Yellowstone National Park - Day 1

August 23, 2018

After rushing to finish cooking and packing, I was late to bed and early to rise. I left my trailer a little after 4:00 A.M. in order to get to Norris Campground, a first come, first served campground. I was surprised to get there a little after 6:00 A.M. to find the check-in spot gone, a sign saying "Do not proceed until you are checked in" and only one man wandering around.  I found from him that it would be 7:30 before anyone arrived and 8:00 before I could check in. While I was delighted that I would not have to fight for a site, and perhaps lose it while exploring, I also could not pick the best site available. The sites on the board I saw were empty, ended up being trailer sites, so I waited for more people to check out. Finally I got site 72 and went to set up my tent. It overlooks a meadow, so I'm hopeful of seeing some wildlife there, provided I can manage to get back before dark.

First picture of the day a short ways out of West Yellowstone

By this time it was 9:00 A. M. and still damp and cold. I crawled into my sleeping bag to warm up and soon fell asleep.  By the time I woke at noon, the day was turning warm and sunny.  I decided I would go to the Tower Roosevelt area and take a hike, then would go on to the Lamar Valley to look for wildlife.  The hike I took was along the east side of the Yellowstone River.  The drive was over an hour away.

It started up a VERY steep incline.  But after only about two tenths of a mile, it came out on a point over a really beautiful section of the Yellowstone river gorge. The sky continued to brighten, and clouds appeared. Bees, flies, butterflies, and other insects were gorging on the last of the blooming rabbitbush. The only negative was that the smoke was hiding distant mountains.

Almost to the gorge's edge

First view of the Yellowstone River

A closer look

I love the patterns the water and rocks make

This EXTREMELY industrious ant was hauling that huge yellow something down the trail

This grasshopper-like bug was on rabbitbush

Think this is a pearl crescent - there were thousands of them feeding and mating

The stream was about two hundred feet below me 

This turned out like a painting

There were occasional large rocks about 

I've taken the pictures of this 'fence" from the western side and enjoyed seeing it closer

Just another wonderful view

More of the clift

This one rabbitbush must have had twenty or more insects on it - this was about one-fifth of the bush.
Click on the picture to enlarge before seeing how many insects are in this picture. 

I felt I needed to say "stay!" as I walked across the path of this rock - and I hoped the tree could hold it back

I went on towards Lamar Valley and found this bull standing along side the road.

Bison

I stopped to check on what a couple was photographing and found an osprey nest with at least two babies it it.   This is a parent.

Add caption

A long way off, through the smoke, these pronghorn made a beautiful arrangement

The further I went, the more bison I saw.  Some were almost pinpoints, while others were near or on the road. 

This is a very late calf, under two months old since it is still orange

My turn around point was Soda Butte Creek

I didn't get back home until after dark.  I sat in the car and edited my pictures, then went to bed. I slept all night and was up again before first light.  I headed back home for saws and more warm clothes. Yellowstone is about the same temperature as is Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Area, but it is much damper and the cold goes through you.

I'm writing this in Bozeman Public Library, one of the most beautiful libraries I have seen. I need to buy more groceries and ice, then will pick up my Florida friend, Julie who will be camping and playing with me until next Thursday.  We'll have to be back here Thursday night as she has to go to the airport at 4:00 A.M. But we'll have at least one adventure a day, and probably more.  I had a quiet day yesterday but visited several places. Stay tuned.