Monday, June 25, 2007

"Sorry folks, park is closed. Moose out front should have told ya."

Not a moose, but we saw at least 50 of these guys (or girls in this case) on the drive out of the east entrance to Yellowstone.

We checked out of our hotel at 8:30am and got to this hotel at 11:30pm. Total miles: 454.4. It really didn't seem like it. For one thing, it doesn't get fully dark until 9:30, so that makes a big difference. I thought I'd give the wildlife roundup from today. The bison count is more of an approximation, if there was an open meadow, there were buffalo. We got to the point that we became jaded with buffalo. On top of that, it was my trip goal to see a bear. Yellowstone has black and grizzly ones. Bears seen today:0. Bears just missed because stupid people from Wisconsin (yes, even here...) and other lesser states stop in the middle of the road, thus making us miss them:3. So, attention bears of Yellowstone, you have until Thursday to get your act together. I will be expecting a veritable bear convention, anything less and I will be upset to say the least.

Yawn.

2 Bald Eagles
2 baby condor-type things in a nest
19 elk (10 adult, 9 kids)
2 trumpeter swans
1,789 Bison
3 Bull Moose
42 Mule Deer (35 adult, 7 kids)
Some cool bird of prey +2 in nest
Groundhog-type thing like 2 feet away
3 pelicans
2 other cool birds of prey hunting + 2 in nest
50+ little deer things (pic above)
0 friggin bears

Physically, I didn't realize how different Yellowstone was. In one spot, it looks like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (except Big Thunder Mountain doesn't smell really, really horrible). In another, it looks just like Colorado. Another, the Pacific Northwest. Really cool. We covered a little more than half of the main park roads today, on Thursday we will see Old Faithful and finish up the other areas on our way to Grand Teton NP.

Tomorrow is a comparatively light day. More in car time, but less sights. Needless to say I am very excited for it though. Come back tomorrow to see why. Ooohhh, suspense. Google Maps link below.

Day 3:
Gillette, WY to Wall, SD

Highlight of the Day: The moose in the water was really cool. They are huge and we were pretty close. That and all of the bears we saw. Oh, wait. There weren't any.

5 comments:

Erin Stites said...

Did you bring a film camera??? Buy a roll of Kodak Tri-X or TX or T-Max 400 (black and white) and I'll print some nice pics for ya if you want. The blog is pretty entertaining, I must say. the pictures are awesome. I'm pretty jealous. I think a road trip out west is in my future.

Hope you're having a good time!

Erin

Anonymous said...

Really hoping for Alie's sake that you all see a bear soon...

Great blog, sounds like you're having a great time!

Anonymous said...

OKAY, I'm getting the whole "blog" thing.....very funny. Drive slower and maybe you would see a damn bear.
Is the National Geographic Channel funding this trip????
Love,
DAD

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