Yellowstone – Round 2

On the first half of our big adventure, we skipped a few planned stops due to weather and vehicle repairs, and other stops were shortened due to weather as well.  Yellowstone was one of those, and a place we wanted to return to.  This put us far ahead of our original schedule, and the resulting “surplus” of time prompted our decision to see Yellowstone again on our way south.  We went back to the campground near Gardiner which was quite full, but we found a site and set up.  The campground host recognized the Jeep and came over to chat for a bit, and let us know where he’d seen a couple of bears, as well as where to get free drinking water – very nice and helpful of him.  We finished situating things and headed off for the park.  After negotiating the elk-induced traffic jam at Mammoth Hot Springs, we took the road east.

Very shortly we encountered slower traffic again, and noticed this black bear about fifteen feet off our side of the road.

In my excitement – some things never get old for me – I forgot to check my camera settings and severely underexposed every picture of him.  Thankfully I can edit photos to a small degree, but these are still far from good quality.

Our next stop was the Petrified Tree, roughly 50 million years old and oddly preserved by the side-effects of the volcanoes which took place here in that time period.

Moving on, the scenery was rich with wildlife and ever-changing landscapes.  We encountered a larger group of female pronghorns and a few youngsters grazing fairly close to the road.

Further down the road we saw The Boys’ Club, as I called it, a group of bachelor pronghorns lazily hanging out together soaking in the afternoon sunshine.

We took a brief detour to check out the Slough Creek Campground, a first-come, first-serve primitive campground at the end of a 2.5 mile long dirt road.  We noted a couple of sites we liked and continued on our way.

Before too long, the hills opened up to reveal a massive valley, polka-dotted with hundreds of bison for as far as we could see.

It was another one of those jaw-dropping moments for me, while I imagined what it must have been like when millions of these animals roamed freely across most of this country.  Sadly, the current bison population is but a drop in the bucket compared to what it once was.  I found an interesting but disheartening account of the timeline of the American Bison on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service website.  The population is, however, making a bit of a comeback, and will hopefully continue to do so.

The road wound along the river, bringing us to Soda Butte, and then to a grizzly bear just before we were about to turn around and head back to camp.

This time we were one of the first ones on the scene, even before a Ranger showed up.  The bear was in tall grass with the sun kind of behind him, and just far enough away that I had difficulty getting any detail in the photos I took.

We turned around and went back the way we came, enjoying the magnificent scenery with bison rolling about and kicking up dust.

The elk herd was still in the middle of town as we drove through Mammoth Hot Springs.

On the road to the north entrance of the park, there is an area marked as a sheep management area.  There were a few cars pulled off the road this time, and we finally got to see the bighorn sheep which have eluded me this whole trip!

With that, we happily made our way back to camp for the night.

The second day started with a twenty minute traffic jam due to construction just past Mammoth Hot Springs on Grand Loop Road.  We stopped a couple of times to look at geographic features, and found ourselves close to 9,000 feet in elevation at one point.

Soon to follow was another traffic jam, this time due to bison hogging the road which made it a little more acceptable.

This was a more rowdy group, some trotting across the road and some seemingly defiant in choosing to stand still in the middle of it.  As we slowly drove by, we could hear the snorts and grunts and growls coming from many of them, some of whom had taken to the trees to scratch and rub off their shedding coats.  Others were busy giving the stink eye to the Rangers, while still others were busy rolling around in the dirt.  These creatures and their antics are quite a thing to behold!

Eventually we arrived at the Mud Volcano area, and took a stroll along the path.  Passing this bison warily and a little too close for my comfort, we were careful not to agitate him.

Not that we could have done much about it – these huge beasts are surprisingly nimble and quick, but thankfully he preferred lounging over chasing at the moment.  We watched him anyway, and he watched us too.  Other bison were further away or had a barrier between them and us, and were much less imposing.

The geothermal features are always fascinating, and there were plenty of informational signs to explain the different processes taking place.

From there we drove by the Fishing Bridge, and went on to Yellowstone Lake, located in the center of the park.  We saw this buck on the way in, with full velvet.

We made our way to the shore, parked, and had sandwiches while viewing the lake.

It was getting late in the day, so we started back toward camp.  Getting hung up again in construction, we had entertainment while we waited, in the form of ravens.  They would walk alongside the string of cars ahead of us, pausing to look at the driver of each vehicle.  The little panhandlers were successful in getting several handouts, so they hung around the whole time we were there.

Back at the campsite, it was looking like rain, and we’d been sprinkled on a few times already.  We got to work hanging the tarps, which was somewhat of a challenge, but we had success.  We even hung one covering the door into the tent, creating a nice little vestibule.  Not long after, we had a hot meal in our bellies and were ready to relax for the evening.

The next morning, Ken went in search of a cell signal to connect to his work, and also got the weather forecast for the next few days.  Not surprisingly, another storm system was very quickly heading our way, potentially within the next hour or two.  We got our hustle on and broke camp in record time that morning!  It took us an hour and fifteen minutes to get packed and on the road.  Of course by now we’ve had plenty of practice, and the threat of having to pack and later dry out wet gear is always a good motivator.

The full photo album for this post can be viewed here.  Check it out!