Snowed the morning of April 15th. It was sticking above 6000 feet. We're staying in an RV park just outside the north gate at 5500 feet, so it was melting as it hit the ground, but we had to drive up into it for our first orientation class. The rest of the week was generally clear, with lots of bison, elk and pronghorn along the way. It snowed again near the end of the week but melted off within a day or two.

Those of us that have been here more than two years didn't have to stay for the last two days of class and got to move down to Madison campground early. The few of us that did, gathered around a campfire that evening and were greeted by a grizzly bear walking through the campground loops. It appears to be the baby (now 3 years old) that was with the sow that came through camp the last couple of years. Some of the new workers, that are afraid of bears, will be happy to know that it walked right through their campsite.

 

On Sunday the 24th, we got to take a bus ride around the southern loop of the park. It's supposed to be an orientation to the park for the new employees, but returning employees can also take it. We didn't see as many animals as last year but we did see one grizzly bear in the Mud Volcano area. It even sat down and posed for a portrait while we were there.

 

We started working at the campground the day after the tour with a week of training and opened the campground to the public the last Friday of April. We have yet to fill all the campsites but every night we have more campers. We will open the last two tent loops May 13th.

May 4th, we made a trip to Livingston to see Matt's in-laws who are making a trip to Philadelphia to see the kids. As it turned out, they were on their way to see us at the same time,, so we unknowingly passed each other going in opposite directions. They were able to call us from the Old Faithful area, while we were at their RV and we got together for a couple of hours that afternoon.

After they left, we took a drive to the Madison Meadows, just to take a drive. We stopped in a turnout to watch a herd of  bison. I was able to take a short video of one of them scratching itself on a boulder.

On May 9th we took a drive to Lookout Point north of Yellowstone Lake. The lake still has ice around the edges but the middle is fairly clear. On the way back we saw a Blue Heron in Yellowstone River hunting for food and was able to get a short video of that too.

We are still short a couple of people, so we will be working longer hours until the new people make it to Yellowstone.