Yellowstone!

My heart beats a little bit faster just saying the name! Bob and I are staying in a park less than an hour away, and since weather can throw a monkey wrench into the best laid plans we decided to visit the park while we could.

See this photo? This is why we get up so early when visiting a park. The best animal watching time is early morning or dusk, when the animals are feeding and moving around.

We entered through the North Entrance about 7:30 am, and were soon passing through the little village of Mammoth Hot Springs. When what to our wondering eyes did appear, but...ELK! A whole herd of them. We stopped to gawk and were treated to the sight of two males bugling to each other and posturing.

They were handsome creatures!

The smokey haze, drifting from the fires in Glacier National Park had settled over the area, was giving a golden light to the beautiful scenery all around us. These buffalo crossed in front of our car and settled down to graze in front of us.

Everywhere we turned we saw breathtaking vistas. We were struck by the sheer size of this park. The mountains are high and the valleys are wide.

Our plan was to travel straight to the Northeast Entrance, visiting the Lamar Valley area, but when we saw a dirt road off to our right, we took it. The road was 6 miles long and was away from other cars.

Off in the distance Bob and I spied two coyotes running down the hill.

The sun came up and some of the haze burned off. We got back on the main road and stopped here by Soda Butte Creek for a bite to eat and to let Auggie stretch his legs.

Patches of blue appeared in the sky. It had turned out to be a lovely morning. A fellow park visitor suggested we enjoy this fine day because a foot of snow is predicted to fall in 3 days. Yikes!

This mound to the left is Soda Butte.

We reached the Northeast Entrance and turned around for the long ride back, where we saw a herd of pronghorn and two mountain goats high up on a mountain. Both were too far away to photograph with my camera lens.

By the way, I am very pleased with my camera, and am learning to use the various settings, little by little.

We arrived home at 2:30, tired but happy. It is supposed to rain now for the next three days (with a chance of flurries on Saturday.) Next week we may see snow as we move closer to Yellowstone but I'm hoping it won't be much.