Seemed like time flew by when we were actually in Yellowstone, and that it's taking longer to document than it took to see it! Nevertheless, we persist...
Today was northeast quadrant day. Another slowish start to nice weather (high 82 today, little sprinkles but no major rain), then we headed back up past Grandma Nancy Mountain, aka Mt. Washington, to see Tower Falls and the Calcite Springs.
We went west to the top center of the park - pretty views but no animals - stopping at the Petrified Tree (meh), then stopped for a picnic lunch in a construction zone. With no active construction around us and no other options nearby, we decided it was safe enough.
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| Sign: “Temporary construction area. Keep out.” Ope! |
To this point, we'd seen very few animals today. Zadie had even started a car "game show" called "Rock or Bison?" where the answer was always rock. Heading into the Lamar Valley, there was a sign to watch out for bison, and I laughed and joked about how we'd have to be careful since we're seeing soooo many animals today, haha. Seconds later, we turned the next corner and found hundreds of bison. There were so, so, so many bison - we drove the next 10 miles and there were bison in sight that entire time, usually in huge herds. Very exciting! Lots of pronghorn right near the road along this area as well.
The week before we arrived at Yellowstone, a video went viral of a man getting thrown high into the air by a charging bison. You'd think people would learn, but we saw too many people getting dangerously close to bison in this area. Some of the bison did not look very happy about it either! Eek.
After another ice cream break, we relaxed around camp for a few hours. Ruth juggled (she's gotten really good over the trip!) while Zadie practiced dance and gymnastics turns. Recharged, we headed over to the Canyon Lodge food hall for dinner. Pho bowls for me, Bill, and Ruth, while Zadie got "dude lasagna" (aka manicotti). At the gift shop, Zadie picked out some early birthday presents for herself - a squeezy mushroom (during the summer of squishies) and a plushie bison that she named Boblina. We also picked up some souvenir t-shirts and a bison beer coozie.