Travelogues
2017 Summer Trip

Wednesday, May 24

More Wildlife

Today started overcast and a little threatening, but we had blue skies by the time we hit the first bisonjam. We drove north from Madison Junction and re-traced our route from Monday.

Our first photo stop was Gibbons Meadow to photograph a herd of bison feeding near the Gibbons River and in front of some snow-covered peaks. It was a gorgeous scene, even if the light wasn't great. While we were shooting, a guy asked us if we were shooting the wolf. He said he saw it while he was driving and that it was walking along the river almost right in front of us. It wasn't a wolf but probably the same coyote we saw Monday afternoon. He paralleled the river, so we had ample opportunities to shoot him before he disappeared in the trees.

Gibbons Meadow Gibbons Meadow Coyote

Sheepeaters Cliffs was our second stop to shoot the marmots in better light. Two of the marmots were very cooperative, even with several photographers in the area. We hiked down the Gardner River to another cliff we saw from the parking area in hopes of also finding pikas. The river was running full and very fast. Nearly every stream or river we've seen the last couple of days has been running full, and many are overflowing their banks into the surrounding meadows. There definitely won't be any hiking in meadows on this trip. When we reached the down-river cliff, we saw a couple of marmots, but they were very skittish. They kept popping up every few minutes, but they kept their distance. We found no pikas and decided it was much easier to photograph the marmots near the parking area.

Yellow-bellied Marmot Yellow-bellied Marmot

On the way back to the parking area, I spotted a golden-mantled ground squirrel. I couldn't believe how tame he was. He was standing up in a shady spot, so I walked toward him to encourage him to move into the sun. He didn't budge. I got within a foot of him and talked to him, but he saw no reason to move. That meant I had to move farther away in order to photograph him with my 400 mm lens. That's usually not the problem with wildlife. After a few minutes, he returned to his original chores. He jumped off the log and started cutting grasses. He carefully stuffed them in his mouth and looked for the next tuft of grass. This continued until he couldn't cram any more grass in his cheeks before he ran off. He hesitated next to a lodgepole pine, glanced around, and then scurried into his tiny hole.

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

We continued north past Swan Lake and through the Golden Gate before turning into the Upper Terrace Drive of Mammoth Hot Springs. I had photographed here on two previous trips and was struck by how different it looked this year. Most of the active travertine terraces from those trips were now dry and a crusty gray color. We hiked down to the lower terrace where we saw two active hot springs.

Minerva Terrace

After lunch in Mammoth Hot Springs, we continued north to the gateway town of Gardiner. We walked around the town and checked out all the tourist stores. The high point was our stop for afternoon ice cream. Even though it was cool and threatening to rain at any moment, we were still ready for ice cream.

Before we left Gardiner, we stopped at the gateway that leads into Yellowstone. Trump and his stooge Zinke need to be reminded of the words across the gateway, "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People." They seemed to have lost sight of that directive and are now working under the "For the Benefit of the Few at the Expense of the American People" when it comes to our public lands. How long will it be before we have mining and oil extraction right outside the gates of Yellowstone?

Gardiner Gateway

It was nearly 50 miles back to West Yellowstone, but a chance to photograph a grizzly and her two cubs provided a great break in the drive. We crept ahead in the bearjam for about 20 minutes before we reached the bears. Just beyond the bears was a pullout, so we stopped. We walked back to the main gathering of people and photographed the mother and her two cubs. She kept the cubs close by and right at the edge of a tree line about 100 yards from us. The cubs played while she dug for food. One cub laid on its back and kicked its feet straight up in the air. Eventually, the bears ambled into the trees, up a ridge, and out of sight.

Grizzly Mom Grizzly & Cubs

We made one final stop to shoot the bison in a meadow along the Madison River. There were three big bulls feeding near the river. It wasn't a great shot of the bison, but the bison in a beautiful meadow with a river flowing through it made it worth shooting.

Bison Bulls

We even got back to camp before dark, so we didn't have to eat dinner at 11:30.