5 Days in Yellowstone - Day 5

Our last day - where did the time go??  We set the alarm for 5 am and took our time getting things back in the truck and went down for the free breakfast before we left for our final day in the Park.

So far the only things we hadn't seen were a Badger and Pika - but there's still time!!

The Black Bear and her 2 yearling cubs were near Tower again but photos weren't great and they were sleeping so we moved on.  We're seeing lots of Big Horn Sheep near the Yellowstone Picnic Area - but we know there aren't any of the Big Boys - you can see them above the Wolf den at Slough Creek.  Once again nothing going on at our usual places we check so we went on down to the Slough Den.  

Nothing at the den - but we didn't know that they had moved that morning.  

We went back to Tower and found some photographers getting shots of a very nice posing Marmot.

I got some shots of the Great Horned Owl nest near Tower.

We missed a Black Bear - he'd gone over the hill.  

We headed towards Lamar Valley to make our last trip thru.  Just before the Lamar River Bridge - - - What do I spy running across the side of a hill??

My Badger!!!

I think the door was open before Don got stopped and I was walking out to see how close we could get - he was a little ways out there!  They aren't an animal that stands still very long and this one kept moving - stopping to check holes and he was on his way again.  He got to a small stream but that didn't stop him either.

I couldn't see him cross but up the hill on the other side he went.

He stopped and dug into the side of the hill before he went on top where it was harder to see him.

We turned around at Slough Creek and paused for this Pronghorn.

We checked down the Tower road and "almost" got another Black Bear but he must've gotten a bit too close for the Bison as he tossed his head at him and away went the bear.  

At the end of the Phantom Lake drainage there was a distant Cinnamon bear but we didn't stop for it.  

The Grizzly and cub we saw the first day had been hazed away from the road after a bit of trouble so we didn't have much to see but we did stop at our usual spot for a Pika Hunt.

The only thing at the first stop was a Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel

So we went on down to the other spot we know and we no more got up to the rocks and we heard one calling and spotted him way up high.  We stayed and looked for a bit and finally we spied another one and were able to get some shots of him.

Getting to photograph the Badger and the Pika on our last day was the perfect way to end the 5 Days.  

Don is already checking motel room availability for next year!!  

Hope you enjoyed all the photos and Thanks for Looking!!

5 Days in Yellowstone - Day 4

It's Saturday - Day 4 of our vacation - and that means it's almost over.  It's beginning to slow down and the bears seem to have disappeared - Ok - we can't see 14 bears Every Day we're in Yellowstone!!

We stop this morning for a shot of the Roosevelt Arch at Gardiner.  

 This morning we find the Black Bear with the 2 yearling cubs just before Roosevelt.  So tough to get shots of them here - shady, tall grass and deadfall.  
 

They pause to watch us 
 

Just down the road some Elk cross and go up the hill to the right of them.

Nothing else going on at the usual spots so we pull in to watch the den at Slough Creek.  

Very quiet morning - we drive thru Lamar Valley and when we finally get back to the Yellowstone River Bridge we find we've missed a Black Bear.  From the far end of the bridge we see him crossing a steep slope.  

Our earlier Black Bear and 2 cubs have made their way to Roosevelt and they still can barely be seen.  Mom is behind the willows and the cubs are up a tree. 

We finally give up and move on down the road.  We go back as far as Blacktail Plateau Drive and just miss a Grouse as he disappears in the rocks.  

We've seen so many Mule Deer this trip.  Just about everywhere you look you'll find one or more.

The Fox is back at the Yellowstone Picnic Area

He crosses the road and disappears.  

After a short hike we get back in the truck and head out to check our usual spots.  There's a Moose at Elk Creek and boy is he tough to spot!!  Would help if he'd come out of the creek bed!!

A Coyote beside the road near Floating Island

 It finally starts raining about 5:45 but we go ahead and check all of our usual spots. 

Sometime during the day I got some shots of a Ground Squirrel
 

And the Big Horn Sheep Girls are hanging out near the Yellowstone Picnic area.
 

Don thinks the rain will stop and it does for just a bit in Lamar Valley so we stop for some Bison having a pushing match

It really starts to rain in some places so we make our way to Gardiner.  The Moose is still down in Elk Creek and way down slope near Hellroaring Overlook is a Black Bear.  

We tho't it would stop raining long enuf for us to have a sandwich somewhere in the Park but it never does so we go back to Gardiner and have pizza at K-Bar Pizza - it was pretty good!!!  Close enuf to the hotel Don even had a beer!

Our final day is tomorrow . . .

5 Days in Yellowstone - Day 3

Once again we're up at 4:30 and leaving Gardiner about 6:15.  Not much happening this morning until we get to Roosevelt and we find a Black Bear coming down the slope - heading straight for the road.

He seems to be on a mission and the few photographers don't even give him pause - on across the road he goes.

 

We check Tower and with nothing to see we head towards Lamar Valley.  Today we stop at Slough Creek to scope the Wolf den in the morning.  It was a good decision as they are out of the den.

