Animals in Yellowstone

It became very apparent very quickly that people want to see animals in Yellowstone. If you want to draw a crowd, stop at one of the pull outs; get out of your car; stand and stare across the landscape. Within seconds other cars will pull in and you'll be asked what you're looking at. Mention a wildflower or a bird and you get strange looks as folks hurry back to their cars. Mention something as mundane as a squirrel and children and grandparents are hurriedly ushered out of the car to get a look and have their picture taken with the animal. (If you see cars pulled over, please slow down because there will be animals and/or pedestrians).

Bison seem to be the most sought after. Even if it's just one standing a half mile away in the meadow, people are stopping in the middle of the road or parking helter-skelter to get a picture. There was not a single day or a single road where we did not see bison, so if you can't safely pull off, just keep going and get your photo at the next opportunity.  I even saw evidence of bison on the sidewalk in front of the general store near the campground. Spotting elk and prong horn is not hard either.

Bison can cause major traffic jams when they decide to feed close to the road. Always figure in extra time when you're driving, especially in the evenings. We witnessed two vehicles that came within tire squealing inches of hitting bison in the dusky dark. It's exciting to see them up close and personal as they parade down the middle of the road or on the shoulder, but don't be like the woman who reached out the window to pet one. She got a car full of bison head and a citation from the Park Ranger. Luckily, there were no injuries.We tried very hard not to be "those people" who stop in the middle of the road, park in unauthorized places, get too close, walk off trail to get closer or in any way be an obnoxious tourist. (Insert smilie)

We did manage to see a lot of animals throughout the park.
Bison-everywhere
Elk-Mammoth Springs on the lawns of the lodge and visitor center, meadows in Hayden Valley, Pelican Creek (mostly females with calves but toward the end of our stay the males were moving back down from the high country for mating season.)
Wolves-meadow between Madison and Midway Geyser Basin. White alpha male and female in this pack.
Prong Horn-many open meadows
Otter-Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley
Mountain Goats-barely visible with binoculars on rocky face in Lamar Valley
Moose- Standing in Floating Island Lake in Lamar Valley
American Dipper-Feeding in the stream at the top of Virginia Cascades
Sandhill Crane-Madison River
Golden Eagles-Steamboat Point on NE shore of Yellowstone Lake
Great Blue Heron, Sora, Virginia Rail, Sharp-shinned Hawk Pelican Creek
Osprey and Bald Eagle-Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley

Cody to Yellowstone

The drive from Cody, WY to Yellowstone NP is about 53 miles but it is a beautiful, scenic drive. Not far from Cody you enter the Shoshone National Forest and follow the Shoshone River almost into the park. Towering rock cliffs surround you at points then everything opens up to meadows with fly fishers lining the banks of the river before you climb back into the rock lined passage.

Several campgrounds are available within the Forest offering a variety of amenities. Drinking water and pit toilets are usually available but no showers or dump stations.  I'm sure they are used a lot by those who fish and hunt the area but they're a bit far away from Yellowstone.

I didn't make opportunity to take a lot of pictures along the drive but this guy did catch my eye

 

and here's a view of the Shoshone River and the canyon it has carved.

 

YELLOWSTONE

It’s almost a given that anyone with an American vacation bucket list has Yellowstone National Park in the top ten. I can enthusiastically say that it will not be a disappointment. We just finished a 14 night stay and it took all that time just to see the highlights. We didn’t even attempt any of the backcountry hikes. (There’s bears out there-big ones!)

For anyone planning a visit, I would encourage making reservations early for any of the campgrounds or lodges and boat tours of Yellowstone Lake. There are many options both inside and outside the park for lodging, many tour buses if you don’t want to drive and lots of other activities like rafting if you get tired of geysers. I would also encourage a lot of pre-planning and research. I had no idea how much driving would be required  to get from one feature to the next.

We stayed at Fishing Bridge Campground, the only full service campground in the park. It’s a good base for making the rounds of Yellowstone but there are no fire rings or picnic tables. The sites are only big enough for your camper and a vehicle and all are back-ins. It’s supposedly (we saw nary a one) in a high traffic area for bears, so only hard sided vehicles are allowed.