Once upon a time
Random items from my past, present, and future.Thursday, June 23, 2005
Memories of Yellowstone
I first came to Yellowstone in probably either 1950 or 1951 (I'm getting old and can't remember). About the only natural feature I can remember is being on a boardwalk sort of looking into a cave and seeing mud bubbling. I can remember Mother was holding my hand. After seeing almost all of the park the last two years, I have decided the thermal feature that I remember is called The Mud Volcano, located between Fishing Bridge and Canyon.
The other thing I remember is my Dad feeding potato chips to the bears. Bears came up to cars everywhere begging for food. Most people fed them. I can't remember whether Dad got out of the car to feed them.
In 1961, I can remember staying in a cabin that used a wood-fired pot-bellied stove for heat. I don't know where this cabin was in the park. I can also remember walking above a canyon. I can remember we stopped at a picnic area for lunch and I used the pit toilet. When I came out, there was a bear about six feet from me. I stopped and watched the bear walk over to a trash container. In those days, the park used in the ground containers that had a metal lid. You stepped on a lever and the lid opened for you to dump your trash in. The bear stepped on the lever, put his two back feet on either side of the hole and lowered his front feet, head, and the top of his body into the hole to eat the garbage. It was years later before the park service put in bear-proof trash containers and made people stop feeding bears.
Interestingly enough, I don't remember Old Faithful from either of my first two trips. Mother also tells me that on one of these trips we went through the Grand Tetons but I didn't pay much attention. I was in the back seat reading comic books. I guess I've changed over time.
The other thing I remember is my Dad feeding potato chips to the bears. Bears came up to cars everywhere begging for food. Most people fed them. I can't remember whether Dad got out of the car to feed them.
In 1961, I can remember staying in a cabin that used a wood-fired pot-bellied stove for heat. I don't know where this cabin was in the park. I can also remember walking above a canyon. I can remember we stopped at a picnic area for lunch and I used the pit toilet. When I came out, there was a bear about six feet from me. I stopped and watched the bear walk over to a trash container. In those days, the park used in the ground containers that had a metal lid. You stepped on a lever and the lid opened for you to dump your trash in. The bear stepped on the lever, put his two back feet on either side of the hole and lowered his front feet, head, and the top of his body into the hole to eat the garbage. It was years later before the park service put in bear-proof trash containers and made people stop feeding bears.
Interestingly enough, I don't remember Old Faithful from either of my first two trips. Mother also tells me that on one of these trips we went through the Grand Tetons but I didn't pay much attention. I was in the back seat reading comic books. I guess I've changed over time.
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