Above, the Grand Prismatic Spring in the Midway Geyser Basin.

. . . and the buffalo do roam. Took around two hours to go from West Yellowstone to Madison Junction one day because of bison. First there were a group of females with young ones, then two young males walking down the center of the road. I should clarify that the bison were for the most part not causing the traffic jam–it was people wanting to get pictures. Later in the day, back in West Yellowstone, a young woman with children said her family just turned around and came back to town. Being in a car with young children would make the wait more difficult.

Gneiss Creek trail has two trailheads: one along the Madison River between West Yellowstone and Madison Junction, and another a few miles north of West Yellowstone. You can walk the whole 13 miles if you want! I just went maybe a mile along the Madison River and saw a number of birds, including the Clark’s nutcracker above. The trail is closed a lot of the year to allow for a bear habitat. Probably not a trail you should walk alone.

Pulled into a pullout for no particular reason and was surprised to see a family of sandhill cranes. Could not get close to them, but was thrilled to see the young one.

Near the campground I stayed at, along the Madison River, I was watching some osprey nests when I saw something stick it’s head out of the water. Found it was two river otters swimming upstream. They intermittently stuck their heads up out of the water to keep track of each other.

Got to stay at Antelope Island State Park in Utah. When I passed through the area last September it was full.

The second picture above is Bridger Campground where Bison sometimes roam. Opened the door of my trailer one morning to find a bison 10-15 feet away.  You just ignore them and they move along.

The bottom picture is the causeway from the suburb town of Syracuse out to Antelope Island.

There are lots of chukars on the island, but they don’t come out in the open a lot. I heard lots of them in the bushes near my campsite, but never saw any. It was just by luck when driving around, that I came upon the one above sunning itself.

A woman went walking up the hill next to my site early one morning. When she got to a ridge where she was somewhat hidden, I saw a bunch of heads bobbing up and down. Later found that it was a group of jackrabbits that had been surprised.

Meadowlarks are all over. You hear them all the time, but they, like the jackrabbits, don’t tend to stay still for pictures.

Have seen a number of coyotes. One evening was sad to see one go into the bushes where the chukars were.

Started seeing magpies as I got close to Utah. The one above is a young one.

Above, a horned lark. The first one I’ve ever seen.

Barn swallow at the Visitor Center.

The way here: Stopped a  night at a Manti-la Sal Forest campground near Blanding, Utah. Next day drove through Moab for the first time. It has to be the “Yellowstone” of Utah. It was so crowded. I had hoped to stay at a BLM campground along the Colorado River near Moab, but no such luck. All the campgrounds were full. I had been watching the weather in Salt Lake City and when I saw that good weather was forecast and there were campsites available on Antelope Island, I changed course to Salt Lake City.

Below, sunset on Antelope Island. Least I should paint the island as idyllic, it can be very buggy. Depending on the weather, time of day, location, and other factors there are varying number of nat like bugs.

Drove through Yellowstone National Park to get to Cooke City and a National Forest Service campground in order to drive the Beartooth Scenic Highway (US Highway 212). It is an unbelievably beautiful drive. I kept saying “wow” at every turn.

Above, pictures of the summit, at close to 11,000 feet.

The above picture is a view from the road around 25 miles from Cooke City. All the time I was there, it was clear and nice in the mornings, but in the afternoon a thunderstorm would pass through. The storm would pass after a few hours, only to have another one come through in the late afternoon.

Large hail I encountered on my first drive on the highway. Not tennis ball size, but large enough that at first I thought rocks were hitting my windshield. Couldn’t figure out where they were coming from, as no other cars were around. Pulled to the side of the road and waited for the hail to stop. Felt sorry for all the motorcyclists on the road. It seems to be a favorite road of theirs and they had to ride in a lot of bad weather.

Beartooth Lake

The road on the “Cooke City side” as it starts to climb to the summit.

The road on the Red Lodge side of the summit.

I would not want to be driving on the Red Lodge side during an earthquake. There is a lot of loose dirt and rocks.

A marmot seen when I pulled over to take some pictures.

The original campground I had planned to stay at was closed at the end of July because of increased bear activity. The one I stayed at stopped allowing tent camping because of a bear sighting.

