Yellowstone National Park Day 1

Our first day in Yellowstone did not disappoint!  We got stuck in two or three “buffalo jams” which are a very frequent occurrence, some of which can take an hour or more to get through, depending on how much traffic has been backed up.  It turns out that the buffalo – or bison – like to travel on the roads as much as we do, and a whole herd of them will just take their sweet time walking down the middle of the road, leaving it for the grass only when they’re good and ready!

We were lucky enough to see two grizzly bears, which also cause traffic jams as people stop their cars - in the road if necessary - to take pictures.  The inconvenience was definitely worth it.  The first one was further away and too busy goofing around in the water to turn toward us, so I didn’t get a good picture of his face… so uncooperative.

The second bear was closer and faced us a couple of times, so she was of course my favorite.

After a closer look at the pictures, I discovered that she had a cub with her!  I must have looked at these pictures a dozen times before I noticed it!  If you zoom in, you can see his fuzzy little head sticking up just barely over the top of the brush.

The scenery was spectacular, of course.

Elk are quite numerous within the park, and a herd of them seems to hang around the Mammoth Hot Springs area quite a bit, as evidenced by the signs warning visitors not to approach wildlife.  There were a few lounging about in front of one of the buildings when we passed through.

Just before leaving the park, a Pronghorn crossed our path, and out in the field was a mother with her baby!

Pronghorn are often referred to as antelope, and although they resemble some of the antelopes of Africa, they are not actually antelopes.  They are, however, very fast and adept at avoiding predators.  They are the fastest land mammal in the western hemisphere, with speeds up to 55 mph which they can sustain for up to half of a mile!  Their speed is second only to the cheetah, but their endurance is unmatched.

An elk calf and its mother were grazing on shrubs right next to someone’s house just outside the park boundary.  The youngster seemed curious, but mostly annoyed by the birds on the ground near him, and actually tried to chase and stomp on them – so angry at such a young age!

We had been warned that campsites are extremely difficult to come by within the park, as people start reserving them as soon as possible in January.  Since we had not reserved a campsite, we found all campgrounds to be full and chose a campground just outside the north entrance to the park, in Gardiner.

 
This was the Eagle Creek Campground, a primitive campground located in Gallatin National Forest, on top of a hill overlooking the valley and town below.  It was a beautiful setting with spacious sites – not all right on top of each other, and mostly empty when we arrived.
We had three elk wandering nearby while we set up camp.

They hovered in the area the whole time, grazing, laying around, getting up to graze again, and laying around some more.

This one in particular was especially amusing to me.  He was restless compared to the others, getting up, laying down, and shifting his position much more frequently.  A little black bird flitted around near him, apparently too close to Mr. Elk.  He’d raise his head and stretch out his neck and lips at it, as if daring the bird to come closer.  These guys seem to have some kind of prejudice against birds!

We took a little ride back into the edge of the park after dinner.  There was more beautiful landscape, a couple of ravens, and another Pronghorn – a male with horns this time.

Upon returning to the campground, we found that it had filled up for the night.  We decided this is OK – maybe even good – in grizzly country… hoping for safety in numbers, you know?  The three elk were still there, moving about, grazing, warily coming a little closer to the human activity as if to get a better look, and casting disapproving glances toward the dog at the next campsite over.

 
It’s understandable, as wolves are one of their main predators.  The dog was properly restrained, well-behaved, and quiet, but they kept an eye on him just to make sure.  I don’t know a thing about elk, but these guys seemed feisty enough that they would meet his challenge if necessary!  Eventually they moved off to bed down for the night.  We did the same, for the first time ever in grizzly country, with a brand new sharpness to our senses and heightened awareness of our surroundings.

Check out the photo album for lots more pictures of the bears, pronghorn, and funny elk!