Yellowstone wasn't far from Idaho Falls and we made it there in an hour or so. It was only $25 per car for a weeks entry. We spent the day in the park driving round looking for wildlife, not that we saw anything
until we were on the way back to the motel. There were loads of cars pulled
over and people everywhere, we had been told that when we see this it means
there is some big animal around which everyone is looking at. So we jumped out
and hurried over to where everyone was. There were two huge male Elk sat just
meters away from us, they didn't bat an eyelid at all the people taking
pictures of them. We were staying about 40 minutes outside of Yellowstone and
by the time we'd had some food and got back to the hotel it had gone ten. We
were staying in a cabin, but unfortunately so were a few mice and they decided
to have a party at about one in the morning which woke us both up. So seeing as
we had both been rudely awakened we planned to head into the park for sunrise
as this is the best time to see bears and wolves, but as soon as the mice shut
up we both fell asleep again and didn't get up till after the sunrise. We still managed to get into the park fairly
early though and we spent the day going around all the geothermal areas in the
park. We had seen loads of thermal activity in New Zealand already, but the
stuff in Yellowstone was far more spectacular. We saw loads of really colourful
pools, the Grand prismatic spring being the best of the bunch. Yellowstone also
has loads of Geysers, the most famous being Old Faithful, which erupts every
hour or so without fail. We were there along with hundreds of other people to
watch Old Faithful throw red hot water over a 100^ft in the air.
There was another threatening cloud hovering over us which produced a few bolts
of lighting and some huge cracks of thunder, luckily the rain held off just
long enough for us to get back to the car before the heavens opened! The day
wasn't all boiling mud and Geysers though, we got stuck in a few traffic jams
thanks to the odd herd of Bison deciding to cross the road and at times use it
as their own personal footpath. We were just inches away from a one tonne male
which made our little mazzy look like a tonka toy! We left a little earlier
that night so we could get back for some sleep, we were determined to get up and
into the park for sunrise the next day. We had moved to a motel room instead of
a mouse infested cabin so we were able to get a good nights sleep. 4.30_am
came and we were up and set off into the park. We had been told the best place
to find the bears and wolves was in the Lamar Valley but that was over two
hours away from where we were staying. We parked on top of a mountain to watch
sunrise and then made our way down into the valley. Our efforts were rewarded
and it was wildlife central down there we saw Bison, Deer, Elk, Prong Horn and
Coyote's, but none of what we'd really come for. The further into the valley we
got the mistier it became, then we saw the tell tail sign of something good.
Cars ditched on the side of the road and everyone out pointing and looking
through their high powered optics at something. We had no chance of seeing what
they were looking at until a guy offered us a look through his scope. Under a tree
about 800_yrds away were two Grey Wolves lay down chilling after
feasting on a Bison caucus. We were just looking at a hand sized wolf print
when we heard a lingering howl coming from over the hill, then the replies from
the wolves under the tree. They carried on as we were walking back to the car
and we spotted a big black Wolf trotting across the horizon. We drove down
through the rest of the valley looking for the elusive bear but never saw one,
what we did see was plenty more Bison and Elk. There was one more stop we
wanted to do; Mammoth Hot springs, which were right at the top of the park.
After stopping off for some breakfast we saw a couple pulled over, pointing up
a hill at something, and out of the corner of my eye I spotted a bear! A Black
Bear, and she had two cubs with her! I ditched the Mazzy and Mel was out the
door before we'd even stopped! They were very shy and we didn't get much of a
look at them before they disappeared. We thought they were long gone and went
back to the car, when suddenly, the mother came thundering over the road, right
next to our car, and down into thick forest on the other side, clumsily
followed by her little cubs. We were so lucky to have seen Bears and Wolves, it
was definitely worth the early morning. Mammoth Hot springs is a series of
Silica Terraces formed by hot mineral rich water rising up from beneath the
earth's crust and depositing its minerals as it flows over the edge. This
results in ever growing towers and cascades of minerals with water constantly
flowing over them. We spent an hour or so checking them out from the wooden
walk way they have set up, before moving on and leaving the park. We managed to
make it to Missoula for the night and I introduced Mel to the Cracker Barrel,
one of my favourite restaurants when I went to Florida.