Vacation Journal
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Saturday, June 11, 2005 and Sunday, June 12, 2005
We left the trailer at 8:30 Saturday morning to spend a night at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel so we could spend some time exploring the north side of Yellowstone. As we drove through the Madison Valley, we saw the usual complement of bison, elk, and raven. We also saw four of the swans. The group of three was a few hundred feet downstream of Seven Mile Bridge. They had been three miles upstream when we saw them yesterday afternoon. They've come back to the bridge area. We also saw a Bald Eagle and the two Sandhill Cranes and their youngster. What is a young Crane called? A crank?
We drove through Mammoth to begin with in order to go check out the Roosevelt-Tower area and the Lamar Valley. Just a few miles past Mammoth we stopped to observe a female coyote with three pups. They were taking a stroll in meadow in a small valley about 100 yards from the road. They went about their business in spite of 75 or 80 people standing beside the road watching. The pups were cute.
Further down the road we stopped to check out the waterfowl at a small pond next to the road. We found a Barrow's Goldeneye and a Ring-necked Duck. The Ring-necked was a new bird for us. It has a very interestingly colored bill which is hard to miss.
When we reached Roosevelt, we took the road to Tower Falls. This road is closed about nine miles up due to road construction. However, it offers a good chance to see interesting wildlife. The first thing we saw was a Mule Deer, our first deer in Yellowstone this year. At one point we stopped to observe a Peregrine Falcon nest on the opposite side of the Yellowstone Canyon. This is the lower end of the Canyon, not the famous upper end with the waterfalls. The canyon is much narrower here at the lower end but still about 400 feet deep. The Falcon is sitting on a nest in a horizontal crack in a cliff wall. It was staring right at us. Then we observed a female Bighorn Sheep walking along the canyon near the bottom. We watched her for at least 15 minutes. She must be a yearling, because she seemed somewhat unsure of herself and her ability to navigate the steep walls. She slowly made her way towards the top. When we returned a couple hours later to look at the Falcon again, the sheep was gone, so apparently she was successful in moving on.
We next took the road to Lamar Valley. About half a mile down the road, we encountered a major traffic jam. There were two Black Bears real close to the road and, of course, everyone was stopping to watch and take pictures. There was one black-colored bear and one cinnamon-colored bear. We've never seen two adult Black Bears together before. I got several pictures with my telephoto film camera. I hope they turn out. We had great views for about 20 minutes. One of the bears crossed the road, going through the cars, creating quite a stir among the observers who were outside their cars.
Further on, we got a brief glimpse of another Black Bear, plus some young in a Red-tailed Hawk's nest and two young in a Great Gray Owl's nest. After we turned around to head back to Roosevelt for lunch, we got in a small Bison jam again. I think the Bison do it on purpose just to see how the people will react. At this jam, one car tried to pass a car that was stopped with a Bison in front of it. It was a Wyoming car, so I guess the driver didn't see any need to stop for a Bison. However, one car going the opposite direction moved forward to block his way. It made the Wyoming guy unhappy, but he somehow managed to squeeze his vehicle between the two cars and the Bison. He shouted something to the driver who tried to block his way. I gave him the thumbs down gesture as he passed me.
We had lunch at Roosevelt Lodge, named for Teddy. He spent some time in this area and apparently enjoyed it. As part of my meal I had some Roosevelt beans, which includes several types of beans, onions, and other things. It's supposed to be a recipe that Teddy really liked. The lodge has been serving them for many years.
As we drove back to Mammoth, in the rain, we saw several Pronghorns (often called antelopes). We figured this made it a perfect day - we were at home where the Buffalo roam and where the deer and the antelope play. However, the skies WERE cloudy all day. We also saw another Black Bear.
We checked into the Hotel and spent the rest of the evening in the Mammoth area, visiting stores and gift shops. We also spent some time after supper reading in the hotel lobby. Our room was on the top (fourth) floor of the hotel. It is an old wooden structure. I'm not sure when it was built, but I saw one old advertisement hanging up in a hallway that was from 1905. It was telling how luxurious and wonderful the hotel was, in part due to the fact that it had electricity. Apparently electricity was not very common in many wilderness resorts at that time. It rained most of the day Saturday, but the majority of the time it was very light. Occasionally it reached a level you might call a heavy sprinkle.
Sunday morning, we went to church services at Yellowstone National Park Chapel. Then we headed back towards Tower-Roosevelt and Lamar Valley. It rained all day from at least 6:30 when we got up until 5:30 when we got back to West Yellowstone. It came down at a light to medium level all day. We stopped to observe some ponds and saw a Ruddy Duck and Lesser Scaup. Then we found a bull moose (not named Teddy however). He was about 75 feet off the road on a hillside. Further down the road, we encountered a female moose with calf. We watched them for several minutes and took pictures. They looked small in the pictures in my digital camera. I also got some pictures with my film camera with the 300 mm lense. We had another minor Bison jam and I got a closeup picture of one with my digital camera. We've decided to call them Duckheads. It seems only fair. There is a duck officially name a Bufflehead since it has a head whose shape resembles the head of a Buffalo. We decided to call Buffalos Duckheads since they have a head that resembles that of a certain species of duck.
We had lunch again at Roosevelt Lodge. I ordered a side of Roosevelt beans again. They are good. So was their homemade beef and barley soup.
