Day 12 – Hey! Is that Balto swimming in that river?

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Our last full day in Yellowstone started out with a very interesting morning. Carrie suggested that the gang head down to Fishing Bridge to watch wildlife early in the morning. As we approached the area, we saw about 30 people watching something. It wasn’t long before we saw it was a grizzly bear! He was on the beach, apparently contemplating going for a swim. He walked back and forth a few times, and then walked into the Yellowstone River. It took him a few minutes, but he swam across! It really did look like Balto when we took him swimming a few years ago. The bear was only 2 or 3 years old according to the rangers that were trying to keep the ever-growing crowd safe. After that, nothing could top seeing a bear swim across such a wide river, so we headed to the café for breakfast.

Later in the day, we relaxed and prepared for the following day’s departure. We went to the visitor center then followed the beach around to where we had seen the bear a few hours earlier. Yes! There were still bear tracks in the sand, go back and forth on the beach before finally heading into the water. Unfortunately, pictures just never seem to pick up footprints or tracks as well as we hope. You’ll have to be the judge of how they turned out.

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