Close Encounters

“Munch munch, crunch crunch.  Munch Munch, crunch crunch,” was the sound Leah woke up to on our fourth night in Yellowstone.  Apparently Bison are very noisy when they are walking (crunch, crunch), and eating (munch, munch), just a few feet from your tent!  I managed to sleep through the noisy eaters, but did wake up when another two were announced by our “fearless” golden retriever “guard dog” .  Although it may not make for the most restful sleep, it is surreal to be so close to nature.  It seemed that when the Bison weren’t there, Elk were in equal proximity.

Our 3rd and 4th days in Yellowstone were spent exploring all of the remaining open roads and sites.  We were again restricted by early season trail and road closures, but were not disappointed in the least by the sections available to us.   A benefit to visiting this time of year is that the wildlife is concentrated to small pockets of limited snow, and we were able to experience a shift in weather from beautifully sunny to dark and snowy!  All in all, the scenery continued to amaze, and the proximity to wildlife was mesmerizing.

One night of slight snowfall and the park transformed! It was a winter wonderland! Things we had passed many times, became a new and wonderful beauty. Spring time in Yellowstone has some interesting surprises!

While the landscape is amazing and nothing like we have ever seen, the animal viewing is also so incredible…

Along the drive in the Northern section of the park, we experienced our first Bear Jam—a traffic jam caused by onlookers stopping to view a bear.  In this case, it was a Grizzly Bear feeding about 100 yards away from the road.  It was too far away for great pictures, but was a surreal moment nonetheless.

We had an even closer encounter with a bear the following day. This time we were at the start of the Bear jam, and were able to watch a Black Bear as he meandered along the road, within about 5’ of our truck!  It was a strange moment in that we weren’t sure if we should roll up the window, or embrace the experience and do what every self respecting tourist would do: make sure your camera is pointed out the window to take advantage of such a rare opportunity!  As a side note—all animals in the park seem to be uncaring about our dogs, although the same is not true in reverse.  It’s just very fortunate that Dusty’s barking does not seem to scare animals away!

In addition to the bears, we experienced many close encounters with Bison, Elk, Deer, Pronghorns, and Bighorn Sheep.  We watched a curious Coyote meander along a stream, and had a Fox run within a few feet of us while we were looking at a waterfall.  All in all, Yellowstone has been a wonderful place to visit, and one that we would love to return to, especially later in the season when the rest of the park is open.