Sept 14-Mon-day 39
West Yellowstone, Montana
Weather-low 35 (2C) to mid70s (24C) sun and clouds



We got an early start to a day that took us to the far North East Corner of the park, through the Lamar Valley. We had hopes of seeing its’ wolves (saw none), bison (saw lots), antelope (saw lots), bear (saw none), and coyotes (finally we saw one).



We started before sunrise and the first thing we saw was a huge bull elk standing in the shadows next to the road in the Madison Valley (just slowed and drove on). In the early morning hours the animals seem to all be out and about, except the birds. We saw elk and bison just about everywhere. The other bonus to early morning viewing was that in the thermal areas the steam was everywhere, due to the cool morning temps….really changes the atmosphere of the whole scene.



There was an early morning traffic slow down at Lake Village, where the bison are starting to show up. They own the road (no argument there) and took full advantage of it as they strolled along on their morning travels. By this time the sun was almost up and there was no problem taking a shot of the bison, they were on the right, on the left, and of course all over the road. We didn’t have to worry about stopping the other cars while we took photos, everyone was stuck waiting for the road to clear. We only saw about half a dozen bison in the Hayden Valley, confirming they’ve started their fall migration to lower elevations and more winter food.



Sadly (I’m starting to think we might not see one this trip) no sign of grizzly or even black bear along Dunraven Pass or near Mt. Washburn. As we approached the turn at Roosevelt, to head east out to the Lamar Valley, the sun was directly in front of us but we still had good light to either side. We saw many, many antelope, but they were a long way off ….no close-up shots today. We found out later that moose had been sighted near the NE entrance, but all we saw were two small deer. Gorgeous scenery near the NE entrance to the park, huge mountains…not much thermal activity.



On the way home we stopped at Mammoth Hot Springs to check on the elk. It appeared that they had merged into one very large herd of fifty or more cows and calves, with one huge bull keeping the herd in order. There must have been ten Rangers trying to keep the people at a safe distance….more work than keeping a herd of elk in order. At one time the bull charged the crowd and sent several people up the steps of the info center building...no damage to the tourists, just a few rangers whose stress levels went out of sight.



Off we went up and over the hill on the old road to Gardiner, hoping for a close encounter with the antelope we’d seen the other day, but it was not to be. Then down the west-loop of the park, around Norris, past Canyon Village and we’re headed towards home.



We had a coyote sighting….Rae spotted a coyote very close to the road in the Hayden Valley, near the area where we our other sightings had been. I popped out of the car, headed down the road and spotted the coyote near the bank of the hill. I was able to get fairly close before it saw me, and then it just ignored me anyway. We both were able to get some clear shots and watched until it faded away into the distance. When we reached the Madison we saw that the three elk harems were dispersed evenly from the lower to upper parts of the Madison Valley, each with their own bull.



We arrived home twelve hours after our start, tired but not exhausted, and settled down to check out the days images. The adventure continues.



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



To see more of our animal images click HERE