With an average temperature of 85 Fahrenheit for the last three days it was strange that on the approach to Yellowstone national park, we should see mounds of snow 5 to 6 feet high on the road edge. In places the log cabin houses set back in the shade of the trees, the house was surrounded with snow for a good 20 feet in all directions!

The town of Yellowstone resembles a wild west town with tarmac roads and no that is no joke, it does however give the perfect setting for the National park down the road, which is really the only reason for visiting the town unless you are lost.

We had originally planned on staying inside the park at one of the lodges or campsites as we were arriving at low season so the price should be lower, but with the economy the way it is in America everything has changed. This means that low season prices are the normal high season and the high season are somewhere in the clouds, so we changed that plan and found a really good hotel at a half decent price in the town. Realistically this is better as it gives us the chance to use the internet to skype home and plan the next parts of the trip which when on the move is almost impossible without the web.

After 2 nights in the car en route to the park we decided we needed 2 nights in the hotel to rest properly a bit, so on or first full day we got into the park around mid morning. No the park is so big it crosses into 4 states! Less than 9 miles in we spotted a herd of Bison at the rivers edge grazing, this was a brilliant first spot in a short space. The further we got into the park the more Bison we saw, until there were so many that both ways of traffic were at a complete standstill while these gentle giants meandered between the cars, without a care at all the Bison took it steady and did exactly as they pleased. To be honest this is how it should be as this is there natural environment and we were in there park and home. Now the reason we say they took it steady is because regardless of their size and contrary to popular belief these animals are very quick movers. They can sprint at 30mph across the plains regardless of the terrain, aided by the fact they have a hoof similar to a horse but with a split down the front allowing them to run rough ground with ease.

Something else that may seem strange is the huge hump at the base of the neck, this is mostly made up of muscle and some bone structure. The Bison are also known as ‘Snow Ploughs’, this is because in the winter the snow will be up to half their body height deep. The Bison are vegetarian so the snow covers all of the food they can reach/eat, therefore over time they have evolved the hump of muscle and a huge flat head with horns in order to use it as a snow plough! If you ever see a picture of a Bison with snow stuck to its head and face, this is know as the mask of survival as they have been moving the snow in order to reach there food, or they would simply die. The fur they carry will be shed over the spring ready for summer but only from the neck backwards, the it will re-grow in the Autumn.

Deeper into the park we saw 3 packs of ‘Elk’, but these were the ‘Pronghorn’ Elk meaning they only have small horns instead of the big antlers. Some of these too were grazing near the water, but many were seeking shade as it was reaching the heat of the day so didn’t come anywhere as near to us as the Bison.

A stop at a geyser called the ‘Old Faithful’ was our last stop for this day and it was well worth a visit. It shamed the geyser we saw in New Zealand into the next millennium, erupting naturally and reaching an average height of 180 feet! ( Incase you wonder the NZ one was only 20 feet)

We took the rest of the day to have a dip in the pool and spa at the hotel and generally relax, we had a plan of action for the next day that meant a late morning start and late night finish so read on for that.

Day 2.

We had started late today because some of the animals we were hoping to see would only be around at dusk or dawn and a s dawn was still pretty cold as the snow was still thawing, dusk seemed a better option. Some of the bears were not fully out of hibernation yet either so it was best to give them some time to wake up and get on the move, as we really wanted to see one.

A bit further in than we had seen the Bison the previous day Carina caught a glimpse of something moving near a lake, as we pulled up it looked like a wolf but the tail was too bushy. When we zoomed the camera in on it it turned out to be a Coyote prowling the lake where some geese were flapping and squawking wildly to try and deter there predator. After some time their plan worked and the Coyote decided it had no chance of getting a meal here and moved on, which meant so did we.

It was a few hours since we saw anything other than Bison and we were starting to lose hope, when by chance we pulled up in a lay-by and noticed someone with a huge zoom lens watching some open ground , but we could only see broken logs. A closer look revealed a dark grey wolf snooping the broken logs looking for food, the wolf was almost invisible even when moving as it just blended into the back ground and moved stealthily. We followed the wolf until it found its food which was a carcass of some rather big animal that birds were already feasting on. The wolf had a bit of a nibble ripping off some flesh but soon was out of sight which seemed odd when there was a good meal to have!

We had continued on around the park in our search for bears of the black and grizzly type, both are resident in the park but don’t stay in one place. They move around the park in search of the best food source and find new dens wherever they find the food. As we turned a corner over the top of a valley a ranger vehicle coming toward us put his lights on and did a u-turn in the road, now this could only men one thing and that was BEAR!!!! We have been in enough national parks to know rangers don’t get excited over much or feel the need to hang around in one spot unless there is a chance they might have to fill out a report after an animal has had lunch on a tourist! We quickly parked the car the best we could on a hillside and got to the valley edge, as large as life munching on the grass was a shiny black bear. For such a big animal the bear moved s gracefully, striding over logs and obstacles with ease but at a lethargic pace. This said, did you know bears can run at 30mph on a sprint, climb almost anything, and have excellent eyesight and smell!?!

As more people gathered some over eager viewers started darting around trying to get the best pictures, but the ranger soon curbed this as it was upsetting the bear making him move away but could potentially make him come closer if it felt threatened. After the crowd had settled in one place for a while the bear came closer but only to look for food, but close enough for us to get some good pictures and see the lovely brown muzzle of its face. We stayed for ages watching the cuddly looking animal forage for food, which was the highlight of the day for Carina. Eventually it got bitterly cold and the bear was moving away so we opted to take a drive further though the park to see if we could spot a Grizzly! Sadly we had no luck finding a Grizzly further into the park and had been looking for some time, as it was getting near to dusk by now we headed back to the Wolf spotting site as they should soon be out again for the evening hunt.

After a long wait at the previous place we saw the lone Wolf, a pack of three came over the ridge and in to view right in front of us. They were quite a distance out but we could see them moving but by zooming in on the cameras we could see everything they were doing. The black Wolf from earlier had now brought two Grey Wolves with it and was heading down toward the Carcass it had found earlier. The Wolves approached the Carcass with caution circling round from all angles to ensure no surprise attack on themselves, but also in case their meal was not actually dead and made a move they would attack from all sides. Once at their meal only one of the Wolves is allowed to eat first and this is normally the leader, after this particular Wolf has started the others can then join in. The strength of these animals jaws and necks is phenomenal the way they rip the flesh from the bones with ease. The Wolves cleaned off the meat they could before returning to the cover of the fallen trees in order to find more food or wait for it to come their way, so we thought we would call it a day. We had seen most of the things we had set out to and really needed to get back on the road and start heading north as we had a two day drive ahead of us.

Not to far from the park exit two cars with hazard lights flashing alerted us to something just below the road edge, when we got out we were pleased to see an Elk with antlers! We had been looking for an Elk with antlers all day, but had seen none. We were only about 8 feet from the Elk at the most so had to be very careful not to scare it away or in to lunging at us with those rather large antlers. Happily chewing on its grass the Elk didn’t seem to worried about anyone around it, but we didn’t push our look. We just took our pictures watched a few minutes then left it in peace.

So highly content with our two days spotting of 6 types of animal in the park we set off with some reluctance for the exit route, which in the scale of this park was abut 20 miles away. There was however one last surprise for us, perched on the hill side to say goodbye as we left were a group of Bighorn Sheep. As we approached they climbed further up the hillside as if it was flat ground, with almost comedy they eyed us as we passed moving their heads in unison like puppets.

What a nice send off from such a special two days in this tranquil and peaceful place that we someday hope to return to and spend longer here as we love seeing the animals on their terms in their home!