Be Our Guest

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*Critters we’ve seen on our 2015 trip so far: elk, mule, mule deer, llama, prairie dog, donkey, bison, coyote, pronghorn, Uinta ground squirrel, black bear, moose, bighorn sheep, yellow-bellied marmot, wolf, least chipmunk

*Birds we’ve seen on our 2015 trip so far: California condor, Brewer’s blackbird, American kestrel, spotted towhee, magpie, wild turkey, mountain bluebird, bald eagle, Canada goose, Clark’s nutcracker, sandhill crane, osprey, red-tailed hawk, mountain chickadee, Northern flicker, great horned owl, Peregrine falcon

*National Parks/Monuments visited on 2015 trip so far: 6

 

Three years ago one of my best friends and her husband came to Yellowstone for the first time and stayed with us for an entire week in Aug.  Though both had hoped to make a return trip, only Gloria was able to do so this year bringing another friend, Shari.  Gloria wanted to return in the spring in hopes of seeing some newborn critters and scheduled their visit for mid-May.

 

We picked them up at the Bozeman airport and after getting their stuff settled in the RV, we got the Yellowstone tour underway with Russ as tour guide (he’s so good at it!).  This was going to be a short trip with hopes of seeing some critters, and when we got up to the top of the hill, we saw several people gathered outside the houses

on Officer’s Row.  There up in the tree was one of the Great Horned owls!  After a few pictures (and getting to hear it call which we’d never heard before), we headed towards Swan Lake Flats.  Almost immediately I spotted something high in a tree across the meadow, and my binoculars confirmed that it was a bald eagle!  We stopped in a pullout and Russ took out the spotting scope so they could have an even better view.  They were thrilled with this great start!

 

The rest of the evening was spent in the RV chatting, munching, and getting acquainted with Shari.  Though I’ve known Gloria since high school, and she and Shari have been friends for years, Shari and I only knew of each through Gloria’s stories and more recently emailing before the trip.

 

After a hearty breakfast the next morning, the plan was to head out to Lamar Valley.  We decided to check out the Tower Junction area first in hopes of spotting the black bear sow and her 3 cubs but no luck so kept going so they could see Tower Fall.  We had also heard about a Peregrine falcon sitting on a nest not far from there and managed to catch a glimpse through a spotting scope. However one guy had his scope pointed across the road at a cinnamon colored black bear that was napping in the crook of a tree!  I took a

picture but it’s too hard to make out out.  As we made our way back to the junction, we came upon a traffic jam and guess who was causing it?  The black bear and her 3 cubs!

 

     We continued our way out to Lamar Valley passing several pronghorn and lots of bison plus a couple more black bears.  As we approached the Hitching Post, we saw quite a crowd up on the hill, many with spotting scopes.  Standing in the river was an elk

cow and on the riverbank a beautiful black wolf!  Normally wolves are best seen around sunrise or sunset because they sleep during the day, but this was 1:30 in the afternoon!  We were told that she had nipped the back leg of the elk earlier at which time the cow retreated to the river, and the wolf stalked and bided its

time.  We watched for awhile, but this could take hours, and Gloria really didn’t want to see a kill so we left.  We found out later that this wolf was 926F, the 4-year-old alpha female from the Lamar Canyon pack, and she did finally take down that elk.  What another great viewing day for our guests!

 

The next day I took the gals up to Mammoth Hot Springs for a tour.  We started at the newly remodeled visitor center, and then over to the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel to show them what I refer to as a hidden gem.  Just off the lobby is the Map Room that contains a large wooden map of the United States created in 1937 from 15 different types of wood from 9 countries.  It measures 17’ 10” x 10’ 4” containing 2,544 inlaid pieces of wood.

 

From there we headed over to the Terraces, starting at the Lower Terraces where a nice man took our photo for us.  Just up the road starts the one way Upper Terraces Loop Drive which offers the opportunity to see some thermal features not easily seen from the main road such as Orange Springs Mound.  This thermal feature is a large mounded shape created by a very slow water flow, mineral deposits, and bacteria and algae that give it the orange color.  Another is Angel Terrace which was dormant and dry for decades but then suddenly became active again in 1985.  The pure white sections along with some colorful microbes attest to its re-activity.

The following day it was back out to Tower Junction and Lamar Valley for hopefully more critter sightings, and not far from the junction we once again came across the black bear and her 3 cubs.  Some of you may have seen online or on the news recently a video of a black
     bear and her 3 cubs trying to cross a bridge here in Yellowstone with lots of people around.  Well, this is them!  Gloria has dubbed them “the famous bridge bears”.  This time they were not far off the road and we were able to get a perfect parking spot in a pullout just
across from them.  Rangers were on duty keeping the folks in their cars so she could cross the road if that’s what she wanted to do.  We watched for several minutes as they grazed and made their way towards the road and eventually crossed.  Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

 

Gloria’s husband and two sons opened a fitness club 2 years ago called JD’s Gym (www.jdsgym.com/), and since she had given me one of their t-shirts last year, us girls had decided to wear them one day so we could be representin’ in Yellowstone.  Russ found the perfect backdrop for our photo shoot as we made our way back home.  Along the way we also encountered some bighorn sheep that decided to cross the road right by our car, and we had to wait a bit for a herd of bison to get off the bridge before we could cross.

We had to work the next two days but loaned the girls our car so they could venture out on their own.  The first day they traveled down to Old Faithful and points in between (where they were lucky enough to spot a grizzly not far from the road), and on the second day they explored the Canyon area. To be continued....

 

Yellowstone Tidbits:

• The park encompasses 3,472 sq. miles (2,221,766 acres), larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined.
• Bald eagle:  Became the national emblem of the U.S. in 1782; has a wingspan from 72-90 in., can fly to an altitude of 10,000 ft. and achieve speeds of 30-35 mph, weighs 10-14 lbs., can live 20-30 years, and mates for life.
• Great horned owl:  Grows to a length of 17-25 in. with a wingspan of 36-60 in., can weigh up to 3-1/4 lbs.; baby owl is called an owlet and can fly competently by 10-12 weeks; group of owls is called a parliament.