YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo.-
A storm that knocked out power to most of the park complicated preparations for Wednesday’s planned winter opening.
The power was back on by Monday afternoon, although the threat of avalanches at Sylvan Pass promised to keep the East Entrance closed beyond Wednesday.
Friday’s storm toppled trees onto power lines. On Sunday, Northwestern Energy crews spent part of the day flying around Yellowstone in a helicopter trying to get a fix on the outage.
Crews were able to reconnect power Sunday between Mammoth Hot Springs and Canyon Village. On Monday, they restored power to Old Faithful.
Diesel fuel was meanwhile brought in Monday to keep generators running. Park spokesman Al Nash said that even though the generators were turned off, it was good to have the fuel.
“Doing that before we open to over-snow travel was important,” he said. “That gives us a measure of security for the rest of the winter.”
The Old Faithful Snow Lodge and Cabins, Snow Lodge Restaurant, Geyser Grill and Madison Warming Hut Snack Bar are all scheduled to open for the winter on Wednesday. The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel is scheduled to open Friday, according to Yellowstone’s Web site.
Nash said he wasn’t sure when the East Entrance would reopen. Park officials either fire a cannon at Sylvan Pass or drop explosives from a helicopter to release avalanches there; he said they were still trying to find a helicopter to drop explosives.
