Yellowstone Trip Report date 10/25

[againstthegrain]

Day 6 is my wife's bday. We have coffee and oatmeal in the room, pack, get fuel, groceries and head out of town by 9am or so. There was some snow around and it was cold and windy in town.

We get back to camp around 11am, the temp was 37°F and breezy. My buddy said it rained hard overnight and nearby wx stations recorded 1.75" of rain and snow just a few feet higher than camp @6400'. The skies looked a bit angry, as the storm pulls through.






A few hours later me and my buddy were returning from a hike up the main drainage when we saw the pack string across the creek laden w supplies not needed for their summer activities. By this time the wx has moderated a bit, note the tiniest bit of blue sky on the ridgeline and the placid water surface.

 

[againstthegrain]

3 riders lead the string of mules. The rider in the middle was pretty happy about being 1/2 mile from the trailhead.







We made our way back to camp really looking forward to clearing skies and hopefully an abundance of animals moving tomorrow morning.

 

[againstthegrain]

Day 6 continues when sometime before 5pm we became aware of a bear across the creek in meadow meandering around feeding. Got it in the binoculars and it was what I would consider a mature adult grizzly bear. We got to watch it for 20-25 minutes before it finally disappeared in some heavy willows going away from us. Unfortunately we're not equipped to take pics at long range.

After a good while it was 'pernt near time for supper' so back to cooking and so forth. Still relishing the moment, the wx, and the roaring fire. Of course we then realize that the bear is passing only a 100yds or so from us so I grab the binos, my wife the camera. I instinctively kneel I'm in camo head to toe, my wife goes charging down, and I get her stopped, and behind a tree so she could shoot pics.




My focus was on the bino's and the camera operators were caught off guard so by the time they got cameras in hand it was all quartering away shots. This was our first naturally grizzly encounter not one seen through a spotting scope miles away or from the safety of a car. It absolutely made my wife's bday and the entire trip.



We had Japanese chicken curry w veg, and rice for dinner still blown away by the encounter. I think my wife and buddy shared some wine iirc!

 

[againstthegrain]

Day 7 was expected to be very cold turns out it was 31°F so relatively warm, I got out at about 6:30 easily rekindling the coals still burning from the night before. Coffee and oatmeal and off the 3 of us go at about 7:15.

I can recall seeing antelope, and plenty of bison, but it was a Monday after an inclement weekend so relatively few people. The 3 of us cruised again in the am, but my buddy was out of heating fuel so he was leaving after breakfast.

This is our main area of interest. The campground lies below the v notch in the ridge lines. The cg lies btwn forest and plains.


Nothing out of the ordinary until I see a personalized CO license plate I recognize on a car that I don't. I pull over and get right up the hill to join a group of 6 people 3 of whom I know from last year. They are intent on the hillside watch 4 wolves which they quickly point out to me and then me to my wife and buddy.

The wolves eventually pinned a herd of about 8 cow elk and a 5 point bull on a rocky knob. We watched that for quite a while, but the wolves never made a serious attempt at killing one. Several other elk moved along the sidehill just below the pinned down group.

Anyway once the wolves and the elk were out of view I reintroduced ourselves to our friends from the prior year. I had been looking for them all through our 4 prior trips to YS this season, since they sparked a great interest in wolf watching.

So this was was a great send off for my buddy and a few ours of precious peace and quiet for us!

Some friendly bison making their way through the camp ground.

 

[againstthegrain]

2 buddies left on Day 5 and soon enough 3rd buddy was gone and we were alone at last. My wife is a champ for enduring 3 guys camping.

I had her favorite dinner planned; macaroni w red sauce. The sauce was cooked at home w bone/in chicken thighs and frozen. There is a local cheese called "pamarano" which has flavors of
Parmigiano Reggiano and Romano that we had on top.

















We burnt a LOT of wood the last night, my wife was a bit up tight. I didn't want to get a ticket so we cut or broke most of the wood to roughly fit in the Park Service camp fire ring. It was a rare luxury w no need to conserve. The cg was closing for the season the next morning at 10am on Day 8.