Despite rain in the forecast, we were determined to ride this weekend! We were
joined by our buddy Grif and set out to a spot that Dan had researched on a local trail-riders' association website. The weather was actually sunny and warm, although there was a pretty good stormfront building over the Beartooth Mountains. We interspersed times of riding and times off the machines just appreciating God's amazing creation and the fellowship of being friends.
One of the things that caught Dan's attention on the website was pictures of some really neat rocks. We had ridden this location once before, looking for them, but without success. Maybe it was the sunshine, but whatever it was, this time he spied them. We parked the atv's and spent some time wandering among the rocks, speculating what forces had shaped them the way they were.
When lunchtime came, we satisfied both our hunger and Dan's "King of the Hill" syndrome. We climbed to the highest point around, and found ourselves in the midst of a whole "rock garden" of formations. We ate our lunch while we watched the clouds continue to build over the mountains.
Upon returning to the machines, we turned back in the general direction of the truck. But the best riding of the day was yet to come. We took a side road that eventually turned into a trail. (That's more like it!) We followed the trail until it petered out. But from where we were, we could see the spot where we ate our lunch! Surely the roads had to connect! (Dan later confirmed on Google Earth that no, in fact, they did NOT.) Since it was getting late in the afternoon and it was starting to sprinkle on us, we decided that the better part of wisdom was to run for the truck. We got back and loaded up just before the skies opened up and the rain came fast and furious. Whew... good timing. All in all, it was another great ride in Big Sky Country.
When the alarm went off yesterday morning, Dan rolled over and lifted the curtain. "THAT'S ugly!" he said, referring to the western sky. So I cuddled back down deeper into my blankets and thought that I might as well go back to sleep. But he got up, so I did too, and soon we were rolling down the interstate through scattered rain showers toward Gardiner and Yellowstone Park.
Upon arrival at the park entrance, we actually turned away and continued down the "main" road toward the school, acting on a tip that we got from a local on our last visit. He was right about seeing lots of wildlife - the most we saw all day- but he missed the date on the babies. (He obviously mis-spoke himself in telling us mid-April for elk calves.) We took a side road off a side road off a side road, but eventually we turned back as the roads got muddy and slick. Ok, back to the park.
When we stopped at the entrance, we were told that the roads to Old Faithful and Canyon Village were indeed open. But what the employee failed to mention was that the roads were the ONLY things open! We wanted to go to Artist Paint Pots, but when we got to the turnout, there was still a wall of snow. The snow was still deep all along the route, and there was not a living thing in sight, not even a buffalo. We decided to go out West Yellowstone rather
than just back-tracking. We were nearly to the town when we spotted a wolf trotting across a meadow, watching a couple of elk and buffalo. Dan pulled into the turnout, and we grabbed the camera and tripod and started snapping pictures. I even got some video. As we were leaving, Dan commented that the satisfaction quotient for the trip just rose significantly. (Unfortunately, once we got home and got the pictures zoomed in, we discovered that our "wolf" was merely a coyote! Oh well, he was still fun to watch.) Our wildlife viewing was not quite complete though, as we later saw a mama moose and her two yearling calves dining on brush along a river bank.
After dinner in Bozeman, we turned our backs to the setting sun and enjoyed views of the glowing mountains. I had to stop and photograph the Crazy Mountains yet again. They are just so perfect with their snowy-white peaks rising sharply from the prairie floor.
Once home, I spent the rest of the evening fighting with FaceBook to display the pictures I had uploaded to share. If you haven't already done so, check out our public FB page ~ Photography by Dan & Tammi Capron. Don't forget to like and share.
