Today's pictures were all taken on the north loop of Yellowstone Park. When we were given the park map yesterday it showed that a section of Chittenden Road was closed, but we asked the gate keepers today if the road was open and they said it was. That meant we could drive it as a loop instead of heading up to Mammoth Hot Springs and then doubling back to go home. It also meant we got to see a lot of waterfalls and scenic overlooks and different cliffs and canyons that we would have missed otherwise.
The North Loop is considered the best area of sighting predators of the park; grizzlies, wolves, foxes, coyotes, etc. We would pull off the road and scan the hills and meadows with our binoculars but nothing was moving today other than elk and bison. We did see a few antelope, but they were almost hidden in a grove of trees on a stretch of roadway that had no shoulders so we couldn't pull off for pictures. These were different from the pronghorn antelopes we've seen in other states as their horns swept straight back.
While we were disappointed in the lack of bear sightings, we both enjoyed the north loop much more than the south loop simply because of the diversity in the geography; more varieties of trees, different types of rock, lots of water falls, meadows and mountains.
Instead of fighting the crowds over expensive food in a cafeteria today we opted for a picnic lunch off the tail gate of the truck at a quiet overlook. How much nicer to gaze at distant mountains and watch birds soar overhead instead of being surrounded by t-shirts and gimcracks for sale at a souvenir shop. It's a great life, isn't it?
No comments:
Post a Comment