The morning of our 7th day started early when we were picked up by our Yellowstone Guidelines tour guide before 6AM. That's when the animals are out, so that's what you have to do. And right away, sure enough, our early start paid off! Our goal was to spend time in the best wildlife watching area of Yellowstone, which is in the far Northeast part in the famous Lamar Valley and Little America.
We got lucky when we came upon dozens of cars on the side of the road. At 6:30AM, this is an especially great sign. We quietly got out of the van and started setting up the multiple high power telescopes and our guide started talking to the people around us and soon, we got our first eyes on the famous Junction Butte Wolf Pack. People come to Yellowstone specifically to see the wolves and leave with out success sometimes and here we were in the right place at the right time, in the area called Little America. You couldn't see them with your naked eye but it was clear that the pack had made a Bison kill overnight and they were still dining on their meal in the early morning. There had many wolf pups born in the Spring so we were getting to see all of them in this pack.
The really neat thing was that we had really researched and learned all about the history of the wolves in Yellowstone. Blake and I had both read books so having this extra background on how the wolves had completely disappeared from Yellowstone in the 1920's. In 1995, 41 wolves were released into Yellowstone National Park from Canada. It was a wildly successful initiative and now there are anywhere from 80-110 wolves inside Yellowstone, spread between 8 different packs.
After leaving the wolves, we worked our way to the very northeast entrance of Yellowstone, in Montana.
They call Lamar River Valley the "North America's Serengeti." There were so many bison!
This was the exact scenario I hoped would happen... a front row view of a "Bison jam!" As he walked by, I couldn't help but picture them walking the Earth thousands of years ago.
Carter standing in a bison wallow. We got to really watch the mannerisms of the bison today and learned this is where the gigantic male bisons urinate and then lay down and rub all the dirt and urine all over their back. This is considered Bison perfume and helps them attract the ladies.
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We stopped and looked at the Soda Butte structure which is hot spring cone that gave this area it's name. Our guide took us around back and showed us all these bird nests. |
Nearly at the east edge of the park, we stopped at Barronette Peak, to see white fluffy mountain goats.
We technically were stopped in Montana to have lunch at a nice rest stop at Warm Creek picnic area, we found 2 heart rocks near the river.
Then, it was time to turn around and start heading back West to Mammoth. We stopped and briefly checked on the wolves hoping that something else, like a bear had moved in to start eating the scraps. Perhaps another wolf pack We learned about the chain of eating after a wolf pack makes a kill, hundreds of animals get to benefit from it for days to come, after the wolves are full.
We visited Petrified tree drive to see the the famous tree that they think might have been a redwood, when about 50 million years ago, scientists say this area of the park was flourishing when a volcanic eruptions buried the forest in ash and helped preserve the forest by literally "freezing" the wood and halting it's decomposition.
We saw yet another black bear swimming in pond along the side of the road. He was the most carefree bear. Just walking around when he decided to go for a little swim. He started swimming and chasing some ducks and when they flew away, he turned his attention to a cattail floating in the pond. He was grabbing it with his mouth and throwing it. It was such a fun sight to see. Of course, people were lined up on the roads and a couple of immature people were walking towards the bear, which scared it away.
After our incredible full day wildlife tour, we were excited to explore Mammoth Hot Springs. I loved the feel of this town and we started at visitor center and of course we had to take the opportunity to listen to a park ranger talk to us.
Map room in side our Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Once you go outside, there are elk every few feet.
We had dinner at the Mammoth Dining Room and had to sneak by Elk to get inside.
We had dinner at the Mammoth Dining Room and had to sneak by Elk to get inside.
Then, we drove the 6 miles to the far North entrance of Yellowstone. It is the home of the Roosevelt Arch and finally saw big horn sheep along the way! We all watched tons of documentaries and shows about Yellowstone in the months leading up to our trip and many stories involve this arch. The story of Roosevelt and his influence by and of Yellowstone and all America's earliest National Parks really was meaningful to me. The history of this bridge being built in 1903 and what quote they put on it really impacted me.
Once it cooled down, it was time to see the town's namesake - Mammoth Hot Springs up close. We drove to Upper Terrace Drive and walked a series of boardwalks into what seemed like a different world. It was such a nice walk to Canary Spring, the white hot springs and ended the experience with a gorgeous drive out.
Afterwards, we went for ice cream in town and met such an inspirational couple. They were in their late 70's and came to Yellowstone from the Vermont area, to work one Summer season there at the ice cream shop in the town center. I loved every second of talking to everyone we met.
Favorites if the day:
Blake - wolves
Carter- Lamar and little America
Delaney - wolves (but I would argue it was the ice cream!)
Addison - watching the the bear swim so close
Megan loved seeing Roosevelt’s arch and the history behind it as well as seeing the bison walking in the road over the bridge with all the cars behind it! The true bison jam I hoped to see and again, it will be one of the several life long memories from the tip.
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