Animals at Yellowstone - Grizzly Bear

On our drive back from Lamar Valley we went over a very high mountain pass on a winding, narrow road with no guard rails. I was concentrating on the road and letting Betty enjoy the view when we came upon another traffic slow down. We think it was for a grizzly bear down the slope of the mountain side, but I was not willing to stop. I wanted to get down off the mountain top. Later I was having regrets as I was afraid we might have missed our one chance to see a grizzly bear in the wild.

Fortune was with us, and the next day we came upon another traffic jam with hoards of people on the side of the road, many with large spotting scopes set up on tripods. This was it. Up on the hillside was a grizzly bear that had just killed an elk.

People stopped to watch a grizzly bear up on the hillside

It was a challenge to get a good photo given the distance and the trees that were in the way. You can make out the teddy bear ears in this shot taken at 20X optical zoom. As with all my pictures, you can click on the picture to see a larger version.

Grizzly bear partial head shot at 20X optical zoom
Ursus arctos

Below is a great head shot of the grizzly bear, but I was using the digital zoom on top of the optical zoom, so the image is a bit fuzzy.

Grizzly bear head shot using digital zoom

The grizzly bear got up and moved over to protect its kill when some birds started feeding on it.

Grizzly bear moving over to protect its kill from some birds

At this point the grizzly seemed to have settled down and was not going to be moving for a while. I took one last photo before we moved on. Here you can seen the ears to the left and his back covered with a sheen. We were told by someone who had been observing the bear for a while through a powerful spotting scope that the sheen was from the blood from the elk it killed.

The crowds at Yellowstone were very nice. While I was taking photos, one of them let Betty look at the bear through his spotting scope.

Animals of Yellowstone - Big Horn Sheep

One of the animals I have been wanting to see is a big horn sheep. I looked for them in Alaska with no luck. I have been several other places where they are found but have never seen one. I had expected that when I did see one they would be up on a cliffside far in the distance. When we came upon another traffic backup I was expecting it to be for elk or bison. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was for two big horn sheep, not up on a cliff, but instead sitting in a field of grass just along side the road.

Big horn sheep
Ovis canadensis

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Animals of Yellowstone - Bison

We probably saw more bison in Yellowstone than any other animal. The most impressive view of bison in their natural habitat was in Hayden Valley. We were there toward the end of the day, and the lighting was perfect.

Bison in Hayden Valley
Bison bison

Closer view of bison in Hayden Valley

We also drove out to Lamar Valley as this is supposed to be a hot spot for seeing animals. We saw plenty of bison there, but not in the numbers we had been told are possible. They were also further away, so less easy to photograph.

Bison in Lamar Valley

When you see the cars in front of you slow down, it usually means there are animals to be seen. In some cases the bison on the side of the road were so close to my Prius that Betty could have reached out to pet them. I did want some good photos, so I insisted that she roll down her window before taking this picture.

Bison grazing right next to the road as cars drive by

We witnessed one fight between two bison, and the loser ended up crossing the road in front of us. Since I had to stop to let the bison cross, I didn't feel guilty about taking this photo from my car.

Bison crossing the road

We also saw a nice group of bison on the shores of Indian Pond as Betty and I were starting our hike on Storm Point Nature Trail. Whenever there were bison or other animals near the road, there was usually a park ranger at the scene to make sure people kept their distance and also try to keep the cars moving.

Bison at Indian Pond

Animals of Yellowstone - Elk

Our first animal sighting in Yellowstone was elk. The place where they are sighted on a regular basis is along the south side of the east entrance road in a field beside the Madison River shortly before you reach the Loop Road. There were elk there almost every day in the morning as we drove in and in the evening as we returned to our cabin. The problem was that cars would slow down or stop in the middle of road to take pictures from their car rather than pulling over. In the evening, this sometimes resulted in long delays up to a half an hour or more to get past the elk.

Elk in field by Madison River
Cervus canadensis

Typical view of elk with head down in the grass eating

Finally an elk lifts its head out of the grass

The elk are totally oblivious to humans. As we drove through Mammoth Springs, there was a small herd of elk sitting in a grassy field right next to buildings and parked cars. As we drove out of Mammoth Springs, there was a male elk with a HUGE rack of antlers that I would have loved to photograph, but I had to keep both hands on the wheel so I missed the shot.

Small herd of elk in town of Mammoth Springs

Elk calf in grass at Mammoth Springs

Male elk with modest rack in Mammoth Springs

You never knew when an elk was going to cross the road. This one sauntered across knowing he had the right of way.

Large male elk crossing the road in front of my car

I had to add this photo of an elk with a 12 point rack.

