What Can Be Seen in 8 Hours in Yellowstone
3 Grizzly Bears, 4 Wolves, Bison, Elk and Mule Deer.
It all began as a moose photography trip to Grand Teton National Park. I spent 4 days camping, searching and hiking to photograph bull moose. Always hoping to find a full grown adult moose either in the water or out in the sage with the mountains in the background. That didn’t exactly pan out. I found plenty of moose but not where I wanted them. So goes nature photography. I made the decision on day 5 to drive to Yellowstone. In particular Hayden Valley. Travelling into Yellowstone in October means small crowds. There was only 1 other car at Fishing Bridge!
Now heading to Hayden Valley I started to get a little amped. Hayden Valley has been the scene of many incredible nature observations and I had an idea I was about to experience more of them. Moving into the Mud Pots area I passed many bison and quite a few humans visiting the Mud Pots. Shortly thereafter I could see many vehicles parked in a pull out just north of Sulphur Caldron. I’ve seen quite a few grizzlies in this area on past trips and instinct told me there’s a grizzly near the Yellowstone River.
As I drove toward the pull out I could see a grizzly bear on the east side of the river! I parked, grabbed my gear and headed toward the people pointing all kinds of cameras toward the bear. I set myself up where the light and angle was best and there I stood along the Yellowstone River with numerous other on lookers for 3 hours. The bear was digging in the grass/sage mix. I’m guessing for tubers and maybe a rodent or two. I know what you’re thinking and yes we were viewing the grizzly from a safe distance. One thing I learned was this grizzly was not fond of full grown adult bison. On more than one occasion the bison got too close to the grizzly bear and the bear high-tailed it away from the bison.
Around 3pm I figured I should get greedy and try and find another bear or some elk so I headed toward Cody Wyoming where I was to spend the night. Just south of Yellowstone Lake in an area of peaks and valleys was another grizzly bear! I’d like to tell you I found this one but there were 3 or 4 cars pulled over looking down into a valley. I personally don’t like to point my camera down at animals so I decided to keep moving. Within 3 minutes 3-4 other vehicles were stopped on the roadside looking at a pack of wolves. They too were down an embankment so I kept heading toward Cody. This is a beautiful drive. I drive slow so it was very nice to have almost no traffic.
Maybe 30 minutes had passed, could have been 40 but I knew the light was going to be gone soon. In this valley the sunshine was minimal and my brain went to “it would be nice to get a shower and a bed”. Moving downhill on Hwy 14 a truck was pulled over onto the median. An arm was waving out the window. I slowed to a crawl, a grizzly bear was in the ditch 5o yards away. It began to cross the road right between me and the other truck and into the minimally forested west side of the road. Here’s where good fortune happened. Just ahead was a right turn. I arrived there in seconds along with the other truck and then another. Basically we were all hoping this bear would walk towards us. And it did! I had almost no time to remove the 1.4 extender on my camera but I got it off in record time and hit the hammer on my camera.
I just had one of the coolest nature experiences in my life. A grizzly at short distance with me and the other 2 guys safely in position to capture the scene which you can see below.
Moving once again slowly down Hwy 14 to find the grizzly I gave up after a few minutes and drove towards Cody. Along the way and in the dark I could make out the silhouettes of quite a few elk at lower altitude and I soon found a shower and a bed in Cody Wyoming.
Roadside Grizzly
Hayden Valley Grizzly
