Then we drove........if you have ever driven across Nevada, well......there ain't much. Eastern Utah, The Salt Flats and The Great Salt Lake is there. Nothing falls within the guidelines of "picturesque"(cue all the people I can piss off with that remark). I love the Sierras and wide open greenery. High Desert and Salt just is not my cup of tea, sorry to all affected. So anyways, we Salt Lake City and hang left on I-15 heading North. Now somewhere near the Utah-Idaho border we begin that transition into lush farm lands. At a truck stop we were treated to seeing "a", as in singular, blade to a wind turbine propeller, I knew they were big, just did not know how big they were!
Here you can see five females lounging and eating grass without a care in the world. We drove on enjoying the scenery of lush mountain forests and cold flowing streams and rivers. Having been in places like this before I took the liberty of naming a species that is very common in these parts, "the two-legged idiot" (sorry, but due the litigious nature of the subject I will not post pictures of these non-illusive creatures) Venturing on, we ourselves became one of the aforementioned species when I had the family pose with this gentle looking Bison who was lying in the grass minding his own business. While you cannot tell from the picture the beast......not the one Melanie is holding, is only about 20 yards beyond her, what you cannot is that on the left and right are people that are just out of frame
Needless to say seeing one of these is breathtaking. Having Cherokee blood running through my veins brought out that primal feeling of respect. To say they are impressive is a true understatement. Bad-Ass is more in line. During out time the more Elk we incurred the more we became accustomed to it, not so with the Bison, at least for me. Shaymus became quite fond of the Bison, often yelling "hi buffalo" out the window as we drove.Yellowstone is a big park, somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 miles by 90 miles square-ish. You drive through areas dense lush forest that open into alpine meadows that are breathtakingly picturesque. It is takes you breath away. It really makes you wonder what this place was like before the white man arrived. Yellowstone is home to the gorgeous Hayden and Lamar Valleys. Images due no justice for places like this. We so often live in areas where our line of sight is limited by obstacles around us. Nowhere in the Bay Area is our line of restricted by the curvature of the Earth unless you are standing at the beach. Riding in to the aforementioned valleys from a ridge top your line of sight is increased by being higher up. Being able to "SEE" for 30 miles or more is breathtaking in and of itself. That and having an unobstructed line of sight for that distance all the more inspiring. The Hayden and Lamar valleys are also known for Grizzly bear and Wolf sightings. Need I say more. While we witnessed neither in the either valley Melanie and Alyssa did see an "area" where wolves were on the hunt. We came across a naturalist who had set up a spotting scope on top of a ridge and had been following a pack of 3 wolves tracking an Elk that was joined by 2 more wolves before losing them all into a small patch of forest. All this was happening at an estimated distance of 2500 yards (invisible to the naked eye, unless you have really good vision) You can see a lot in Yellowstone, especially when you put in the time. So we started tracking bear. How do you track bear in Yellowstone, you ask, or you just look for stopped traffic and two legged idiots with cameras. If you know the sarcastic Jeff then you understand when he told Melanie I knew a new to......well, Fuck with people, for lack of a better term, was to stop, get out of the car, aim your camera at...well, anywhere and point. You can nearly stop the world from spinning. Stop and take a leak, you can have three of four carloads of people next to you mid-stream asking you "whats out there?." So when we came across a group of (I will be nice) PEOPLE at a scenic rest stop, we asked "what's out there", "Grizzly with two cubs" my wife was out of the car before the guy uttered the GR in grizzly. 200 yards up a hill there she was eating with her two cubs without a care in the world. I guess when you are the "TOP BITCH" in the world, you truly can act like you have no cares. Snapped some shots and shaky video, but it was nearly dusk. The following day we came thru the same area and heard there was a Black bear and her cub a few miles further down the road. As we rounded a bend in the road the saw all the cars and people on the right side of the road so again, Melanie jumped from a still moving vehicle and Alyssa was tapping my shoulder and YELLING "there it is, there it is"
From there they continued on down the side of the road traversing a stream and eating like they owned the place (which they did). So we turned back the way we came to see if the Grizzly was going to be in the same area for a third night and she did not let us down. Same hill, a little closer and a maybe 100 feet to the right. This time for a little added enjoyment there a was coyote that seemed to think he (or she) might get a little brown bag lunch. If you have never seen a Grizzly stop, turn and cold stare another animal into turning and leaving, well it was is quite comical.
Now if you are not satisfied with the pictures of the Grizzlies, shuttup and put your money where your mouth is and buy me a bigger lens. The one I want is 11 grand! But just think of the pictures I will be able to take and I will not have listen to complaints. Either that or you run your ass up that mountain and ask for a close up, and I will take the pictures of what is left....of you! On our last day we had yet to see a Wolf or a Moose. We had seen a Bald Eagle at about 500 yards (only able to verify that with binoculars) We entered the park at the West Entrance and traveled to the North Entrance into Montana and Back, then East to the North-East Entrance again into Montana and back, wanted to tag the South-East entrance just to say we had hit all the park entrances knowing we would be leaving through the South Entrance, but oh well 4 out of 5 ain't bad, besides, batting 800 usually gets you into the hall of fame. As we entered the West Entrance for the last time and began following the Madison River for the last time we spotted a Bald Eagle up close, and we were the only ones around!
Among other you won't see in California is this neon sign that needless to say had few country boys out front!(disclaimer, not seen in the park)
All the same can be said for the Lower Falls as the Upper Falls with the exception of drop height. The Lower Falls is much higher, as can be seen from this shot. This trip has definitely supplanted my trip to Alaska when I was the same age as my daughter, probably more so cause I did this with my kids!
