Vol 3, # 77

   Wednesday, September 8, 1999

YELLOWSTONE
WEATHER
Highs 60s, Lows 20s
Partly Sunny
 

Yellowstone Net Home Page
 

ROAD REPORT
Some road
construction
delays.
 

EDITOR'S NOTE:   Norma Vaughan was killed in Yellowstone when she accidentally fell into the Grand Canyon this past Saturday.  The NPS press release does not tell the whole story.   Known to many of her friends as "Jean," she was a great friend of Yellowstone, as is her family she leaves behind.  I was also honored to know her as a friend.  Her funeral is today in Billings, Montana.  Cal, her husband is feeling very lost right now.  Jean, however, knew Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, and is at rest with the Lord now.  I would ask our readers to keep the Vaughan family in their prayers in the coming days and weeks.  Next week this paper will run a feature about this wonderful lady and her contributions to Yellowstone.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park officials report that a 74-year-old woman died from injuries sustained when she fell approximately 80 feet and then rolled another 420 feet into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River at Grandview Point overlook on Saturday, September 4, 1999. The accident  occurred at approximately 1:30 p.m.

The victim, Norma Norton Vaughn, and her husband, Calvin Vaughn, from Billings, Montana, had visited the park many times in the past. When they arrived at Grandview Point on Saturday afternoon, Mr. Vaughn remained in their vehicle to look at a map. Mrs. Vaughn got out of the car to look at the view; she apparently walked directly from the vehicle toward the canyon, past a warning sign, and slipped on the loose rock and dirt at the edge of the canyon. There were apparently no witnesses to Mrs. Vaughn's fall.

When Mr. Vaughn went to join the victim at the overlook a few minutes later, he was unable to locate her. He searched the area for about 45 minutes and then contacted a park ranger for assistance. An initial search was begun immediately; dog teams, a helicopter and additional search teams were called in to assist. The helicopter spotted the victim lying approximately 500 feet below the overlook at about 4 p.m. There was no sign of life and she was pronounced dead at the scene of massive trauma.

Recovery of the victim was delayed until Sunday morning due to the lateness of the hour and high winds above the canyon rim late Saturday afternoon. A technical recovery operation was begun early Sunday morning. Two park rangers on the technical rescue team climbed into the canyon in order to prepare the victim for extrication. The helicopter lowered a rope to the team and the victim was flown out of the canyon. About 20 park staff were involved in the operation that was completed by 10:30 a.m.

Both the North and South Canyon Rim Drives were closed to the public to prepare for and during most of the operation. All areas were re-opened by noon on Sunday.

Park visitors are reminded to stay on designated walkways and to obey all park regulations.

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS

Ralph Maughan
Kim Steinbacher
Kevin Sanders
Steve Brashear
Clint Wilkes
Tim Gourley
Hon. Bob Gammage
Ruth Colter-Frick
Lee Whittlesey
Tom Mazzarisi
Russ Finley
David Monteith
Denise Elmer
Dr. Robert Bara

BELGRADE, Mont. (YNET) -- This weeks P&P is from our forum, Matthew, the FunkyGeyser Man wrote this and I asked him if it was OK to share it with everyone in our Newspaper...he said "sure" so I hope you enjoy.

Hello everyone!! Someone asked me for help planning a five day trip in Yellowstone so I started to work something out based on my knowledge of the park. I realized that what I was writing might interest others, so I decided to post it here for everyone to use. I hope it helps!

Yellowstone in five days!!! (Part III) Click here for Part I and Part II

Southeast sector:  This is the sector I know the least about. (sorry!)

Thermal Areas

Mud Volcano -- Lots of mud and acidic activity (similar to Norris). If you thought the other areas smelled bad, watch out for this one!!! A nice little hike. Oh, and a thermal feature just broke out in the parking lot there. Might be neat to check out!

West Thumb -- The great thing about this basin is that it is the only easily accessed basin that sits on the edge of a lake, which makes for some great scenery. This area has been doing some interesting stuff over the past decade so you never know what you might see there. (The road between Fishing Bridge and West Thumb as you near West Thumb also has some neat features along it.

Steamboat Point -- Basically some fumeroles next to the road on the eastern side of the lake.

Waterfalls

Lewis Falls - A small waterfall just south of Lewis Lake on the road between the South Entrance and West Thumb

Wildlife

The Hayden Valley is the place to go if you need to see animals. Pull off the road at a turnout and check out the valley. Don't stray out into it though (unless you are careful) because this is definitely bear country. I can almost guarantee you that you will see some animals there..

Next week:  Part III in Matthew's recommended five day tour of Yellowstone.

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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park officials have announced that a park visitor was injured by a bear on the Skyrim Trail to Bighorn Peak in the northwest area of the park on Friday, August 27. A friend of the visitor notified park officials of the encounter last week.

At mid-day on Friday, a male hiker from Switzerland and a female hiker from New York were hiking towards Bighorn Peak when they heard a moaning noise. Unsure what the sound was, and thinking the noise was farther away, they continued with their hike. They had only taken a few steps when they saw a bear (by their description, probably a grizzly) approximately 10 yards away on a slope to the left of the trail. The woman stepped away from the bear and quickly dropped down on her lower legs into a ball position; the bear charged the woman, huffed a few times, but did not touch or harm her.

At the same time, the male hiker stepped uphill in the direction the bear was first spotted. He was approached, but not touched, by two yearlings. The male hiker deployed his pepper spray (he was unsure whether the spray hit the young bears), and the adult bear immediately turned away from the woman and charged toward the male hiker. The hiker continued to spray, falling on his back in the process, but the bear did not touch him. Thinking the adult bear was going to attack, the main raised his leg for protection. The bear swatted the leg, inflicting two gashes and other minor injuries. The adult bear then sniffed at the cloud of spray, retreated, but immediately returned. The two hikers-now out of pepper spray-remained on the ground, very still, until all three bears left the area.

Although the hikers had met a park ranger patrolling the area on horseback shortly before their incident, they chose to return to the trailhead where their vehicle was parked and drive to Bozeman, Montana, for medical treatment.

The Skyrim Trail has been posted with bear warning signs. The trail has not been closed; rangers will continue to monitor the area for bear activity.

This is the first bear incident this season. Park visitors are reminded to take appropriate precautions when hiking in bear country. When hiking, don't travel alone, stay on designated trails, make noise, and be alert. Try not to surprise bears or any other wildlife while hiking, and never approach wildlife with young.

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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Michael Finley is pleased to announced that thanks to a generous donation from the Olympic Paint Company, Old Faithful Inn-built in 1903-will be receiving a fresh, exterior look.

Like other park buildings, the Inn is subjected to extremely harsh winter conditions and needs periodic exterior work to maintain its wood-shingled fabric; this can be quite costly. A few years ago, Amfac Parks and Resorts, the concessioner that operates the Inn, was approached by representatives of Olympic to see how they could contribute to the upkeep of this national treasure. This resulted in Olympic's generous donation of 1,100 gallons of exterior, semi-transparent stain. To purchase that amount of stain would have cost $22,000.

Before the staining could be done, however, some preservation maintenance and repairs were necessary. The first phase of the project began in July, and the remainder of the Inn will receive new stain next year.

"Old Faithful Inn, a National Historic Landmark, is as revered by many park visitors as Old Faithful Geyser," Superintendent Finley said. "Olympic Paint Company's generous donation is an excellent example of how private partners can contribute to the preservation and protection of the park's significant cultural and natural resources."

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