Wow what a day! My first bear and wolf sightings!

We got up super early for a pre breakfast drive and we were surrounded by mist and were only really able to spot bison and elk in between the mist. It was really quite mystical looking. We made a couple of stops along the way but couldn't really see much as the mist was thick. Although we couldnt see much we did manage to see the bison crossing the road causing a jam. So we took a short walk up the hill to wait for the mist to burn and see if we could see anything. As the mist cleared we saw bison and elk on the hill and then moved to the next stop. As we were standing looking there was great excitement as a wolf appeared. We followed the wolf (with our binoculars and cameras not literally) along the base of a mound and then up to the top where it was a short distance away from a bison. It then kept walking around this area so we quickly jumped back in to the van and went to a higher point to get a better view. The wolf was absolutely beautiful and put on a proper display by sitting down and walking along the ridge in perfect view. After we had finished looking at the wolf there was talk of a grizzly bear sighting so we moved the scope in the direction of the bears and in the distance we were able to see bear shapes running along the side of the bank. It was clear enough to see it was a mother and cub. So although technically I have seen my first bear I am hoping my next sighting will be much closer. After all the excitement we made our way slowly back to the hotel spotting another bison jam. When we arrived at our hotel we grabbed some breakfast before I took a stroll to the village store and admired the view over Yellowstone Lake.

After my trip to the village store we got back in to the minibus and drove through pelican creek and onto to Sylvan pass (one of the others points in Yellowstone) stopping at different points on route. Our sightings including yellow bellied marmots running over the hill, bison, a loon, elk, pika, gray bird, killdeer, second year juvenile bald eagles and red tailed hawk. We also found more snow and saw a few snow melt falls, packed ice in the lake and had our lunch with a snowman. On the way back to our hotel we spotted mule deer, more bison and a fabulous elk with amazing antlers.

When we got to the hotel we had a couple of hours to chill before having our dinner so I wandered back over to the village store and then went to admire the Yellowstone bus before having a chill and book read before dinner. Dinner was lovely and much quicker than yesterday. So after dinner we went back to the Hayden Valley where we were this morning on the hunt for more wolf and bear. Unfortunately we didn't see any but we did see a new duck, muskrat, heron, elk and bison. We also saw a bald eagle snacking on a baby elk and an elk going for a swim in the river. We were also luckily enough to see a bison up close although it was nearly too close as it suddenly ran up at steep slope at quite a speed and straight towards us and everyone else who was admiring it. So we made a quick retreat back to the bus and shut all the doors and watched from the safety of inside. Some people however thought it was a good idea to get close to the bison which it didn't like so it charged straight across the road in an angry way. Thankfully no one was hurt and so we then took the drive home and went to bed ready for our lie in tomorrow morning! And obviously a day of fun and wildlife watching!