Out early this morning to beat the lineup at the West Gate. Pretty sunrise and a full moon. 7:03 and we are in the park! Hoping that this early we will see elk! (Later note… no elk).
Today we are running the Hayden Valley between Canyon Village and Fishing Bridge. The early morning cold and fog is providing some beautiful mood shots. We spotted 2 female elk off in the distance.
It’s below freezing and the grasses are coated with frost. Fog created by the temperature contrasted by the steam from the thermal pools and the low early sun makes a lovely moody landscape. The frost triggered a conversation in the car on what kind of frost it is – rime frost or hoar frost. One is frozen water droplets and the other is crystalline water created by sublimation ( gaseous state to solid state without going through the liquid state first). I can’t remember which is which at the moment.
I have a record shot of a bison cow and her red dog (calf) that hasn’t changed color yet.
I find ravens to be fascinating birds. They are very clever and intelligent. We got out of the car for the view in the picture above. I heard this blurping sound (for lack of a better description). Following the intriguing noise I found this raven in the pine tree right next to the pullout. He was fluffing his feathers, perhaps to keep warm, and every time he fluffed this odd sound came out. He was very aware of his surroundings, turning his head to look at any large vehicle that went by.
Lunch was a sandwich from the Canyon Village Grocery sitting in the sun watching the ravens watching us. We spoke with a ranger about the record-breaking crowds and the lack of animals. No surprise that the two are related. During the covid shutdown the animals were everywhere but disappeared almost immediately after the park reopened.
We got back to West Yellowstone in time for an indulgent trip to the fabric store in town. I decided to buy fabric for a Yellowstone quilt block.
Louise and Brian McLeod Travel Blog 
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