<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6001.18385" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV>Finally, they are letting us drive in on wheels (without even plowing), after a week of driving on 20 miles of pavement one way to Old Faithful on rubber track snowcoaches.  This year has one of the lowest snowpacks I have ever seen.  There is only a couple of feet of snow on top of Craig Pass and Sylvan Pass, and less just about every where else.  The snowpack looks like late May early June in the OF/ West Yellowstone areas.  I would be surprised if there is any snow on the ground come opening day in April, unless it starts snowing.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Today was a very emotional trip.  One of my good friends, Greg Bonemeyer's sister, Mary or "Tad" who many of you may know, has been given only a few weeks to live.  Mary Patten (Bonemeyer), known as Tad or Tadpole worked at the Ham stores in Old Faithful & Fishing Bridge for 10 years and was at the Lower & Upper Ham in the late '80's.  I have known Mary and Greg since 1987. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Greg called me from his home in Salt Lake City a couple of weeks ago to tell me the news about Mary's cancer.  He asked her if she had any last wishes, and of course her wish was to see Yellowstone, one more time.  Mary, who lives in Big Sky still, myself, Greg, and Greg's family made Mary's final trip to Old Faithful yesterday on 03/12/10.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The park was very quiet without the noise from the snowmobiles and rubber track snowcoaches that have been traveling on the pavement, and it was a cool but beautiful day. The entire day was a near private experience in the park. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>We had to make a quick trip because of Mary's lack of energy.  The first geyser we noticed was <STRONG>Grand</STRONG>'s plume, which was <STRONG>ie at 10:43</STRONG>. When I pointed out the plume from the highway, Mary quickly mentioned that Grand was her favorite geyser, and I so wished I could get the van to a place where we could get a good view.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Although I got spoken to for driving the van on the snowmobile trail to the Visitor's Center Parking lot (I had missed the sign that said no wheeled vehicles beyond this point by turning before the sign, to travel behind the Snowlodge, so that I could miss the severe bumps on the front side).  I'm glad I did it, because Mary was barely able to walk to Old Faithful and back.  While waiting for Old Faithful, we had <STRONG>Riverside's </STRONG>plume at <STRONG>11:20 ie.  </STRONG>Old Faithful had a beautiful eruption at about 11:28 (I didn't look at my watch).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>On the way back, we had <STRONG>Great Fountain ie at 12:02.</STRONG>  Although Mary was unable to walk the boardwalk at the Paintpots, she wanted her nephews to see the trail, as it was their first visit to Yellowstone.  While on the boardwalk, we caught the start of Fountain at 12:07, just as we were rounding the corner at the fumerole.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>We then hurried back to the van so that we could drive Mary to a point on the highway where she could see Fountain. We had also viewed a couple of bull elk, the first bulls I have seen in the Interior all winter.  It was really a great day and I was glad to be able to help Mary with her final wish. She really enjoyed her final day in the park, on a private trip with her family and friend (me).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I want to thank Brad Loomis at the Traveler's Service Center in West Yellowstone for donating the van for us, as Yellowstone Tour Guides, which I operate, does not have a winter permit. I of course donated my wage.  I have also got the thank the geysers, for putting on a great show for Mary's last trip.  5 major geysers (including Old Faithful) is a great geyser day in the winter, even if three of them were just steam plumes in the distance.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Jim Holstein</DIV> <DIV>Yellowstone Tour Guides</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I will try to get Tad's email in the next couple of days when I go down to see her, in case there is any of you that remember her.  </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>