Greetings from Wyoming:
It was a long drive and we arrived at our campsite late in the night. En route we took a detour to see Devil's Tower. Devil's Tower is all that remains from an eroded volcano. It may have earned its place on the Wyoming license plate, but to us it was just a big tall rock. We took some pictures of it and we saw two climbers making their way to the top through our binoculars. It's now time for us to leave Devil's Tower and continue west towards the small town of Wapati, located about thirty minutes from Yellowstone National Park. One more thing, we passed a sign as we drove through a town that read, "Welcome to Emblem, Population - 10."
Sunday - It was cold when we woke up. I looked out through the window and I could not believe what my eyes were telling me. Snow fell last night and covered the tops of the mountains! We were so excited to see snow in real life as opposed to on T.V. We pulled the winter clothes out from under the bed, cranked up the heat in the truck, and headed out to meet the Grand Tetons.
Our visit started with a ranger-led hike to learn about the changes that have occurred in the park. He told us how the park was discovered and how it was later designated as a national park. We learned how to tell if a tree is a Lodge Pole Pine or a Fur Tree. Did you know that the park experiences one earthquake each day? He also showed us how to look for signs of bear activity.
We followed a scenic drive down to what is called the Willow Flats. We learned earlier that moose like to go there to eat, and we have been waiting to see moose ever since we arrived in Maine. We walked down a path into the flats and returned without seeing anything. We then noticed a small group of people looking out into the flats through binoculars. We ran up to where they were and asked them to point out where they were looking. We didn't have to ask what they were looking at, we just knew. With the grace of a gunslinger, Jenn pulled the binoculars out of their leather holster and swung them up to her eyes. Her face became an explosion of excitement as she spotted a large bull moose not far from where we were moments before. And within seconds, a second moose was spotted. The mountains have magic in them and granted us our wish.
The sun was turning the sky into a palette of colors as we made our way back through the park. There was a long line of cars parked alongside the road as it made its way around the lake. A moose was there standing next to the lake and minding its own business. We pulled over, leaped out of the truck with our cameras, and ran towards the water to get a good look at the moose. This one was much closer. We started taking our pictures when a second one began to make its way down the hill directly behind us.
As the giant fully-antlered moose crossed the road, Jenn stood her ground (safely hiding behind some people) firing off as many pictures as she could. I was on the other side of him also taking pictures as fast as my camera would allow. He did not pause nor even look our way as he walked across the road, and then he walked away into the tall grass down by the lake. Today, we crossed off moose from our list.
Monday - We packed a lunch and filled up our water bottles before we headed out to Yellowstone to hike. Jenn dropped me off at my trailhead and then drove herself to the trail she picked out. She told me when she was hiking through the dense forest she was a little worried about running into a grizzly bear because previously there were two grizzly bear attacks. We learned you are supposed to talk out loud so that you do not startle the bear. So, as Jenn hiked she would talk out loud and say stuff like, "I'm bigger than you and I don't taste good."
I did the same talking out loud thing as I hiked through the dense part of my hike. I would say stuff like,"I am armed and dangerous and I don't like mean bears." I made it up to the top of the mountain without running into any bears. However, I did get scared on the way down. I was making my way back down and talking my talk to warn the bears in the area not to mess with me. Then out of nowhere I heard a girl's voice yell out, "Bear!" I froze in my tracks listening for any sounds a bear would make in the woods. I did not hear any, so I yelled back, "Where?" Immediately, my hand gripped the top of the bear mace hanging from my belt. I was still on high alert when the girl and her friend came walking calmly around the bend; they did not appear to be hurt in any way. She then had the nerve to ask me if I have seen any bears because she wanted to take their picture with her disposable camera. It was very difficult for me not to blast her with the bear mace. I have not been that scared in a long long time.
Tuesday - After all of yesterday's excitement, we spent most of the day at the Buffalo Bill Historical Museum. It was a single building housing five different museums inside. We saw memorabilia from Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show that toured around the country. We also learned all about Buffalo Bill Cody's life history and all of the achievements he made during his life such as his campaign for women's suffrage. We saw exhibits on western art, western life, and a very large exhibit on guns and rifles. Actually, the weapon exhibit continued into the basement. Welcome to the wild west.
Wednesday - I turned to Jenn and told her that I still had bear, coyote, wolf, and bald eagle on my list of animals to see. We were in the truck and on our way towards Yellowstone National Park when a bald eagle flew in our direction overhead. Bald eagles are easy to identify because they have a black body with a white head and tail. Later at night I discovered how magical these mountains and valleys are.
We entered the park and proceeded towards the famous Old Faithful Geyser. I noticed a car stopped in the opposite lane with its hazard lights on. We pulled up to it and we could not believe what we were looking at. A large grizzly bear was slowly walking in the grass by the edge of the road. Jenn tossed me the camera and I quickly pressed the shutter button as many times as I could before it walked out of view. We were both very happy that we saw our first grizzly bear up close from the safety of our big red truck.
From the size of the crowd surrounding Old Faithful, we concluded that we arrived just in time for the show. Four F-16's screamed across the sky above in tight formation in observation of September 11th. A lone buffalo slowly made its way towards us from the distant forest. Then, I spotted a coyote trotting in my direction. It was looking right at me as I looked right at him. It then smiled and I took it its picture; too easy.
Old Faithful performed its act, on time, as predicted and the crowd appeared pleased with the performance. Such a good worker that Old Faithful is. We walked around the boardwalks after the show to view the surrounding fumaroles, hot springs, and mud pots. There were elk grazing at the edge of the forest and they allowed us to walk within a few feet of them. If we had elk food they probably would have eaten it right out of our hands, but we would never feed the wild animals.
We left Old Faithful and continued our tour of Yellowstone to visit the Paintpots, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and the Mammoth Hot Springs. The Paintpots were large hot springs filled with bubbling, sometimes spurting, colored mud. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone had a couple of really nice waterfalls and excellent vista points for picture taking. Mammoth Hot Springs had some interesting terrace-like formations that looked liked they were in motion.
We stopped at the park headquarters on our way out of the park to make a few phone calls at the payphone. I finished my calls and Jenn told me to check out the visitor's center. She then began making her calls. I walked inside, read all the exhibits, and watched home video of people getting attacked by the gentle looking buffalo. On my way out, I noticed a wolf's pelt laid across the top of a counter. I walked slowly towards it. I reached out and ran my fingers through the grey-white fur. I do not like touching dead animal and I turned away and walked out. Jenn finished her calls and we started the long drive home.
I asked out loud to see a bald eagle, a bear, a coyote, and a wolf. In one day, all of my wishes were granted. But wait, there's more... We were still making our way out of the park when again I turned to Jenn and told her I was surprised that we did not see any rabbits. Well, about an hour later a large white rabbit came running out of the bushes to our left. Then it did something strange and unexpected. First it began to run faster than us, then it cut right in front of us, and jumped into the bushes on our right. Like I said before, this place is magical.
P.S. - This is Jenn's favorite place.
Sharing the magic with you,
Love Dave & Jenn
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