The People of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons

I don't take photos of other people because it invades their privacy.  However, I have to leave some last comments about the people of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.  Of course, there are the travellers.  We met many very kind and interested fellow travellers, mostly from the US, but a few people from Europe and many Chinese coming from China.  Everyone was, like us, astonished by all they saw.  I didn't hear complaints about the speed limit (45 mph in the park), the need to protect wildlife nor the request that people stay on the board walks and trails.  It's pretty easy to appreciate all the requirements in order to enjoy a very special part of American heritage.

One group of people is no longer present at these parks.  The native Americans roamed the parks for thousands of years.  In the Yellowstone Lake area, anthropologists have found evidence of native people back 11, 000 years!  But they are not part of the park today, largely because the US government moved them out of the parks to reservations in the 1800s.

The most important people in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons today are the rangers and volunteer staff.  They make decisions on the park management, guide visitors on tours, man the various visitor centers, cut down trees that fall on the road (which happens plenty in the summer), clear trails (of trees and other problems), and do a hundred other things that we visitors don't know about.  Without them Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons as parks would cease to exist.  I feel like they should get a weekly thank you from all the park visitors.

The final large group of people are the service staff.  These people, largely young adults, but with a sprinkling of people from 35-70, serve meals, clean rooms, wait at luncheon counters, play music in the hotel-lodge lounges, ring up sales for groceries and souvenirs in the park shops and visitor centers and work at the self-service laundries.  I met a good number of the service people and talked with them.  Everyone was friendly, loves Yellowstone, and was happy to talk as they did their work.  Most of these people spend May to mid-October at Yellowstone, and they work elsewhere for the winter (or if retired, spend winter someplace warm!).  A few live year round at the park (which is only possible at Mammoth Hot Springs).  They are certainly not paid big salaries, and their job benefits are few.  They are essential to the existence and comfort of visitors to Yellowstone.  I thanked everyone I could, but we cannot thank them enough. 

So Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks are wonderful people places as well as home to amazing beauty, unique geology and fascinating wildlife and plants.