A Bountiful Burgeoning of Bellowing Bison :)

Oh what a time I had today!  After checking my comments, and seeing that the vast majority of you felt I should give Yellowstone one more try, Emma and I hit the road just before 7:00.  You can bet that I checked the camera three times to be sure everything was in order.  :)

I was feeling a little disappointed as I entered the Hayden Valley, and no bison were in sight.  For the last month I’ve literally seen hundreds of bison carpeting the floor of the valley.  Maybe I was just a bit early?  Eventually, they began to appear.  I went up and down that section of the road three times, but I’m sure glad I did.  I learned a lot.

It seems to me that there is a ritual that these male bison go through during the rutting season, and I was able to see it unfold before me.  If you’re a male bison, here’s what you do…
After giving a few good guttural bellows at a chosen dust bath location, go down in the fine dust and begin to roll.
Face and neck first, and then one side while kicking up dust to coat the outer side.
Then roll your head around to get the back of your neck.
And then, onto your back with your feet in the air so that white dust covers you everywhere!
Then, sit still for a minute as the dust settles before getting up and shaking like a dog.
Once that’s all over with, start bellowing again.  :)  Be sure to stick your tongue out.
If a good looking lady walks by, follow her!  Notice how much larger the males are than the females?
Give her a sniff, and lick your lips.
If she tries to give you the slip, run after her!  :)

I’m sure glad I went back for one last trip through this amazing National Park.  It was our first National Park, you know, and I’m so happy Teddy Roosevelt got this accomplished!
I have several other pictures from the rest of this journey, but I think I’ll save them for tomorrow.  We had one gully washer of a storm last night, and it looks like another one is on its way in a couple of minutes.  I’d better get this posted before the wifi goes out.  :)

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

The Call of the Wild

I awoke with the enthusiasm of Marlin Perkins this morning, and was ready to tackle Yellowstone’s Wild Kingdom!  :)  Of course, there was no film crew from Mutual of Omaha, but I pressed on without them.
First up was the female elk herd along the Madison River.  I don’t know why all these females don’t have young.  I guess it’s hard to find a good man.  :)  You can see that the elk on the right has a radio collar on her neck.  They are fairly easy to see along the river in the early morning.

After getting through the construction on the way to Norris Junction, I headed for Canyon.  Along the way, there was another bear jam.  Usually that means a bear is way up in the woods somewhere, and you probably need a spotting scope to see it.
But today was different.  A grizzly bear was feeding not very far from the roadway.  Of course, people were foolishly scurrying about getting closer and closer to the bear to snap a picture.  I was able to get this shot without ever leaving my car.  I just don’t understand why people will endanger themselves and their children by dragging them within feet of a wild animal.  How could you be so stupid?  And why do they have to harass the wildlife?  Ugh!
On a different, and less aggravating, note I’d like to ask you more experienced users of Picasa3 out there if you think it’s possible to eliminate this blue post in the photo.  I tried, but didn’t have any luck.  I’d appreciate your input.

After I turned right at the Canyon Junction, I decided to turn off on the South Rim loop, which I hadn’t done when my sister was here.  It lead to the overlook for the Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
I took this same shot of the Lower Falls in 1970 when I was a sweet young thing and tenting across the West.  :)  I remember putting my polarized sunglasses over the lens of my point and shoot camera at that time.  It really had a dramatic effect on that long ago photo.  The myriad of colors in the rocks of this canyon is astounding.

I continued on through the Hayden valley to once again enjoy the massive bison herds.
I’m thinking this guy could use a little time at the hairdresser’s.  :)  He’s sure packing a bunch of debris.
Notice those horns already growing on these little ones.  I’ve read that bison don’t see very well, but with those big noses, they must have exceptional olfactory skills.

I’d have to say that today was a great trip into the ‘Wild Kingdom’.  This place just takes my breath away.  :)

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

Another Yellowstone day

Emma and I were on the road well before 8:00 this morning.  Our plan was to drive the upper loop of the figure eight roads of the park.  We did that in addition to the West entrance road and just about all of the Northeast entrance road.  I was hoping for some outstanding photo opportunities.  The forecast said partly cloudy skies, but the morning was spent with overcast skies.  :(
First up was this doe elk just relaxing and “chewing her cud.”  The chewing can be seen better in the header picture.  I think it looks like she wants to say something.  Couldn’t you just picture one of those cartoon bubbles coming out of her mouth with a snappy comment?  Some people know how to do that with their pictures, but not me.  What do you think she wants to say?

