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Posted by FrankM (50.51.35.62) on 22:49:10 08/31/12
I was looking through some old photos and ran across this scan from a slide that I took in Sept 1984. I think I might have posted it on the Loon page years ago. I was in my room at the Old Faithful Inn and heard something unusual outside. I looked out my window to see a grizzly at the far end of the Old Faithful Inn parking lot, grazing along the grassy area that borders the lot. A pale green ranger vehicle slowly followed along, making short, loud bursts through the loudspeaker, attempting to move the bear along more quickly. The grizzly seemed oblivious to all of this as it slowly moved at its own pace and on its own terms. The mounted ranger near the center of this photo calmly urged bystanders to stay back, as another, less patient ranger in the distance (standing just left of the person in the dark shirt and pants who appears to have hands raised to take a photo or look through binoculars) was somewhat frantically warning people near her to move back. They paid little attention. During the next 25 minutes or more, I watched as the bear slowly worked its way toward Old Faithful geyser, clearing the boardwalk and seating area. It was possibly one of the few times Old Faithful has erupted in the middle of the day during tourist season without anyone seated or standing nearby. My last view of the grizzly was as it moved from the geyser area in the direction of the (original) Snow Lodge. I was later told that it walked past the employee housing area behind the Snow Lodge before continuing on.
By the way, for a few summers in the 1980s, up to and including 1988, I remember seeing at least one mounted ranger in the Old Faithful area during most visits.
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