Yellowstone Today - The Eagle has Landed

[PancakeBill]

Jim and I took a hike this afternoon, in search of the bear.  Never saw him, but got a circling osprey.  Then on our drive back, about a mile from where we live, we found this guy.

I am not all that elusive.  Just let me know where y'all are at!

 

[Jim Dick]

Kim,

If Don & Mary Ann get tired of you just come on over and visit with us! Heck, come on over anyway!

 

[Jim Dick]

Bill forgot to mention the Clark's Nutcracker we both chased with our 100-400mm zoom lenses. They were quite elusive but I finally got a few shots when one landed. Attached is the better of the group.

 

[Jim Dick]

Here's another shot of the Osprey. Actually there were two of them taunting us.

(Thanks,Tom)

 

[Ron from Big D]

Nice shot and good composition Jim.

 

[Jim Dick]

Hi Ron,

Thanks. Practice does help.

 

[Wendy]

Very nice Osprey picture, Jim.

 

[Jim Dick]

Wendy,

Thanks. I tried using some of the tips Tom gave me.

 

[Lorna]

Jim, great picture.  Tom's suggestions are very helpful.

 

[Tom and Margi]

Wow, Jim.  Tom can be very proud of his student!

Margi

 

[Jim Dick]

Since we had the day off yesterday we decided to head out into the park and see what wildlife we could find. On our way north to Mammoth Hot Springs, we saw a Grizzly walking along the hillside. Pat took a few shots and got one that wasn't too bad.

Further on we ran into a bear jam at Swan Flats. A mother Grizzly was in the meadow with two cubs. This is the one I missed several weeks ago. There was too much traffic so we continued on into Mammoth. There we were confronted by the resident elk herd. They were just lying around manicuring the lawns.

After lunch in Gardiner, and visiting with a friend in Mammoth, we headed back home. The mother Grizzly and her cubs were still there so we stopped to try to get a photograph. Not too successful since they were several hundred yards into the meadow.

Traveling further along the loop road we came upon an area were several cars were pulled over. We stopped and found there was a bull elk munching on the sweet grass along the river's edge. All in all, it was a fairly successful day in the park. Attached are some photos.

 

[jim and di]

Boy i can't wait for July to join in the fun, great shots and description.
Jim

 

[Jim Dick]

Jim,

Hurry on over! There should still be a lot of animal action but the tourists will also be increasing.

 

[Troutbum/CougarFan]

I am curious... and this is to all of those who have taken up residence in or near Yellowstone. Have you noticed a decrease in visitors ( of the human variety)? Is it as empty as some predicted? or even quieter?

 

[Jim Dick]

Yellowstone is far from empty. There aren't as many visitors as there will be in another month but they are predicting another record year.....around 4 million. Not sure how accurate that is but we supposedly had around 3 million last summer. I do know it was extremely busy at the book store!!!! Right now there are quite a few bus tours coming through. Once the kids are out of school I expect we will have many more visitors. I heard the Old Faithful Inn is booked solid. Expect other hotels are as well.

We decided to have our anniversary dinner at the Lake Hotel. When we called for reservations, there were only two openings for the evening. That is next week.

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

Ennis, MT, some 70 miles northwest of West Yellowstone, is quiet as a tomb. The big snows and late cold weather have caused the rivers to run higher than normal and all the snow is not melted at elevation.

Fishing, which is pretty important here, is way down.

The parks we pass between here and Yellowstone have picked up a bit in the last two weeks, but they are not full.

It is apparent to me that fuel prices and the economy are taking some travelers off the road. But, it's not July, yet, either, which is, I am told, the busy period.

 

[PancakeBill]

May gate entry was down about 20%, but weather was nasty and lots of areas normally open were still closed for snow.  June is expected to get closer to normal and July way up.  Fuel seems to have 'sort of' stabilized, and prices in UT, ID and WY are lower than national avg. 

Our sales in the bookstore are way up over last year, but figures are from the temp building.  We are under projections. 

 

[gmsboss1]

Pelicanlady and I are workcamping at the Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone.  GRVP has nearly 200 sites and is the CG closest (a couple of blocks) to the YNP entrance here.

The last month has been slow with many campers calling to cancel reservation because of the cold, rain, and snow forecasts, some of which have been right.

As the weather has moderated, the campers have poured in.  We were full almost every night this week and reservations from now until September are scarce, so our experience is indicating that this will be a very busy season in YNP.

Don

 

[Jeff]

We have traveled the east coast from Florida to NY and then west to Chicago.

Except for Memorial Day weekend at Lancaster in the middle of the Pensylvania Dutch Country we have not seen a RV Park that was close to full.

 

[seilerbird]

On Wednesday there was a headline in the USA Today "newspaper" that claimed that $4 a gallon gas was a thing of the past. So I promptly drove out out of the Grand Canyon to Tusayan and filled up my tank with gas that costs $4.49. It is hard to believe that the parks are so crowded with the price of gas being so high. But they are.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2011-06-14-gas-prices-slide-4-gallon_n.htm