If I Were Going...: Yellowstone National Park over Memorial Day

Upper Yellowstone Falls

I mentioned in my last blog that Scott and I went to Grand Teton National Park in May and, although we booked before the road from Teton to Yellowstone opened up for the summer, we lucked out. The road opened the day after we arrived and we were able to spend a little time in Yellowstone.

Then, Caty and I went over the Memorial Day weekend. We anticipated killer holiday weekend crowds, but actually found much of Yellowstone to be virtually empty except mid-day in the geothermal areas (which we avoid because of crowds) and Bear jams.

We suspect the crowds were smaller than we expected because the Park was still waking up from its winter nap. Some lodging and facilities were just opening and the campgrounds were still closed.

When Scott and I went, it was still very snowy ...

Lewis Falls with snow

... and, even over Memorial Day, there was snow and ice ...

Yellowstone Lake still had ice at the edges

We couldn't get lodging in the Park (except a few crazy expensive options), so we decided to try West Yellowstone. Online, people rave about it. We stayed at the City Center Motel, a funky little motel that was nothing to write home about, but fine. We had some delicious pizza at Gusher Pizza & Sandwich Shop, just around the corner.

West Yellowstone was OK, but I felt like the drive to get there took forever. I much prefer to stay outside the Northeast or East entrances if I can't get lodging in the Park.

Both times I went – with Scott and then with Caty – we really wanted to see Grizzly COYs (this year's cubs). We didn't. When Scott and I went, they hadn't come out yet.

Then, we saw lots of postings of COYs. They completely disappeared the week Caty and I were there. Then, they started coming back out the week after we got home. Double arrghhh!

Week before (Bill Little photo); week after (Richard Spratley photo)

But, we did have some pretty good Bear sightings.

As one always does, we returned to spots where we had seen Bears before and checked out places where others had posted about seeing Bears.

Calcite Springs Bears

For Scott and me, it paid off at Calcite Springs, where we had seen a couple of Black Bear moms and tiny cubs in 2022.

Remember this cutie from 2022?

As luck would have it, the same mom and her two cubs were still hanging out in the same spot.

Of course, the cubs were much larger ...

One on a log; one in the same tree

But, they were still under Mom's watchful eye ...

See was watching while she was eating

We were relieved that they had survived the winter. In fact, they were all looking quite healthy.

Chubby with a shiny coat

We asked some wildlife volunteers in they knew what had happened to the other Black bear family we had also seen last year in the Tower falls parking lot.

Bears we saw at Tower in 2022

No one had seen them, but there were rumors that the little cinnamon cub had not made it through the winter. I prefer to believe that it just hadn't appeared yet. But, baby Bears have a pretty high mortality rate, so it is likely the rumors were correct.

Besides these three, Scott and I didn't see much, except a Grizzly napping beside some Bison ...

I guess they can get along

Caty and I had better luck with both Black Bears ...

Dark Cinnamon Black Bear COY, Mammoth Hot Springs

... and Grizzlies ...

Not worthy of much photography

Babies in the Snow

A fun sighting was Bear 864 and her two yearlings high up on a hill in Hayden Valley.

They were a bit far for good photos, but very entertaining

While Mama grazed ...

... her two little cuties ran ...

... and tussled ...

... and rolled around in a big snow patch

Every now and then, Mama grunted and they came running ...

Then, once she was satisfied, they went off to play again

We were confused while shooting these Bears. The cubs seemed too big to be COYs, but too small to be yearlings. It wasn't until we got home and inquired on the Yellowstone Bears Facebook page that we confirmed they were not COYS.

I think they were small plus being wet from the snow made them look even smaller.

Crazy cute; I wish they had been closer

When I took a short break from photographing to go back to my car to get my tripod (a useless trip because the Bears crossed over the top of the hill and disappeared before I got back), I witnessed a pitfall of Yellowstone wildlife viewing.

The law is that you can pull your car off the road and park (except where no parking is posted) as long as all tires are on the other side of the white line and as long as your car is facing the direction of travel. I always comply and am very, very leery of trying to park on steep sides (whether drop-offs or rises). Of course, I prefer pull-outs, but often they are full. I do not park in the middle of a lane (well, I would for a minute for a Mountain Lion, Wolverine or close Wolf, but ...).

Narrow roads make good parking necessary; Photo: Michelin North America

Anyway, just before I left to get the tripod, I heard a clunk that sounded like a car running into another at a very slow speed. When I looked, however, I saw that a driver who had attempted to pull all the way off had not noticed a deep hole between two rocks. When he drove into it, his car rolled over on its side! I appeared to have happened very, very slowly, So, even though the passengers had to crawl out the back, they were not injured. The car looked fine, but I am sure the down side had dents. It was obvious a tow truck or crane would be needed to right it.

I didn't take photos because it seemed rude while the passengers were still extracting themselves (with a Ranger's help). But, it proved that my trepidation with tricky pull-offs is warranted.

Our next encounter wasn't Brown (AKA Grizzly) Bears, but it was cool.

Splish Splash

Caty and I saw a small Bear jam and pulled off to see a medium-sized Black Bear grazing up a hill with her back to us.

Not too exciting, but maybe she had cubs

There were probably 20-30 people watching when, suddenly, a young woman with a heavy southern accent loudly exclaimed, "Oh, sto-op, there's a bear right behind us!"

Stop, indeed! There was a young Black Bear that had just entered a small pond RIGHT BY THE ROAD on the other side to take a soak.

But, he didn't just get wet ...

... he splashed ...

... he twirled ...

... he floated ...

... and generally had a great time ...

Then, he got out, crossed the road and joined the other bear, which we assume was his Mom.

Epic!

Soda Butte Creek Bear

Two days in a row, we went to Soda Butte Creek, where we heard that there had been a couple of Bears hanging around. We didn't see the one with the yearling that had gotten famous for a rough river crossing. The (rather long) video is here. I did not take this.

But, we did see the other Bear that frequents the area. Twice.