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| Harlequin ducks |
After 2 weeks we are heading back to one of our happy places. First, we had to drag the Tin Can Allie through the bison & bear jams of Yellowstone National Park. We didn't see much until we reached the Le Hardy Rapids PO...harlequin ducks are a must see this time of year. The crazy ducks live & feed in heavy duty rapids at Le Hardy.
There were several drakes & one poor hen sitting on the rocks in the middle of the Yellowstone River with water rushing all around them. The colors were more muted with the cloudy skies, but it is fun watching these guys jump into the swirling water & swim upstream to feed.
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| Harlequin drake in the middle of Yellowstone River |
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| Bison herd heading for the road |
Next up was a drive through Hayden Valley & our first bison jam of the day. We passed 2 older people riding their bikes just before the jam. We are not fans of biking in this Park. Way too dangerous with the animals and the turons, aka tourists driving while gawking. We stopped to wait for the herd to cross the road. The biking couple stopped beside the truck & asked us ''are you moving?'' Well, it should have been obvious that there's a few dozen bison in the middle of the road along with multiple stopped cars so no we are not moving. Naturally they walked even closer to the crossing herd. Turons on bikes.
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| Coyote |
After getting through the jam we decided to drive up Dunraven Pass to Tower Falls rather than miss out on spotting some bears. I got the 'pleasure' of driving the beast & Tin Can over Dunraven...joy. Thankful the new & improved road isn't as bad, but it could really use a guard rail in a few places.
A coyote was spotted as we started down the other side of the road. An actual pullout was close to it with enough room for us to pull over for a few shots & watch it hunt.
The coyote casually came down to the road & stopped for a few minutes. I waved to cars to slow down since it was so close to the roadway. After a bit it wandered down into the meadows and we lost sight of it.
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| Coyote heading down Antelope Valley |
Off we went towards Tower...no bears seen at our usual location. Just as we decided to stop at Buffalo Paddock for a break we spotted the 2nd jam of the day...this one black bear. Wouldn't you know the black bear sow with her 2 yearling cubs were right in the middle of Buffalo Paddock.
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| What not to do in YNP...much too close |
We pulled in... figured there was enough 'parking' and the needed bathroom. Immediately noticed the turons much too close to the bears...especially the dude with the big lens camera. All common sense must leave when they enter the park gate. Does it look like 100 yards? We shot from the truck cab.
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| Black bear sow with her 2 yearling cubs |
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| Off they go |
The bear family eventually wandered through and headed off down the hill along with everyone else. No other critters were sighted as we headed toward Mammoth Hot Springs and the town of Gardiner, MT.
Since it was lunch time we stopped at the Corral in Gardiner, MT for a bison burger and fries. One of us even splurged on a raspberry milkshake. Afterall the beast & the Tin Can made it through the Park without an issue.
We got back in time to pick up Bridger from his vacation at the Spa...though he didn't seem overly excited to see us. He really does love his Spa days!
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