Tag: NPS Radio

A new year means new ways for people to cause trouble and new strange behaviors and new foolishness.

• First day in park, arrive at Norris at 07:00. Call for West Entrance to assist West PD. Woman at restaurant, drunk and disorderly. Not clear if call by owner's wife or if owner's wife causing the trouble. Call to stand down 20 min later.
• EMS (Emergency Medical Services) pager callout— for two employees, aged 19 and 20, at Lodge HR office with bear spray in the eyes.
• Grizzly in the old Old Faithful corrals and athletic fields area.
• Call about car at Lone Star trailhead stuck in snowdrift. Needed tow truck to pull it out about 8 feet.
• Medical call in late evening of 19 year old with severe head laceration received "from the ceiling". Bleeding was under control by time EMS arrived. Shortly after that a report of someone, wrapped in a blanket, was accosting people stopped waiting at the one lane overpass. They were searching for him when I decided it was a good time to go to sleep.
• At Midway, person called in to report that they hit, and knocked down, the stop sign at the exit from the parking lot. Or, as the responder said, "destroying government property."
• Report of 6 people from silver van with Calif plates out at Gentian Pool.
• Multiple burglar alarms at OF water treatment reservoir being caused by a squirrel.
• Maintenance saw rocks being collected along Firehole Canyon Dr. Car stopped on Fountain Flats. Driver consented to search. Car packed but labeled contraband found. Driver cited.
• Right afterwards, car from OF pulled over for doing 66 in 35 zone. Cited with court appearance.
• Seemed to take a lot of time to take care of a fire alarm at the Inn, despite report of sparking and a fire extinguisher being used.
• One evening during the springtime bear closures of the Lower Basin, someone noticed that there seemed to be a lot of cars (Eleven) parked at the Fairy Falls trailhead. Patrols went in from there and Ojo Caliente. Only a family of five from Iowa were encountered and cited.
• New type of traffic stoppage-- tree jam due to fallen tree.
• Tesla on West Entrance road needing tow to West because it ran out of power just past Seven Mile Bridge.
• At Fountain Paint Pots, drone pilot only got a warning. Then things got interesting. Car hit an elk. Elk survived, but was near the road. That attracted attention of not only cars passing by, but also a wolf. We heard about this just before entering Fountain Flats while returning from Norris. We made it through as trafic was already being moved along. About an hour later, the wolf was still trying to figure out how to get that meal when a grizzly bear joined in on the fun. Found out later that wolf was chasing elk, and this got caught on dashcam video. Elk later moved from road, where it had been "10 feet from fog line."
• Rockfall at Gibbon Falls. Cleanup impeded because there's still debris coming down. Then weather closures for other two routes to Norris, cutting it off for rest of morning.
• Next day rockfalls on West Entrance road. At least one car ran over some of the rocks and needed service
• Power outage from at least Norris south lasting several hours causes the noisy Old Faithful generator to be used. This causes overheating and trips fire alarms in building.
• Call from Fountain Paint Pots about two people off trail in Kaleidoscope Group. Way off trail-- "400 yards", "quarter mile". Possibly looking for "bathing ". Ranger headed that way asked for possible assistance from Geology if they had to go after them. Instead, people returned to FPP, where they were rewarded with a return visit to Yellowstone to meet with the magistrate later this summer.
• "Fifty foot RV with 50 foot trailer" blocking lane in OF parking lot. Blocked in by other vehicles so couldn't move.
• Late night report of dispatching a bison just off the road at Terrace Spring.
• Report of "child of 13" riding skateboard on boardwalk at Midway.
• Tour guide has medical emergency at FPP, stranding vehicle and two clients who need to get back to Jackson.
• Maintenance must've started their holiday weekend early, because the next (Friday) afternoon, the bison carcass was still there. (We saw it going to and coming from Norris.) That's when driver of rental RV made inquiry to NPS person at Madison about removing the horns as keepsake. That attention finally got the bison moved. (Why not carve off some hamburger too?)
• In OF employee trailer area, afternoon report of caged dog barking all day. Dog confiscated and relocated to ranger station.
• Report of bear south of Daisy. (Not sure if “Daisy” the turnout, or “Daisy” the geyser.) Turned out to be coyote. Nevermind.

