Month: April 2022

Another banner day! We watched otters. Took a ton of photos. Here are the three best ones.

Lots of bison.

Into the Park early on this blustery day, and what a day it turned out to be! While looking for ducks at one of the kettle ponds (left over from when glaciers covered the Park), we spotted a wolf walking by at the back of the pond! Looks like probably a first year.

As we kept heading east through Lamar Valley the snow started really picking up and we figured it best to turn around and start heading back.  All in all, a wonderful day in the Park. We saw Barrow’s Goldeneye, Eared Grebes, Bufflehead, Green-winged Teal, Osprey and Sandhill Cranes. Spotted only a few Bison babies (Reds) but they were on the other side of the  Lamar River, too far for any good photos. But some Pronghorn nearby and was able to get some better photos than yesterday. Some of them looked pregnant, so hopefully we’ll see some babies soon.

Another really wonderful opportunity was spotting not only two mature Bald Eagles (mated pair perhaps?) and an immature–all in the same tree.  That was fun!

And, on our way back to Gardiner (just inside the north gate where we’re staying until check in on Tuesday) we spotted Bighorn Sheep.

Now it’s back to the room and some reading/reviewing (getting ready for next week and back to work) before dinner with a friend tonight. Just another boring day in Paradise!

We arrived in Yellowstone late yesterday afternoon. Visited with our Xanterra Transportation friends/family. It’s great to be back and catching up with everyone.

Still getting used to the altitude, but it’s exciting to be back in the Park.

 

I’m excited to be heading back to Yellowstone to work for the summer. Thus far we’ve made our way to Boise, Idaho, to visit with grandkids. Incredibly windy trip up to Ely, Nevada, where we always stay the first night. There were times (thankfully, very short) where we could hardly see anything in front of us.

Waking up in Ely the next morning was magical. It started snowing in the early morning hours and was beautiful.

It was snowing when we left Ely, but we were at about 6600 feet and figured we’d have rain as we headed to lower elevations. No rain but certainly a beautiful drive–and no wind. Really serene and, as we got to lower elevations, we could see the mountains.

Stopped to look for birds and have lunch at Hagerman and Thousand Springs.

Such a beautiful area. Windy, but nothing like the previous day from Phoenix up to Ely, Nevada. We always enjoy the birding through this area.

Boise is beautiful this time of year. Trees starting to bud out and beautiful spring colors. We’re getting to enjoy spring all over again (as we’re already starting into summer in Phoenix).

We head to Yellowstone day after tomorrow. It’s been fun visiting family, but we’re ready to be on to our second home  . . . Yellowstone National Park. I’ve been a Driver/Guide for Xanterra since 2016.  Since Xanterra is the largest concessionaire in Yellowstone, we live in the Park at Old Faithful. An incredible place to be able to live and work all summer. Because of the work we do, we’re able to get out and about the Park most every day. I feel so blessed to be able to excite people’s interest and wonder about our country’s first National Park.