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swalker

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We have been back from our spring trip to Yellowstone for a few weeks and I am finally getting around to writing a trip report to share with you some of the adventures we had.

I will break this story up into several posts in this thread. There is simply too much to report to put it all into one post.

Unfortunately, the storage on my cell phone became corrupted and I lost all the pictures I took with the phone during the trip. I do have some pictures I took with my main camera and will attach a few of those.

The trip was wonderful. We camped at the Madison campground in Yellowstone National Park for 29 nights. We were in our trailer, which we have now had for 20 months. It still feels new to me and I am still learning about the ins and outs of trailer maintenance.

We travel with two vehicles. I drove an SUV towing the trailer and my wife drove the wheelchair van hauling two wheelchairs and our cat.

We left in the midst of a high wind warning. We broke the drive up into two relatively short days and the wind was howling for both days. The drive was an adventure all by itself. I was really glad when we finally pulled into the campground. I slept until about 2 the next day.

We were able to spend quite a bit of time in the Upper Geyser Basin and met up with numerous geyser gazers we have become friends with over the years. The thermal activity was a bit different this year, which was very interesting to observe.

On our second day in the park, we arrived at the Upper Geyser Basin just as the indicator geyser for Beehive geyser started going. Beehive is one of my favorite geysers. So, I unloaded the wheelchair and raced over to watch it. I kept a close eye on the wind to make sure my wheelchair would not get hit by the geyser's spray. Unfortunately, just as the geyser erupted the wind shifted and the wheelchair and I got it.

I thought all was OK with the wheelchair, but an hour later it started acting up. I carefully made my way along the one-mile path back to the car. I called NuMotion and they called Permobil. After an hour of conversation, they all agreed that the only course of action was to let the controls dry out and hope for the best.

By the time the wheelchair was in the van, it completely stopped working.

We returned to the campsite and fired up the generator so I could use my wife's hair dryer to try and dry out the controls. We spent the next 2 days with the wheelchair in the van driving around the park with the heat on high. After 3 days, the wheelchair returned to normal operation. Whew!

During this period, the weather was pretty bad. We had persistent rain with temperatures below freezing every night. We had a pretty substantial snow as well. Most of the roads in the park were closed due to weather at some times, but we still managed to see a lot.

One of the main roads was closed for our first 2 weeks (as expected) because they had not yet finished plowing it. Another major road was closed for the first 2 weeks due to an unexpected repair. Another major road was closed due to the snow storm. The final major road had 30 minute closures due to construction.

Once the wheelchair was operational, we decided to spend a long day in the Upper Geyser Basin. That kind of day usually has me going about 15 miles in the wheelchair. I had noticed before the trip that the wheelchair range was starting to be diminished, but did not think it would be an issue on the trip.

Unfortunately, I was wrong! On that day I went about 10 miles and the wheelchair charge was at an alarmingly low state. I barely (and I do mean barely) made it back to the van. The battery lasted 11 miles.

By the end of our Yellowstone trip, a full battery charge would only last 8 miles. I am now in the process or getting a new set of batteries.

I think that is enough for now. I tried to attach some pictures, but that failed. I have reported the failure and hopefully will be able to post some in the future.

Steve
 
What a start to your trip Steve! I can't wait to hear more. Glad your wheelchair began functioning properly again. That is scary stuff.
 
I was nearly huddled in suspense reading this first post!!!

You not only adventure like a maniac (in the best sense of the word) but you write about it brilliantly!

Can't wait for more :)
 
OH I wish I could have been there with ya Steve!
I think you and I would have made a great Lewis & Clark of the pwc. Hahaha
Speaking of L&C. I am reading undaunted courage by Stephen Ambrose ,think you would like this read.
Thanks for the adventure!
 
Steve, sounds like a rocky start :). I'm real interested in hearing more as we are thinking our adventures are going to be focused mostly in North America going forward. I am assuming you have two wheelchairs because you need one modified for off-road?

Bruce
 
Here are some more stories from our adventure in Yellowstone.

One day we decided to take the adventuresome trail (adventuresome in a wheelchair, that is) from the Upper Geyser basin area to the Biscuit basin area. To do so, we travel a bit more than a mile on boardwalks and then take a dirt path. We made it about 100 yards down the dirt path when our way was blocked by a recently fallen tree. It would be easy to walk around the downed tree, but there was no way to get the wheelchair around it.

We decided to go to the Black Sands basin, which is accessed by a similar dirt path. On the way there, we ran into a ranger and reported the downed tree. The next time we tried that path the tree had been cleared. All the park employees have been amazingly accommodating and this was no exception.

When we got to the Black Sands basin I noticed the parking lot was full (I had, of course, raced ahead of my wife;)). The reason was that there was a grizzly bear mother with her two cubs in a meadow right next to the parking area.

I could not make my way down to the meadow for good viewing, but was able to get a slight glimpse of the mother through the trees. After my wife had her fill of watching the bears, we continued around the boardwalks looking at the amazing thermal features.

From one of those boardwalks I discovered I had an unobstructed view of the bears! I was able to observe them at my leisure with no crowds in the way. It was absolutely wonderful.

On another morning, my wife stayed at the trailer to do some continuing education work (she is a physical therapist). I went to the Upper Geyser basin by myself. I heard a report of a grizzly bear near Riverside Geyser, so made my way there to check it out. I did not see anything and was making my way back when I ran into two very nice rangers who inquired if I had my bear spray with me, because there were bears about.

