August 21, 2014

My alarm clock accidentally got set somehow last night and sent off at 5:30. I dozed for another half hour and got up at 600. The weather forecast for today was chilly and rainy, so I decided not to go fishing, yet, but to see what became of the dead bison in the Hayden Valley.

When I got there, 2 grizzlies were feeding on it – a female and her yearling cub :

I was up on a hilltop with several dozen other people across the road from the river. We had a good view of much of the northern part of the valley, the river itself and the road. Much entertainment was had when we knew something was about to cross the road but the oncoming cars didn't.

It was raining lightly off and on all morning.

After an hour or so, these bears left and a coyote that had been lurking around the edges became active. You can see it in the upper right of the picture above. It seemed to be more interested in hunting for ground squirrels or something than feeding on the bison. After about a half hour, it, too, left.

Just as I was thinking things were done for a while, someone pointed out a grizzly swimming the Yellowstone River towards our side. After some interference by people standing in the path it wanted to take, it crossed the road to the carcass and began feeding. Why people would want to interfere with a grizzly bear getting to its dinner is beyond me.

This bear was much larger and handled the half-ton bison with ease:

Around 10:00, this bear left and I decided that was enough for the morning. Lots of people had looked through my scope and binoculars, I let a couple from Switzerland use their camera on my big lens and take some photos, and a girl from Victoria, British Columbia worked the scope and took some pictures through it with her cell phone. Everybody left happy.

I went back to camp and had lunch. Then it was more driving around seeing pretty much nothing. I stopped in the Yellowstone Association in Gardiner and got an new wolf chart and learned that a wolf pair in the Lamar Valley did have pups, but I don't know where they are. Finding them will be a project for another day.

Later in the afternoon, I went back to the Hayden Valley and a new bear was on the carcass, but the traffic was so bad, you couldn't get closer than about ½ mile, so, after watching for a few minutes, I turned around and left.

On the way back, I saw a bunch of pelicans in the river and took some pictures

Then, it was back to camp for dinner. Just as I was cleaning up, a terrific thunderstorm came up and pelted the campground for a good hour. It's quit, now, though.

As the afternoon wore on, it got sunnier and sunnier, so I'm thinking tomorrow will be a fishing day.