Above are marks on a tree at my campsite where a bear had torn off bark to get to the inner bark that they like. Never saw any bears though. Darn!

Had originally planned to stay at the Mammoth Hot Springs campground in Yellowstone. When I got there, however, I found it to be hot and crowded, so I proceeded on to Cooke City.

Above, a picture of the town of Gardner near the entrance to Yellowstone.

The landmark entrance to Yellowstone. Always wanted to get a picture of it.

It was still early when I passed through Lamar Valley in Yellowstone, where there is a large herd of bison. It is the season for male and female bison to co-mingle. The male bison were making growling sounds and sticking out their tongues, while staying close to a female bison. Passed a pair of bison walking down the middle of the road towards Cooke City, out of Yellowstone Park. A ranger said they do not go after them. The female bison had a tracking device around her neck though.

Midway Geyser Basin

Found one place that was not super crowded, Fairy Falls trail. Rode my bike on the gravel trail, but really needed a dirt bike. Great bird watching area: bluebirds, northern flickers, and a western tanager (seen above).

Juvenile bald eagle seen next to the Madison River by my campground. Two adult eagles were in a tree just out of camera range.

A lone bison bull was walking along the road two days in a row. They aren’t stupid. It’s a lot easier traveling on the road than through the woods.

Two days in a row, on leaving the park around 8:30 pm, found myself in a huge traffic jam. Just turned the motor off several times. Subsequently found it was two elk bulls with massive antlers in the Madison River that were causing people to stop for pictures.

I’m staying in the West Yellowstone area, just a few miles from the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park. It’s a traffic jam, as usual to visit the park. Traffic comes to a stop when elk are seen. In past visits I saw a male elk with huge antlers just a little way into the park. This visit I have consistently seen female elk with some young ones. Some females have an electronic tracking device around their necks. Yellowstone may want to build a large herd in the area.

So far, I’ve just seen one bison, the bull above, when I came to a traffic jam of people taking pictures. One day in the campground I’m staying at, a ranger came by and said to stay inside if I saw bison. A herd was being tracked nearby by a helicopter. Unfortunately, they didn’t come through the campground.

There has been road work being done between Madison and Norris during all my visits the past few years. This year it’s worse than ever. There is a half hour wait going both ways and the road is really rough.

A lone swan I’ve seen several times near where there is an empty eagles nest.

Firehole Lake area.

Below, the first fireweed I’ve seen in Montana.

Stayed at the Mammoth Hot Springs Campground in Yellowstone for 5 days. Got there around 11:30 a.m. and got a good spot. It filled up shortly thereafter. Yellowstone was really crowded. Read where attendance was breaking records. Saw license plates from all over the U.S., as well as lots of foreign tourists. Right after I got settled I drove towards the Canyon Village area. Driving anywhere in the middle of the afternoon is a mistake. The road from Mammoth through the Tower-Roosevelt area and Canyon Village is narrow and uneven and to drive it when it is really congested is bad. People are sightseeing and cross over the double yellow lines a lot. After this experience, just went out early in the morning.

Top picture: The upper Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces. The clouds provided good lighting.

Second picture: There are lots of waterfalls in Yellowstone. I just visited the Lower Falls in the Canyon Village area. First took a trail down to the right side of the falls in the picture. From there I could see stairs going down the side of a mountain on the other side of the falls.

Third picture: Stairs on Uncle Tom’s Trail that you go down to view the Lower Falls at a good angle. They are really steep stairs. Someone has posted a video of the stairs on YouTube.

The Canyon Village area would be a good place to stay. There are paved trails along the rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. You are also close to Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley that are supposed to have lots of wildlife.

Top picture: What you are warned not to do, get close to wildlife…especially a grizzly bear! Park authorities had not arrived here yet. They use a lot of manpower to keep people at a certain distance from animals. In Mammoth Hot Springs the elk know they are protected and go where they want. At least one park employee follows them and puts out yellow cones that people are not supposed to cross. Passed one young black bear eating grass by the road. Across from him a park ranger in full dress uniform (hat and gloves) was waving to keep traffic going. Would love to have gotten a picture of him and the bear, but there was no place to stop.

