.
Walking around town it was nice to see lilac and choke cherry blooming.
The weathered wood around Virginia City was beautiful.
A turkey walking down main street.
