Bald Eagles were easy to find in the Lamar Valley and along the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park and in Grand Teton National Park along the Snake River.
For someone who is used to having to brave cold winter weather up in Croton-on-Hudson to see Eagles, viewing them in summer weather was a joy.
Yellowstone Bison were easy to find in the Hayden and Lamar Valleys. I had two close encounters with the Bison.
While driving back to the hotel after dark, a Bison walked out into the road, forcing me to swerve into the oncoming lane of the two lane road. Everyone was safe, but it was a close call. It was one of those events that you end up responding to using pure reflex, and end up going over and over again in your head as you fall asleep.
The other encounter was a fun one. While crossing the Yellowstone River bridge into Lamar Valley, a few Bison were blocking the road, so I stopped. While waiting, the few Bison became a herd, who then all crossed the bridge. The bridge shook from all the weight and the Bison herd surrounded my car. It was fantastic to be so up close to the herd from the safety of a car.
Some cute Yellowbelly Marmots from Yellowstone. These animals live in colonies and are about 24 inches long.
We saw River Otters twice on our trip, at Trout Lake in Yellowstone, and at Oxbow Bend in the Grand Teton National Park. They are some of the cutest and most playful animals I’ve ever seen.
One of the great surprises of my trip to Yellowstone was to find an Osprey Nest in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone at over 7,000 feet of elevation. I’m so used to seeing Osprey on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in the Northeast and in Florida, I never thought they would be so high in Yellowstone fishing and breeding in a canyon.
I had a great vacation in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. At Oxbow Bend on the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park was a very cute Beaver who was very active at dusk.
I’ll be posting more images from my trip throughout the week. Sorry for the off topic posts, but I had fun out west!
