Yellowstone: Elk Watching

On Yellowstone's West Entrance Road, the evening of September 21st, we stopped in an area where we'd often seen elk before. We saw a few females on the left side of the river pictured below. Then, far off in the distance, a large bull elk emerged from trees on the right side of the river.

 

As we watched, the bull grazed his way toward the females on the other side of the river. He eventually crossed the river, showed his authority over the females, then crossed back to the other side alone. All of this was accompanied with bugling and tearing up the earth with his antlers. We couldn't have asked for a better show...unless the action might have included a battle between bulls.
 

I include this picture to show the scene of the action, as well as the reflections in the water.

Here, you can see some of the grass hanging off his antlers.

 Following are a few non-elk photos that I captured during slow times in the elk action:

 

A young Great Blue Heron

Possibly the same heron, flying low over the water.

The family belonging to this Sheltie were also watching the elk and the heron.

This rather lengthy post will wrap up our time in Yellowstone for this visit. However, there is much more to come from our 2013 western trip.

Thanks to Hilary at The Smitten Image for including this post as a Post of the Week.

Yellowstone: Finishing the Upper Loop

After leaving the town of Mammoth on September 21st, we continued on over the top of the upper loop, toward Tower Junction.

 

This area is much more arid than the heavily forested southern regions of the national park.

A lone buffalo strolls down the center line of this high mountain road, making it difficult for traffic from either direction to get around him.

After several minutes, though, there was an opportunity for passing.

After getting around the buffalo and through construction delays around Tower Junction, we continued on to the Canyon area, this time to enjoy the views of Lower Yellowstone Falls and the canyon from the South Rim.

Lower Yellowstone Falls from Artist Point

Lower Falls
 

A view up the canyon in the other direction, from Artist Point

From the Canyon area, we then headed back toward the West Entrance Road, where we hoped to enjoy some elk viewing on our way back to our lodging in West Yellowstone.

On the way, we passed this Chocolate Pot hot spring along the Gibbon River.

These "ducks in a row" were at one of the elk viewing areas along West Entrance Road.

We did see lots of elk later that evening, but that will have to wait for a future post. Stay tuned!

Yellowstone: West Entrance to Mammoth

Upper Yellowstone Falls

This photo of Upper Falls should rightly have appeared in the previous post, since it was shot on September 20, when we did our quick drive-by of Yellowstone Canyon's Northern Rim; but I forgot to include it in that post. I thought it was too pretty to leave out completely, so here it is today. This was a photo that Doug shot with the camcorder.

 

The rest of the photos I'm sharing today are from September 21st, and were shot as we traveled between Yellowstone's West Entrance Road and Mammoth Hot Springs.

Roaring Mountain

This hissing mountain of steam is the only thing like it in the park. Roaring Mountain is a barren hillside of thermal features, called fumaroles. It got its name from the loud hissing and roaring that it makes due to thermal activity, which could be heard miles away in the days of its discovery. Nowadays the roaring has quieted a bit but can still be heard if you listen carefully.

 

We hadn't gone far before we noticed a large number of vehicles pulled off the road, usually a sure sign of an exciting wildlife sighting. It turned out to be a grizzly bear. But it was so far away that it could be seen only through a spotting scope. Fortunately, there were several observers willing to share their scopes. Unfortunately, though, that didn't help me to get a decent photograph.

The bear is faintly visible in this photo, using all the zoom power I had.

Here, I've cropped the first image to give a better view of the bear.

  

I captured this shot from the video that Doug took. I can't crop this one in any closer because the camcorder's 6 megapixels just isn't enough to allow for that level of cropping. But it does show the bear on its feet.

 

The man whose scope we used had been watching the bear since Monday (it was then Friday), when he had seen it pulling an elk from the river. He didn't see how the elk died, just the bear dragging it from the water. Since then, he said, the bear hadn't strayed more than 20 feet from his prize, alternately feeding and resting.

This area is known as the Golden Gate of Yellowstone.

