On our way from the campground to the lodge we got to sit in
a one hour bison jam between Norris geyser basin and the canyon area. The road
is the preferred trail for bison migration between the east and west side of
the park.
Just above Tower Falls, we were lucky enough to find a sow
black bear with two cubs looking for food in the tall grass.
Wednesday we made a Wally world/Costco run, so didn't have
much time for fun.
June 29th we took a drive to Hayden Valley to check out a
bison carcus that had been attracting bears and wolves. There was one grizzly
bear just walking away from the carcus as we got there but the carcus was
nearly fully consumed, so that was about the last day it would attract any more
animals. We did see a red fox as we were driving back to the campground though.
Penny's back and legs started giving her trouble around the
end of June, so we haven't been able to do much camping until the end of July,
but we did do a few drives around the park. We found a very good chiropractor
in the town of West Yellowstone who has been able to help get Penny's back
adjusted to where she can now do some hiking.
In mid July we went into West Yellowstone to see the
chiropractor. We saw a couple of Sandhill Cranes and a few families of ducks in
the Madison River.
The next time we went out, we saw one of the eagles along
the river.
July 20th we took another trip out to the Hayden Valley. It
was the beginning of the bison rut and the male bison were very vocal, trying
to impress the female bison. They were all around our truck as we sat at a
turnout watching them.
The next couple of trips were geyser gazing trips and a
short hike around Storm Point. We did see some deer in velvet near the canyon
village.
August 2nd we took a company provided tour, with a hike
around Junction Butte. It's a fairly difficult hike with the closest thing to a
trail being the paths that bison and elk take up and down the steep slopes. The
butte gets its name from the Junction of the Lamar and Yellowstone Rivers that
come in on two sides of the hill. The best part of the hike was on the drive
back to the Mammoth area. In a small lake called Floating Island Lake, we saw a
mother moose and her baby eating grass in and around the edge of the lake.
August 3rd we went to Bozeman. We left early so I could get
the oil changed in the truck before we went to Wally world and Costco. On the
way, not far out of West Yellowstone, we saw a beautiful sunrise, made orange
from the smoke coming from forest fires in western Idaho.
Yesterday, August 9th, we hiked to Lone Star Geyser with our
hiking buddies. This geyser has a particularly long eruption - a ten minute
minor eruption followed by a 20 minute major eruption. The photo below is
during the major eruption.
