Exploring back roads

This time of year the National Park is pretty crowded, so we find ourselves exploring other areas. This afternoon we took a nice ride on some national forest roads.

The view behind us as we drive in the mountains.

We pulled into one of the campsites in this National Forest Campground to eat our picnic lunch. If you look really closely you can see the nearest camper off in the distance.

A close up of the small flowers seen in the foreground in the previous picture. There were thousands of these tiny bouquets.

Another very interesting tiny flower.

Wildflower colors are amazing.

This black bug makes a great contrast with the white flowers.

He's not too happy to have his picture taken.

Storm clouds are rolling in, chasing us back towards home.

These seeds look like dandelions, but the clumps are about the size of a baseball.

Was getting ready to take a photo of these asters, when this striped grasshopper jumped in.

White Pelicans and Wildflowers

On one of our trips to the 'big city' of Bozeman, we drove along the West Fork of the Madison River. There were many people enjoying themselves by floating down the river. The flock of white pelicans we saw seemed unaffected by all the people.

They are very large birds with a tremendous wingspan. They are very graceful in flight, considering their size.

Ready for a touch down.

A pair wading in the cool water.

This squirrel is a frequent visitor to our campsite. It found a tasty pine cone to munch on.

Wherever we go, the camera travels with us. These are some wildflowers we found near the road.

Beautiful Sights along the road

We scan the roadside as we travel around in this wonderful part of the country. Quite often we are rewarded with wonderful sights.

We first spotted this large grizzly bear as he tried to cross the road 2 vehicles ahead of us. We turned around and watched him in the brush and trees along the road as he seemed pretty anxious to get across. We got this great shot, shortly before he finally got across behind our truck. This was just 3 and a half miles west of town, which is not within the park.

Since we have had quite a bit of rain lately, we see waterfalls, such as this one, where it's usually dry.

The following are a couple photos of wildflowers we saw along the road.

Snowy June Day

Awoke to a blanket of snow this morning, June 7. Since it was a day off, we decided to take a short ride into the park.

By the time we went out at 11:00 AM the snow was starting to melt off the truck.

Snow is still falling on the mountain tops.

The female elk are finding new growth to eat.

What an awesome day.

Tiny flowers (about 1/4 inch each) suspending a water droplet.

Early wildflowers buried in snow.

YNP Spring 2009

Over the last few weeks we have revisited the National Park. Even after three years, it's always an amazing experience. Here is a small sampling of the many pictures we always end up with.

A bald eagle who likes to pose at the top of this dead tree.

Happened upon this eagle in another section of the park. The ravens want their share.

This young grizzly has an injured right front paw. The rangers were sure to keep all of us a safe distance away.

The young grizzly taking a break.

This black wolf is stalking some small prey.

He turns to have a look at us.

It's wonderful when the animals who are hard to see in the park, cross the road right in front of us and then stop so we can get some shots. This big horn ram is in great shape. In the spring, most of the wildlife looks a little ragged.

If you look carefully, you can see the new trees growing at the bottom of the dead wood left after forest fires.

Great scenery abounds.

Bison are starting to gather in the Lamar Valley, where they spend the summer.

Mom and baby having a meal.

A very young bison calf.

Picture Postcards in Yellowstone

Even though this is our third summer in West Yellowstone, we are in awe each time we visit the National Park. On this particular day we both had the feeling that we were driving through a picture postcard. We can always count on beautiful scenery and if we are fortunate enough to see wildlife, it just adds to the experience.

This trumpeter swan seems to glide across the surface of the Madison River.

The Madison River framed by snow covered mountains.

Don't think we'll go hiking up in the mountains today.

A pair of sandhill cranes on the frozen surface of Swan Lake.

A postcard view at Swan Lake.

The mountains touch the sky.

First black bear we enjoy watching today. It's a safe distance away, so we sit on the side of the road and observe it searching for tender morsels to eat.

Must be tired of posing for photos, as it decides to wander back towards the woods.

Second black bear we spot today. It's pretty close to the road, so we observe it from the truck.

Looks so soft and cuddly.

It posed for a few photos, before something startled it and it showed us how fast it could run. Would not want to get in the way.

Saw many bison today. This one must not like her picture taken, she's sticking out her tongue.