Yellowstone National Park rangers are looking into the story of a Utah man who cross-country skied into the park in November, allegedly armed with a Glock 9mm. The man appears to have camped alongside the Madison River outside of designated campgrounds. He also found some time to enjoy the warm waters of hot springs near Madison Junction, something that also is against park regs.
Now, there's certainly nothing wrong with skiing into the park in winter, and come February 20 it will be legal to take your sidearm into the park if you hold a concealed weapons permit. But the tale Noah Howell tells on his website seems to indicate that he had little regard for national park rules and regulations.
Mr. Howell made the trek sometime in November, entering the park via West Yellowstone. Here's part of the story he tells:
Darkness came after only 5 miles or so. I spooked some large mammals on the road! Yes, I was a little spooked as well, but felt fine continuing. That was until the point where I heard a large pack of wolves having some sort of wild rumpus and they were in the direction of my travel. I set up camp next to the river. It was cold, Yellowstone cold! And the wolves kept howling wildly every half hour or so making for a really restless night. I had borrowed a friends Glock 9mm which provided me with a nice false sense of security.
It certainly sounds like a great adventure, though the rangers might take exception to some of his activities.
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Comments
The burden of proof lies with the NPS. Publishing a story on a trip in the park and writing about illegal behavior is not valid evidence in a court. So if he refuses to answer questions, the case will be closed very very soon.
Not sure about the legalities, but in the recent past some might recall the mountain bikers who were snagged after telling on their website about riding from the North Rim to the bottom and up to the South Rim, and then the grammarians who posted about correcting misspellings on placards at Desert View Watchtower.
Doesn't sound as if he bothered to secure a backcountry permit or stuck to the required designated backcountry campsites.
I hope they don't waste too much time "looking into" a one-liner of a blog about the gun. As for the other stories where the internet has condemned folk; surely you see the differences. As stated, I could write whatever I wanted...what says it's true in the court of law? I would assume that in the mountain biking, there were pictures, which showed them biking in places they shouldn't, and with the grammarians, there was also the physical evidence left behind, along with the public confession. With this, the guy could have been telling a story, exaggerating about the gun he happened to have, or what have you. The only real evidence here is the alleged conversation he had with the ranger, but that doesn't exactly prove anything.
There's no way the gun thing goes anywhere, nor should it, in my opinion. And as far as using blogs to find wrongdoing in back country situations...for God's sake, let's not go down that road. How many zillions of people could we prosecute for illegal campfires, illegal camping locations, hiking off trails, and other things that people post pictures or say they did in a blog? God forbid you forget a few details, or exaggerate your story a bit for some friends. It just seems messy, to me.
I understand if you disagree, and that you said you weren't sure of the legalities, and I'm not positive on any of that, either.
He's got a photo where he claims to have set up camp next to a river, and likely away from any designated campsite. Yellowstone backcountry rules require camping at designated backcountry sites.
Leave the man alone, he didn't do anything that serious, in my opionion. There must be more pressing issues for rangers.
I'm with the rest of the crowd on this one. We're talking about Wyoming in the off-season. Most of the rules are designed to keep the average RV-driving, city dwelling tourist from trashing up the park (which they do anyway) and letting their kids get eaten by bears. I really don't have any problem with anything this outdoorsman did - it sounds like a blast to me. Carrying a firearm in that country is reasonable and expected, and no more noteworthy than noting he also wore a hat.
I see the photo of him with his tent, but you sure can't see any river in it. I suppose someone could go take a picture in the day time if they could find the exact tree, if it still looked identical. How do backcountry campsites work in the winter? Are they designated by something that shows up under three feet of snow?
And hey, I certainly am not saying he was correct in his actions, and to be honest I disagree with the two comments directly above. It is cause for concern, and I do think he did wrong. However, my only point here is that I do not believe we should start prosecuting people for minor infractions based on their blogs. Seems like a waste of resources, at least in this case. On the flip side, if you local police here get on facebook and start arresting people for drugs, alcohol, vandilism, etc that are shown in pictures people post...well, they would be rolling in the dough for all the citations they could hand out!