Well
the final day is always the saddest day, but that is the mark of a good trip –
one where you are left wanting more. We
awoke at the customary 5:15 am, again taking heart that it was really 7:15 on
the east coast (yeah right!). Cheri made
the final spectacular egg creation – this time egg whites with tomatoes and
bison meatloaf. Yum! John had the usual pastries.
We
were on the road, fully packed and checked out, by 6:30 am. Still dark – perfect! We elected to go back up to elk flats just
outside of Mammoth on the way to Norris.
The elk all seem to hang out there and bugle the day in as they get
ready to mate or fight to mate. The sunrises
are really good there too with lots of mountains and trees to make a photographer’s
dreams.
As
we waited, Cheri pulled up to the edge of the area where there were a number of
rocks below. Out of the corner of her
eye there was movement. What was that? Something was darting in and out of the
rocks. Wait for it….it was a little
American Pika! Cool!! A new animal to our list of never seen before
animals! It was so cute with its little
whiskers as it was eating red leaves from a nearby bush. At one point it stopped gathering food,
stopped eating, stopped running and just sat and watched the sun come up!
It
was 7:20 am and we decided to try the alternate path back to the airport. It would take us through the park but it was
considerably longer. We stuck off and
shot elk along the way back into Mammoth.
The big elk that had been terrorizing Mammoth had rope around his
antlers.
We
turned for Tower and then Lamar Valley.
Passing a few lakes on the left, steam a rising giving the heat of the
season back to nature.
As
we shot toward Tower there is a big open sage filled valley that was lit with
precious morning light. All of the
sudden – John yells “Wolf” on the ridge!!!
Cheri says, “which ridge?” The
sun is shining brightly into our eyes and we are looking for all we are
worth! Cheri pops through the sunroof and
begins to scan. The wolf dropped back
into the sage brush not to be seen again.
At least John saw it!
We
headed down towards Tower and hooked up the gps. Alas, there wasn’t time enough to make it to
the airport with enough time to spare for gas and vehicle drop off, so we
turned around and headed back out through Gardiner. 8:30 am – goodbye Yellowstone!
Got
to Billings in record time with Cheri in the backseat out of the sun tying this
blog all the way!! A quick bite at the
Mexican restaurant we ate in on the way in and whoosh….into the air and back
toward the East Coast.
Enjoy!
Cheri
& John