Yellowstone National Park
June 1, 2006 - June 3, 2006
We had originally planned to stay 7 nights in Yellowstone, but after you've seen so many Bison and Elk, they all begin to look alike. One day, we traveled around with our friends, Karen Stonecypher and Mary Karaway, and one day, we went around with John Hooker. We know John from our church. John works mostly in the bookstores in the park during the tourist season. He was great at explaining the different parts of the parks, the history, etc.
Here are some more of the pictures we took. Again, to see a larger view, click on the picture.
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The Yellowstone River causes two waterfalls as it continues into the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. There are several viewpoints, but this is probably the most famous and picturesque. It is called Artist Point. |
| I really like the rivers in Yellowstone. They hardly make any banks. |  |
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This Bison was actually keeping me from looking over the slope to the lake. A few hours earlier, we saw a newborn Elk that had been flushed out of it's hiding by coyotes, and was standing knee deep in the water. At that time, the coyotes were not willing to go into the water after him. I had wanted to see if there was a pile of bones down there, or if the Elk's mom had come and saved the little one. We thought it was very smart of the newborn (maybe a week old) to know enough to get in the water to be safe. |
| Are you beginning to see how you could get overdosed on Bison? |  |
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We saw hundreds of newborn calves in Yellowstone. It seemed that every female had one tagging along. A park ranger had estimated that there are 3,500 to 4,000 Bison in the park, and I don't think he was counting the new calves. |
| I like this from the reflection in the water. |  |
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I probably wouldn't have seen one Bison if it weren't for my trusty scout. She was excellent at pointing them out, whether they were in the plains, the woods, or two feet in front of us - standing on the road and refusing to move, which was usually the case. |
There are probably as many Elk as there are Bison at Yellowstone - maybe more. But, Elk look a lot like deer and so not as interesting to shoot (I mean with cameras, of course). I heard that a tourist asked a Park Ranger a while ago "At what altitude do Deer become Elk?". I was never given a clear answer on that. I was told that Elk grow their antlers at a rate of about 1 inch per day, which is amazing to me. |
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Of course, no trip to Yellowstone is complete without a visit to Old Faithful Guyser. There are quite a few guysers in the park, some larger but none more predictable. Actually, I liked the steam oozing from the ground more than I liked the guysers (see picture at top of page). |