A Wildflower Morning

Here we are, heading up the Beartooth Hwy., Pilot Peak up ahead.  It looks like a bear's tooth, but the famous Bear's Tooth Peak is up ahead.  What a a beautiful place! Photo courtesy of Araya at Spiritual Graces , who was riding in the car behind us with Grammy and Poppy.

When you drive out of the NE corner of Yellowstone National Park, just past Cooke City, WY, you can take a left onto the Beartooth Highway.  Several miles up the highway, there is a viewpoint with a wildflower meadow and a great view of Pilot and Index Peaks.  (Pilot is the tall pointy one, and Index is the rounded one beside it.)  Here's some of the things we saw there. *The last five photos shown here are courtesy of William at Fins, Feathers and Fur.  Thank you William.  Most of my photos from the view point didn't turn out right.  I had my camera set for the light in a museum we had just viewed.   They turned out blue.  Oops!

Happy Anniversary to Grammy and Poppy, adopted "grandparents" in our family, and our camping friends.  We were camping together near Cody, Wyoming, but we still had a party with gourmet veggie omelets for breakfast.  Then for supper I made the best for them - homemade butternut squash Thai curry and rice, and then coconut milk and rice with fruit for dessert - all on my little red camp stove.  It was a great day.

 We had a great time watching a large Bison herd in the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park this summer.  I got some good photos, but I wish I could let you know what it sounded like too.  I don't have a video camera.  But someone else did, and posted it on youtube.  Open this link in another tab, and listen to the sounds while you look at these photos.  The bison were pretty close to the pullout where we parked, but I also had on my telephoto lens to get my good close up shots.  I definitely respect these big creatures, and want to give them space.

Swaths of golden flowers from the Sunflower family cover the fresh green hillsides as you approach Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone National Park. We were there on the last day of July this year, and were not disappointed, the wildflowers were lovely! One of the nicest natural flower gardens in the area, can be found just a little ways up the trail from the Dunraven Pass parking lot.  This year that man who was once my 7th and 8th grade teacher, Mr. Chet Ground, came along with us.  This is the man who taught me to identify and enjoy wildflowers.  Many years have passed since then, but I can still remember many of the names he taught me, with an old slide projector filled with flowers to learn.  Once again I wasn't disappointed, for we found two flowers I had never noticed before, and with our handy guide books we were able to identify some new friends, for that is how I have come to view wildflowers as I walk through a blooming meadow, or down a forest trail....

 One of the most famous animals of children in Yellowstone Park is the chipmonk.  He visits picnic tables, and says hello to hikers. We were surprised to find this male Sage Grouse displaying for a female near Mt. Washburn trail head.   Elk herds eat grass in the meadows. Mothers and babies congregate on the lush lawns of Mammoth.  A Ground Squirrel kept his eye on the Bison, and on us. The Bison congregate in large herds in the Lamar Valley.  The north road in the park, is our favorite road for wildlife in the park.  We didn't see any wildlife at all, near Old Faithful, the most populated, congested area of the park. A lone Pronghorn Antelope wondered through a field.  It was our first time to find one of these here. We caught a glimpse of a black bear, but no photos were taken.  At one parking area there was a a man who spends his summer vacations volunteering to help a wolf researcher.  He had his scope focused on...