Sunday July 29th-Thursday August 2nd

Yellowstone! The word brings up images of geysers, wildlife, and grand vistas of natural areas. I was not to be disappointed. On July 31st I watched a sow Grizzly Bear with two jet black cubs for 30 minutes (photo above). July 30th was Owl day; a Great Horned Owl, a pair of Long Eared Owls, and a Great Gray Owl all gave me great looks (photo on bird page).

 

Seeing Yellowstone Lake, Heart Lake, and Mount Sheridan brought back childhood memories of family trips through this area.

 

Yellowstone manages it’s backcountry areas to protect wildlife, specifically Grizzly Bears. To get permission to travel through the southeast corner of the park I agreed to travel during late July/early August. To get to the Continental Divide at the south boundary of the park took me two long hot days covering 31 miles of trail. Much of the trail traverses through burned areas from the 1988 fires.

 

I observed large numbers of elk, many deer, a weasel, the grizzlies, and many rodents. Correspondingly there were a lot of hawks and owls hunting the rodents. Many species of birds were using the burns and the remaining pockets of old growth trees.

 

Young trees are growing just about everywhere in the burns. Uncountable numbers of downed trees blocked my way and provided a great physical challenge to clamber over them. With a full pack on, I got a full body workout each day from dawn til dusk due to the constant stepping up and down and climbing over logs. Walking and balancing on logs sometimes for 100’s of yards at a time up to 5 feet off the ground took great concentration so that I didn’t hurt myself.

 

I stayed vigilant in watching for bears and other wildlife. It payed off with sighting the Grizzlies before they saw me and allowed me to stay a safe distance away and still observe them. This also led to other wildlife and bird observations and I found Black Bear and Wolf tracks.

 

At each camp I took bear precautions, including cooking away from the sleeping area and hanging my pack with all food, cooking equipment and anything else that has odors like toothpaste, sunscreen, etc. Before camping in bear country learn the do’s and don’ts so you have a safe and enjoyable trip!