The trip to Yellowstone was going to be a quickie as I have been to the park many times and it is beautiful. The day I arrived is the postcards, passport stamp etc. day usually but in Yellowstone I also saw Old Faithful erupt with a bison on hand to watch as well. Bad part was the visitor center was closed, it was after 5:30pm when I arrived so I had to go back to the following day. The good part was I did get to see plenty of bison on the way in and out to my campground in West Yellowstone. Day 2 was back to old faithful and then I wanted to try and see a wolf in the wild. Well that meant a trip to Lamar Valley and it is a hike from Old Faithful but I was determined! Along the way I stopped at Swan lake and watch some swans on a nest, ducks swimming and even a pair of bald eagles flying high. Onward to Lamar Valley I went but there was NO wolves to be seen for me. On the way back to West Yellowstone, I encountered a bear jam so I parked and walked to see the bear. It was a grizzly with her two cubs but they were resting in the shade and you could to really see them. I waited showing many people the bears location about 1 hour and then called it quits and headed back to the van. When I drop past the site what did I see but the mamma and two cubs, so darn! I found a safe place to park not for up the road and humped it back to the bears. I was able to get some good photos and I told myself that if the bear jumps the stream I am going to take higher ground. Well she jumped and so did her two cubs so up to the top of the hill I went. I did continue to take photos but when she got to be about 15 yards away I got the heck out of there and headed back to my van. I did notice a boardwalk that was a safe distance away so I went down it to continue getting shots of the bears. Onward I went after about another 20 minutes of taking photos of the bears. Back on the road to West Yellowstone I went and was greeted by a herd of bison in the field and when I went to stop notice that the bison were in the turnout as well. Man was it cool to see all of these bison and babies just a few feet from me. It was starting to snow at this point so the photos were not great but the experience will be remembered for ever. The last day I as going to be in Yellowstone was going to be for a journey to the Grand Tetons but as I said day 2 the snow started and it was snowing harder on day 3! Yellowstone’s South Gate was closed for snow but I only found that out after I was in the park so I had to turn around and figure out how to get to the Grand Tetons. The trip was well worth it as I was able to see some additional bison and a coyote, both with snow falling. I did find a way to the Grand Tetons but that is for another park.
These shots are amazing! So happy that you’re enjoying such a fantastic trip! Keep them coming!
Hi Jason, Hope you are doing well. We met in GTNP at the Sawmills Ponds Overlook on Moose Wilson Road on May 28th. It was a beautiful day except for the absence of any moose. You were telling us about your experience at Isle Royale NP. We are from Michigan.
You mentioned you only have two parks left to visit. I was trying to remember the bear viewing area that the Alaska Wildlife Department runs. Its the McNeil River. The link is attached. Looks pretty cool. https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=viewingpermits.mcneil_apply
Take care. We’ll be following your website.
Dave Evans