A Day Trip to Yellowstone National Park and Bison Sightings

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Bison in Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park, Wy.

 

We got up early, ate breakfast, and headed north from Cody to the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park. We wanted to drive through Lamar Valley, which is home to the largest bison herd in the park. The drive in is a bit long, but spectacular.]

Shortly before we entered the park, I saw a large dog(?) cross the road about 100 yards ahead of us, where the road was shaded. I suspect it was a wolf. We also saw one mule deer.

The traffic in Yellowstone was less than I had seen in the past and it was relatively easy to find spots to pull off the road and parking in lots at various features.

Driving through Lamar Valley, we saw at least 550 bison and likely more. There were a couple of really large herds that I would estimate being over 200 and 300 animals.

We pulled over a few times to photograph bison and scenery. At one site we chatted with a couple who had set up a spotting scope. They were looking at a bison carcass off in the distance and a pack of wolves. Evidently, earlier in the day, the pack had come down out of the trees and took down a bison, fed on it, then retreated to treeline to relax and digest the bison. They insisted we look through their scope- our binoculars were not strong enough to make anything out. We saw one (me) or two (Connie) wolves, there where others in the shade but we couldn't make them out. I also saw the bison carcass, which had attracted a few ravens.  

 
 
Bison in Lamar Valley on a fall day.

 

This couple also mentioned that back up the road a ways, people had spotted mountain goats on a steep hill. I remember passing such a place and seeing a number of people with spotting scopes set up. The goats were far enough away that even through those scopes the images were weak.

The drive thought Lamar Valley was great, but time consuming, so we only stopped at a couple of geothermal features that we had not been able to see in the past. 

 

Clepsydra Geyser, which almost continuously shoots up 45 ft and Spasm Geyser, the small, circular geyser not doing anything in the photograph just in front of Clepsydra.

On our way back into Cody, after leaving the park, we passed by a pasture in Wapiti Valley that had a flock of 20 to 25 turkey on it.

We got back into town and had dinner. I read and had a few glasses of wine and Connie went for a walk down to the Buffalo Bill Center. Along the way, she two mule deer in a small city park.

It was a long day, but very enjoyable! We went to bed a little later than I planned. I had hoped to go to bed early so that we could get up and on the road first thing tomorrow.

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