Sept 3, Thur - day 28
Yellowstone National Park
Weather-scattered clouds – temps 15-22C (59-72F) with sprinkles of rain



We had a good nights sleep, due in part to temperatures at night in the high 40sF (13C). We woke up to the tiny pings of rain on the roof....sweet.



I left Racine sleeping while I looked up the manager to pay our bill and get the access code to the wi-fi. Oooooh…it is nice to have GREAT wi-fi service. Also scouted the town for a car care place to do some minor work (oil change) on the Red Rocket. Stopped by the Yellowstone Park info Center and picked up a few park flyers, maps and other miscellaneous free handouts.



I found that there is one major project that is going on right now in the park, there is road work on the Madison/Norris road and that part of the Park hi-way is CLOSED until next spring. A bit of a bother as it makes the route around the park longer because you have to do a lot of backtracking, however the repairs will be appreciated next year.



Another item I picked up on was that the wolves have had a major effect on the Madison elk herd. After the wolves were removed from the park in the 1920s the elk slowly moved to the Madison Valley and flourished there as it was a nice place to winter with no predators. Wolf packs were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park starting in 1995. Since they’ve been reintroduced elk numbers have declined appreciably. There are two wolf packs that have moved into the Madison area, one on the north side of the valley and one on the south side. The elk and their calves have been easy prey for these two packs and herd sizes have been shrinking. The impact of wolves on the park is being closely monitored by fish and wildlife.



Then it was back to Gus, to find Racine up and about, but not quite awake yet. We’re finding it hard to take it easy, but today we started out into the park at noon (home at 6:30). We saw one bald eagle, about a dozen osprey (no action today just sitting there), about a dozen bison, one of which was 10 feet from the door of the Red Rocket! We saw it grazing along the road and pulled ahead 50 yards into a car pull-out to wait for him to saunter by, which he did, a bit closer than we expected.



We saw lots of elk, several cows and calves, only three bulls. One is close to a royal rack, but his 6th tines were only 2” - 3” long. I got some great shots of foolish photographers within 50 feet of this bull. When the Park Ranger arrived, she went something less than berserk. She stated screaming in her bullhorn “EVERYONE BACK TO THEIR CARS!”



As one cow started to cross the river, the bull followed and turned her around. Yes, the rut has begun. The cow turned back and followed the others across the road. It was at this time I thought that I may get my National Geographic PHOTO OF THE YEAR (I keep trying). The bull scrambled up the bank toward the onlookers and people were moving faster than, well lets just say the roadside trees spewed people on the run, not gallop…run. The Ranger was still having fits and was still screaming into the bull horn, but the bull stopped, grabbed a chew of grass, then proceeded to slowly cross the road proudly holding its head high, displaying the attitude ‘ This is my domain’. I missed the shot due to crowd excitement, the elk melted into the bush, the ranger shook her head and got into her truck, the people returned to their cars seemingly unfazed by the potential danger, and quiet settled on the river. (Photo is the bull, bugling a challenge while he gathered the cows.)



Tonight was a full moon, however it was too cloudy to shoot and we were fairly tired anyway, so it was dinner, sort photos, work on the blog, and then to bed. The adventure continues…



PHOTOGRAPHY NOTE: We LOVE our new lenses!!!



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



To see more of our elk images click here: Animal Gallery