The bull on the left appeared to be the head bull. He went around checking on a small herd by a pond and grunted the whole time. You could not really see the details of his face because of the fur, just heard continuous grunting.

The tail end of a coyote near Canyon Village.

Birds seen near my campsite. A red-breasted nuthatch (top) and a Clark’s nutcracker. There was a small flock of the Clark’s nutcrackers. They are the first ones I’ve ever seen.

Getting here: From Glacier National Park went back to Fort Benton, near Great Falls, to wait out a rain storm. From there, drove through Helena, and stayed one night at a free campground in the Canyon Ferry area. Then stayed two days at the Missouri Headwaters State Park where three rivers join to form the Missouri River. It is a good birding spot. Both at Fort Benton and the State Park, saw lots of cedar waxwings, gray catbirds, and osprey. One time I thought a cat was in a marsh, only to find it was a catbird. That’s the only time one has fooled me.

Cedar waxwing fledgling in Fort Benton. Note the orange tail feathers instead of the yellow that an adult has.

A chickadee on a bulrush at Missouri Headwaters State Park.

Heard sandhill cranes both at Missouri Headwaters State Park and Yellowstone, but never saw them.

Below: Campsite at Mammoth Hot Springs. Rain threatened several times, but only got a few sprinkles. Was sad to leave Yellowstone, but I’ll be back.

This is the typical landscape, without the bison, that you see driving from Bozeman to Missoula, Montana. Outside of the towns, it is only lightly dotted with homes and ranches. Most offramps have signs saying “No Services”. I did not see a single highway patrol or sheriff’s car until I got to Missoula. The picture above, of course, is from the National Bison Range.

Bison calves among the big guys. The 2,000 lb bulls are imposing. The bison are moved to a different pasture each day. Wonder how it is done.

This was the only pronghorn I saw tagged like this. It would be hard to catch a pronghorn, the way they can run.

Above: A catbird at the refuge.

Below: Another beautiful view from the refuge road.

Traveled through Yellowstone, staying one night at their Mammoth Hot Springs Campground, then headed through Boseman, Butte and Missoula, Montana. At Missoula, turned north towards Flathead Lake. There are some wildlife refuges between the small town of St. Ignatius and the lake, one being the National Bison Range. I considered not going to the Bison Range, as I have seen bison before. So glad I changed my mind. They have a 19 mile dirt road through the refuge that rises 2,000 feet. The views are spectacular!

The top picture is looking from the refuge towards the town of St. Ignatius and the Mission Mountains. The picture below it shows some of the refuge road going uphill, with Flathead River in the background. I don’t even have any pictures of bison so far. They haven’t been that interesting.

A lazuli bunting. The first one I’ve seen and gotten a picture of. In trees along one of the streams that goes through the refuge.

A sage grouse came out onto the road, then rushed back into the brush when It saw me.

House wren

A bighorn sheep seen while it was raining.

Pronghorn with a baby looking over it’s neck.

I stopped by a small rv park near the refuge to check their prices. The owner showed me a pair of swans that have nested in one of his ponds for the last six years. The red band around the neck of the adult is a Fish and Game banding.

Bison were the main animal sighting in Yellowstone. Only saw one bear off in the distance running away.

Saw this guy twice near the west entrance. He was the only one I saw.

King of the road. The trees on the right show how new tree growth is replacing areas damaged by fire.

Entered Yellowstone through the East entrance and went out the West entrance on #20 to Idaho. Stayed at an rv park just below Henry Lake, about 20 miles from Yellowstone.

The park was 5 miles in from the highway and one mile above Henry Lake.

Sandhill cranes seen across from the rv park. The wildflowers I saw in the Northwest amaze me. They are some of the same flowers I grew from seed in Southern California and had to pamper. Also, this was late June and the wildflowers were still going strong.

Horses at a dude ranch next to the rv park (Henry Lake in background).

In Cheyenne, Wyoming, stopped at Terry Bison Ranch for fun.

These goats were used to mow the grass. They did not like Jake’s inquisitiveness and looked like they were ready to attack him were he to go to their side of the fence.

The main negative thing about this stop was the wind. When I would open my door, the wind would often slam it open. Not good for aluminum doors.