Our first nighttime expedition had me, Cooper, and Auntie Sharon in the back...she is one of my besties!
We went to Hayden Valley and just missed grizzlies munching on this bison carcass!
And some birdies hanging on in the Rapids!
We saw a couple of the regulars out for the evening...
A great sunset on the way home...
And a view of the West Yellowstone fire creeping over the hills toward the road!
The next day Mom left me home and they went to the Norris and West Thumb Geysers...Mom will pick up the story!
Norris is one of the hottest and most acidic of Yellowstone's hydrothermal areas and near three major faults creating a dynamic basin! We learned later there was a 5.0 earthquake at Jackson while we were at Norris, yikes! Our first stop was Porcelain Basin!
Followed by Back Basin where we moved from boardwalk to a dirt and rock hike and I didn't have my poles, tripped flat on my face. I thought I was fine but the trauma kicked my Rhematoid Arthritis back up for a few days, darn it, I hate to give into it!
Next we made our way around through the canyon over to West Thumb Geyser, on the huge Yellowstone Lake. We had never been in this part during our previous trip! First, a stop by the lake where we saw the "Yellowstone Bus," much like the Glacier Red Touring Buses...
Then we saw this big ol' buffalo who decided a back scratch was needed!
And then he sauntered over to his herd...
And on the way to West Thumb, a couple of young elk chilling!
Wayne had to play tourist...
These little guys were so cute, my sister tells me they are Common Mesangers...
A quick stop on the way home...
And Wayne's Yellowstone selfie!
The next morning Wayne and I got up at 3:00a.m. for the long trip up to Lamar Valley before sunrise. On the way we saw a cute fox scurry in front of us on the road...unfortunately I couldn't get my flash turned off fast enough😰
We sat for a while at one location but saw nothing so just after dawn we moved to a new location where about 25-30 cars were parked and about 10 spotting scopes! We knew something was up, but we had missed the big event, at dawn a grizzly had been dining on a carcass...we were just down the road a half mile, darn it! Such is the life of wildlife seekers, sometimes pay dirt, sometimes not!
While we talked to the folks with scopes, one of them saw a coyote (or wolf, but we think coyote). She let me look through her scope and watch him crouch along and pounce on his prey. Wayne snapped a picture but we were way away...
Next we saw plenty of buffalo, all up in the valley for mating season! We also ran into several herds of pronghorns, such interesting looking animals!
We also saw a few pop up brush fires...so dry this time of year!
On the way home we saw the Tower and Mount Washburn area, very hazy with smoke!
A couple of quick stops at Cascade Lake and Tower Falls along the Yellowstone River...
And we were homeward bound!
The next morning was supposed to be a hike, but my RA was in full blown flare up and everybody was kind enough to cancel the hike and do a car trip to the Grand Tetons. The southern Yellowstone exit/Teton north entrance was closed so we had to detour around, a 2 & 1/2 HR drive! It was very, very smokey and our beautiful Tetons were only visible through a haze😰
Hopefully it will clear up for another visit!
