October 12, 2025
Greetings from Yellowstone, where the government shutdown has curtailed some services but has not closed the park. We are continuing strong into the Fall season with minimal staffing and plenty of visitors.
September was a super fun month with our friends Pete and Janet visiting the park for the very first time. We enjoyed sharing all the usual highlights and even a few behind the scenes experiences where we were able to see bears and bison doing their things in a natural environment without the crowds. Shortly after, our friends Christina and Tony visited and we had a grand week of wildlife viewing and sharing great meals. September really brought out the best of the park, as all the animals were on display (we even had a bison hanging out on the clinic helipad). Fall colors began to emerge in a full spectrum. It’s an amazing time to be living in such a dynamic landscape. Heather and I, along with our good friend Laura, had an interesting dinner excursion into the backcountry by way of horse-drawn wagons. It was a good-old-fashioned cookout around the fire and a fun time was had by all.
After all of our September friends concluded their visits, Heather and I took off on a scenic tour along the Beartooth Highway. The Beartooth is one of the most scenic drives in North America and winds along the Beartooth Mountains, climbing to nearly 11,000 feet. After two days of exploring we returned back to Old Faithful to finish out our remaining days before Heather headed back east with the motorhome. We had one last fun trip to Big Sky, Montana for Oktoberfest!
I continue my service working in the clinic and as a paramedic with the Yellowstone Emergency Services team. We responded to an early morning crash and a few medical calls over the past few weeks. Even as the season progressed into early October, the number of visitors remained high in the park. I had a stretch of days off in early October and made a trip to Moab, Utah to enjoy the desert, do some off-road exploring, hiking, biking and gather some extra sun before winter fully arrives.
As we move further into October, we are working on putting the clinics and park into hibernation mode. My time here will conclude at the end of October. We have much work to prepare for winter, and snow is already in the forecast. Thanks for following along!
