Yellowstone

We moved up to Madison Campground in Yellowstone on Thursday, Aug 11.

Laundry in West Yellowstone on Friday followed by dinner at the Old Faithful Inn.

Up early on Saturday for a five hour photo safari that left Old Faithful Inn at 6am.  Then back to West Yellowstone for Internet access and dinner at the Slippery Otter.

Sunday we headed to Lamar Valley. Saw a mountain lion and her cubs very far away (only visible through spotting scopes). Also saw lots of bison and some pronghorn.  There was a fairly fresh bison carcass in view of the road but nothing was feeding on it yet.

On Monday we went to McDonald's in West Yellowstone to get some work done. Then stopped by the Madison River for a picnic lunch. Went to the Grand Prismatic Spring and then to the upper geyser basin near Old Faithful. Huckleberry Mules and huckleberry ice cream at Old Faithful Inn for dinner.

Tuesday we drove to Artists Paint Pots and Mammoth Springs.

On Wednesday we hiked to the overlook of Grand Prismatic Spring. Went into West Yellowstone to pick up Verizon Hotspot that Joshua sent to us and to work at the library. Then we went to Fountain Paint Pot in the evening. Fountain Geyser erupted while we were there. Put on a tremendous show with water shooting as high as 100' for more than twenty minutes.

On Thursday we moved to Bridge Bay Campground. Drove to Canyon for a wildlife tour from 4 to 8. Drove into Lamar Valley. Saw elk, coyote, Pronghorn, bison, and another partially eaten bison carcass.  The carcass we had seen on Sunday was completely devoured.

On Friday we spent a lazy morning at the campground. Then another trip to Lamar Valley. No luck. The carcass we saw on Thursday was completely consumed. Stopped at the Canyon on the way back. Checked out Artist Point and the Brink of the Upper Falls.

On Saturday we rode our bikes out and back on Gull Point Rd. Then we spent the afternoon working on the internet outside the visitors center at Fishing Bridge overlooking Lake Yellowstone, one of the few areas where the Verizon hotspot works. Dinner at Lake Yellowstone Hotel.


Got up early on Sunday for another photo safari. Pictures of sunrise at Gull Point and the rainbow at the base of the Lower Falls. Saw two bull elk, marmots, a bald eagle and, of course, bison. Seems like they are everywhere. They are fun to watch. On the way back from Canyon, we did see a wolf briefly. Apparently we missed quite a show  with multiple bears and wolves feeding on a bison carcass. We couldn't actually see the bison carcass. It was hidden behind a hill. So we went back in the afternoon to see if they would come back. About 4:30, a big grizzly lumbered down the hill straight to the carcass. We couldn't see him while he was feeding but we were pretty sure we would see him when he was done eating so we stayed put. A little while later a second grizzly came down the hill. It stopped short of the carcass, clearly not wanting to challenge the larger grizzly.  It stuck around for a while then slowly went back up the hill, clearly disappointed that it couldn't eat as well.  Maybe 30 or 45 minutes later, a third grizzly came back and approached the site even closer, using the hill as a screen. Luckily for us he was on the side of the hill where he was in plain view to us. At one point the third grizzly got too close and was shooed away by the first grizzly, whom we still couldn't see.  The second grizzly returned but stayed at the top of the hill.  Then a pack of four wolves showed up and harassed the second grizzly until it went back into the trees. Then the wolves came down the hill and started harassing the third grizzly, who stood its ground. At no point did any of the animals take on the first grizzly who we still couldn't see. At one point the four wolves gathered at the top of the hill that was hiding the carcass and howled. There were also several times when the second and third bears stood on their hind legs as they were fending off the wolves. Eventually it got too dark to see. It was an incredible show.

Fun fact - while we were in Yellowstone we crossed the continental divide ten times but never once set foot on the west side of the divide.

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