With Covid-19 canceling our international visit to Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, we finally had time to prioritize the American west. We flew out from Dayton to Bozeman, spent the night relatively close to the airport, then got up and drove into the north entrance of Yellowstone. We bopped around the Mammoth Hot Springs before hiking thru Lamar Valley and getting our first exposure to readily available wildlife.
Not even a quarter mile from the car we came across a young bald eagle, and before even turning away from the tree a pronghorn came up the trail from the other direction allowing for a couple great photo-ops. From there we continued into the valley and getting our first exposure to more than a handful of bison. After hiking thru the valley we moved on to a few geysers (around veteran) then lucked out seeing a grizzly digging for food on the way out of the park. If you have any questions about the colors and/or meaning of said colors associated with the bacteria in the calderas and springs, rangers Brian and Laurie will happily respond.
Day 2 in Yellowstone started off about as good as we could hope, seeing a black bear just at the tree line as we were entering the park. We started at Excelsior geyser and the grand prismatic which were unfortunately pretty covered due to being overcast combined with the steam rolling off. Old Faithful lived up to her name and we had front row seats for that eruption. From there we continued around the basin to a few other geysers, a few were impressive, but Tardy Geyser stole my heart (especially when dwarfed by others in the area).
Hayden Valley is known for its wildlife, and with that in mind it did not disappoint. With the car still in sight we came across a bison lying down probably 100' from the trail. We stopped to take a couple pictures and for the most part it was non-eventful. After thinking I had what I was going to get photo wise, we took another step down the trail. The bisons head swung towards us and we stopped. I took a few more photos appreciating the eye contact then took another step down the trail. The bison immediately stood up and stared us down. While holding my breath and trying to keep my underwear clean I snapped another couple photos then we pretty much sprinted back to the car to find another trail with a wider birth from this bison to get into the valley. That encounter left us on high alert for the remainder of the morning, and our eyes were peeled for any possible wildlife.
Canyon village and artists point eased our troubled minds after appreciating the bison more than we were expecting. The "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone gave a fantastic vantage point of the falls, with 64,000 gallons of water rushing over the edge every second.
