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Published: September 14th 2011
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After all the excitement of last night I did manage to sleep fairly well. I asked several people this morning if they heard the chorus last night and none had. Was I hearing things? They seem to all have been watching tv or already asleep. I went on a ranger led hike this morning and asked about the vocal group and he smiled and said yes indeed there was a pack of coyotes that hang around and sometimes sing. After thinking about last night I think I was more excited than scared, although there were elements of both. The coyotes must have been howling at the moon, it was gorgeous.
Breakfast was a feast of oatmeal pancakes with walnuts. I woke up really hungry, maybe because it was 37 outside and a warm 57 inside. The day was beautiful with abundant sunshine and about 70 degrees by noon, then it went down hill. The thunder heads started to build and before long the lightning was flashing and the sky was dark. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I joined a group on a ranger lead hike. I really didn’t know too much about it but I wanted to hike but not
alone so the this worked just fine. We had a nice group of about 20 mostly seniors, and we would walk a little and the ranger would explain a little about that spot then we would move on. We crossed a meadow and into a forest of lodge pole pines. It was very interesting and informative but after 2 ½ hours my joints were screaming at me.
It started to look a little cloudy so I thought I’d go north to see Yellowstone Falls hoping the sun would be out there. It kept coming and going so I didn’t get great pictures of the falls or surrounding canyon, I’ll try tomorrow morning as I have to pass there anyway. Getting there was a real challenge. The bison were on the move all over. They caused such traffic jams, it was almost comical. Pictures The best one was on my way back to camp when a large bull decided the road was his. He trotted on my side of the road for at least ¼ mile and had traffic backed up ½ mile or so. He was as big as the cars and it IS his road!
I stopped at a
roadside picnic area to exercise Oscar as he is not allowed to be more than 100 yards from any road so he cannot go on walks with me. It is a good rule when you think that Yellowstone belongs to the wild animals that live here.
The next stop was an overlook of the Yellowstone River flat lands. There was a heard of bison so I was looking at them and caught sight of an eagle or large hawk in the top of a tree nearby. Just as I got the camera up and focused he took off so his feet are in focus, nothing else. Interesting picture though.
I decided to head home and sit on a porch overlooking the lake but it was raining, snowing so homeward we went. Just as I was crossing the bridge I spotted something strange looking in the water. It turned out to be a herd of elk swimming across and I managed to get their butts as they got out of the water. Lucky shot even in the sleet, snow.
I am again tired, did too much today, but managed a little quiet time in the woods . Tomorrow I am heading
north to the falls again and then to Gardner MT where there is internet service. IF I can get through the bison blockage.
In Yellowstone there is something new around every corner. You never know what you will find so constant vigilance is a must, there is no relaxed driving. And of course, you have to watch out for tour-ons.
Bed at 9 tonight.
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