It is a L-O-N-G ways over to the den and without binoculars or our scope we wouldn't be able to see a thing.  And the reports say that on our last day (Sunday) they had moved the whole family to another den and where we had parked to look - now you can't even see this new den from there.  So glad we came when we did!!  Here you can see the Mother and 3 of the tiny Wolf pups to the right of her.  

We head thru Lamar Valley - So Many Bison!! - and finally up along Soda Butte Creek we spot a distant Moose.  There's another but it's behind the trees and we can barely see him.

We pause at the curve in the Lamar River and watch 2 Coyotes running.  And somewhere along the way we stopped for Pronghorn near the road.

We check our usual spots - Yellowstone Picnic Area, Roosevelt, Tower, Petrified Tree, Floating Island - with nothing to see - and finally pull into Hellroaring Hike to check for Pika.  A lady is doing the same thing and says she's seen one but it never stays out long so we wander around the rocks and look and listen but never see anything besides a Marmot way up high and a Chipmunk.  Lucky for me - I Love Chipmunks!!

We continue on down the road and we've missed a bear of some kind in this open area we usually see them in and there's a Black Bear dot in this other spot that they're too far away for good photos of.

Back we go to retrace our path and finally we get lucky and the Black Bear with the 2 "new" cubs is just past the Yellowstone Picnic Area.  Nice to see them but so hard to get photos!  If they're in the grass you might as well forget it but lucky for us the cubs pause at a tree.

They finally go up the tree for a nap but we were treated to a Fox coming right thru the crowd to grab some lunch.

On our last trip thru Lamar Valley for the day we see people down the road watching a Coyote.  He's traveling right below the road and for a Coyote - he's really close!  We park and wait but finally walk down to him as he's paused for a bit

He snoozed for just a bit before he finally continued his hunting. 

He even came up empty when he did a flying leap

Our last stop was to watch some distant Pronghorn as they chased each other and butted heads.

We did see more Black Bears but they were mostly too far for photos.  

Another great day in Yellowstone!!

5 Days in Yellowstone - Day 2

Another early start to the day - we're leaving Gardiner at 6:15 am - we've only got 4 more days to go and we want to pack as much into them as we possibly can!!

Just driving in the morning - the only thing we see is one of the "Bachelor Elk" in velvet beside the road.  We do finally find the Black Bear that's been on the carcass at Floating Island Lake - he's on the far side and not great for photos so we don't stay long.  

On towards Tower we go and not far from Rainey Lake there's a vehicle parked on the road so we stop behind him and there below us is a Black Bear snoozing up against a tree with her 2 one-year old cubs.  They're all snuggled together and it's hard at first to even see that there are 2 cubs!  And no - you can't tell in this photo - I just Love the cubs feet!!

Time to get up and the cubs are right below us - it was fantastic!!

We got lots of great shots - - and then the Ranger showed up.  Bummer but we moved on.  

We spent some time at Slough Creek scoping the Prospect Peak den area.  Tiny Wolf pups could be seen - there are 5 of them!!  But boy are they a LONG way away!!!  Having a scope is a MUST - Glad we do!!  We had to be careful where we walked - these Sparrows were right under our feet!!

We finally pack things up and mosey on down the road.  Don hears that the Grizzly and cub are back out just at the entrance to Slough Creek so we head back that way.  

Was so nice to get photos today - and NO Snow!!  Once again they were right below us and close to the road.

The cub entertained himself with someones ice grips for their shoes.  

Then he started working on the sagebrush.
 

They finally wandered over to a big rock and the cub climbed up on top to entertain us.  Maybe this is how he feels about all of us taking his photo -

Something got their attention and he jumped down and they wandered over the edge - out of sight. 

This time we made it thru Lamar Valley until we had to stop for a distant Grizzly near the Lamar River.

There were other things to photograph - I finally caught a Mountain Bluebird before he took off 

And there were lots of Marmots

As we head back towards Tower we see the Grizzly and cub are far off now

Nothing going on at Tower so we check Petrified Tree, Hellroaring, Floating Island Lake - no bears.  Down near Lower Hellroaring Overlook we find a Black Bear and yearling cub but too far to bother with photos so we go on.

Lucky we did - there's a really nice Black Bear in the Phantom Lake Drainage.  He's walking along on the far side and we just keep moving along with him.

  

I got alot of great photos of him!!  Then once again the Rangers run every one off - oh well - we'd made the best of our time with the bear.

We went in search of the Grizzly and cub from yesterday that we saw near Roaring Mountain and found them almost 4 1/2 miles north of there.

They finally wandered away from the crowd and we loaded up and went on our way.  

When we finally got back towards Tower we find people watching a Black Bear snoozing on a log - she's got her cubs behind her.

She looks exhausted!!!  Isn't that an awesome pose???

Just down the road we were treated to a nice Cinnamon Black Bear - I got so many great shots of him!!

Seeing people in this one spot All The Time we finally asked and here there's a Great Horned Owl nest.  I could only see a parent - probably Mom - but never saw any kids in the nest.

We stopped to watch a Bison herd near Roosevelt.

I'll be cropping for days just on this one day alone - so many great shots!!  This was the day we saw 14 - or maybe 17 - bears.  It would be our best day of the 5 we were here.

Time to work on Day 3!!