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| Roaring Mountain |
We wanted to see if we could find some Grizzly COYs (although, if we did, that would be a dilemma because it was originally Caty's plan and she was no longer with us on the trip). And, our visit to Mount Evans had already been cancelled because the road hadn't opened yet. I knew it was a long-shot when I booked. Maybe later this year.
Two potentials were the Beryl Springs Sow and her two adorable cubs that had been seen by many photographers over the past few weeks ...
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| Photos: Yellowstone Bears, Jeff Bittner, Adam Rice |
Unfortunately, right before we returned, we found out that a mating boar had killed both the cute little babies, probably in hopes of mating with the sow. I suspect that the culprit was the same boar we saw kill the subadult at the beginning of our visit ...
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| Scary guy |
Another baby Bear possibility was the Bear called Blondie, who lives in Grand Teton and had recently shown up with three COYs.
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| Photo: Yellowstone Bears, Brian Allen |
We never made it down there and shortly after our trip, she was seen missing the babies. Apparently something happened to them, too. It was a bad year for COYs.
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| Photo: Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, 2020 |
Also, as an update, one of Bear 399's quads was put down by Park Rangers in July after multiple food-seeking mis-steps. These are the cubs that caused a sensation when they debuted in 2020 (we didn't go because of the pandemic).
We saw them briefly in 2021.
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| 399 and two of the four, 2021 |
It has been a tough few years for Bears in Yellowstone and a lot of the problem (contrary to people blaming photographers and tourists) seems to be lax garbage storage restrictions and enforcement in nearby Wyoming towns, including Jackson.
Anyway, we did see one set of twin COYs. On a hill about as far away as they could be seen and still be recognizable.
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| They are there, I swear |
We also thought there might be another chance to see close-by Wolves. That didn't happen either.
Silver Gate
So, we arrived full of excitement about potential Bears and Wolves. We had stayed in a motel-type room at Silver Gate Lodging several times. This time, we had a cabin across the road and over a stream back in the woods.
It was adorable!
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| What a nice surprise |
It was compact, but with a full kitchen.
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| Compact, but functional |
And, it had an outside grill. It's too bad we didn't have the right foods in our dwindling food supply for a cookout. Who am I kidding? We don't hang out enough for that!
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| Our "little storm" |
When I checked in, I noticed that the office was quite dark and that the clerk was showing a map to people using a camp lantern.
How quaint!
Wait! The power was out -- and had been for two days.
It turns out that, after the short snowstorm we experienced when we were in Yellowstone a week earlier, there was another snowstorm while we were in Canada.
Luckily, it was after Caty drove home (whew!).
It dumped huge amounts of snow south of Silver Gate in the Chief Joseph area of Wyoming (Silver Gate is in the small part of the Yellowstone area in Montana).
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| Photo: Cowboy State Daily |
The snow had taken down power lines and, although lots of repairs had been completed and the power had briefly come back on, everything was dark.
We had faith that it would be fixed by the time we returned that evening.
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| Next time! |
There was no real point in worrying. The worst case would be a chilly night.
And, sure enough, we had power when we got back that night. The only inconvenience was that the Log Cabin Restaurant was closed, so Scott couldn't get another trout dinner. We just ate our leftovers.
Animals and Birds
We were not as successful with animals on this trip. Yes, we saw massive amounts of Bison ...
... and we had nice encounters with a Coyote ...
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| A beautiful Coyote, pausing before running |
... another blonde/gray Red Fox ...
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| This one was actually in Silver Gate |
... and a male Moose with early-season antlers ...
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| Near the Northeast Entrance |
But, as far as Bears go, we saw just a few, including a Cinnamon Black Bear mom and yearling ...
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| Grazing in the shade |
... another mom/yearling pair that I had assumed were Grizzlies because of the location and their size, but I am not so sure now. They look a bit more like Black Bears. But, I am not aware of fleeing-Bear-butt differentiation between the two species ...
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| What do you think? |
We did spend a bit of time with another mom and her two-year-olds -- these definitely Grizzlies -- in Lamar Valley late in the day.
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| Very healthy early season Bears |
They were moving about quite a bit, drinking from a puddle ...
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| A cute family unit |
... and running up and down a hill ...
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| Very active |
Apparently, we just missed the cubs wrestling and startling some Pronghorn.
We didn't even see many birds, except the ubiquitous Common Raven, seen both in nature ...
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| Left, in Lamar Valley; Right, at the top of Tower Road |
... and talking to us from the top of the gas pump as we filled up the car (with $5.00+ per gallon gas) ...
