In my last blog I began describing my trip to Yellowstone National Park.  My first night in the park was probably my most challenging.  My campsite was at 8000 ft. altitude and there was still a little snow on the ground.  Overnight it became very windy, temperatures dropped into the 20's and it started raining.  That rain soon turned into freezing rain and sleet.  That alone would have been enough to keep me up all night worrying if my tent would hold up let alone trying to stay warm.  But when something big bumped into my tent at 3 AM the weather was the least of my worries.  I wasn't about to go outside to see what it was or if it was coming back.  I sat perfectly still holding my "bear spray" at the ready.  I could hear things moving about nearby but nothing tried to get inside my tent.

It certainly wasn't any of my campsite neighbors.  They were all nicely tucked away in their big ass RVs.  I was the only one in a tent.  What a very long night.  By dawn the rain had stopped and I decided to look outside.  My tent's rain fly was a frozen shell that I cracked like an egg to get out.

  

What a miserable night.  But my tent kept me dry and the 4 layers of clothing plus two sleeping bags (one inside the other) kept me plenty warm.

The weather improved and the sun came out.  The night was just a vague memory.  It turned out to be a beautiful albeit chilly day.


I explored the southern and eastern sections of the park today (6/6).  The drive around Loop road takes you up to about 8100 ft altitude where you can get a panoramic view of Yellowstone Lake and the mountains beyond.  A number of us stopped to take pictures.

 

While we were all just standing around a black bear nonchalantly walked past us and then disappeared into the forest.  It happened so quickly and unexpectedly none of us got a picture.  But I finally saw a bear. 

I almost forgot to mention that I visited Old Faithful.  The geyser erupts every 92 minutes, I later learned.  I had meandered around the park before walking over to Old Faithful but apparently timed it perfectly.  A big crowd had gathered and had been waiting patiently.  I just walked up to the line of people pulled out my camera and camcorder and started filming just as the geyser erupted.  Good thing I had both cameras.  Turns out I left the lens cap on the camcorder.  Amateur mistake.

 Later that day I returned to my campsite and was greeted by our campgrounds caretaker.  He wanted us campers to be sure to lock up all food and food prep items because of bears in the area.  He then informed me that all sorts of critters pass through my campsite at night on their way to their food sources and water on the other side of the campgrounds.  He said bears are known to prowl all night long if they haven't found enough food during the day.  Great!  Just what I wanted to hear.

The good news was that I had a new neighbor.  A couple in a tent.  Finally someone to chat with.

Overnight the temperatures dropped into the lower 20s but at least it wasn't windy or raining.  I thought I might be bothered by critters mulling about outside my tent but I think the very loud snoring from my tent neighbor scared everything away.  Believe it or not that snoring provided me an opportunity to have a very restful night.  Didn't even mind the cold.  Too bad they were only staying one night.

The next day I explored the northeast and northern portions of the park.  There are a lot of meadow areas inhabited by deer, elk and of course bison.  The bison reminded me of the very funny YouTube clip of the honey badger.  Just like the honey badger...bison don't care.  They do whatever they want.  Including jumping out in front of cars and blocking the roadways.

If you're a bison with an itchy head you find a nice sturdy park sign to use as a scratching post.  Bison don't care!



 




.