.: Don't Feed the Bears

Old Faithful

This is the waterfall we hiked to that I mentioned two posts back.

See why I didn't stay in the car talkin to you?

We camped near this lake for two nights.

This is the beginning of my favorite day of the trip.

We woke up at 5 AM and had everything packed, pulled in and secure within 20 minutes. We drove down the one lane, foggy, pitch black road of Yellowstone headed for the hot animal spots. At one point their was a bison just a few feet from the RV on the other side of the road. Praise the Lord he moved him because he would have been hit- with major damage to our home. There was no visibility. But as the sun rose, aww- breathtaking.

They have bell bottoms on their legs. I could have watched these guys for hours.

They are a hoot.

The ranger told us these guys can plow through 8 feet of snow- no problem. They are thick in the front and narrow/smaller in the back. Hard to believe they get that big just off grass.

Just so you can see how awesome of a view we got. The RV was awesome 'cause you were above the other cars and could see over them. We were so close to one bison as we drove by mom could've spanked it. She didn't, with some regret.

Mom, scoutin.

Our early morning crew shot.

On our early morning excursion we had seen the bison and elk but still hadn't seen any bears. So, we had to strategize. We pulled into one of the turnouts and cooked breakfast. Eggs, bacon, and cinnamon rolls. (Reason #3876 why RV rocks!) With the yum cooking, we opened all the windows. Yes, we baited the bears. Unfortunately, it didn't help. We had a great breakfast with a great view and then kept rolling.

A little later in the day, we went for a hike. When we got to the top we realized there were a lot of cars a mile up the road. A lot of cars = something really cool to see. We heard from other hikers it was a grizzly bear. What! We nearly ran down the hill back to the car.

Once we found a spot to park the beast we heard the bear was there about 30 minutes ago but if you're patient she might come down again. We waited. And waited. And waited. We saw peek-a-boos of her AND her two cubs a few times when we were about to head back to the car. Just as we turned to leave, excitement erupted down at the lower section of viewers. I ran down the road.

Look what we found!

Mama Bear! Baby bears!

These 3 came down the hill to just about 30 feet from the crowd. The ranger said, "I'm nervous so you should be too. Everyone move down the road!" We watched them dig up roots and wander around for 45 minutes. It was awesome. The scene caused quite the "Bear Jam". The rangers did a great job managing the spectators, cars, spectators in cars, and the bears' activities.

We hit the jack pot!

I found this black bear cub as we were driving too. Dad's really good at maneuvering the 32 ft RV.

"Quick Dad! U-turn!"

Upper and Lower Falls

This was a small hiccup. Dad parked here and the RV was on a serious tilt. Mom and I held it up until Dad got back in the driver's seat and pulled out. :)