Back to the Park - Sunday & Monday (7/3 & 7/4)

 

The Fourth of July holiday weekend ushered in interesting times for Yellowstone National Park.  The park had been closed for roughly ten days and when it initially re-opened, it was only the lower loop (three entrances) and with an alternating license plate system to cut visitor traffic by roughly half since only half of the park was open to guests.

On Thursday, June 30th it was announced that effective Saturday July 2nd the park would be mostly open (93% of the roads inside the park) with the elimination of the license plate limitations.  Additionally the Old Gardiner Road (OGR), was opened up for recreational use by employees working in the park, as well as approved tour operators.

It was nice to be able to spend my "weekend off" (Sunday & Monday) in the park.  I've already blogged about what the experience was like drive over the OGR, so check out the previous post (and photos) if you're interested.

This photo was taken at the Bay Bridge Marina on July 4th . . . as I sat and just enjoyed the morning breeze at Yellowstone Lake.

Both days in the park saw glorious weather . . . crystal clear blue skies . . . air temps in the 70's . . . with a light breeze from time to time.  For me, the time spent in the park was mostly my usual looking for bears or other interesting happenings to just sit and enjoy watching.

I was happy to once again spend some time with Raspberry & Jam, the grizzly bear Mom and her third year cub.  As in prior sightings, they were way up on the hillside my first (eastbound) drive by the Lake Butte area.  On my westbound trip, there was a jam of parked cars and photogs along the road, but it seemed most people will just milling around.  There was a ranger present, so I figured bears were somewhere in the area, so I too pull off on the shoulder to check things out.

From what folks were saying, the pair were hunkered down napping in the shade from the warm afternoon sun.  Some folks had been waiting upwards of an hour for them to awaken.  I had nowhere better to be so I pulled up, popped open my tailgate and had lunch.

 

 

 

This was my view while I patiently waited.  It wasn't too much longer when they both were seen bobbing around behind the fallen trees about 75 yards from the road.  It was exciting to finally see them again . . . without the rain that had plagued my earlier opportunities to photograph them.

As you can see, the "cub" is almost as big as its Momma!  Both look very healthy, so that is reassuring.  They say Raspberry is roughly 15 years old and this is her second consecutive cub she kept around into a third summer.  Snow was the last cub which she had with her until her fourth year, when she was emancipated.  Normally grizzly bears stay with their mom for just two years. 

Here's a little better photo of Raspberry.  She has such beautiful features including the lighter blonde markings along her left front leg.

The two munched on grasses and whatever the found underneath the dead logs.  After about 30 minutes of foraging around, they again slipped out of sight . . . so I moved on.

Perhaps the easiest bear viewing over the weekend (on both days) was between Mammoth and Canyon, especially in the area around Tower Junction (roughly five to ten miles in either direction).  Lots of black bears have been seen through this area, and at all times of the day.

In fact, on Monday afternoon it was warm with a high sun.  I had some time to kill before the 4:00pm road convoy back to Gardiner, so I thought I'd cruise one more time back over Dunraven Pass and back around to Mammoth via the Norris Junction.  I never did make it that far!

I really didn't expect to see bears in close range of the road, but this one was literally on the left shoulder by a pullout.  I parked and waited to see what it was going to do.  Crossing the road right in front of me and one other car, we had a front row seat to watch it for quite some time.

I was happy I spent the time "just in case" something was going to happen!  This bear didn't seem to be phased one bit by the midday heat.  Once it slipped up beyond the treeline, I called it a day and headed back to Mammoth to tank up my car at our YPSS station and got in line to head home to Gardiner.

All in all over the two days in the park, I saw (and photographed) six or seven black bears and the two brown (aka grizzly) bears.  At the bottom of this blog post, I'll share more photos of the bears I was fortunate to spend time with.

One of my more rewarding experiences in the park, happened on Monday morning.  Several years ago, my friend Valerie and I visited the West Thumb geyser area.  There is a loop boardwalk of about 1mile, give or take.  Because there is little shade and often the thermal features give off a pungent sulfur smell, I've been reticent to walk among hot spring pools and dormant lake shore geysers.  Add my "gimpy old lady knees" and it has a challenge for me to even consider the short walk.

Having lost 35 pounds since the first of the year, I've found my knees don't bother me as much as they had over the past couple of years.  While the morning was still cool, I decided to give the short walk a try.  I'm really glad that I did as there wasn't a terrible odor, and I was able to take a leisurely stroll, enjoying the sights around me along the lake.  It was amazing how clear the water was right at the lake's edge.

Here's a full panoramic view of the West Thumb Geyser Basin.  I really did enjoy my time here!

There really is so very much to see and do in Yellowstone National Park.  I try to make the most of my time here, given my health limitations.  Sometimes, just pulling over near a running stream or waterfall is good for the soul.  This was near the top of the Dunraven Pass.  Turn up the volume to hear the water flowing from the melting snowcaps above.

When I first arrived to Yellowstone back in late May, there was still quite a bit of snow up on Dunraven Pass.  As you can see here, it's mostly melted away.

As promised, here are a few more photos of the bears and other wildlife I saw during my two days off from work over the July 4th holiday weekend.