Our first class in Yellowstone

Mom and I took an excellent Lodging & Learning class (Spring Wolf and Bear Discovery) based out of Mammoth Hot Springs.  Mammoth has some neat things to see in itself, including elk that appreciate it as a sanctuary:

Our guide Ted found many great animals and regaled us with information and stories on many topics.  Here's a bull elk grazing near the road, unperturbed about our bus or the many gawking eyes:

A beautiful place for a morning overview:

Bison babies everywhere!  We couldn't get enough of them.

A view of the Bear Tooth range to the northeast:

Pronghorns crossing the creek:

A newborn bison baby!  We just missed seeing the actual birth, but did witness its first steps and nursing.  Incredible.

A post office fitting of a National Park:

Lizzie from the Wolf Watchers gave an excellent talk about how they use the radio collars to track the wolves.  We had not spotted one yet, still hoping and looking.  In the meantime, it was great to hear from one of the Wolf Watchers.

A collar that had been chewed off and recovered:

Scanning the cliffs for mountain goats:

Got em!  Here is a digi-scope photo (taking a picture through a scope) - not a great shot, but the little white blobs are the mountain goats:

Yellowstone traffic challenges, for the people and the animals:

Ted took us on a nice hike and we got to see some interesting things, including:

The den where one of the original reintroduced wolves (#9) had a litter of pups - neat!

An older bull elk:

Ted showing how the hump bones fit on the bison carcass:

We spotted a bear with 2 cubs - very cool.  Ted found several bears and we never got tired of watching them root around.  We even got to see a bear with a name - "Scarface" - taking a nap.

Bighorn sheep hanging out near our lunch spot (along with a raven that liked to steal food...):

A travertine terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs:

Another photo from an evening run near Mammoth:

On our last morning we got up extra early and drove out to try our wolf watching luck again.  This time we were successful!  We saw several wolves that morning, moving fast along the far hillsides.  There wasn't a good way to get a photo of the wolves (on my camera), but here is the scene in the foreground:

Other animals that we saw sans photos - osprey, Harlequin ducks, marmots ("whistle pigs"), mule deer, coots, magpies, and a yellow-headed blackbird.  Also several bald eagles, so majestic.

Another lovely hike, this time down to the confluence of the Lamar and Yellowstone rivers:

Group photo of our class:

One last surprise for our class - a bison "stampede" headed across the Yellowstone bridge:

Quite a sight!

Thank you Ted for an excellent 3 days of animal watching and learning!

Yellowstone part 1

Yellowstone with Mom!

We spent the first day and a half gawking at animals and geysers.  Madison Campground was a nice base for exploring on the western side of the park.

Starting with the drive in from West Yellowstone, a little animal watching alongside the Madison River:

We spotted a huge bird walking around in a distant field, no idea what it was until we walked into the visitor center and saw this photo greeting us.  Sandhill cranes are cool.

Mom's first "Old Faithful" waiting session:

Always amazing!

The Firehole River running through the geyser basin:

A photo of a bus driver who stopped to take a photo of a bison.  I'm pretty sure the bison was like, "whatever dude, haven't you seen the other 4000 of us roaming around here?"  Bison are cool.

Quite probably the Biscuit Basin boardwalk (a lot has happened since I took these pictures so the details are a hazy):

Hot springs and thermal features galore:

Misty morning:

Surreal landscapes:

Beautiful pools:

Pretty bluebird:

Can never get enough of the various colors and photogenic geysers:

The rare and mysterious John Tree:

Bubbling springs:

More colors!

Morning Glory, one of our favorites:

More geysers along the river:

And...

I'm partial to Grotto Geyser and its almost-constant loud and emphatic spewing of water in all directions:

We happened upon Riverside Geyser about when it was scheduled to "go off".  So we decided to wait.  And wait.  I guess we should keep waiting?  While we were waiting, this guy wandered along (looking for a shower?):

For a moment we wondered whether the bison could predict the geyser eruption, but no, the animal kept moving along.  So we waited some more.

Somewhere in the range of 2 hours later (geyser gazing won't become a hobby of mine, but it was fun for a day) - this happened!

Yay for Riverside Geyser!

And then - THIS HAPPENED!

Everyone stopped watching the geyser and stood transfixed looking at the bear ambling along across the river:

A young grizzly, we think?  So very cool.

That - was - awesome.

Not caught on camera - Spa Geyser surprise-erupted right in our faces as Mom and I were rounding the corner.  Funny!  and crazy!

John checking the water temperature of one of the pools.  If you have a temperature gun, definitely bring it to Yellowstone.

Anemone Geyser with it's interesting little cycle, and Old Faithful Inn (also amazing) in the background:

Phew, that was quite an excellent start!  Yellowstone is very, very cool.