Yellowstone: Summer of Celebration and Destruction

This has been quite a summer for America’s first national park. It’s Yellowstone’s 150th birthday, and it’s reeling from devastating flooding in June. In this episode of Let’s Talk, Michelle and I learn more about what’s going on in Yellowstone, a place we visit every year. The flooding washed out roads, toppled bridges, sent thousands of tourists fleeing for safety and shut down the park for a while.  We talk with Teddy Garland, a long-time resident of West Yellowstone, who has a popular podcast and guidebook about Yellowstone National Park.  What’s open? What’s closed? What’s next? Is this a summer to avoid visiting the park? (Spoiler: this might be the best year to visit.) We also talk about the unusually high number of encounters that tourists are having with the wildlife, especially the bison. Despite repeated warnings, these tourons (tourist/morons) think they can get up close and personal with wild, unpredictable and dangerous wild animals. Michelle and I also share our encounters with bison, bears and wolves in Yellowstone. It’s a magical place, facing unprecedented challenges during the summer of ’22.