Monday June 4 Yellowstone

Monday June 4

Rick and I rose early hoping go find wolf or grizzly but came up short. We passed people watching a black bear but we didn't take photos because she was some distance away. Yes, we have purposefully become picky: 1) we now have professional equipment so we better start acting like professionals, and 2) do you know how long it takes to go through 4,500 photos?? A long time!

On to Tower to see if we can find the black bear mom and two cubs we tried to get the day before. No luck so on to Lamar Valley. There we find a good sized traffic jam near the Yellowstone River and there is the mom with her brood. They traveled a bit of distance over the night. The cubs had been put it bed in a lodge pole pine, but finally came down and tumbled and played while mom ate grass and bugs. The problem was there was absolutely no clear shot of any of them.

We took photos for "prosperity" and chatted with other people who do what we do. Jim and Deb from Indiana are pro photographers, while Dick and Maureen from New York are hobbyists. We fall somewhere in between. I doubt I will ever get one of my shots on the cover of a magazine like Jim but I will have fun doing it!!

We have work to do so we head back to the trailer. After working we decide to check out Hayden Valley. It is a long drive so we leave early. Just before Roosevelt at Elk Creek, we see a decent jam. Since our Jeep can go just about anywhere, Rick throws it up and over a bar ditch. Hard to see at first, but two black bear are in a valley behind brush; one is bigger than the other.

We set up our equipment and soon discover the two are in “love!” She flirts with him but he feigns interest by lying down. They nudge each other and he gets up to wrestle. Now it is her turn to act disinterested as he chases her around for a bit. They dine on grasses and bugs, then another round of wrestling.

A storm was coming so we hit the road. Strong winds brought down trees into the road way. It was lightening and rain fell sideways. It was a side of Yellowstone we had not seen.

Later that evening, we took a short ride to find quad mom. She and her two cubs were nowhere in sight. Down the road a bit, I saw a perfect opportunity to photograph a group of elk and bison. The cool thing is I believe I took the perfect shot for the cover of my book "Beyond the Bison." The book will showcase our photography and be about the wildlife of Yellowstone National Park.

We headed back home and on the way spotted a cinnamon colored black bear with two cubs. They were too fast and too deep in the woods to photograph so we took one for prosperity. Hoping we find something interesting tomorrow! I am sure we will.