Sunday, June 12, 2011

I could love it here...

Well, we made it to Yellowstone yesterday afternoon. Brynn suggested the trip about a week ago, to my surprise. I LOVE Yellowstone and would like to make it a bi or tri-annual trip. But, with our busy schedules, once a year is better than nothing. I fell in love with Montana way back in high school, when me and four friends moved up to the town of Red Lodge, after our junior year of high school. We were only there for that Summer, but it was long enough to bond with the place. There's a feeling of freedom and wildness here, not unlike the feeling I get in Alaska. I think, once I'm done with school, we'll be looking for work in Alaska and Montana and I'll be in Heaven in either place. This first photo is a coyote. She was hunting by herself along a little pond.
These mountains are very "Montana" to me. I love the mountains in this place and in Wyoming, which are tall and often look like huge grassy meadows reaching to the sky. I took this photo along the trail to Hellroaring Creek.
I've seen more bison here than ever before. They're everywhere; doing very well, I'd say. This was along the NE Entrance Road, just a bit east of Lamar Valley.
The bison calves are so cute, and they're everywhere. I'm sure some will fall prey to wolves and bears. For the most part though, elk seem to be the main course for predators. I watched 2 wolves, early this morning, run right through a group of bison calves. That I could see, they left them alone. Unfortunately, the wolves were an easy 1/2 to 3/4 mile or so from me; no chance for a photo, even with an nice 400mm lens. There's still hope, as we're here until tomorrow. I plan on checking out the Slough Creek area for the pack of wolves there. Rumor has it, one member has been seen at fairly close range.
Mid-June looks pretty great in Yellowstone Nat'l Park.

4 comments:

Shawna said...

I love those bison pictures, the one in the water is my favorite. Wish we could have went with you guys. Hope you had a great time

Kari said...

I'm so jealous! I really need to go sometime. I've heard June is the best month to go. Glad you're having fun!

Wade The Rascal said...

We ARE having a great time. Although, something's gotten into Jericho in the last 2 days and he's CRAZY!!! He's so full of energy and won't calm down. It's fun seeing him dig the road trip though.
I've been in Yellowstone during all parts of the year, Kari. I don't know which to say is the best time. June is great because of all the baby animals; we've seen baby elk, bison, and antelope, so far. Summer is just OK. It's too hot. I don't do Summers very well ;)
Fall is awesome because the elk are rutting so they're everywhere, they're going crazy, and they're bugling all over the canyons. They get careless, thinking only of "getting it on" with the females, so wolves have an advantage and they start showing up more often.
I LOVE Winter up here. Only the North road, between Gardiner and Cooke City is open to cars, so there are very few visitors. With snow on the ground, there are certain valleys where the animals prefer to Winter making spotting them a little easier. They're easier to see against all that white snow too. And, of course, Winter just might be the best time and chance to see wolves.

Kari said...

Wade, that makes sense that it depends on what you're hoping to see. The person that told me that did say its the best time to see baby animals. I would like to try and get up there this fall, but we'll see.