I don’t have too many scenic shots from today’s 200+ mile drive, since lighting conditions were not very good, and I couldn’t take the hikes to see Tower Fall and a few other views because of having Emma along. 

The thing that was most noticeable to me on this drive was the dramatic increase in visitors.  There were so many cars on the roads that it reminded me of being in a major city!  I don’t blame all those people for wanting to see this magnificent park, but I just wish they had come until July.  :)


I’m trying a new technique with two pictures side by side here that I learned from a post in Rick & Paulette's RV Travels blog.  It’s lunch time on the left, and a minor disagreement between two cows on the right.   Rick is quite the guru with Live Writer, and I’m trying to implement some of the things I’ve learned from him.  :)

As Emma and I moved on from Tower/Roosevelt toward Mammoth Hot Springs, I was getting hungry and wanted to stop at a picnic area to walk Emma and consume the lunch that I had packed.  Every place that we pulled into was jam packed with no where to park.  Ugh!  So, we drove through Mammoth Junction (what a mass of humanity that place was!), and turned south towards Norris.  The reason I wanted to stop at an official picnic area is that they all have a bathroom!  That was a paramount need by this time.  :)  Finally, about 2/3 of the way to Norris, we found one vacant picnic table!  What a relief!  Emma was, literally, relieved as well.  As I enjoyed my sandwich, Emma investigated the area.
“I know something’s in this log…I can smell it!”
“I’ll try the other side!”
“I know it’s here somewhere!”
Here’s the little culprit that Emma couldn’t quite get to.

In all my drives through the park, I have seen evidence of the great fires of 1988.  As I think I’ve mentioned, I was here during the summer of 1988 and experienced the magnitude of these fires.
Twenty-two years later, the devastation of these fires can still be seen.  This area had a dense population of Douglas fir twenty-two years ago.  Douglas fir is usually quite resistant to fire, but the high winds in the summer of ‘88 produced such hot fires that most trees did not survive. 
You can see some rebirth on the forest floor, but it is a slow process.  Other areas of the park have seen a better natural reseeding of the forest.  Some species of trees only open their cones, for seeds to emerge, after a fire.  In the great scheme of things, 22 years is just a blink of an eye, and that was really brought home to me today.

This has been a rather long post today, so I’d better say…
THE END….once again.  :)

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

Back to Yellowstone

The plan for today was to visit the northeast portion of Yellowstone.  Emma and I made it through the construction between Madison and Norris, and headed for Canyon Village. 
That’s where we were to take a left turn and head north toward Tower Fall.  We made it to Canyon, but the road to Tower Fall was closed.  I don’t know why, maybe because of the snow we had yesterday.  So that put a crimp in my plans.  I decided to head south towards Fishing Bridge.  That was another section of the park that I hadn’t driven yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first stop was Sulphur Caldron.  It is aptly named…smells just like rotten eggs!  :(  I couldn’t stop at Mud Volcano since I had Emma with me.  I took a right at Fishing Bridge…

and stopped along Yellowstone Lake for a picnic lunch.  Two weeks ago, when I arrived at Yellowstone, the lake was frozen.  There was not a bit of ice today.  I guess spring has really arrived.

The picture just doesn’t do justice to the view of Yellowstone Lake along the road to West Thumb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I finally encountered a male elk, until a huge motorhome almost ran into him and he fled.  That guy ruined everyone’s view.  :(

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because of all the rain lately, and the snow run off, all the rivers and falls are full to capacity and stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can’t spend a day in Yellowstone without getting some Bison shots.  :)

 

As I headed for the west entrance, I decided to turn down Firehole Lake Drive again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This time, two of the geysers were erupting as I traveled by.  You know, they’re almost as spectacular as Old Faithful. 

 

With the weekend upon us, the RV park has filled almost to capacity.  I think I’ll leave Yellowstone to the weekend warriors for a few days.  I really must clean house and do some laundry.  :(  I think I’ll try to figure out how to use my onboard washer/dryer tomorrow, but if the weather’s as good as today…who knows!

THE END!!!

 

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy