Yellowstone - Opening Day
Old Faithful
My stepdad, brother-in-law and nephew are visiting from Ohio so we drove up to Yellowstone National Park today. It had opened to vehicle traffic just yesterday so the crowds were sparse and wildlife abundant.
We captured a photo of this grizzly right as she awoke from a nap. She is at the bottom of a hill about twenty five yards away.
The grizzly finally stood and lumbered off. The best line of the day was from the ranger who was guarding the crowd of onlookers with a can of pepper spray. "Does anyone see the bear? he said when the grizzlie dissappeared from view. At that point we headed to the safety of the car.
Elk in the Madison River
Doublet Pool
Comments
JD, you are truly blessed to live in such a stunning place. My favorite pics are those of the doublet pool and of the stone in the sand.
Posted by: Lisa | April 21, 2007 10:15 PM
Wonderful pictures. Thanks so much for sharing.
Jim
Posted by: Jim Macdonald | April 21, 2007 11:59 PM
So, um, how fast could a grizzly run 25 yards?
Posted by: Popeye | April 22, 2007 2:43 PM
Wow, I wish I was there! Great wildlife pictures. Really nice one of Old Faithful! I too really like the one with the pebble. How funny with the Park Ranger. I thought the pepper spray was for the people who visit the Park and insist on getting to close to the animals. That would have made a great line in the movie "Wild Hogs." Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Blu | April 22, 2007 8:21 PM
Thanks for all the comments.
Popeye, by my calculations if a grizzly can sprint 30 miles an hour than it would take approximately 2 seconds to traverse 25 yards. Of course that is for a fully alert bear. This bear was drowzy. Plus we had the aforementioned park ranger and can of pepper spray for protection. Finally we were only 10 yards from the car, which makes the math problem more complicated.
Posted by: jd | April 22, 2007 9:45 PM
Great photos. I've been to Yellowstone only once, but it sure did leave an impression.
Posted by: Simmons | April 27, 2007 3:04 PM
Well Simmons, if you get back up there make sure you stop by here to say hello.
Posted by: jd | May 2, 2007 2:36 PM