Yellowstone Park, Day 9, July 14

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What's hot: Geysers, hot springs, mud pots

Also hot: Bears, wolves, elk, blue birds, eagles.

What's not: We are too tired for much touring today.

The road: Crowded, as all the travel books predicted.

Travel lesson of the day: Sometimes you just have to take a break, even at Yellowstone.

from Kathy:

This will be short, reflective of our (temporary) energy lull. We visited the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center which is across the street from the hotel.

They house seven bears and five wolves, all refugees from various wildlife disasters or captive-bred and therefore not wilderness-ready. It was perfect for a low energy day; it is mesmerizing to simply be in the presence of these creatures. We all spent a fair amount of time just watching the bears. Their coats are luminescent in this bright sunlight, showing off the movements of their powerful muscles. The Institute operators have created a very thoughtful habitat for them--allowing them to live as ursine a life as I suppose a bear could in captivity.

The wolves evoked my sympathy. I have always thought of them as fierce animals, but in fact they live only three to four years in the wild!

"Wolves live a very hard life," said the Ranger. They have many enemies, including other wolves who dispute their territories.

They are so dog-like in their movements and habits. We heard the story of how the human-dog relationship evolved out of mutual need for protection from predators.

JJ and Scott spent hours taking pictures of them. In the evening, we visited the quintessential Yellowstone spot: Old Faithful.

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Photos

Power of Expression
Photos by JJ and Scott

Sunset over Biscuit Hole
Scott took this one.