Gardiner, Mont. ‘The ominous gray clouds disappeared after the flooding of Yellowstone National Park over the weekend flooded, leaving sun and blue skies as the park’s eponymous river and its tributaries receded. The weather would be perfect for the tens of thousands of tourists who usually start their summer holidays this week in the country’s oldest national park.
But the storm has made residents of tourist towns in Yellowstone, such as Gardiner, Mont., Suddenly wonder if they can still make a living now that the popular north entrance to the park is closed indefinitely. Days ago, such thoughts were incomprehensible, after the pandemic boom in nature tourism, in which Yellowstone set a record for visits in 2021.
Lined with fishing guide companies, restaurants, motels and shops that serve the hundreds of thousands who flock here every summer, the only road between this city and the park’s headquarters has been wiped out by raging floods. The recovery schedule remains unclear; so far, the Office of National Parks has said the north entrance is likely to remain closed until around Halloween.
This makes local business owners afraid of the worst.
“There will be no fishing in northern Yellowstone this year and next, and hopefully it won’t last until the third year,” said Richard Parks, owner of Parks’ Fly Shop, a long-standing Yellowstone facility located a few hundred yards from the entrance. station next to the Park. Seventy-five percent of my business is down on its knees.
As visitors leave Gardiner to head inland, they drive for five miles, a two-lane road that winds along the Gardner River, written differently from the city, albeit on behalf of the same fur hunter. Bison, sheep, moose and pronghorns are often seen in this area.
Heavy rain fell on melting snow in the highlands of Yellowstone last weekend, as a result of unusually warm temperatures and an atmospheric river that raged with a rage that locals said they had never seen before. The Gardner River — usually small enough to throw a stone easily — turned into a torrent, turning rocks and logs into destructive balls that ripped large sections of the road.
Hard times in the United States
Yellowstone officials did not say definitively how long it would take to replace the road and were not available for comment on Thursday. Scientists have warned that climate change will lead to similar devastation for years to come in US national parks.
This time it was Gardiner’s economic lifeline. While the city has access to Bozeman and other communities to the north, the park is its reason for its existence.
To live intimately with the extremes of nature – many feet of snow one winter and drought the next; forest fires that threaten homes; and grizzly bear and buffalo attacks – created here a philosophy of rolling with blows.
Mr Parks, whose business has survived the vagaries of Yellowstone conditions since 1953, when his father opened the store, said he believed some places might not survive the road closure.
The West is full of rumors of a boom and bust, from the California Gold Rush to Wyoming Livestock. Business operators here have experienced their own mini cycle in recent years. When Covid-19 was forced to shut down in March 2020, many struggled to survive.
“Then July came and people realized there might be a boom out there, things started,” said Sami Gortmaker, manager of Flying Pig Adventures, a whitewater rafting company in Gardiner. “So you never know. We have learned to accept each month as a separate season. “
Gardiner’s streets were deserted on Wednesday, and Stacey Orsted locked the door to Wonderland Cafe and Lodge before boarding the RV. The county closed its business because there was no drinking water in the city after the flood closed the water plant.
For now, she saw the forced closure as an accident caused by floods, and she took advantage of her free time to turn 180 degrees just as she prepared for the summer attack.
“That’s great,” she said. “We never get two consecutive days off in the summer.”
She said she would reopen when she was allowed to. “We thought Covid was the worst thing that could happen,” she said, “but closing the road is potentially the worst.”
Indians, including members of the Crow tribe, lived here until they were forced to live in reserves in the mid to late 1800s. After Yellowstone was declared the first national park in the country in 1872, a hotel, restaurant and other facilities were built in view of the towering peaks of Yellowstone. The railroad reached here in 1902, and Gardiner became a starting point for expeditions.
Gardiner is clustered at the entrance to the park with mountain rings, an unincorporated area with many streets only one or two blocks long. The Yellowstone River runs through the city center.
For a long time, Gardiner felt like a windswept outpost with faded buildings and bad roads. But in the last few decades, new businesses have opened up and the city feels more prosperous. Wild bison sometimes gather on the football field at the new high school.
At the Flying Pig, several river guides and other employees lay in the office of the wooden hut or on brightly colored rubber rafts outside. Others petted the company dog or threw bags of beans in an exciting game of cornfields.
Its owner, Patrick Sip, said the floods also tore and rebuilt the Yellowstone River in various ways. “This is a whole new river,” Mr Sip said. “We’ll have to learn it again.”
Despite the current break, the damage may not be over. The forecast predicts higher temperatures and rain this weekend, which could lead to a resurgence of water in the region.
“If there is anything we have learned about its sustainability,” Mr Sip said, promising to continue his business. “It’s the best career I’ve ever been a part of.”
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