Yellowstone .......America's crown jewel

[cptqueeg]

The good news is we're going back to Mammoth in a couple weeks and the bathrooms will be open!

 

[Crazydog]

We all know the cause of just one bathroom being open.

 

[cptqueeg]

Anyway, would rather have the bathrooms closed than deal w the mass of humanity over this past MDW. We were accommodating my daughter and her boyfriends work schedule so no choice on the timing.

YS never fails to produce stunning wildlife and this trip was no different. While we didn't see wolves, or sheep all the other mega-fauna was observed.

Next trip is in July on a 3 day guided wolf watching program. We're staying at the Lamar Ranger Station which will be a unique experience in and of itself. The program is a daily hike from 6a-3pm, siesta, food, and then a drive to until dusk spotting from the road. Thankfully I won't have to endure driving other than getting to Lamar Valley and leaving.

I will be covertly packing on those 3 hikes for sure!

 

[cptqueeg]

We recently spent 3 nights at a BLM campground in North Idaho, known as Huckleberry CG, near Avery Idaho. The condition and the facilities were far above any NPS or USFS campground I've visited. The hosts/workers were out every day making the place shine, everything seemed to be of recent vintage, and nothing was run down or poorly kept.

It's mind boggling how the National Park Service and BLM have completely different mindsets wrt campsites. despite both being in the Department of the Interior.

It seems like NPS uses campers to generate revenue while doing absolutely minimal maintenance and obviously no improvements. For instance, how can one of the best located campgrounds in the entire NPS system go w/out potable water being available, 4 years after it was knocked out by flooding?

It seems like the BLM, if they are going to charge a fee to camp, at least gives something for the money. NPS should at least return some camping fees to the campgrounds to maintain and enhance what they have.