Dale picked us up at 5:30 AM and we headed out into the brisk morning. Brrr. It was 39 degrees, so we were bundled up against the cold. At 6:43 AM we drove past the same black bear that we had seen at Blacktail Deer Plateau eating the carcass. In Lamar Valley, just past the buffalo ranch we saw a large crowd gathering. It’s the easiest way to know that there is something good to see. There was a black wolf! She has a limp and is collared and is known as #889F. She had been down by the river and now was coming towards the the crowd. What luck. I can’t believe how close we were. She was running right towards our vehicle and passed by us, within 15 feet. It seemed like a once in a life time opportunity. (The sad news is that she was killed in the fall of 2014 during the wolf hunt. There’s a lot of animosity between wildlife photographers and hunters.)
We headed out and found an osprey nest at Lamar Canyon and then we headed on to the Yellowstone picnic area , where we took photos of a some bighorn sheep. Beautiful. There was also a raven that was quite tame and willing to pose for a photo, and then I was lucky enough to get a photo of a pair of mountain bluebirds.
On the way up to Calcite Springs we saw a cinnamon-colored black bear. There was a mob of people by Rosie’s Meadow and the Park Ranger was motioning for us to move on. So we drove up and parked up in the lot by Calcite Springs and we saw a black bear with three cubs – Rosie! The cubs were climbing up and down a tree. Two of the cubs were wrestling and having a lot of fun and a shy cub was hanging out closer to mom. Fantastic. There was a lot of giggling going on amongst the photographers while the sound of shutters clicked. When there’s a lot of photographers (as there usually is) the sound of shutters clicking is reminiscient of typewriters. It’s amazing how many people have expensive camera equipment. After we had spent some time there, we headed back to Blacktail Deer Creek and Mark was able to see a black bear scratching his back on a tree. After lunch, we went back to our hotel for our agreed upon afternoon break and we took the time to look at the photos we had taken. A lot of them were blurry, so we were wondering if it was an equipment problem or a technique issue. We’ll be talking about it with Dale. After our break, we headed back to Rosie’s Meadow and the the bear and three cubs were still there. The cubs were adorable and it was so fun watching them. The two rambunctious cubs had climbed a tree and the shy cub was hanging out with mom. After a while, Rosie went up to the tree and was leaning up against the tree with a longing look. Even though we couldn’t hear any sound, she must have been quietly calling the cubs, because they came down and she nursed them sitting against a tree. Wow! Then we went back to Elk Creek and saw two more black bears, but we didn’t take photos because of the distance. This area is crowded with numerous fallen trees. (Perhaps it’s because in the big Yellowstone fire in 1988?) We headed over to Lamar Valley to take photos of bison. The baby bison are known as red dogs. It’s so sweet to see them nursing and running around. There were some older bison that were play-rutting and being wild. It was really cool. We went over to Mammoth Hot Springs and saw a cinnamon mama black bear with two cubs. One was cinnamon and one was black. What a day! ~ Mary & Mark
Places Where We have seen Bears and More
Siting List: black wolf, 12 black bears, osprey, mtn. bluebirds, big horn sheep
Click on a photo for easier viewing
Wolf #889F in Lamar Valley
Wolf #889F in Lamar Valley
Wolf #889F in Lamar Valley
Wolf #889F in Lamar Valley
Wolf #889F in Lamar Valley
Wolf #889F in Lamar Valley – Wow! She’s close!
Osprey at Lamar Canyon
Mountain Bluebirds at Yellowstone Picnic Area
Raven at Yellowstone Picnic Area
Bighorn Ram at Yellowstone Picnic Area
Bighorn Ram at Yellowstone Picnic Area
Bachelor Herd of Bighorn Sheep at Yellowstone Picnic Area
Three Cubs at Rosie’s Meadow
Rosie and cubs
Rosie and her Shy Cub
Rosie and her Shy Cub
Rosie’s two Rambunctious Cubs (maybe they’re boys?)
Rosie and her 3 Cubs at the Meadow
Rosie and her shy cub (maybe she’s a girl?)
Rosie near Calcite Springs
Rosie’s Shy Cub near Calcite Springs
Rosie’s Shy Cub near Calcite Springs
Rosie and her Shy Cub near Calcite Springs
Rosie and her Shy Cub (Rosie is silently calling the other 2 cubs down from the tree for dinner)
Rosie and her Shy Cub (Rosie is silently calling the other 2 cubs down from the tree for dinner)
Rosie (aka White Patch) nursing her 3 cubs at her meadow below Calcite Springs
Rosie (aka White Patch) nursing her 3 cubs at her meadow below Calcite Springs
Rosie’s Three Cubs
Two of Rosie’s Three Cubs
Rosie at her meadow below Calcite Springs
Rosie at her meadow below Calcite Springs
Rosie and her two onery cubs.
Rosie and her 3 cubs near Calcite Springs
Two rambunctious “red dog” bison calves
Bison with her calf and a buddy.
Bison and her Red Dog Calf
Bison and her Red Dog Calf
Bison and her Red Dog Calf
Two young Bison Play-Rutting.
Sibling black bears (maybe 2 years old) at pullout above Mammoth Hot Springs
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glassartista
We love adventure and creating new memories. When I look back through our photos, I am transported back to that moment in time. The photographs we take and the journals I write will be here to remind us of places we’ve been and people we’ve met, long after our wanderlust has subsided. We travel, not to escape life, but for life not to escape us; the goal is to die with memories, not dreams. We are loving the journey, whether it be happy and easy or the occasional struggle, which is bound to happen from time to time. Inconveniences are brushed off in favor of choosing happiness, and knowing that there should be no whining when we are so very fortunate. We’re living our lives fully with gratitude in our hearts. Some of the happiest times are when encounter the unexpected. We look at each other and marvel at our luck, and good luck seems to follow us wherever we go. We love going to villages and meeting new people to learn about their culture. We have open hearts and open minds. When we visit countries, we are at times ignorant of many things, including the language and how to accomplish everyday tasks, so we become eager students. There are kind people all over this world who are willing to help, when we have questions. The smile is the same in all languages.
Some people hate airports, however, I love them. They are my happy place. To borrow from Alex Brueckner and the Thought Catalog: For me, there’s hardly a better place to people-watch. Scan the crowds at an airport, especially if it’s international, and you’re guaranteed to see a huge range of races, nationalities, and social classes. I like the sounds of baggage wheels clacking on the moving sidewalk and my passport being stamped. Those are comforting reminders that I am either going somewhere new and exciting or almost home.
The best part about airports lies in what they symbolize. Airports are places of bookends: new beginnings and long-awaited endings, arrivals and departures, hellos and goodbyes. We start in one city and end in another hundreds or thousand miles away. We can depart from sunny weather and arrive to a blizzard. Or even better, leave the cold weather at home and travel to a tropical paradise. In from familiarity, out into a place completely foreign. When I arrive back home from being away, I’m never the same person as when I left.
And the emotions at an airport… you’ve got the whole range. You want to see human emotion at its most sentimental and raw? Watch families reunite at Arrivals; watch them bid farewell after pulling their suitcase from the trunk of the car. Emotions converge on each other; the pain of goodbyes and last moments are mixed with anticipation and excitement. The knowledge that soon there will be thousands of miles between us and our loved ones makes those moments all the more significant. The tired and hectic moments of arriving back on familiar ground and retrieving luggage is tempered by the comforting feeling that we are finally home again. As soon as we step into an airport, a whole new chapter begins.
I love the following quote by Sarah Frances Brown: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
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