This Past Month in Yellowstone

 

Not all of Yellowstone's wildlife is big or on the beaten path.  On one of my drives over the Blacktail Plateau, I had to stop to take some photos of all the pretty flowers and butterflies.  The next time I came through there just a couple of weeks later, all the flowers had died and gone to seed.

Of course, with the bison rut in full swing this past month, there was a lot to watch from the sidelines, including these two bulls (sound UP).

In August I had four trips inside the park, three of them for multiple days/nights as I booked a campsite to avoid extra time (and miles) driving back and forth from Gardiner.  I have enjoyed car camping, as my Santa Fe is just about the perfect size for just me.  A bedroll and sleeping bag, and I'm set.

While I generally prefer Canyon CG, I have also stayed and thoroughly enjoyed the campgrounds at Grant Village and Bridge Bay.  I'm especially happy that the smell of fresh pine is not one of my known allergies! (This photo was taken a couple of weekends ago at Bridge Bay CG.)

Driving through each of the campgrounds, all of the cool camping set ups never cease to amaze me (and cause a healthy dose of RV envy).  I continue to hope that "someday" I will have at least a camper-van to enjoy my road trip adventures when I am truly and fully retired.

With just five weekends left here (including the one that starts for me tomorrow) . . . my time to spend inside Yellowstone National Park is drawing to an end.  I will not know if "this trip" will be my last in the park . . . until it's happened and over.  Nothing can be taken for granted, although I hope I'll have at least one more weekend in the park after this one.

I took this photo of the third year grizzly cub nicknamed Jam.  He is still with his Momma, Raspberry, which is generally a year long than most.  I was blessed to see them both on August 6th . . . the last time I've seen them in spite of driving through their known habitat multiple times daily.  It is possible, even likely, I won't see them again this year.  But I'm thankful I did get to see them several times earlier in the summer, and have wonderful memories of my time watching them.

I have also been able to capture beautiful sunrises and sunsets in the park, made possible by camping there rather than having to do the convoy to and from Gardiner in a single day.

This may be one of my favorite sunset images . . . this over Yellowstone Lake in early August.  And the next photo is of a foggy sunrise over the Yellowstone River near Hayden Valley.  I remember how chilly it was that morning (mid 30's) with the steam coming up off the river as well as the thermal features along its shoreline.

Every day . . . every sunrise and every sunset . . . is different.  No two days are ever the same.  It's why I (and so many others) continue to come back time and time again.

And if your timing is right, you might even see a rainbow over a waterfall.  This is the legendary Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River in the Yellowstone Grand Canyon area.  It's hard to believe this past Monday was my first time there EVER.

With the visitor number down significantly this summer, it has been nice to be able to access areas of the park that historically are overrun with people and vehicles.  Additionally, I've felt stronger and more capable to venture a little for short walks (I dare not call them hikes) so it's been a win-win for me in 2022.

While I'm still very cautions about walking around many of the thermal features throughout the park, I did take the short walk on the boardwalk to Mud Volcano.  On past visits, the parking lot there has generally been crowded with lines to enter for a place to park.  Add the strong sulfur smells from several of the attractions, I've never made it a priority to check this area out.

Check out this short video of Mud Volcano (oh yeah . . . sound UP here too)!

  Until next time . . .