A roadside scene as we continued on toward Mammoth Hot Springs.

The town of Mammoth is a good place to view elk. Elk have become much more difficult to find in the national park since the reintroduction of wolves almost 20 years ago. Apparently, they feel safe from wolves in town.

This one was resting against the wall of the Mammoth Medical Clinic.

The bull pictured above was resting on a lawn a few blocks away from the first one. He suddenly became agitated, rose to his feet, pawed the ground, dug into the lawn with his antlers, and bugled a challenge to an unseen rival.

I'll have a few more posts coming up from this, our last day in Yellowstone, including more elk, but in a more natural setting.

Yellowstone: North Rim and Great Fountain Geyser

This will be my last post from September 20th, although not the last from Yellowstone. After we left Midway Geyser Basin that afternoon, we decided to drive over to the Canyon area and do a quick drive along the North Rim of Yellowstone Canyon.

Yellowstone Canyon from the North Rim

Lower Falls in the distance

After leaving the Canyon area, we drove back the way we had come, en route to Great Fountain Geyser. It was expected to erupt at 7:00 PM, give or take two hours.

On the way to Great Fountain Geyser, I snapped this shot of a couple of buffalo,

with the ever-present steam vents in the background.

We arrived at Great Fountain Geyser about 6:30 PM. There were others waiting, who assured us that we hadn't missed the eruption yet. So we settled down to wait. The following photos were taken while we waited...and watched...and hoped.

We finally had to give up and leave after about an hour and a half of waiting. By then it was getting too dark to see much anyway. The geyser probably erupted as soon as we were out of the area. Geysers can be fickle. But, if you see one, you'll think it was worth the wait.

Even though we didn't get to see Great Fountain geyser erupt, I thought it was beautiful in the late-day sunlight.

  

Yellowstone: Midway Geyser Basin

We're not through with September 20th yet. After our visit to Old Faithful and our hike to Mystic Falls, we drove the short distance to Midway Geyser Basin.

Footbridge over the Firehole River to Midway Geyser Basin

Can you see how the Firehole River got its name?

Excelsior Geyser Crater in Midway Geyser Basin
 

Once the largest geyser in the world, with eruptions up to 300 feet,  Excelsior is now a productive thermal spring, presently discharging 4050 gallons per minute. Numerous vents boil and churn the water within the crater, covering it in a dense layer of steam.

The main feature in Midway Geyser Basin is the Grand Prismatic Spring, which is the largest hot spring in the United States. It measures approximately 370 feet in diameter and is over 121 feet deep, with a water temperature of 147-188 degrees Fahrenheit. Its steam produces a blue haze that rises several feet above the water. The brightly colored algae surrounding the pool gives the impression of a giant prism.

 

These next three photographs are of Grand Prismatic Spring:

 

The views from the boardwalk just can't give the full effect of Grand Prismatic Spring. There is a footpath up the hill on the back side of the spring that allows a view of it from above. We just didn't have the energy to tackle that steep path at the time we were there. Maybe next time.

Another thermal feature in Midway Geyser Basin

Turquoise Pool in Midway Geyser Basin

More to come from this day in Yellowstone on the next post.

Yellowstone: Biscuit Basin and Mystic Falls

After enjoying the display put on by Old Faithful on September 20, we decided to take a hike to Mystic Falls. The trail to the falls starts at the back of Biscuit Basin, so the first two photos are scenes from Biscuit Basin.

Sapphire Pool in Biscuit Basin

A colorful runoff from one of the hot pools in Biscuit Basin

The hike to Mystic Falls was fairly easy and a pleasant walk. The next images were taken along the trail. Most of the trees along the trail are those that have grown since the 1988 fires.

The trail follows the Little Firehole River

This was our first sight of the falls. But it's only the bottom part.

This isn't a great shot, but you can get a better idea of the full size of the waterfall.

A look at the river as we begin our return walk.

What do you think...an osprey nest maybe?

Here, we're almost back to the beginning of the trail,

but I stopped for photos of the reflections in the water puddles.