Just then, someone said "there they are". And, they were right. The bears were the same mother and two cubs and were safely off the path with some very hot thermal features separating us from the bears.

It was a great viewing opportunity. We were far enough from the main Old Faithful area that there were not very many tourists gathered. The lighting was great and the bears took their time eating and playing. It was fantastic.

You may recall that on our trip last fall I took picture of a grizzly mother with 3 cubs. That bear is called the Obsidian sow, because she often hangs out along Obsidian creek (which is near Roaring Mountain). Shortly after I took those pictures a boar (male) grizzly separated the cubs from the sow. The boar will try to kill the cubs so the sow will go into heat. I never saw the cubs again last year, but heard reports from reliable folks that she had reunited with two of them.

As we were driving back from the Lamar valley one evening we ran into a bit of a traffic jam at Obsidian creek. We were hoping it was a bear jam and, sure enough, it was. It was indeed the Obsidian sow. She had one yearling cub with here, so the other cub must have perished in the last year.

We saw those two bears a few days later when we went to check them out. They were hanging out in a similar area. There were throngs of people watching them. It was really exciting to see them.

I will stop there for now and continue adding posts to this thread in the future.

Steve
 

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Not only are your pictures great but I love your dialogue......what an exciting adventure. I am living vicariously through it all. LOVE that area! Kate
 
Steve, I so wish we'd been able to meet up with you. I also wish that Matt was as mobile as you still are!!! What wonderful adventures and beautiful country. I will go back one day when I can explore.
 
Whilst this area is famous even to us in Australia (and of course we had the Yogi bear cartoons when I was a child), yet I've never felt such a desire to get over and see all of this for myself like I feel reading your adventures!

Seeing those bears truly must be incredible.

Thank you so much for sharing, can't wait for the next instalment!
 
Thank you so much for the comments!

Chally, I so wish you could join me there. I am sure we could get into more trouble than we know how to get out of! With you in your V6 and me in the X4, we could truly explore some of the backcountry together.

Becky, I am also sad that we were not able to meet up. I would have loved to meet Matt and take a wheelchair stroll along the bike path at the base of the Tetons. I am blessed to still have the mobility that I do. Sometimes I reflect on how much I have lost, but then I remember how much I still have and am thankful.

Tillie, perhaps you just need to take a trip to Yellowstone! I know that with your love of the natural world that you would find much to enjoy there.

To everyone else, thanks for following along on my journey. I will continue to try and post in this thread as I am able.

Steve
 
Dear Steve and chally-

I would be both terrified and excited to hear you two had met up for adventures in Yellowstone. Were they eaten by bears? Saving clueless busloads of tourists by herding intransigent and vaguely aggressive bison away from them? Boiled alive in a previously unknown geyser while offroading in the back country? Kicked out of the park for general and unspecified shenanigans?
 
Steve, You are such a wonderful writer and photographer. I love hearing about your trips!
 
Here is another installment of our adventure in Yellowstone.

We have been going to Yellowstone long enough that we have developed friendships with some of the park employees as well as other regular visitors.

One of our friends works in the Lower General Store in the Old Faithful area. He often spends his winter seasons working in a town about 30 miles from where we live. So, we have the opportunity to see him both in the winter and on our spring/summer/fall trips to Yellowstone.

He does not have a care while he is in Yellowstone, so we will try to coordinate a day that he can drive around the park with us. We were able to so on this trip and made a trip from the Old Faithful area to the Lamar Valley, which is about a 2 hour drive each way.

We had a wonderful day seeing beautiful sights. There were many pronghorn and buffalo in the Lamar Valley. On our way to the Lamar Valley, we came across a significant traffic jam near the Tower Falls area. The jam was caused by a black bear sow with two cubs. Unfortunately, by the time we reached them, they had retreated into the woods.

On our way back to the Old Faithful area, we passed the same area. This time the bears were in full view. We had a wonderful time watching them. The mother was foraging for food and the cubs were playing. They hopped up on a rock and then started climbing a tree. They would go part way up the tree and then race back down.

It was delightful to be able to watch them.

My 60th birthday was on Memorial Day this year (May 29). A group of geyser gazers (folks who are pretty serious about watching geysers) have an annual party at the Madison campground on Memorial day. We were able to go to the party and see about 20 to 30 folks, most of whom we have gotten to know over the years. It was a great combined birthday/geyser gazer party!

While in Yellowstone, we were visited by some friends we met many years ago when we lived in Arizona. Over they years we have had many adventures together. They spent 3 days in Yellowstone with us and we had a wonderful time. We were able to go on a few wheelchair adventures with them.

One was around the Upper Geyser basin. On another we simply started from the campground. Unfortunately, most of the trails we usually do in the park were closed for bear management, so we had to make do with what was available. On the ride we took along the Madison river (near the campground), we saw a coyote along with a significant herd of buffalo. The buffalo were claving and there were many very young calves

It was amazing to watch the buffalo as they crossed the river. The mothers would be on the upstream side and the calves would be on the downstream side. This way, the mothers blocked the current and kept the calves from being washed away.

That is enough for now. There are many more stories to tell. I will try to add a few later.

Steve
 
Thank you
I am so enjoying reading about your trip and seeing the pictures

Wendy
 
I can read as many stories as you can write Steve! THANK YOU for sharing :)
 
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