Incomparable Yellowstone!

 The day came when we chose to drive to Yellowstone, a bright, sunny day filled with anticipation. We had both been to Yellowstone numerous times in the past, but it is such a wonderland, one could never see it all. Today we drove down the Gallatin Highway to West Yellowstone and planned to drive up the west side of the famous "Figure 8" in the park, going out by way of the north entrance. We will save the east area of the park for another day. The photo above is the Madison River, so clear and blue, and lovely.

 The Biscuit Basin was our first stop. There is a boardwalk leading past these colorful wonders.

 The water almost looks like it's on fire!

 Old Faithful, the most popular display of all.

 The excited crowd stretched a long ways. I heard a few bored children waiting for what they'd been promised, and a few patient parents encouraging them to keep watching.

 I must always look at wildflowers. These were abundant throughout the park, but I did not identify them.

The Gibbon River, below a beautiful waterfall. From this viewpoint we could see evidence of the 1988 wildfire that roared through the park. New trees are about 20 feet tall  by now.

 Mammoth Hot Springs. By now we were tired enough to just stay in the car and drive on through. The next time we visit Yellowstone we will come down through Livingston and Gardiner to the north entrance, where Mammoth is located, so that we can spend more time here.

 Strangely enough, we didn't see much wildlife in the park except for some elk at a distance and a couple pairs of moose ears sticking up through some long marsh grass. Once we exited the park and passed through Gardiner, we spotted several mountain goats right along the highway. They didn't seem to mind our screeching to a halt, rolling down our windows and snapping photos.

A mama and her baby. The adult goats were not skittish, but the babies ran and hid behind their mothers when they saw us.

A cliff north of Gardiner showing the famous yellow color for which Yellowstone is named. The Yellowstone River runs along the highway here.

This is the incredibly beautiful Emigrant Peak. It was in our sight the whole way to Livingston. We plan to visit Yellowstone again before we leave Bozeman, but may wait until early September. I'm sure the views will be quite different by then!

Grizzly Bears!

 We needed a short day trip today because we'd heard there might be some wind and rain in the afternoon. Keith and I spent three summers workamping at Bear Country USA in Rapid City, where we looked at bears all day long, so we thought it would be fun to go to the Grizzly Bear Encounter site just 15 or so miles from Bozeman. 

 We learned there are 5 rescued grizzlies in this enclosure, but they are not all brought out at the same time for the tourists to see because they don't get along. That is typical for grizzlies, somewhat loners. This pretty girl is 2 years old, rescued from Alaska at a very young age when her mother was killed.

 The young man who narrarated the bears' stories and other information about grizzlies gave us some excellent facts about bears, their habits, their intelligence, as well as what to do if we ever encountered one in the wild. I really admired him when I thought about his giving the same talk over and over again as long as the tourists are present!

 The enclosure was not very large, but was well supplied with trees and logs for the bears to climb, rocks and boulders, and a couple of pools for swimming. We enjoyed our time there, watching these magnificent creatures. http://grizzlyencounter.org/

 We drove on to Livingston, a beautiful little town about 30 miles from Bozeman, and 50 miles from the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Being faithful KOA folks, we decided to travel down to the Livingston KOA to check it out. It is a pretty park, surrounded by gorgeous mountains. Just outside the park we came upon these deer. They weren't the least bit afraid of us and let us take as many photos as we liked.

 The mountains between Livingston and Yellowstone are the Absaroka Range. They are absolutely stunning! Imagine having a farm or ranch at the foot of these mountains, truly God's country! The white spot in the center of the photo is a sprinkler system watering the fields. Everything is so lush and green.

 

Here is another view of the Absarokas.

We crossed the very full Yellowstone River, flowing north from the park. It was a foggy day, just clearing a bit so that we could see the lovely scenery. I can't wait till we come this way again on our way to actually visiting Yellowstone Park! That is an adventure for another day!