Day 2: Bison, Wolves, and Bears OH MY!

Our 2nd day found us up and on the road at 5 am so we could catch the wolves as they wake up to play in Lamar Valley. We drove the very scenic Beartooth highway into the NE entrance of the park. We nearly immediately encountered bison on the road, dead moose in the prairie, and wolves in the valley. We spent an hour or so watching two wolves play. We were lucky enough to sit next to a spotter who comes out to the valley every single morning before work. He follows the wolves and knows their habits. We learned the black wolf was a 6 month old pup. Quite big already, but pretty neat to see a black one! The gray/silver wolf played in the water for us. Pretty neat!

On our way towards the top half of the famous figure-8 loop of Yellowstone, we spotted a grizzly off the side of the road. We were able to watch him dig up roots from about 20' away. Dave commented later how his flight-or-fight mechanism was kicking in just as the ranger asked the group to proceed slowly back to their cars. The bear wanted to cross the road and we definitely didn't want to be in his way!

From here, we headed to Tower Falls where we could no longer travel south due to wildfires, but did manage to encounter lots of long-horn sheep including a little baby. Nearing lunchtime, we headed to the elk-infested Mammoth Springs for a quick bite before doing the hikes through the neat calcium and travertine tiered beds. Reminded us of a less-smelly version of Rotoura, NZ. We thought some of the best geothermals were at the start of this hike and the stairs probably just weren't worth the effort!

Mammoth Springs

The top western part of the loop had some really neat open fields that had turned golden yellow. While we didn't stop much here, we did snap a few photos of the mossy river beds in foliage. We completed our day heading to the famous Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the wonderful Lower and Upper Falls. This is probably the most photographed part of the park. I think we took every pull out and walked every lookout, but in the end, the famous "Artist Point" was the best shot.

We checked into our cabin for the night and got dinner in the lodge cafeteria. Nothing special, but a decent homestyle meal. The cabin was another story. The only available place left in the park by the time we booked, it was made of wood panelling, sheets from 30 years ago, and a shower full of pink mildew. Luckily it had heat and was relatively quiet (minus the roaming bison at night) or we would've preferred to have camped! We went to bed early knowing we wanted out of our horrid cabin as soon as possible in the morning.