The radio adventures in the first couple of days since the last posting were dominated at times by the Lone Star Fire closures and the chaos that those closures caused. It didn't help when one of those closures is on the Saturday of a holiday weekend with the road at Mud Volcano also closed. Since then, things got back to normal.

• Call about theft from motorcycle saddlebags. Took a while for NPS to make contact, but when they did, the missing items were quickly recovered and the culprit identified-- a raven.
• Massive search for man who got irate in Snowlodge lobby, threw a drink and stormed out. Was described as intoxicated when he then abandoned his family in their car in the parking lot and disappeared. Search included off trail areas between paved bike trail and highway, trails to Biscuit, and even a helicopter. Was eventually found on the overpass. Not sure what happened next, although it appears his family ended up staying in Snowlodge cabin that night.
• Person stopped at Fairy Falls parking area for "resource" who had a prior local record for "MVA" . Given a written warning for rock collection.
• Call at 09:30 about a tent set up "in meadow at exit to Firehole Lake Drive" with the car well off the road. Three were cited for OB (out-of-bounds) Camping and one for Car Off Road, all with a court date in October.
• Dead bat at the Lodge. Correction, live bat, at least it's moving a bit. And tourists seem to be overly interested in playing with it.
• If you call about a lockout from your vehicle, and you have an expired driver's license, you will get your vehicle opened and a citation for the expired license.
• During the Labor Day weekend traffic mess, there was a call about a dead deer next to the southbound lane just south of the entrance to the Fountain Flats Drive.
• The Craig Pass road may have been reopened the morning, but the trailheads and picnic areas were still closed, to keep people out in case they suddenly needed to close the road again. (As happened on Sunday). That didn't stop people from getting cited for being in closed area.
• The last day at Norris started with the morning report of a collision between cement truck (hauling 11 cubic yards) and an RV trailer right at the entrance to the Madison Campground. Callout and canceling of OF fire crew, as well as a traffic mess and debris all over the place.

For the first few days after the earlier radio report, things seemed pretty quiet. Mornings especially, when sometimes I'd wonder if the radio was even on. Only a few medicals in the afternoon. Then things got back to normal.

