Wednesday, July 15th, we huddled inside the RV all day, rain showers came and went, listening to the thunder roll down the mountain and away was really cool. It was a day to play catch up and photo editing and me doing some quilting. Thursday we decided to head to Yellowstone National Park to spend the day in Lamar Valley which is located at the northeast quadrant of the park. The entrance to the park is only 5 miles beyond Cooke City and as soon as we showed our pass and began driving down the road, Dave slowed down and a huge black bear broke from the side and ambled across the road right in front of us. Pretty good size although not a lot of extra weight. I am sure he was foraging for food. I say he because if it was a female, she would have had her cubs with her.
Came into Lamar Valley and we were glad we made it, just stunning scenery, lots and lots of buffalo all over. We did not remember the magnitude of buffalo until yesterday. Warnings that wildlife are on the roadways, to not stop, not get out of car, do not park - to keep moving. Well, you can’t move very well if the buffalo are standing right in the middle of the road.
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| Move! |
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| Buffalo as far as you can see |
One point when we crossed a bridge over the Yellowstone River, we decided to stop and walk back to take pictures on the other side of the bridge looking down into the raging river. Pulled over, parked, got out and whoa - coming right along the bridge we just passed over was a massive buffalo just taking it’s time strutting down the middle of the bridge. We backed up to the car, got it unlocked, stood by just in case it decided to come for us (they are not friendly animals) but veered away at the last minute and loped up the hill right by the car. Big, smelly, noisy - snorting, lots of flies!
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| Had no idea this lug was coming up behind us |
Stopped at the ranger station at Tower Junction which is right near Roosevelt Lodge and talked with the ranger on easy hikes in the area. While chatting we asked about attendance in the park and she said that the attendance is 30% higher than last year and 15% above their record year of 2010.
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| Roosevelt Lodge |
At Slough Creek trailhead to do an easy hike we saw a coyote stepped out of the bushes and crossed right in front of us. Mangy looking thing. Pulled into a small parking area by Slough Creek to watch fishing people and view the sights. Noticed a buffalo walking towards the creek where a woman sat on the other side reading. Wondered who was going to win - buffalo versus woman. Buffalo won - she scurried quickly behind a tree stump and watched as the buffalo just meandered up the ridge and away. Lots of signs of bear activity, saw buffalo chips (poop) so we know that we had to be careful.
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| Who will win - woman or buffalo? |
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| Buffalo won |
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| Beautiful Lamar River and Lamar Valley |
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| Buffalo chip |
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| Horse crossing |
Although we did not get to see moose, bighorn sheep, elk, or a wolf, we did get to see a bear, lots and lots of buffalo, pronghorn sheep, mountain goats, a coyote, horses, lots of birds. And tons of people. On our way back to ‘home’ and paused at Warm Creek. This is a small creek we stopped at a couple of years ago and saw bear tracks. This time we saw buffalo tracks. Those buggers really get around!
We stopped at an area that cars were stopped along the roadway, all of them with binoculars out, staring at the high cliffs. Sure enough, saw mountain goats - even a baby goat standing on a rocks edge. Great day in Lamar Valley. We will drive through the park come next Monday when we leave to head to upper Montana, that will be a beautiful drive we are looking forward to, we will be sitting much higher and be able to look down into the rivers and creeks as we pass.
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| Warm Creek area - did not see bear tracks this time |
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