More Wildlife in Yellowstone

Another trip into the National Park. One never knows what wonders await around the next bend.

Wildflowers near Dunraven Pass

A lone trumpeter swan on floating Island Lake

We usually see them in pairs. We wonder what happened to it's mate.

We saw another cinnamon black bear this day. Like the last one we saw, it was eating wildflowers.

The bear would push the flower stalks down with it's front paw so it could eat the flowers.

Sawtell Peak 2008

This year we visited Sawtell Peak with friends George and Gail. It was a wonderful day. For additional scenes visit last year's post.

Our truck at the top with the Grand Tetons in the background.

Scene from the top. We had a 360 degree view.

Female mountain bluebird.

This is the male of the pair.

We saw them entering a small hole in the side of one of the buildings, where they had a nest.

A close up view of flowers at the top.

West Yellowstone to Gardner

The last time we went for supplies, we decided to drive through the park, out the north entrance at Gardner, to Livingston, MT, west to Bozeman and then back home. There is always something interesting to see in the park, no matter how many times we have visited.

There is a nesting pair of bald eagles near the west entrance. Their nest site was blown over last winter, so they picked a different tree nearby for their new nest. Here is one of the adults.

Mom and baby elk.

Two more elk does with another baby.

Baby posing for a picture.

Cinnamon black bear munching on wildflowers.

Another view of the same bear. It appears to prefer the flowers over the plants.

This was a surprise to find prickly pear cactus blooming near the Gardner entrance. We weren't expecting them here.

According to signs, the soil in this area of the park has a high amount of clay and only a few plants can thrive here. There was a large field just covered with the cactus blooms.

Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center

A couple of weeks ago we visited the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center which is located right here in West Yellowstone. They are a not for profit group, and they plan to build a new habitat for the wolves when they have the funds. They do not receive any financial help from the government and depend on admission fees, sales at their store, and contributions to keep the place going. It's not the same as seeing the animals in the wild, but interesting all the same. The animals here, about 12 grizzlies and a pack of 4 wolves, are here for educational purposes and for a variety of reasons can not be released into the wild. The bears don't all get along, so they only have 2 or 3 out at one time.

This one is playing with his food, an elk bone. Check out the claws!

The bears have a nice environment with trees, some open area and a waterfall which runs into a pool. They put live trout in the pool for them to catch. They also have a program where kids get to go into the enclosure between bears being out and hide the food for them.

No doubt they are commenting on all us people watching them.

It's amazing how similar the wolves are to our Siberian Husky we used to have. Not just in their appearance but in their behavior.

They also have a waterfall and pool which is stocked with trout.

Lunch time. Yum!

Male mountain bluebird.

The mountain bluebirds get their color from the sky.

Chain of Lakes Revisited

Last Monday we took a ride to Wade and Cliff Lakes, which we visited last year in the fall. Our day started with breakfast at Campfire Lodge with our fellow workampers from Bargain Depot Outlet. Thanks to our wonderful bosses for this nice treat. After breakfast we drove to the end of Ghost Village Rd along the Madison River. We saw two osprey nests with occupants along this route. They were too far away to get good pictures, but we did enjoy them with binoculars. Another side trip was on Beaver Creek Rd. a nice ride along the creek with wildflowers in abundance. We finally made it to Wade and Cliff Lakes. There are small campgrounds at each lake and another one on the hilltop between the two. There weren't many campers, but the area was well populated by mosquitoes. They tell us they will be gone by July 4th. We can already see a reduction of the pests here in town. After our stop to admire the lakes we headed south on Route 87 to Henry's Lake. Along the way we saw a turn off into the Targhee National Forest that we hadn't been on, so of course we had to take it. Another wonderful day exploring.

The circle at the end of Beaver Creek Rd.

A small stream meanders through this valley in the Three Dollar Ranch. The road to Wade and Cliff Lakes goes through the ranch.

Wade Lake

Cliff Lake with it's many shades of green and blue.

A closer look at Cliff Lake

Henry's Lake

What many see as a weed, we consider another beautiful wildflower.

The arrowleaf balsamroot are everywhere adding color to many hillsides.

White Mule's Ears cover many meadows with their snow white blooms.

Delicate flowers hiding under the leaves.

We saw many of these blue flowers near the Madison River.

Lupines in the early morning. You can see the flower stalk forming in the middle.

Morning dew on some interesting flowers and leaves.

West Yellowstone Centennial

West Yellowstone celebrated it's centennial this past week. One hundred years ago the railroad built a line which ended here to give visitors access to Yellowstone. Yellowstone was the first National Park, established in 1872. West Yellowstone was built as a place for people to stay while they explored Yellowstone by stage coach and horse back. In the 1920's they incorporated the use of open top buses. At it's peak 325 buses were in use which made it the largest mass transit system in the world. The town was originally named Boundary, but was later changed to it's present name. Trains don't run here any more, but the station, which is now a museum, and the large dining hall are still here. In preparation for this celebration they picked artists to paint 25 buffalo, (bison) which were put on display last summer. This year 10 buffalo calves were unveiled and next year the bull will be added. After next year they will all be sold to private collectors and businesses. Interestingly enough the fiberglass buffalo were all cast in Buffalo, New York. For this week's celebration they had the 25 from last year corralled in front of the museum. They all have sponsors around town and will be moved there this week. The calves are kept inside and are already at their sponsor's locations.

Some of the bison in the corral.

They are all unique. Some represent Yellowstone's history and most have depicted the wildlife here.

This one shows camping from the 1920's to 1957 on this side.

The camping time line continues to 2006.

Another view of the herd with Yellowstone Ave and the snow covered mountains in the background.

Some of the old stage coaches at the museum.

Inside the dining hall. This is where the visitors to Yellowstone would arrive, change out of their dusty clothes and have their meals. The opening in the fireplace on the end is 18 foot high.

One of the new calves located inside a book store.

This young calf is inside one of the grocery stores. Wonder what he'll munch on at night.