On our way back to Mammoth, we did get one more new bird, the Northern Rough-winged Swallow. A couple of them were darting around over a small pond. We also saw a buck Elk with the start of a good rack.
Later on, as we went through the Madison Valley, we again saw our Sandhill Crane friends as well as four of the swans. Of course we saw the usual complement of Elk and Duckheads.
We drove through Mammoth to begin with in order to go check out the Roosevelt-Tower area and the Lamar Valley. Just a few miles past Mammoth we stopped to observe a female coyote with three pups. They were taking a stroll in meadow in a small valley about 100 yards from the road. They went about their business in spite of 75 or 80 people standing beside the road watching. The pups were cute.
Further down the road we stopped to check out the waterfowl at a small pond next to the road. We found a Barrow's Goldeneye and a Ring-necked Duck. The Ring-necked was a new bird for us. It has a very interestingly colored bill which is hard to miss.
When we reached Roosevelt, we took the road to Tower Falls. This road is closed about nine miles up due to road construction. However, it offers a good chance to see interesting wildlife. The first thing we saw was a Mule Deer, our first deer in Yellowstone this year. At one point we stopped to observe a Peregrine Falcon nest on the opposite side of the Yellowstone Canyon. This is the lower end of the Canyon, not the famous upper end with the waterfalls. The canyon is much narrower here at the lower end but still about 400 feet deep. The Falcon is sitting on a nest in a horizontal crack in a cliff wall. It was staring right at us. Then we observed a female Bighorn Sheep walking along the canyon near the bottom. We watched her for at least 15 minutes. She must be a yearling, because she seemed somewhat unsure of herself and her ability to navigate the steep walls. She slowly made her way towards the top. When we returned a couple hours later to look at the Falcon again, the sheep was gone, so apparently she was successful in moving on.
We next took the road to Lamar Valley. About half a mile down the road, we encountered a major traffic jam. There were two Black Bears real close to the road and, of course, everyone was stopping to watch and take pictures. There was one black-colored bear and one cinnamon-colored bear. We've never seen two adult Black Bears together before. I got several pictures with my telephoto film camera. I hope they turn out. We had great views for about 20 minutes. One of the bears crossed the road, going through the cars, creating quite a stir among the observers who were outside their cars.
Further on, we got a brief glimpse of another Black Bear, plus some young in a Red-tailed Hawk's nest and two young in a Great Gray Owl's nest. After we turned around to head back to Roosevelt for lunch, we got in a small Bison jam again. I think the Bison do it on purpose just to see how the people will react. At this jam, one car tried to pass a car that was stopped with a Bison in front of it. It was a Wyoming car, so I guess the driver didn't see any need to stop for a Bison. However, one car going the opposite direction moved forward to block his way. It made the Wyoming guy unhappy, but he somehow managed to squeeze his vehicle between the two cars and the Bison. He shouted something to the driver who tried to block his way. I gave him the thumbs down gesture as he passed me.
We had lunch at Roosevelt Lodge, named for Teddy. He spent some time in this area and apparently enjoyed it. As part of my meal I had some Roosevelt beans, which includes several types of beans, onions, and other things. It's supposed to be a recipe that Teddy really liked. The lodge has been serving them for many years.
As we drove back to Mammoth, in the rain, we saw several Pronghorns (often called antelopes). We figured this made it a perfect day - we were at home where the Buffalo roam and where the deer and the antelope play. However, the skies WERE cloudy all day. We also saw another Black Bear.
We checked into the Hotel and spent the rest of the evening in the Mammoth area, visiting stores and gift shops. We also spent some time after supper reading in the hotel lobby. Our room was on the top (fourth) floor of the hotel. It is an old wooden structure. I'm not sure when it was built, but I saw one old advertisement hanging up in a hallway that was from 1905. It was telling how luxurious and wonderful the hotel was, in part due to the fact that it had electricity. Apparently electricity was not very common in many wilderness resorts at that time. It rained most of the day Saturday, but the majority of the time it was very light. Occasionally it reached a level you might call a heavy sprinkle.
Sunday morning, we went to church services at Yellowstone National Park Chapel. Then we headed back towards Tower-Roosevelt and Lamar Valley. It rained all day from at least 6:30 when we got up until 5:30 when we got back to West Yellowstone. It came down at a light to medium level all day. We stopped to observe some ponds and saw a Ruddy Duck and Lesser Scaup. Then we found a bull moose (not named Teddy however). He was about 75 feet off the road on a hillside. Further down the road, we encountered a female moose with calf. We watched them for several minutes and took pictures. They looked small in the pictures in my digital camera. I also got some pictures with my film camera with the 300 mm lense. We had another minor Bison jam and I got a closeup picture of one with my digital camera. We've decided to call them Duckheads. It seems only fair. There is a duck officially name a Bufflehead since it has a head whose shape resembles the head of a Buffalo. We decided to call Buffalos Duckheads since they have a head that resembles that of a certain species of duck.
We had lunch again at Roosevelt Lodge. I ordered a side of Roosevelt beans again. They are good. So was their homemade beef and barley soup.
On our way back to Mammoth, we did get one more new bird, the Northern Rough-winged Swallow. A couple of them were darting around over a small pond. We also saw a buck Elk with the start of a good rack.
Later on, as we went through the Madison Valley, we again saw our Sandhill Crane friends as well as four of the swans. Of course we saw the usual complement of Elk and Duckheads.
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