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On our first trip to Yellowstone, Betsey and I did not get to this spectacular corner of the park. As we drove from Antelope Valley and swung out towards the northeast corner, the topography shifted to wide open high-attitude plains, ringed by snow covered peaks prime habitat for a wide range of Yellowstone wildlife. It was an interesting comparison to my home range of the Sierra Nevada. At the same altitude you are ensconced in narrow valleys, jagged peaks with wide open views only available by climbing a ridge. I fell in love with Lamer Valley and hope to return in the Winter to see it at its peak.
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| Lamar Valley |
Bison |
Bison Herd |
Soda Butte Ridge |
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We continued on thru Soda Butte Canyon to Silver Gate just outside the Northeast Entrance. A small quaint town with a small number of year round residents where we had a lunch picnic, and then returned to at the end of the trip to stay in some rather rustic but comfortable cabins. Along the way we were treated to a moose yearling grazing in a sunny field and caught a black bear doing a tree rub after a short rain. Something is happening around every corner.
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| Moose Yearling |
Amphitheater Mtn |
Sun Dog |
Black Bear Rub |
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We were back the next day, after our grizzly and coyote sighting at Roosevelt, and soaked in some warm sun and put another tasty picnic breakfast under our belts. There was plenty of scoping as we moved around while the morning went by quickly, and soon it was time to head to our next stop, central Yellowstone and Hayden Valley. We will get to that shortly, but first back to Lamar Valley.
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When we started our return to Silver Gate the weather rolled in as we climbed over Dunraven Pass from Canyon Village and that white wet stuff came down. And it stayed with us for the rest of the day and night. Wow, just like the Sierra it can be any season at any time of the year. It makes me smile. We got into our cabins and cranked up the heat and got ready for a visit to a local gallery and dinner in Cooke City. The gallery was of the accomplished photographer Dan Hartman and you can visit his site by clicking here. We were graciously ushered into his living room for a talk and a viewing of a British short subject on elk mating that he helped produce. Typical British humor and a good laugh for all. I was able to get some close ups of bird life and the swirling snow/rain also created some nice photo op's. After a saloon dinner and a comfortable night on a bed of feathers, we were off to our last night at Chico Hot Springs. And that tale will be told later on. For now some more visuals....
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| Glassing |
Breakfast |
Red Head |
Snow Angles |
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| Gallery |
Cabins |
Snow Ridge |
Soda Butte |
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Off to see what Hayden Valley had to offer.
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