We spent all of our time in Yellowstone today seeing very little. A couple of new elk babies by the Mammoth Hotel (a smart place for the elk mamas to have babies and protect their babies from predators, although occasionally a bear does come into Mammoth to kill an elk baby) and some really pretty sandhill cranes flying gracefully over Swan Lake Flats were about it. Oh, and a marmot at Sheepeater Cliffs that someone pointed to and said “Hey look, its a beaver.” That was pretty entertaining.
We stood around Swan Lake Flats this evening waiting for Quad Mom to show up with her 3 new cubs. She never appeared. I did a few not very good time lapses just so I could say I used my camera today. We finally gave up and started to leave. But just as we were leaving my husband looked at the clouds as the sun was setting and said he thought it would be a pretty sunset. I got my camera back out and put on a 17-35mm lens and started another time lapse as he took a few pictures including the one here.
Then it struck me. Here I am in one of the most beautiful places on earth watching a really nice sunset with snow capped mountains below. Bears, wolves and all of the other Yellowstone animals are wonderful, but so are the mountains, the clear air, and the ducks that were paddling around in a nearby creek. We are very lucky to be able to be here as much as we are and I shouldn’t forget that. Thank you to people like U.S. Grant, Teddy Roosevelt and some of the others over the years who have had the fore site and gumption to set aside our national parks to be forever protected.
Having just spent a night at GTNP, I did think a lot about how lucky we are to have these national parks. Also feeling thankful, and glad to read your reminder.
So, so true.