Yellowstone Vacation

Well we are now at the Lake condo at Big Sky, Montana. The first two days we spent short days going to West Yellowstone and the uper loop of Yellowstone. We have had some rain most days but not for any long period of time. At least it doesn't interfere with the touring. After not being back here for nine years my first impression of Yellowstone would have to be a amount of growth that has happened since the 1988 fire. I was in Yellowstone during the fire and know all the cries from people about how they should have not let it burn at first and the Rangers saying the fire was part of the natural process. Well the trees don't grow as fast as they do in Oregon but the number of trees in the burn area is much more than I expected. The problem is that trees live longer than we do and the time it takes a long time for the new forest to grow and it does not fit into our lifetime.
The the Lake Condos are same as always and we do see a lot of animals right our our window. The moose is still around. We have yet to see the cow but did see a yearling. Both have been around we just missed the cow. The beaver are in the lake and a pair of cormorant are almost always in the tree or nearby. The say there have been bear around but not this week.
The Sunday trip around the upper loop was good for animals but also presented the first disappointment. They are repairing the road to the Artist Point, the best place to see the lower falls of the Yellowstone so we could not drive there. Looking for animals is always interesting the first time you see something you are all excited because you don't know if you will see them again then after awhile you say. “Just another elk.” Of course you are always looking to get a better picture of that great bull elk or bison but I think we have done well with those two. The coyote we saw was by the luck of stopping a view point and it just walked by. I was also surprised that we did not see any elk at Mammoth usually there is a large herd around town.
On Monday we made the short trip to West Yellowstone so I could get some pictures of the painted bison and visit the wolf and grizzly center. I was surprised when I loaded the painted bison on flickr they got 30 views in three days. The live bison pictures don't do as well. The visit to the wlfk and grizzly center should be our only chance to see the wolf or grizzly bear. At this time of year most of the grizzly are at higher altitudes and wolves just don't stand by the road.
The Tuesday drive around the lower loop allowed us to see Old Faithful and drive the north side of the Yellowstone canyon to get a picture of the lower falls. As bad as the road was along the north side of the canyon, I would think that next year it may be closed so they can repair it. Of course there a many other waterfalls to see and I got pictures of many but Old Faithful and Lower Falls are just two things you have to visit if you are going to be in Yellowstone. The last time we were in Yellowstone we did not see many bison. This year elk and bison are plentiful. If fact nothing gets your attention more that a herd of about 30 bison coming down the highway toward you. The people behind them had to wait and when they are coming toward you want the picture and then I don't want them to think my car is challenging them in anyway. So it did take a little time to get through that bison jam.