Hi All,
We explored west of the park and saw lots of great birds. We will spare you the list.
We forgot the name of these beautiful flowers
Hi All,
Sunday, before going off for repairs and after the snowfall ended, we drove to the NW corner of the park.
Known as HooDoos, these limestone formations were created at a rate of 1/4" per year before the last ice age then toppled as the ice sheet scraped across the area.
Hi All,
This morning we drove 186 miles to a Tiffin dealer in Billings, MT. By 5 PM all of our maintenance issues were resolved. We also were able to fill our propane tank for 99 cents a gallon!
It was too late to drive back to Yellowstone so we stayed tonight at a KOA which turned out to be the very first KOA, opened in 1962.
Tomorrow we are back to Yellowstone.
Hi All,
Many people have told us that mid-May is the best time to visit Yellowstone. Based on our time here so far, we agree but there is a downside.
At 7,700 feet elevation winter is reluctant to release her grip.
The campground entrance road is beautiful.
Hi All,
With a 60% rain forecast, we decided to tour the geyser basins where the trails were short and close to the parking.
First stop was West Thumb Geyser Basin. The colors and clarity of the pools were awesome.
Hi All,
We were out for almost 12 hours and spent most of the time driving through the prime wildlife viewing area of Lamar Valley.
In spite of the rain and fog, we saw:
8 grizzly bears including several cubs, 1 black bear, 1 moose, 1 mule deer, 24+ pronghorn antelope, 9 mountain goats, 24+ elk, 300+ bison, 1 marmot and dozens of indecisive squirrels trying to cross the roads.
The baby bison are at most a few weeks old.
Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
Hi All,
In the 1920's and 30's wolves were considered a problem and were exterminated in Yellowstone. It took until the 70's and 80's to realize the importance of wolves and other predators to a healthy ecosystem.
In March of 1995, 14 Canadian gray wolves were released in the park. There are now over 100 animals in four packs. They tend to stay far away from people.
Finding wolves in Yellowstone is a lot like finding a rare bird on a wildlife refuge, you just drive around until you spot a large group of people with many spotting scopes.
