Sunday morning, October 4, 2014

Bears, and Elk and Buffalo Oh MY!  We drove north into Yellowstone yesterday and were greeted by wild animals of all kinds.  A huge male Elk bid us farewell as we left Jackson.  He was majestic.   When we arrived in Yellowstone we saw deer on the road and they do not seem to be afraid of cars.  This portion of Yellowstone, entering the south exit, is primarily trees.  The growth of new trees from previous fires absolutely amazed us.  No human would ever plant the trees this close.  Bill, Rob and I were here in 1988 during the huge fire that destroyed much of this portion of the forest.  I guess the Fire Service has it right now, let it burn and it will come back.  It was about 27 degrees this morning and the short road to Old Faithful was closed for the season.  Too much snow on the pass.  We had to go 80 miles around the park to reach Old Faithful.  Along the route we saw Buffalo but mostly singles.  No herds were evident on our route.  I needed to photograph every single one.  It is weird to see them walking the road or grazing by the side of the road.  They are huge.

We drove to the canyon area called Artist's point to view the waterfall.  The sun was shining by then and it was worth the walk.  We saw about 4 buses pulling in as we left.  Timing was perfect yesterday.  Because it was Saturday, we saw lots of families with their children.  The kids just love the geysers and want to run into them--bad idea.  Driving down to Firehole Lake, we discovered that it was just geyser after geyser.  It appeared to be all steam with the smell of sulphur.  We have to accept that there is a Lake somewhere in the mix.

On our way to Bozeman through the west exit of the park, we drove on what we considered the deadliest road in America.  Out here every fatality on a highway is marked with a white cross.  This road goes through a tall canyon and at every curve you could see 2 to 5 crosses.  Signs proclaim that they want to make the road safer but until then, we drove with extreme caution. Big horned sheep inhabit this area and we came across about 5 of them in the road.  They scampered up the gravel hill without even stopping.

Dinner with friends was fun.  The building was a converted hotel and had several restaurants and a chocolate shop and bar.  Bill had his first bison and had chicken.  No beef today.  Heading south to Rawlings, WY.  It will be a long day but pretty.