Daniel Bradford was the first out of the gate as the East Entrance to Yellowstone opened Friday morning at 8 a.m. sharp. The Cody resident arrived at the gate at 6:30 a.m., but he’d already had an eventful trip by the time he arrived at the front of the line.

“I saw a grizzly at the Buffalo Bill Reservoir on my way in,” said Bradford, a teacher with the Wyoming Connections Academy virtual school. “Photography is my hobby and I like to get here before the crowds.”

About 30 cars, trucks and RVs were in line by the time Dennis Lenzendorf, supervisor of the East Entrance, swung open the gate and five-year employee Kim Kain climbed in the booth and began collecting fees.

Lenzendorf, who has worked and lived at the entrance for 10 years, was excited for visitors to see how much work had to be done to clear the road of snow. Snow drifts, sometimes as tall as the largest fifth-wheel campers, still remained near the gate. Lenzendorf’s residence is just north of the gate and he had a hard time keeping a path shoveled during the winter.

“It’s about as much snow as I’ve seen in a dozen years,” said Powell resident Bob Funkhouser, who was among those toward the front of the line.

He and his wife, Georgia, adore the national park and travel there weekly — sometimes more.

“The trouble is you can’t find many animals to photograph because they’re in the timber looking for food where there isn’t much snow,” Funkhouser said.

The East Entrance closed from 1 to 6 p.m. out of avalanche concerns on Sylvan Pass on Friday and Saturday. Evidence of the danger was easy to see from the road.

But many of the park’s resident wildlife were on hand to thrill the visitors. Bison created a bit of a traffic jam on the road near the turnoff for the Lake Butte Overlook road and a grizzly digging through mud looking for a meal caused a commotion at Sedge Bay. Sandhill cranes, red-tailed hawks, bald eagles and various waterfowl also could be seen between the gate and Fishing Bridge, 26 miles from the entrance.

Frank Alvarado, of Cody, took the opportunity to visit the park before starting his seasonal job as a tour guide in Yellowstone. After moving here 23 years ago from Los Angeles, California, where he was a police officer, he started Cody Shuttle, which offers transportation around the area and tours of Yellowstone.

“My first tour is tomorrow, so I came out to photograph some bears,” he said Friday. 

Starting on Saturday, he expected to spend most of his time people watching.

“I’m very blessed,” Alvarado said before climbing into his car and starting his engine from his position in the middle of the pack.

Road construction

Yellowstone National Park seeks comments from the public on a proposed project to reconstruct a 3.2-mile segment of the East Entrance Road from Fishing Bridge to Indian Pond. The project would include the road, parking areas and turnouts, Fishing Bridge, and Pelican Creek Bridge. The project would make the road compliant with engineering safety standards, widen the road to the park-wide standard of 30-feet, repair or replace the deteriorated bridges, restore wetland functions, and improve roadway and parking efficiency.

Public comments will be collected until May 26, on the Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website at: parkplanning.nps.gov/FBIP. Or mail comments to: Fishing Bridge to Indian Pond Reconstruction, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190.