We did an early morning wildlife tour to Lamar Valley in the yellow bus below. Isn’t that the cutest thing? Tour was great. We got to watch a big, black wolf for a long time through binoculars. Too far away to get a photo but it was a lot of fun watching him strutting around in the distance. Also saw gaggles of bison, one bald eagle, a few dozen pronghorns, a few mountain goats, and some elk.
Mama Bear
I took this shot out the window of the yellow bus. As we were heading for Lamar Valley, we came to a traffic jam with a bunch of cars stopped and people out of the cars walking around looking at something. Having no choice, our yellow bus stopped too. That “something” was this poor mama bear. One of the looky loo people told us through the window that there were also two cubs. And these doltish people were out of the their cars getting way too close. The amount of stress they were putting on that poor mama bear is incredible, and it’s a wonder there wasn’t a disaster there since she might have attacked. It wouldn’t have been her fault, but she would probably have been put down if the park service caught her.
Bison – Lots and Lots of Bison
There’s no shortage of Bison in Yellowstone, and they pretty much go wherever they want, whenever they want, and by any route they like. They wander around near the roads, across the roads, and straight down the roads. Impressive to watch them all in their big herds.
Mammoth Hot Springs
Mammoth Hot Springs area looks more like an alien planet that what I’d expect to see on Earth. Completely gorgeous bubbling, steaming cascading loveliness.