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Posted by GA Tim (66.168.208.179) on 16:17:51 06/29/12
Day 8 June 15, 2012 Friday:
Wow, hard to believe one week of our vacation is over! We didn t sleep great due to the hot cabin. We hit Hayden Valley and stopped at Grizzly Overlook to see if anything was spotted out there. There was a dark wolf way out in the valley and at one point we heard wolves howling off in the distance. That was chilling to hear that sound! We went back to the Canyon and set up our cameras at Artist Point hoping to catch the rainbow. Unfortunately a thin layer of clouds got thicker during the morning and we never saw a rainbow (although we did see a hint of color in the photos after getting home and reviewing them on a larger monitor). During our wait for the rainbow we watched an osprey perched on the rocks below us. We trained our lenses down to his location and waited for the moment he took flight. It was a long wait he sat there for at least half an hour before taking off.
After giving up on Artist Point by 10AM we went back to the cabin to make some sandwiches and have an early lunch. We decided to explore more of the park and headed south towards the lake and then taking the east entrance road. At Sedge Bay we encountered a coyote crossing the road. We talked to someone there on the scene and learned that he was hunting marmots on the hill. We watched him for a while, taking photos of him tearing apart a marmot before he grabbed what was left of his kill and moved up out of sight. We continued east and spotted some bighorn sheep right along the road. They were lazily lying about the grassy area atop a short cliff above the road. Later we stopped at a restroom and got some photos of a marmot eating grass. We turned around at the east entrance and headed back into the park. We stopped at the Lake Butte overlook for a short nap before continuing on.
At Pelican Creek trailhead we found a large jam of cars and people everywhere. A large grizzly had crossed the road and was back along the trail. A ranger was on the scene keeping everyone back. We shouldn t have stopped for that nap! We spent three hours at the location waiting for the grizzly to do something. Occasionally the ranger would leave for some reason and idiots would walk back on the trail. Fortunately they never got far, but I kept my finger ready to take video in case one of these idiots got too close. While we waited the grizzly would nap a while, then get up to tease us, then go right back down to the same spot to nap again. He would occasionally scratch himself and roll over in the dirt, seeming to enjoy himself very much. He finally moved on, going farther out into the trees closer to the lakeshore. The cold and wind were getting to us so we moved on as well. One thing we learned in Yellowstone is that animals and the weather will control your schedule so it s useless to plan anything too detailed. Who knew we would spend nearly 3 hours just sitting around watching a bear? You can t plan that.
On the way back north to Canyon we spotted another coyote crossing the road. We stopped at the Canyon Grill for dinner, or whatever that place is called in the general store. My wife had the Gyro which was actually very good. I had the chicken tenders which were OK, but needed some sauce. After dinner we drove over to the north rim drive, stopping first at Lookout Point and then we walked down to Red Rock Point. Back up at Lookout Point we spent some time watching the osprey nest. We continued on to Grand View Point, Inspiration Point, and finally Artist Point again for sunset photos. We stopped at the general store on the way back and just made it in two minutes before they closed for the night. We just had to get our huckleberry ice cream fix for the day!
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