from Cooke City, MT to Yellowstone National Park to West Yellowstone, MT

Woke up to a brisk 37° here this morning! The moon’s still up, as you can see in the picture, but daylight comes early, early this far north and only a couple of weeks before the longest day of the year. And we were getting up early, to go back to the Lamar Valley, possibly to see more wolves.

This bear in the parking lot of our inn is only a statue. But the bison that ambled through 5 minutes prior was real!

Stopped for breakfast in Silver Gate, at the Log Cabin Café. Really, I think we only intended to get coffee to go, but … Grilled Rainbow Trout. And ah-MAY-zing Pumpkin Bread. And our server actually offered to fill our “go cups” with coffee for our trip into the park. Really neat experience. If I weren’t already in love with Cooke City, this place sealed the deal for me.

Henry is really enjoying going into Yellowstone. Today was our third trip into the park, and each time he has been gifted with a treat. Maybe it kinda makes up for the fact that Yellowstone is not such a dog-friendly place. Between the really dangerous geothermal areas and the potentially dangerous wildlife, you have to be super-careful with your pet, if s/he is even allowed in the area at all.

So. Almost immediately upon entering the park, we noticed one of the infamous “jams” and of course had to stop to see what the fuss was about. Well! What we saw, from a safe distance across Soda Butte Creek, was a moose cow with her newborn calf. Totally worth the “fuss.” I realize that the cow really couldn’t have cared less about us humans staring at her, but I swear, I got one picture where she looked as if she were smiling as her calf nursed. What a special memory!

Saw a herd of bison at rest. Because being constantly gawked at is hard work. Or maybe they were trying to conserve energy in anticipation of the next jam. Hard to know.

Next stop: trying to see wolves. Sue had gotten some “intel” – remember how I’d spoken of the subculture of Yellowstone visitors who spend their time studying the wildlife? Whoo-boy! These folks know the difference between the two main packs; I swear they have names for the individuals in each pack, and they monitor every move these wolves make. Rumors of a kill a couple of days ago sent us to a particular area, to see if we could get a glimpse of the wolves feasting on their prey.

Or rather to see if Sue could get a glimpse. I, meanwhile, took a nice long walkie with the wolves’ distant cousin Henry. He and I saw bison, and maybe pika. I don’t really know if they were pika or not; with a dog in tow I might’ve gotten my arm yanked out of its socket if I’d moved any closer. (Remember the Marmot Incident from a couple of days ago.) And Henry does not care if they’re pika or not; he sees “rodent” and thinks “must chase.” (Again, I refer you back to the Marmot Incident.)

Sue, unfortunately, never got to see the wolves that morning, though I know she found the conversations amongst the Wildlife Studiers very interesting and informative.

We continued on, seeing a herd of antelope running VERY FAST. Naturally, we spent more time trying to figure out who/what they were running from than we spent watching them run. But maybe they just felt like running? Anyhow, a photo of them – after they’d slowed down – from a distance.

Sue had visited Yellowstone a few years ago, and on her recommendation I checked out the Roosevelt Lodge while she took Henry on another walkie. Cool, rustic place.

Checked out Undine Falls:

Then on to Mammoth, the administrative center for the park. There are old army barracks there, a reminder of the days when the U.S. Army administered the park prior to the National Park Service taking over.

Although Mammoth Hot Springs technically lies outside the Yellowstone Caldera, there is some impressive geothermal stuff going on here. There’s a lot of scientific explanations for how the “Travertine Terraces” were formed – something to do with snow melt seeping into the magma chamber underneath and being superheated and forming some sort of acid which interacts with limestone which forms a substance called travertine – ah! It may not sound like it, but I actually find geology fascinating … it’s just that … the facts don’t really stick with me.

I really missed my camera, because these formations were beyond beautiful and interesting, and I just couldn’t really do them justice with my smartphone, as wonderful and trusty a backup as it’s been.

Oh, those colors? They’re created by microorganisms that like living in the travertine.

This formation is called the Liberty Cap. I kind of think it’s reminiscent of the Easter Island faces.

Elk roam as they please in the town of Mammoth.

The ride to West Yellowstone was pretty uneventful. West Yellowstone itself is in that little area where Montana and Wyoming and Idaho all come together, although the town is technically in Montana. We’ll be based out of the KOA here for the next three nights. 

More photos from the Forces of Nature Tour at Flickr.

Click here.