Greetings from Yellowstone
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swalker
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We are home after a long and wonderful trip to Yellowstone.
This was a bucket list trip for sure. While we have been to Yellowstone many time before, it was always for a few days to a few weeks. This time, we planned to spend five whole weeks there.
We were there for the entire month of May and the first week of June. It was our first trip in our new-to-us trailer. We learned a lot, had tremendous experiences, and met some wonderful people.
Thank you for all the encouragement everyone has provided in their comments. It kept us going when the going got a bit tough. This was a hard trip. It was hard to prepare for, hard to actually commit to, and took a pretty good toll on my body. It will take me a bit to recover, such as recover is nowadays, but was absolutely worth it!
I want to relate a few special things that happened on this trip.
One day, as I was racing ahead of my wife Lori, a woman approached Lori and mentioned that she knew just how Lori felt. She had spent quite a bit of time trying to keep up with her recently-passed husband who had used a power wheelchair. This led to a long and great conversation about many things, including the kinds of trailers and RVs that work well with wheelchairs. This was very useful, as I plan to continue to camp for as long as I can. Our trailer serves our needs now, but we will have to migrate to something different as my mobility declines. She was a wonderful person and very helpful.
Another day, we were sitting at Grand Geyser waiting for it to erupt. We sat next to a woman (Suzanne) who mentioned her husband had been in a wheelchair. It turns out she was a CALS and he was a PALS. She offered great support and comfort, along with encouragement on a number of topics.
On yet another day, as I was sitting by Beehive Geyser waiting for it to erupt, I saw another power wheelchair user on the boardwalk. Power wheelchair users are pretty rare on the boardwalks (though, they should not be). After Beehive erupted, we struck up a conversation. It turns out he is a PALS (Bill) and his wife a CALS (Robin) from Georgia. They were wonderful people (as all PALS/CALS seem to be). I was able to show them some of my favorite spots in the Upper Geyser Basin as we spent about an hour wheeling together. We must have been quite a sight!
These are just a few of the amazing experiences we had. I so enjoyed watching and photographing wildlife, exploring the various geyser basins and their thermal features, seeing wonderful scenery, and meeting some very special people.
While camping in a trailer is not quite the same as being in a tent, it worked out very well. I spent many days sleeping late and going to bed early. I put many miles on the wheelchairs and was able to really explore the limits of the X4 wheelchair
.
We did decide to cancel the backcountry wheelchair backpacking trip, as it was just too much. I changed my mind about that a dozen times and then rethought it after I surrendered the reservation. Of course, there was a hard and prolonged rain the day we would have spent in the backcountry, so it turned out to be a really good decision.
It was a magical trip that I will remember forever.
And, for those of you who are curious, I got several independent reports from trustworthy sources that the mother grizzly bear found and reunited with 2 of the 3 missing cubs. That was very unexpected, but very good news.
Steve
This was a bucket list trip for sure. While we have been to Yellowstone many time before, it was always for a few days to a few weeks. This time, we planned to spend five whole weeks there.
We were there for the entire month of May and the first week of June. It was our first trip in our new-to-us trailer. We learned a lot, had tremendous experiences, and met some wonderful people.
Thank you for all the encouragement everyone has provided in their comments. It kept us going when the going got a bit tough. This was a hard trip. It was hard to prepare for, hard to actually commit to, and took a pretty good toll on my body. It will take me a bit to recover, such as recover is nowadays, but was absolutely worth it!
I want to relate a few special things that happened on this trip.
One day, as I was racing ahead of my wife Lori, a woman approached Lori and mentioned that she knew just how Lori felt. She had spent quite a bit of time trying to keep up with her recently-passed husband who had used a power wheelchair. This led to a long and great conversation about many things, including the kinds of trailers and RVs that work well with wheelchairs. This was very useful, as I plan to continue to camp for as long as I can. Our trailer serves our needs now, but we will have to migrate to something different as my mobility declines. She was a wonderful person and very helpful.
Another day, we were sitting at Grand Geyser waiting for it to erupt. We sat next to a woman (Suzanne) who mentioned her husband had been in a wheelchair. It turns out she was a CALS and he was a PALS. She offered great support and comfort, along with encouragement on a number of topics.
On yet another day, as I was sitting by Beehive Geyser waiting for it to erupt, I saw another power wheelchair user on the boardwalk. Power wheelchair users are pretty rare on the boardwalks (though, they should not be). After Beehive erupted, we struck up a conversation. It turns out he is a PALS (Bill) and his wife a CALS (Robin) from Georgia. They were wonderful people (as all PALS/CALS seem to be). I was able to show them some of my favorite spots in the Upper Geyser Basin as we spent about an hour wheeling together. We must have been quite a sight!
These are just a few of the amazing experiences we had. I so enjoyed watching and photographing wildlife, exploring the various geyser basins and their thermal features, seeing wonderful scenery, and meeting some very special people.
While camping in a trailer is not quite the same as being in a tent, it worked out very well. I spent many days sleeping late and going to bed early. I put many miles on the wheelchairs and was able to really explore the limits of the X4 wheelchair
.We did decide to cancel the backcountry wheelchair backpacking trip, as it was just too much. I changed my mind about that a dozen times and then rethought it after I surrendered the reservation. Of course, there was a hard and prolonged rain the day we would have spent in the backcountry, so it turned out to be a really good decision.
It was a magical trip that I will remember forever.
