Sept 10, Thur - day 35
West Yellowstone, Montana
Weather - low 27 (-3C) to mid 70s (24C) clear



We tried to make it an easy day and limited ourselves to just six-hours of searching for bears and photographing just about anything else that walked in front of our lenses.



We found osprey along Firehole River Drive, perched and flying but unfortunately none diving for fish. Along with birds, this section of the river has the only ‘official’ river swimming hole in the park. There’s a hot spring that runs into a large pool in the river and it is a ‘hot’ spot on hot days. (Editor’s Note: a most appealing view for many of the spectators ;0) )



We swung by Old Faithful to see if we could find the resident family of bison, no luck today however we did get a shot of a geyser we hadn’t seen before and enjoyed a little people watching too.



We headed up into the higher country where the road crosses the Continental Divide twice before dropping down to Yellowstone Lake. We had sighted a grizzly in this area last year and had high hopes for a repeat performance….trouble is no one informed the grizzly and after some intensive searching we marked it down as a not show.



Before turning back home we stopped at a picnic area, had a sandwich, and watched the birds for awhile. We were visited by two friendly ravens and several Grey Jays, not so friendly but really hoping for handouts. We managed a few shots and then turned back towards West Yellowstone.



Two highlights of the trip back were a Clark’s Nutcracker, first time we’ve seen one, and a Blue Heron perched in a tree above the Firehole River. The heron was a real surprise, it’s rare to see them in trees in Yellowstone and we had to maneuver around quite a bit before we were finally in position to get some shots. He ruffled his feathers a few times, had a good scratch and settled back down on his perch. We left the heron to its evening pursuits, traveled onward toward home and saw a few bison and elk, shot some wildflowers/weeds, enjoyed the scenery and felt grateful that we were able to experience the beauty of this park.



It was a nice sunny day, the drive was relaxing, and we met our goal of not to over taxing ourselves. The adventure continues….



To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE