Posted on 08/29/2016 4:45:13 AM PDT by SJackson
Edited on 08/29/2016 1:31:19 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. - Tourist John Gleason crept through the grass, four small children close behind, inching toward a bull elk with antlers like small trees at the edge of a meadow in Yellowstone National Park.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
“I think we could spare a water sample for some Asian tourists.”
I noticed that too and thought the same. They probably got off the ‘approved and safe’ boardwalk to get their samples though.
Like life as a whole, it really depends on where you go.
I’ve been to many of them, mostly in the south, midwest and east though. I had a great time at all of them.
“The selfie generation is driving me crazy.”
I remember how we used to snicker at all the Japanese tourists who had multiple cameras around their necks, taking selfies in front of every and anything in the parks during the eighties. Who would’ve ever guessed it would become as prolific as it is now?
“In Yellowstone, rangers are recording more wildlife violations, more people treading on sensitive thermal areas and more camping in off-limit areas.........”
Laws and stinkin rules? We don’t need no stinkin rules, odumbo has given us an open book, free from all regulations. Screw you, If he can do it, so can we. (sarc)
Rules, schmules. We're in the era of Hillary. Get with the program.
I’ve seen all kinds of dumbassery in the state and national parks.
Recently, in Shenandoah National Park, I was hiking a loop known for a large number of waterfalls (9) and came across one family, where the morbidly obese father was carrying a 100lb pack with all the stuff for the eight other members of his party. He took off his shirt (ugh!) and climbed into a small side-fall and began to fill the party’s canteens/water bottles. I asked them if they were going to filter or treat the water before drinking it and the mother said, “But it’s a crystal clear mountain stream!” Thanks, Coors. I advised them that they had about 36 hours to seek medical treatment before the really bad stuff began to happen.
People hiking the trails in street shows and only carrying a half-bottle of Mountain Dew. On an eight-mile loop with a elevation differential of 2500 feet. WTF?
No we were not armed so we’d have just been dinner! He heard me shout so he stood up and sniffed in all directions but was hungry for berries, dessert, haa! Guess his eye sight was dim but when he was sniffing in our direction it was scary!
I have a book called ‘ Death in Yellowstone ‘ . It documents the deaths starting just before it became a park . I like to read aloud from it on our drives to Yellowstone . Especially if we have ‘ rookies ‘ in the car .
OMG! I’ll bet it was scary! On our bear hunts, 5 of them, my husband was armed and we had 2 guides, both armed. I was just standing there terrified. One of the guides said my mouth was open so wide that he could have driven a truck into it! We camped out on several of those hunts, sleeping in a small tent on the ground. We are old now, we don’t do that anymore! LOL!
OMG! I’ll bet it was scary! On our bear hunts, 5 of them, my husband was armed and we had 2 guides, both armed. I was just standing there terrified. One of the guides said my mouth was open so wide that he could have driven a truck into it! We camped out on several of those hunts, sleeping in a small tent on the ground. We are old now, we don’t do that anymore! LOL!
A couple of other tourists came upon the scene, and obviously they were not naturalists nor had they spent long periods of time in the field as had I. They kept getting way too close to the herd bull, with his armchair sized rack of antlers. I told them to back off, that they could spook him and end up with several hundred pounds of muscle driving those sharp antlers right through them. Suddenly, I sensed a presence behind me. It was a ranger. He said, "Thank you. You may have saved some lives here."
I subsequently have come upon ignorant tourists in another Colorado park virtually coming nose to nose with a bear feeding on berries in a thicket, with holding on to an iron railing during cloud to ground lightning in Arizona, hiking without water in Arizona, etc. Our national parks are magnificent and I thank G-d I was privileged to admire His creations in them, but people whose only previous contact with nature was watching Discovery Channel will continue to come to grief as they enter a kingdom not theirs with the typical human arrogance.
Lots of places to go that aren't mobbed by idiots, when I was doing that kind of thing. Health issue now, so not so much anymore. I used to go up in the Sierra Nevada mountains and in the back country of Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties in CA. You could go up there and not see anybody at all.
lol, that is so bad.
Banff is on tap for next summer. I was ogled by a squirrel at Grand Teton while hiking at String Lake. Ran right up to my foot, looked up at me and took off. Not nearly as terrifying or exciting as a bear.
I also spent lots of time in the Sierra’s back in the day. I live in Texas and the mountains around here ate almost as tall at the overpasses. But, no shortage on idiots.
I have that book too. Two other good reads are "Off the Wall-Death in Yosemite" and "Over the Edge-Death In Grand Canyon."
I’ll check them out .
Yellowstone is still great just after and just before most of the gates close for the season. All the kids are are back in school, and the freezing nights and light snows keep many of the others away. The fishing is great for hungry trout in the spring, and the animals are moving down off the mountain meadows to the lower parts of the park in the fall.
I refuse to go during the traffic jam season.
Most people think the rules do not apply to them. Post a sign with policies or requirements for something and you will be ignored or asked “does this apply to me???”
I live near a national park and have watched idiot tourist get out and try and feed black bears which is a death sentence for the bear eventually as they come to depend on humans for food and lose their fear of them or for the Darwin award candidate tourist depending on the bears mood at the moment and the tourists actions.
I have watched these fools get out and surround a coiled rattlesnake rattling profusely and them eww and awww! I drive by and see the event and roll the window down and suggest to these brain trusts, you might want to leave this fellow along that rattle means you are pissing him off, back off and if he bites you, you can die. Only to get a blinking duh boy look in response. I drove off and left them to their fate.
All that being said, most park employees are pretty nice with one exception, Park Rangers for the most part they are the biggest Aholes around. Arrogant, it’s “OUR PARK PEASANT” attitudes. The locals get along well with regular park employees but wouldn’t piss on a Ranger if they were on fire. The park usually brings in a yankee or someone not from this area and they come in with a preconceived notion about the locals and come off as pure butt holes and that feeling is reciprocated by the locals. The other park employees know how the Rangers act and can’t do anything about it but apologize for their behavior.
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