Friday, June 20, 2014

We're Going On A Bear Hunt

We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Not me!
Although it was not snowing the weather was overcast almost the whole day, so light was very poor, but today we set out from Fishing Bridge Northward to revisit the Grand canyon of Yellowstone and then to visit the Lamar Valley, to see more animals – especially BEARS!!
We visited the South Rim, where we could see the Upper Falls and Artists Point , to view the lower falls, to the South, and then we turned round to see the Grand Canyon as it continues North.  Then we returned to the North Rim to see the Lower Falls and the Canyon to the North, just about every aspect possible. Well, although the Grand Canyon is spectacular it is almost impossible to get photos that do justice to the scale, beauty and complexity of the landscape, very frustrating, especially to anyone looking at the blog hoping to share in the splendour of the sights we have seen.
After lunch we continued North from Canyon Village to Tower Falls for a cuppa and then turned off the main loop road to drive round Washburn Mountain and into the Lamar valley. Sure enough we came upon a bear at the side of the road – it was a cinnamon coloured Black bear (go figure), very nice and friendly looking, from the car. We travelled on and found a group of people who had spotted a bear and we then saw it a little distance from the road, but it was ambling along turning over stones and looking for food, showing no interest in us at all.
As we travelled on we saw a couple of pronghorns grazing, then another pair across the river. As we were thinking about turning back for home we came across a group of people looking towards the distant hillside. We stopped and they told us that there were a pair of grizzly bears up on the hillside. By using the maximum zoom and editing the pictures we were able to see the bears as two white (yes they are white grizzly bears) as a couple blobs, however the people there (from Virginia) were kind enough to let us see the bears through a spotting scope and there they were, almost as large as life.
On returning up the Lamar Valley we found another bear, some more bison and just south of Canyon Village an elk with a big rack!
We stopped at Canyon Village for another prime rib meal (we share one between the two of us) and had a good chat to some of the students working in the cafeteria there.
So all in all our bear hunt  ended quite successfully – three brown bears, two grizzly bears, four pronghorns, big racked elk and countless bison.

1 comment:

  1. Quite an animal catch for one day...... that's Yellowstone for you. We used to think the rangers brought the bears out for the tourists to see! Weather looks chilly but I see next blog says its improved - we are having a glorious sunny day for the Solstice. Photos are superb as ever - I have a collection quite similar! Have you been to Haydn Valley on an evening yet? We used to go early evening and the animals don't seem to let you down, they appear regular as clockwork and there's nearly always someone with a scope. If you wait till it gets dark you can often hear the wolves howling. Keep the photos and blog coming - love it

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