Plans
We’ll head to Hayden Valley a bit later. We’re watching Fareed Zakaria’s GPS on CNN for now. Below we revisit 10/7’’s “goats” and yesterday’s excursion.
10/7
Here’s a surprise. Some days ago we drove back north toward Livingston to an outstanding grove of Cottonwoods. That grove is magnificent cloaked in fall colors. We were just leaving Gardiner. a few miles out of town, when we came to an abrupt and complete stop. These guys ambled or ran across the highway right in front of us. “What are they”, we thought. They look like goats or sheep. They couldn’t be big horn, where are their characteristic looped horns?
How right our initial thought was. These were young big horn sheep. Their horns are far from fully formed. Bit horn sheep are notoriously shy. These fellows were inquisitive. Li’ll Big Horn Sheep?
Just across the highway
Little Big Horn Sheep!
Yesterday
Lamar Valley will spoil you. It spoiled us. Elk, Prong Horn, Bison, Big Horn Sheep, Badger, Chipmunk, Coyote, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Grizzly, and Gray Wolf; we saw them all, some quite often. Our wildlife sightings have plummeted once we left the valley and drove south from Mammoth Hot Springs. Perhaps this is because the road between Mammoth and Old Faithful is the most heavily trafficked road in the park. Perhaps it’s because of the terrain. The wildlife we’ve seen is limited to a few bison, an Elk harem, and fly fishermen. The fishermen far outnumber the wildlife, even the elk!
Here are some of our photos from Yesterday’s excursion.
Approaching Lower Geyser Basin from the North
Walking a Madison River Loop in the Snow.
Not a Cloud and 60’s in the Sun.
A Crystal Spring Pool.
Bobby Socks, Mineral Seep into the Trunks
Opal Waters, Partially Obscured
One Massive Buck and his Harem