Not Your Typical Yellowstone Tourist

Well, well, well... Drum roll, please! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my 100th blog post. It is rather fitting, I think, that it is a post about Yellowstone National Park. 

Heart Mountain

Our nephew, Paul, chose to go with us this time. We were excited to go over the Chief Joseph Highway for the first time this year. We were barely in the park before we sighted our first wildlife of the day, a coyote. Actually, I am not sure it couldn't have been a young wolf. Since I was driving, I didn't get a really good look at it, so I can't be dogmatic. 

Our next stop came when the road was lined with photographers. Everyone was looking up on the cliff across the river, so I was hoping for sheep or goats or even a griz. It was, in reality, an osprey nest. Oh well, it was cool to watch the bird come to the nest with a fish. 

We ate our lunch at the end of Slough Creek Road. We've never driven out this short little spur, which was reason enough to do so.

Dan wanted to show Paul Wraith Falls, so that was our next destination. But we got distracted by a big, BIG black bear. (One tour guide told us that it was a black grizzly. That would be neat, but I am not sure that I am convinced.) Eventually, we got to Wraith Falls, where we photographed not only the falls, but also marmots and gophers. 

The climax of the day, perhaps, was at Mammoth. If nothing else, it was the planned destination for the day. I wanted to hike the Beaver Pond Trail and look for elk babies. We started up the trail a bit tentatively (at least Paul and I were tentative), because there was a sign at the trail head saying that a grizzly sow and cubs had been frequenting the area. But after a few minutes, we began to relax and enjoy the solitude. After about a mile, we left the trail to go to an area where we always see elk. (Just to clarify, I finally asked a ranger, and yes, it is okay to leave the trail unless specifically stated otherwise.) We saw probably fifty or more cow elk in small herds, but not one calf! Apparently, we were still a little too early in the spring. 

But that was okay, we were all feeling a bit hungry. As we made our way back to the car, Paul remarked that somehow he knew, coming to Yellowstone with us, that it wouldn't be the "typical tourist" agenda. And he was totally okay with that.