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| A great shot of that hooked bill |
On the final morning, we saw some Common Loons on a foggy lake ...
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| Loons and fog go together |
... and we saw a couple of Red-tailed Hawks, but not much else ...
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| Surveying his domain |
Tower Road
One of the treats of the return trip was a chance to drive over Tower Road, which had been closed for over two years for construction. It's always the last main thoroughfare to open in Yellowstone each summer because it has the highest elevation.
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| You can see the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone from Tower Road |
I was looking forward to the wildflowers we usually see, but I forgot how early we were this year.
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| What I was expecting |
What we got was snow ...
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| Still winter up here |
... lots of it ...
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| What a pretty view |
Blue sky and snow. No animals, but pretty views.
Interestingly, while Tower Road looked nicely paved, I didn't notice much in the way of improvement.
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It is narrow and has lots of areas without guard rails. I had assumed that they were adding more pullouts and railings. But, I guess not.
Perhaps a lot of what they needed to do involved the underlying integrity of the road. Sometimes it is better not to know.
It's not a good road for anyone with a fear of heights. But, it provides great views.
And, it is the primary road between two of our favorite wildlife spots: Lamar and Hayden Valleys.
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| And, wildlife is what it is all about |
Home
So, we were finally on our way home after a great trip to Grand Teton ...
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| Oxbow Bend |
Yellowstone ...
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| Even without COYs, a great Grizzly adventure |
Kootenay and Yoho ...
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| The beauty of the Canadian Rockies |
The Icefields Parkway ...
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| Mountains, mountains and more mountains |
Jasper National Park ...
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| Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, Northwestern Moose, Brown (Grizzly) Bear |
And, Waterton Lakes National Park ...
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| Middle Waterton Lake |
We saw some amazing things ...
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| Mama and baby Black Bear in a tree |
... and lots of beautiful scenery ...
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| Bow Lake, Banff National Park, Icefields Parkway |
And, Later
We arrived home on June 2.
Then, between June 10 and 13, Yellowstone flooded.
An atmospheric river -- a narrow band of tropical moisture -- soaked the Pacific Northwest before dumping several inches of rain on northern Wyoming and southern Montana. During that time, the Absaroka and Beartooth ranges received between 0.8 and 5 inches of rain.
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| Left photo; CNBC.com; Right photo: High Country News |
The inundation coincided with a warm spell that exacerbated melting of the heavy snowpack (actually higher than normal because of late spring snows).
And, that resulted in, according to the National Weather Service, "flooding rarely or never seen before across many area rivers and streams."
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| Photo: NPR |
The combined rain and snowmelt, equivalent to 4 to 9 inches of rain, flowed over already saturated soils, building up speed and strength as it coursed down hillsides. Roads and bridges washed out, campgrounds flooded, rockslides blocked roadways and buildings were even washed away.
On June 13, Park officials closed Yellowstone and announced the evacuation of more than 10,000 visitors.
The runoff deluged the Yellowstone, Stillwater and Clarks Fork rivers and their tributaries. At Corwin Springs, north of Gardiner, the Yellowstone River crested at 13.88 feet, breaking the previous record of 11.5 feet set in 1918. A record river discharge of 51,400 cubic feet per second was also measured that day, breaking the previous record-high flow of 32,200 cubic feet per second in 1996.
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| This kind of damage takes a long time to repair; Photo: CNN |
North of the Park, Gardiner and Silver Gate/Cooke City were isolated by the rising floodwaters, which washed-out roads and bridges, swept away multiple houses and flooded hundreds more. Rock Creek took out several bridges and flooded businesses in the historic downtown of Red Lodge, Montana. The flooding also caused power outages and compromised drinking water supplies in several towns.
The northern part of the Park, where the river flows through steep canyons, suffered the most damage as the Yellowstone River cut a new course. The road between Gardiner and the Park headquarters near Mammoth Hot Springs, a main supply route into the Park, was washed out and it is expected to take months to repair.
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| Photo: Boston Globe |
The southern part of the Park saw less damage. On June 22, the West, South and East Entrances were re-opened along with the southern loop road, giving visitors access to Old Faithful. The North and Northeast Entrances to the park are closed indefinitely.
Wow! We had opted to go earlier than we usually do to try to see baby Bears. We could have easily picked that week.
Now, it remains to be seen whether we can go next year.
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| I hope I can get back to Roaring Mountain soon |
Trip date: May 19-June 2, 2022
