Yellowstone

Spring in Yellowstone is certainly a feast for your senses as young animals are being born all around the park, and birds-like the mountain blue birds, robins, & sandhill cranes return. Both grizzly and black bear cubs were born in the deep winter month of January, while their mother is still hibernated. The bison are shedding their winter coats and it was ever so much fun to see all the little cute bison calves-they have the cutest little faces! It is hard to believe that there are nearly 500 species that inhabit the Greater Yellowstone region. Yellowstone is the largest national park in the world and is like a zoo without bars! The most sought after for viewing by tourists, such as ourselves, are the bison, black bear , elk, pronghorn antelope, moose, fox, grizzly bear, coyote,and of course the wolf. We were ecstatic to see all but the last two…we were told we would see more of them when are at Glacier NP. John Steinbeck said it best: “Montana is a great splash of grandeur. The scale is huge but not overpowering.” As we’ve said before, it is again one of those sights that we or even the best photographers can’t seem to capture nor can we write about. It is truly what they call “Big Sky country”! There is just so much to see and do in Montana-it’s like a vacation for the mind and soul and a constant state of invigoration! There is something to do in every season here such as wildlife tours, exploring ruins, birding, hiking, rock & ice climbing, boating, fly fishing, kayaking, rafting down the white water rapids, downhill & cross country skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, dog sledding, hunting, golfing, gambling, go to a dude ranch, work on a ranch, experience a trail ride, stagecoach rides, watch a rodeo, visit an Indian reservation and attend a powwow, pan for gold, visit the many historic sites and of course visit a National park such as Yellowstone and Glacier!! One of our biggest and many thrills came on the first two days when we saw a red fox, which is a rare sighting! It was carrying its prey running across the road and then next to the car and up the slope to the woods. We were so excited we couldn’t get the camera ready fast enough. You can see it at a distance if you look closely at the photo. Of course we saw bison in the meadows as there are large herds of them mostly in the valleys. Many times they were walking or standing in the road and traffic would have to stop until they decided it was time to meander to the other side for the never ending crazing and pooping!! We also had some excitement when traffic was stopped both ways for a large bull elk with some good size antlers. Traffic finally moved slowly around it but to our excitement it decided it would cross right in front of our car. We did get photos of that. We were also ecstatic to see a small group of pronghorn deer which are so beautiful and graceful. Their horns go up and then curve in towards the center. We saw some cute rabbits and what I think was a marten (Debra thinks it was a marmet). Regardless, it was cute! We always enjoyed seeing the herds of elk along the valleys and near the roads and continued to be amazed at just how beautiful and varied the ecosystem is here. In one area you see the snow, in another you see geysers, in another you see flatlands, in yet another you see warning signs not to go off the boardwalk for fear of sinking into vats of sulfuric acid or getting scalded to death (and I mean death) by hot springs. The sad part of the beautiful Yellowstone vistas is that fires caused by man's carelessness or nature's lightning strikes (at least 22 a year) have dramatically changed the appearance of the landscape. It was during the summer of 1988 that the biggest national park fire occurred with 26 percent of Yellowstone burned and it was caused by man!! And yet not one of the major features were destroyed. The geysers, waterfalls, and herds of wildlife were, and are, still here. It is amazing to see just how the fires burned – there are side by side burned areas and non-burned areas. The dead trees are lying every which way and are left to rot and go back into the earth. The rangers say that new growth starts almost immediately. Thank goodness it left one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the park which they call the Upper Falls and Lower Falls…the sight and sounds of these are just magnificent – we can only hope that our photos depict at least a portion of their beauty. Nor could we capture one of my most favorite sounds...the wind blowing through the pine trees while walking through the soft pine needles as there is almost no underbrush here! Yes, it IS a grand place...President Grant was pretty smart when he designated Yellowstone our nation's first National Park back in 1872!