After a stormy night we woke up to clear blue skies and temperatures that eventually sky rocketed into the 80’s. Thank goodness for the afternoon clouds that provide occasional relief, with a little breeze, but most of the time it feels like that sun is burning a hole in my skin.
It will be interesting to hear about June numbers in reference to visitors because I believe we are already well on the way to beating July – normally the busiest time in the park. There is a steady stream of cars, most going very slow and subject to stopping without notice – often just because some folks are pulled over to have some lunch and those going by are certain that they must be seeing something. In Yellowstone most people are watching for what the other people are doing, rather than looking for themselves. Today I had the distinct impression of going through a drive through zoo – people want to see everything but want to do so on the fly, without getting out of their cars. They sure don’t know what they are missing but I guess that is the way things are done these days – it is about the numbers, rather than the experience.
I stayed home this morning, to catch up on some work now that the internet is back up and running, and didn’t go into the park until about 2. A CBS radio station in San Francisco wanted to interview me and because it was hot, I decided to go into the park and find some shade trees well off the road where it would be quiet. I went to the pullout east of High Bridge and wandered into the forest, eyeing some rocks where I might sit and wait for the radio station to call. As the car noise faded the rush of the river below became louder and louder. Some robins sang in nearby trees and I thought how perfect it would be. And, then I noticed a tannish, reddish animal up ahead and assumed it was an elk. Hoping that the cow did not have a calf, I angled towards the rocks in hopes of avoiding her. Except, it was a bear! A cinnamon black bear. This was my second black bear sighting while hiking and it is a rush. This time I made some noise to make sure that the bear knew I was there, taking a couple of quick photos with a very short, landscape lens. The bear looked up at me and acknowledged my presence before going back to eating. And, I did a little back tracking, moving far away from the bear until I found a small rock surrounded by bones and scat. Perfect. The interview was quick, sort of weird in the style of asking the questions, and then all was done and over with. Time to move on.
I then headed east in hopes of seeing coyote pups at their den and was not disappointed. A little far out for the small lens I am using but boy are they cute. Worth every second of waiting in that hot sun.
The pups, five of them, were out quite a bit and quite large compared to the ones we watched in Lamar Valley several days ago. And, the adults did not wander far from their babies.
Feeling antsy for a walk I left the coyotes early and went to Swan Lake Flats where I hiked a couple of miles along Glenn Creek. The sun had gone behind clouds and there was a nice breeze, making for a pleasant walk in the forest.
I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
