[Geysers] Obama visit to YNP

[Paul Strasser]

Suzanne and I were there when Carter visited in 1978, and sad to say the
amount of security is far, far greater now.  (this is not political, has
nothing to do with Obama, but just the times.)  In '78 he watched the
eruption from the benches - there was a screened-off area directly in front
of the inn's main walk to the benches.  The press had their own little
platform (Suzanne and I were on it, our puke-yellow VIP vests were
sufficient ID), and the Prez and his family just walked up and watched.
There were probably 3000 visitors who were able to see him along the rest of
the benches.  

 

We heard from a ranger that he was going to take his limo down to Morning
Glory, and Suzanne and I hoofed it down there (she didn't have a bike).
There was no part of the basin that was closed (I don't recall the parking
lot situation, although if any of the lots were emptied I think I'd have
remembered it.)  We got past Grotto when the limo zipped by - he waved, and
we waved back. The head naturalist, Maggie Short, was with him.  

 

There were visitors at Morning Glory who got a bit of a surprise.  The
secret service, before the limo got there, asked to check their backpacks.
The agents also looked in the garbage can, from what I remember.  The
president got out of the limo, shook the surprised visitor's hands, then
went to look at the hot spring (he climbed on the handrail for a better
photo. heh).  He then went over and looked in Spiteful from a discrete
distance.

 

They then zipped back, waving at the tourists who were equally surprised.  

 

I don't remember if he came and went in a copter - I don't think so, because
he also stopped at Fountain Paint Pots - where his daughter Amy was
entranced by a ground squirrel.

 

He didn't have much luck with geysers, other than filthy.  F&M were dormant,
he "just missed" Castle and "just missed" Fountain - Morning hadn't started
yet.  

 

Anyway, a rather different sort of visit this time.  

 

Hey, no matter the politics, it's cool to see a Prez watch Old Faithful.
Sort of iconic, you know.

 

Paul Strasser

 

  _____  

From: geysers-bounces at lists.wallawalla.edu
[mailto:geysers-bounces at lists.wallawalla.edu] On Behalf Of Kendall Madsen
Sent: Saturday, August 15, 2009 10:58 PM
To: Geyser Observation Reports
Subject: RE: [Geysers] Obama visit to YNP

 

Everything was pretty well shut off for several hours while President Obama
visited. The president landed in a helicopter and was escorted by vehicle to
the Inn parking lot. He walked from the trailhead at the Inn parking lot
(picture of him waving below as he started his walk) on the trail past Blue
Star Spring and over to the northeast side of Old Faithful.  The President
waited by the trailhead to Geyser Hill, watched an Old Faithful eruption
(picture below), and then returned back to the Inn parking lot. There were a
lot of secret service and law enforcement everywhere. 

Kendall

 



 



 

  _____  

From: geysers-bounces at lists.wallawalla.edu
[mailto:geysers-bounces at lists.wallawalla.edu] On Behalf Of Pat Snyder
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 6:14 PM
To: Geyser Observation Reports
Subject: Re: [Geysers] Obama visit to YNP

Old Faithful Webcams are offline from 0900 to about 1500 on Sat., Aug,. 15,
due to the Presidential visit. FYI. 

Pat Snyder

 

 

 

On Aug 14, 2009, at 11:26 AM, Freund, Udo wrote:





Should be quite a sight to see a 747 arriving & leaving from Gallatin Field
(Bozeman) and maybe even West Yellowstone.  Runway lengths are only 9002 &
8400 feet respectively.  Very doable for that aircraft with a light load
even at those high elevations.  I doubt the Pres. party would switch to a G5
for this trip, but that is an option.  Regardless of the aircraft used, it's
always Air Force One when the Pres. is onboard a fixed wing and Marine One
when it's a helicopter, which is I guess another option for the trip from
BZN to WYS.

Will the webcam follow the entourage around the Upper Basin Saturday??? 

Here's the official announcement: 
The Federal Aviation Administration has announced temporary flight
restrictions in and around Bozeman during President Barack Obama's visit.

The president is scheduled to arrive at Gallatin Field Airport at 12:30 p.m.
Friday. The flight restrictions start at noon and continue through Saturday
afternoon.

A similar restriction is in effect for the West Yellowstone area on
Saturday, again, due to Obama's visit. 

Thanks, 
Udo Freund 

_______________________________________________
Geysers mailing list
Geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu


 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: </geyser-list/attachments/20090816/a781ff9f/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 132480 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: </geyser-list/attachments/20090816/a781ff9f/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 106770 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: </geyser-list/attachments/20090816/a781ff9f/attachment-0001.jpg>