Yellowstone's Lamar Valley and moving day

Rob and I had one more area of Yellowstone that we wanted to explore.  We had heard that the Lamar Valley area was a great place to see wildlife.

We got up early on Sunday morning and we were out the door by 6am.

SUNRISE LIGHTING THE MOUNTAINS ACROSS THE LAKE

 We had the girls with us and we were planning to make a good day of it.  We were immediately treated a thrilling close encounter with a bald eagle.  We were driving down the road near our RV and a bald eagle was flying parallel to us at a very low level.  I did not even think to take a picture.  I did not want to miss the live version of this close encounter.

Lamar Valley is a river valley area near the east entrance of Yellowstone.  It has a wonderful driving route that allows for panoramic views of the valley.

Getting there from the West entrance was a bit of a chore but it was well worth it.  We entered the valley and almost immediately came upon a small group of Big Horn Sheep.

Many of the mammals are shedding their winter coats and this one was no exception.  He did take a moment to pose and then went back to grazing.

Just a few miles later, we saw Pronghorns.

Pronghorns look a bit like antelope with horns.  A pronghorn can run up to 53 miles per hour and have incredible stamina.  Their greatest line of defense against predators is to outrun them.

The buffalo herds in the Lamar Valley are resplendent.   They graze in large groups and dot the green valley.  We saw multiple large herds loaded with many calves.  The species has definitely found a safe place in Yellowstone.

We made a short stop and I spotted swallows nests tucked under the eave of a small building.  They were busily feeding babies and guarding their nests.

We drove about 15 miles into the valley and then turned around to make our way back.  If you visit the Lamar Valley portion of Yellowstone, try to go early.  I think sighting opportunities are better and there is less traffic.

We decided to take a different route back to the west entrance.  This made for a longer drive but it made for new territory.

THE EVER FAITHFUL COPILOT

TOWER FALLS

WE CROSSED THE DIVIDE TWICE WHILE NAVIGATING THE SOUTHERN ROUTE

I mentioned the massive amount of felled trees in Yellowstone.  Many are casualties of huge fires and they have fallen in layers.  New growth manages to a way to grow between and around these layers of dead trees.

FALLEN TREES  IN NATURAL STACKS CAN BE SEEN IN MANY AREAS OF THE PARK

By the time we returned to the RV, we had made a full day of it.  Sunday was to be our last day at Yellowstone so we wanted to take in as much as we could.

Monday was moving day and we were on the road by 9am.  We had planned to go to a camp along the Wind River in Dubois,Wyoming but the river was having flooding issues caused by the rapid snowmelt of spring.  I had been watching it via a couple of NWS weather sites and we decided to cancel our reservation.  The camp was not in the bullseye for flooding but the river was hitting record flood stages in areas close to it.

With no reservation, we decided to make our way out of the mountains and head to a lower altitude.  We will go back to the mountains when the weather has settled a bit.

The road out was beautiful and wound through an amazing pass.  The rivers were running fast and everything was so green.

We got through the mountain pass and got on Interstate 90 in Bozeman, MT.  We made our way a bit east and stopped at a camp in Billings.  We have not decided how long we will be  here but we can be flexible.

The evening brought a fairly intense storm.  The wind and lightening settled fairly quickly and the rest was a good hard rain.  The pollen is high so a soaking rain was a good thing.  We were settled, fed and cozy.

Another great day in this thing we call life.