Ten Things of Thankful: Bison and Grizzlies and Wolves (Oh, My!) Edition

Steamboat Geyser at Yellowstone just letting off some steam

I missed last weekend's Ten Things of Thankful blog hop because I was camping in Yellowstone National Park and didn't have internet connection nor cell phone coverage. (And, to be honest, even if I had had the ability to post, I was enjoying being disconnected from technology and reconnected with what was going on "in real life." And boy howdy, were there ever things going on around us!

My husband and I drove up to Yellowstone for a week, hoping to see Steamboat Geyser erupt. It has been 125 days (as of today) since it last erupted. According to geysertimes.org, that is the longest interval between eruptions in the last 100 eruptions, so we were really hoping it would decide to erupt while we were there. No such luck, but what we missed in geysers, we more than made up for in wildlife sightings! (We didn't completely strike out in the geyser front, either. Of course we saw Old Faithful erupt, but also Sawmill, Spasmodic, Oblong, Riverside, Vixen, Minute, Constant, and probably others that I can't remember right now.)

The very first evening we were in the park, we decided on a whim to drive down Hayden Valley to see the herds of bison that often frequent the area, plus whatever other wildlife might happen to show up. We were a bit disappointed and surprised that there weren't many buffalo visible. However, we did notice a bison carcass in the valley, lots of cars pulled over to the side of the road, and park rangers armed with rifles. Those observations, plus the number of people setting up tripods with cameras with huge lenses, let us know that we should pull off the road and join the crowds. 

August is prime rutting season for bison at Yellowstone, and the carcass we observed was apparently the loser in a bison skirmish. We parked in a spot overlooking the carcass and waited for dusk to arrive. Pretty soon, we saw a lone wolf trotting along a path across the river. We expected him to cross the river and approach the carcass, but apparently he didn't want to get his feet wet. He kept on trotting. Not too much longer after that, though, a grizzly bear came along. Unlike the wolf, he did cross the river and started toward the dead bison. The following video shows his approach to the carcass:

Just as he was almost to the carcass though, everyone pointed their cameras away from that scene and at the hill on the other side of the road, where a pack of wolves had appeared and started a howl fest. Take a look (and listen!) to the video below! 

The wolves eventually moved on, and we went back to watching the grizzly bear until it was too dark to see. We drove back to our campsite, talking the whole way about how amazing the wildlife viewing experience was. We figured we had checked bears and wolves off our wildlife checklist and that we would be concentrating on geyser eruptions for the rest of the week.

We were wrong. The next morning, as we were driving toward Old Faithful, we again noticed a long line of cars pulled off the road. A young woman was running back toward one of the cars, and the look of delight and amazement on her face made us think that she had seen something unusual. We parked at the nearest pullout, stood right next to our car, and with a river between us and the bear, watched a grizzly going about his morning. In this video you can see a dark brown grizzly bear walking along the bank as a raven caws and flies away:

Within the first 24 hours of our arrival into Yellowstone National Park, we had seen two grizzlies and a pack of wolves! That first day provided the best video evidence of wildlife, but we saw 3 more grizzlies, another pack of wolves, tons of bison, and various other critters during our stay. 

1. I'm thankful for this beautiful world. 

2. I'm thankful for quirky museums. (We stopped at The Museum of Clean in Pocatello, Idaho on the way home. Definitely recommend!)

3. I'm thankful the car worked well.

4. I'm thankful our camping trailer, though small, is comfortable and serves its purpose well.

5. I'm thankful that although our house a/c went out sometime during our trip and would cost more to repair than replace, the repair guys had a cancellation and were able to get a new unit installed the same day as the troubleshooting appointment. We only had to sleep in a hot room for two nights. 

6. I'm thankful for fresh garden produce. We didn't plant a huge garden this year, but we're enjoying zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, and peppers so far, with cantaloupe and winter squash yet to come.

7. I'm thankful for beautiful hikes, in and out of Yellowstone. John and I took a 5-mile hike yesterday up the local canyon, and the views were beautiful.

8. I'm thankful for the temple. We visited yesterday, and always have a lovely time there.

9. I'm thankful for old friends. We attended a wedding reception for the son of some friends yesterday evening, and it was good to see everyone there.

10. I'm thankful for John and the fun we have together.

What are you thankful for today? Be sure to leave a comment and visit the other bloggers entries into the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop this week! As always, feel free to write your own post and link up!

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