And, for those of you who are curious, I got several independent reports from trustworthy sources that the mother grizzly bear found and reunited with 2 of the 3 missing cubs. That was very unexpected, but very good news.
Steve
affected
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Steve that was so enjoyable to read with my early morning cup of tea
You attitude to this disease is a beautiful inspiration.
The way you give and take joy out of life, the way you use every possible device to let you be out there in the world you love, are so important.
Both you and your wife can relive the memories of these times on bad or hard days, and help you through those days.
Your wife is going to have these things to cherish for the rest of her life, and it is going to bring her so much comfort to know that you both lived every single moment you could. Not everyone who lives a very long life can do this.
And to finish off with knowing that 2 of those cubs got back to mamma - well you have made my day!
Rest up mate, grinning the whole time ...
You attitude to this disease is a beautiful inspiration.
The way you give and take joy out of life, the way you use every possible device to let you be out there in the world you love, are so important.
Both you and your wife can relive the memories of these times on bad or hard days, and help you through those days.
Your wife is going to have these things to cherish for the rest of her life, and it is going to bring her so much comfort to know that you both lived every single moment you could. Not everyone who lives a very long life can do this.
And to finish off with knowing that 2 of those cubs got back to mamma - well you have made my day!
Rest up mate, grinning the whole time ...
BlueandGold
Senior member
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Like I've said many times before Steve, you are an inspiration to me. If ever there was a Pals that refused to let ALS control them it's you. I can't even imagine how exhausting each day was as you knew what you wanted to do and you made it happen. You are a special soul Steve. I really admire you.
Vince
Vince
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Steve, thanks for sharing your adventures in Yellowstone. I looked forward to every update- and am VERY glad the grizzly mum managed to meet up with her remaining offspring again. Your splendid photos brought back memories of my own visit there, and I confess I felt a bit of envy that you got to visit for 5 amazing weeks. Inspirational.
swalker
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If anyone is interested in seeing more photos, you can check them out on my photo website. That is a non-commercial site (I do photography for fun and don't sell anything). You can download anything you want from there for non-commercial use.
Zenfolio | Steven A. Walker | Yellowstone Spring 2016
Steve
Zenfolio | Steven A. Walker | Yellowstone Spring 2016
Steve
ShiftKicker
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Steve! The picture of the bear and the wolf facing off over the carcass is AMAZING! I don't have enough hyperbolic language for that photo.
swalker
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The episode with the wolf and grizzly was pretty special. I have been watching wildlife a long time and had never been close enough to photograph this kind of behavior before. Before this encounter, I had never seen a grizzly lose such a confrontation.
This was a very small grizzly, probably 4 years old and likely one of what are known as the Hayden twins (a pair of siblings relocated to the Hayden Valley of Yellowstone after getting into a bit of trouble elsewhere). The wolf was the alpha male, probably of the Canyon pack (though I have heard other opinions).
It is interesting how I have been able to adapt to photography with mobility limitations. All of the pictures from this trip were taken within a few feet of the car or my wheelchair.
It brings me great joy to still be able to do this. I am thinking about how I can mount my big camera setup on one of my wheelchairs. I don't have any remotely practical solutions yet, but am still pondering.
Steve
This was a very small grizzly, probably 4 years old and likely one of what are known as the Hayden twins (a pair of siblings relocated to the Hayden Valley of Yellowstone after getting into a bit of trouble elsewhere). The wolf was the alpha male, probably of the Canyon pack (though I have heard other opinions).
It is interesting how I have been able to adapt to photography with mobility limitations. All of the pictures from this trip were taken within a few feet of the car or my wheelchair.
It brings me great joy to still be able to do this. I am thinking about how I can mount my big camera setup on one of my wheelchairs. I don't have any remotely practical solutions yet, but am still pondering.
Steve
Margesmn
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Steve,
I'm so glad you had such a great trip. Thank you for sharing your photos. And thank you for sharing your website. My morning coffee was especially nice looking at your photos. You are very talented!!
Margaret
I'm so glad you had such a great trip. Thank you for sharing your photos. And thank you for sharing your website. My morning coffee was especially nice looking at your photos. You are very talented!!
Margaret
chally
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Hey Steve, love hearing about adventures! The photos are great! I too get into adventures in my PWC daily. Can 't stop doing things just cause of a nightmare. Next up white water rafting down the NEW river gorge as I used to be a guide and many friends are taking me down. Can't really use a camera my hands are useless. No worry it 's all in my head! Haha love ya bro chally
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Dear Steve, thank you so much for sharing your experience and your amazing photos. Yellowstone is such a special place. You and Lori are such an inspiration to both PALS and CALS.
V
V
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Steve - wow and wow again. Such superb images!
Do you know the site 365project dot org?
It's a site for photographers and the idea is that you upload a photo every day. People follow you and comment and favourite photos, and for those who know photography there is lots of tips and and they run themes for fun and all kinds of stuff.
I post my koalas there, but I'm not photographer and have a tiny little point and shoot camera, which actually takes amazing photos for what it is. I do sometimes wonder though what I could do if I had a great camera!
You might find it really enjoyable there.
Do you know the site 365project dot org?
It's a site for photographers and the idea is that you upload a photo every day. People follow you and comment and favourite photos, and for those who know photography there is lots of tips and and they run themes for fun and all kinds of stuff.
I post my koalas there, but I'm not photographer and have a tiny little point and shoot camera, which actually takes amazing photos for what it is. I do sometimes wonder though what I could do if I had a great camera!
You might find it really enjoyable there.
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