Male elk with a 12 point rack

Exploring Yellowstone - Fires

Rather than doing a day-by-day, chronological blogging of our week at Yellowstone, I am going to make blog entries by topic such as animals, waterfalls, geothermal features, etc.

I will start off talking about the fires.

We were glad to be staying a little south of West Yellowstone as we had smoke free skies at our cabin during our entire visit. There are currently 5 fires burning in Yellowstone. On our first day driving through the town of West Yellowstone and the west park entrance, the air was thick with smoke from the Maples fire. Fortunately, the smoke cleared by the time we reached the Loop Road, so it did not impact our visit. On subsequent days we could see the smoke from the Maples fire in the distance, but the wind was either not blowing or blowing in a different direction, so we were not driving through the smoke. All Yellowstone roads remained open throughout most of our stay.

As we drove into the park each day through West Yellowstone, we passed by the "fire camp".

Fire Camp sign as you enter West Yellowstone

On the outskirts of town there was a field with many large tents such as the one shown below. I suspect this was a bunk house tent for fire fighers who did not choose to sleep in their own tent among the trees behind the field. The advantage of the bunkhouse tent is there were heating/air conditioning units for the tents.

A bunk house tent for fire fighters?

The fire fighters' personal tents

At many of the roadside pull outs, the park service had posted signs giving the updated status of the active fires in Yellowstone.

Map showing the status of the active Yellowstone fires

One evening as we were driving back to our cabin on the west Yellowstone road, we spotted this line of fire fighters as they were returning to their trucks to drive back to camp for the night. There was a group of elk along the river bank that they spooked as they hiked.

Fire fighters returning after a day working on the Maples fire

After spending 4 full days in the park, we decided to spend Saturday doing some sightseeing in the town of West Yellowstone. It was a fortuitous decision as the Maples fire seemed to have flared up. The photo below shows the smoke as seen from the town of West Yellowstone. When we headed back into the park the next day, we didn't encounter any smoke except in the distance.

Smoke as seen from West Yellowstone on Sept 10th, 2016

There was also a fire in the north part of Grand Teton National Park. The night before we were to drive from Yellowstone to Grand Teton the winds picked up and caused that fire to flare up. As a result they closed the road that goes from the south entrance of Yellowstone to Grand Teton. We ended up having to drive around the outside of Yellowstone on the west side and enter Grand Teton from the south. It was the less scenic but faster route.

Arriving at our cabin outside the east entrance to Yellowstone

We arrived at the cabin we rented shortly after 4 pm on Labor Day.

Our home for a week

Sunset view from cabin
Henry Lake can be seen in the distance

The cabin is located in Island Park, ID, about a 15 minute drive to the western entrance to Yellowstone National Park. We found it by using the Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO) web site. Our cabin, plus its "sister" cabin, are run by Two Top Trading, a family run operation. We couldn't have been more pleased. The place was spotless, spacious, and nicely decorated. The owners seemed to have thought of everything. Betty and I enjoyed coming "home" after our very long days exploring Yellowstone. It was also great to have use of a washer and dryer after being on the road for 2 weeks. You can check out the rental listing in VRBO here.

Below are a series of interior photos of the cabin. I should have taken these on our arrival, but failed to do so. Instead these were taken as we were heading out the door. You will see two of the beds unmade since the owners ask you to do this so they know which linens have to be cleaned. Also the laundry basket is there with the other dirty linens from our stay. Otherwise it looks pretty much like we found it.

Living room with stairs to loft
TV had Dish satellite

Kitchen has all full size appliances
including a dish washer 

Lots of hooks by the front door
Towels on shelf for the jacuzzi on the front deck

Betty's bedroom with her own thermostat

The bathroom also had its own thermostat

Looking down at living room from loft
That is a bear resting on a log above the TV

Loft has 2 queen beds and a nice sitting area
The full size washer & dryer are behind the doors

View of the two queen beds from the loft's sitting area

On our way from Glacier to Yellowstone

Our drive down from Glacier to Yellowstone went smoothly. We broke it up into two days, staying one night in Helena, MT. The cost of a room with two beds was the same as a suite, so we opted for a suite. It felt very luxurious to have a small sitting area with a couch, chair, and coffee table.

Suite at Comfort Inn Suites Airport in Helena 

We arrived in Helena in time to do a little sight seeing before dinner. Because it was drizzling, we decided against the open air historic train ride and instead visited the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts. The historic 26 acre site located on the outskirts of town was once the Western Clay Manufacturing Company. They have a couple galleries open, and visitors also can walk the grounds and see some very old beehive kilns used when it was a brickyard.

The Pottery Museum

Betty at one of many outdoor art pieces

A covered picnic table
Pieces of pottery are found
throughout the grounds

Entrance to beehive kiln being restored

Exterior of beehive kiln

Interior of beehive kiln