As if our day in West Yellowstone on Friday wasn’t enough beauty for us, we decided to head to Yellowstone for two days to enjoy the weekend and each other. Saturday marked the beginning of National Parks week, which gave everyone free admission into all of the National Parks around the country. Despite that fact, Yellowstone was pretty quiet all weekend which is fine. More for us to enjoy!
On our way to Gardner, the North Entrance to the park we stopped in Livingston for breakfast. We ate at The Pop Stand and breakfast there was incredible and cheap! For $6 I had two slices of French Toast (each piece was the size of my head), 2 pieces of bacon, 2 pieces of sausage and 2 scrambled eggs. Needless to say, I did not finish most of it but it was incredible. Even better then that, Abby ate for free! Yup, children under 12 eat free there. I haven’t seen a deal like that since I was under 12.
Once we entered the park, we headed out towards Lamar Valley… a popular spot for bear and wolf sightings. Our drive out to Lamar was fairly uneventful but we did see a few things from afar. We saw a gray wolf, bald and golden eagles, osprey, a marmot, bison, mule deer, elk, and river otters. We tried to get pictures of the otters playing in Soda Butte Creek, but the disappeared before we could even park the car! We drove as far as Trout Lake and then decided to turn around and head back to Mammoth.
On our way back, we passed by the Yellowstone Picnic area where during my last visit we saw a little black bear. While it wasn’t the same black bear, there was one creating a scene when we came by. During the summer we would have never been able to stop, but that is one of the joys of spring. We watched this bear move along from the picnic site and beyond for a while before we decided to move on.
After stopping back in Gardner to check into the hotel, grab some food and take a small break we were back on our way. This time we decided to head towards the West Entrance and Old Faithful. We didnt see much wildlife on this leg of the trip, but the day was beautiful and allowed for some great photography. It was wonderful to just drive around and enjoy the afternoon and evening. At several turn outs we ran into Yellowstone’s moocher’s, the ravens. They had no problem stopping right near our car windows to beg for handouts, but instead they had their pictures taken!
On our way back to Gardner for the evening we came across a small road jam due to a group of young bull elk. Several of them were oblivious to the cars and were focused on sparing with one another. Nothin’ but reindeer games!
The second day of our trip was short, as Auntie Jillian had to be back for work. We headed out again toward Lamar in hopes of seeing some wolves or bears. Unfortunately, anything that was out there was too far to even be seen with the naked eye. Most people were out with high power spotting scopes looking at things way off on the hills. We didn’t leave Lamar Valley empty handed though. On our way back, I spotted the otters we had missed the day before. We drove up ahead of what appeared to be a young otter and got out of the car along the bank of the river several hundred feet ahead of him. The little otter swam and played and I was able to get a few distance pictures. He was cute and on several occasions you could hear him talking and chattering.
The rest of the day was spent driving and sight seeing. The snow along the Madison River at the West entrance had melted considerably and green grass was beginning to peak out. The bison were happily eating and the day was gorgeous! Even though we didn’t get to see some of the animals we had hoped to see, the drive was amazing. When we left the park I should have felt sad, but I knew I had one more weekend here and I knew I wouldn’t have to twist any arms to come back.
On the way home through the Gallatin, we spotted a fly fisherman out in the river near a small rock. There are plenty of fisherman out on the Gallatin, but this one caught our eye. Next to him on the small rock was a dog, his dog. The dog looked to be a Golden Retriever and I don’t think this dog could have been happier. For the sake of this story the dog was a boy and he was out with his buddy, fishing and it was quite apparent that he was having fun and always at the ready to help. As the man continued to cast his reel, his loyal friend sat there watching the water, sitting but tense, ready to come to his aide when needed. He was half wet and half dry which would led me to believe he had tried to help out not too long ago. It was the most picturesque sight to see. Something I often think of when it comes to living in this area of Montana. Out on the river fishing with man’s best friend at your side. Just perfect and that is why I love this place so much.
The Wharton Adventures 