• There were two reports of medical problems in between West Thumb and Old Faithful. So several local units headed southeast in an attempt to respond. The cardiac incident wasn't found, but the pickup truck with the seizure flagged down a responder at Kepler. One of the other responders was an ambulance from the Lower Basin. South of Midway, with lights flashing, it was involved in a minor rear-end collision. There's one NPS driver with lots of paperwork to fill out.
• If you aren't going to store your food properly in your Madison campsite, that will attract official attention. So you should not leave your marijuana where it's visible when someone comes around to confiscate your improper storage. That person got two citations, one for "possesion of less than three grams" along with the storage violation.
• You only get one verbal warning for speed. Even if it was last year, you are getting a citation the next time.
• There was the pair of cultists out at the boardwalk around Old Faithful with loudspeakers exhorting the people there to repent of their wicked ways. At first they refused to stop, so Responding Ranger called for backup, with lights on. They relented and left area. They were driving a Prius with Washington plates, so is a good chance that they were Seattle Democrats who "believe in science."
• There was the group of nine who were first reported engaged in "thermal tresspass" out by Grand Geyser, "cussing out" those who requested they stay on trail. They were officially met where the bridge trail to Geyser Hill meets Old Faithful loop. I didn't hear what happened next, but assume it wasn't much.
• There were the motorcyclists who had already gotten citations for crossing the double yellow line over by Lake. Their next work of genius was on the road between West Thumb and Lake, where they would slow down for a while, use a turnout letting people pass, then speed up and pass them, starting the cycle again. Except one of the cars they were annoying was off-duty medical with a radio. So they were met at Kepler Cascades by Old Faithful Patrol. They only got a warning, unfortunately.
• Visitor assist for a phone lost down a storm grate at the Scaup Lake turnout. They could see it, but could not reach it.
• I missed the start of the traffic stop, but you know things are getting interesting when the Ranger is asking for VIN information, including license plate number and registered address. Did hear the result, after the stop had lasted about an hour-- mandatory court appearance for failure to pay fees, no vehicle registration, no display of plates and no proof of insurance.
• The first one-way trip to Mammoth I've heard of this trip was someone who got stopped for reasons unknown. But they found "crystaline substance", marijuana pipe, meth pipes (one broken), cuts on subjects hand and blood on broken pipe and around front seat. They also did a field blood draw.
• There was the vehicle at Gibbon Picnic that spilled several quarts of oil due to a leaky drain plug.
• Waiting at Norris, heard about the couple who'd brought in a dog burned in a thermal feature to the Old Faithful Clinic. Were described as "non-coperative" about where the incident occurred, but found out later that could've been due to a language problem. Never did learn more because it's hard to hear the radio when New Crater/Steamboat is erupting.
• The OB (Out-of-Bounds) Camper in the Madison gov't housing area. Seems she got "separated from her party" and decided trying to hide among other parked cars would help and she'd escape notice. Ended up in one of the emergency sites at Madison, so I guess it worked.
• There was the traffic stop of an SUV southbound across Fountain Flats. They were given a verbal warning for "child out of sunroof."
• The "biker" who may or may not have taken some beers from the Lodge cafeteria without paying after causing a scene over the use of masks. He was contacted outside during eruption of Ol' Filthy and given verbal warning about tresspass. (In other words, leave when you are told to leave.)
• Not much radio traffic about the Lone Star Fire, even on the "fire" channel. Must be using other frequencies.

Also, it appears that if you are caught operating a drone, you will be scheduled to make a return visit to see the Magistrate at Mammoth. Have heard that happen three times now.

For the first time in years, I listened in to the NPS radio channels. Got out of the habit, and had forgotten how entertaining it can be.

Some of the entertainments from the past couple of weeks

• The woman who, because of a family dispute, decided to head straight down from Monument to Beryl. She broke her leg about a quarter of the way down, and had to be helicoptered out.
• The campsite "100 yards from the Lone Star Trailhead". These three people got citations for "out-of-bounds camping", a fire outside of a firepit, and a dog in a closed area.
• The two motorcyclists who were filmed engaged in "thermal trespass" in the Black Sand Basin. When Law Enforcement Ranger arrived, he called for backup. The radio check had one of them with a conviction in 1988 for "assault on a police officer" among many other incidents. They both ended up getting a court date.
• The old guy who got cited for "disorderly conduct" after an altercation in the Upper Ham's Store over masks. Something about spitting was involved, it seems.
• The Life Flight helicopter that made it to Old Faithful, but couldn't leave because of a check engine light. They had to send in a second one.
• The Mercedes that got high centered parking off road north of Midway, and needed a towtruck to get out.
• The bicyclist who went from Geyser Hill to Biscuit, only to have Law Enforcement waiting for him with a citation.
• The guy whose traffic stop check included a "non-extraditable warrant from Virginia."
• The guy who got cited for camping up by Harlequin Lake. It was dark and he had to tear it all down.
• The people who drilled holes into trees in the Madison Campground so they could insert hooks and hang their hammocks.
• The fifth-wheel that couldn't make one of the corners at the fire road emergency bypass without taking out a bunch of cones.
• The drone operator out by Castle who got a court date.
• The leaking propane tank over by one of the ranger housing units.
• The day there were three medical emergencies over by the Lodge and the Photo Shop. They had to call in backup from Grant that day.
• Various boats, kayaks and floatation devices used by people in the Firehole River above the falls south of the closed swimming area.

That's just what I remember and was able to decipher. Should have plenty to post for Part Two in a few weeks.