Yellowstone Nat'l Park, Montana

Where the buffalo roam,,,

The first half of our trip to Montana took us to Glacier National Park. On the second half we visited Yellowstone, the world's 1st National Park. But first, we had to get there. Since we were looking at a 6+ hour drive from Kalispell to Gardiner, Dave and I woke up bright and early and cooked breakfast in our "silo". Even though it was May we ended up driving though a snowstorm which was a little scary in our minivan. As a halfway point we visited the Montana State Capital in Helena and did a quick self-guided tour.

As we got back on the highway to drive east out of Helena, we passed by the Missouri River Brewing Co. and just had to make a U-turn and give it a try. When we walked in, I saw a huge American flag behind the bar and a life size leg lamp from The Christmas Story. I knew we were in a good place. After enjoying our beers, we carefully drove the second half to Gardiner. Once we arrived in town Dave and I checked in to our Airbnb, a cute little cabin across from the only grocery store in town. We were starving and decided to eat at Cowboy's Lodge and Grille. Since it was Cinco de Mayo and they had some Mexican dishes on their menu it was a no-brainer. But our eyes were a little too big for our stomachs. We both had a cup of chili and then I had a burrito and Dave, the quesadilla. They were all delicious but way too much food and we took almost half of it back to the cabin.

We decided to call it an early night because the plan was to wake up by 4:15am and be in the park by 5:15am. We were less than one mile from the entrance so getting there wasn't the problem, it was waking up before dawn (again). Our mission was to drive to Lamar Valley and search for some Yellowstone wolves. Dave and I have been to Yellowstone two times before and a wolf was probably the only animal we have not seen yet. Lamar Valley was about an hour and a half from the North Entrance, which was where we were coming from. As soon as we entered the park, we saw a herd of elk. The weather was perfect, and we ended up seeing a ton of bison, pronghorns, more elk, a black bear, coyotes, a grizzly, bighorn sheep, and many ground squirrels. Again, like Glacier National Park it was not very crowded, the cooler weather made it ideal to spot animals.

After coming up unsuccessful in locating a wolf we decided to try our luck in Slough Valley where we were told there was a wolf den approximately 2.5 miles down a gravel road. Since the road was closed to vehicles we decided to walk it. Dave and I stopped to take some pictures of the scenery a little over a mile in when we spotted a dusky grouse briskly walking towards us. As she approached, she began hissing and making snappy noises with her beak. Basically, she sent us retreating back to our car. I guess we were getting a little too close to her nest.

Nonetheless, we never made it to the end of the road and never found out if there really was a wolf's den.

On our second day in Yellowstone Dave and I decided to drive south from Mammoth Hot Springs. We started a little later, entering the park at 7:20am and drove until about 11:30am stopping at various turnoffs and sites. One of my favorites was the Artists Paintpots. Basically, it is a hydrothermal area that looks like boiling clay. Again, the lack of tourists made it so much more enjoyable to take in.

Artists Paintpots

Throughout the day we also visited Norris Geyser Basin, Lower Geyser Basin and Roaring Mountain. We decided to stop at Fountain Flat Dr to eat our packed sandwiches although we couldn't eat at the picknick tables due to three huge bison grazing nearby.

When we stopped at Roaring Mountain a couple told us that there was a grizzly sighting about 2 miles up the road. We were lucky enough to see it and get a couple of good shots before returning to our cabin.

That evening we dine al fresco at The Corral, home to the best elk burgers in Montana. I gave it a try and Dave ordered the bison burger. Both were delicious.

On our final full day in Yellowstone we decided to give Lamar Valley another try in our quest to find some wolves. As soon as we entered the park, we spotted another coyote, close but not quite a wolf. Next, we came across a black bear. The sun had not fully risen so it was hard to take a good picture of it.

We continued to carefully drive through the park spotting some more amazing wildlife and views. At approximately 9:30am Dave noticed a herd of bison huddled together in the valley. I immediately looked through the binoculars to see why they were in such a strange formation. Wolves!! Five to be exact were on the hunt and they had their eyes set on some baby bison in the herd! We quickly pulled our car over into the small parking area that quickly began to overflow with other onlookers.

I don't know how long the fight had been going on prior to us getting there but Dave and I sat and watched for about 20 minutes until the end. It was amazing to see how smart both the wolves and the bison were. 5 wolves against 25 or so bison. It was as though we were watching a National Geographic episode. I found myself rooting for both sides, but I really didn't want to see a baby bison become lunch. The wolves were trying to separate the babies from the adults and the bison were keeping the babies in the center of the herd as they tried to make it to the Lamar River. In the end it was the bison that outsmarted the wolf pack by crossing the rough current of the river. The 5 wolves just watched in defeat as the bison escaped to freedom.

That, by far was the highlight of our entire trip. Dave and I drove back and stopped at Forces of the Northern Range self-guided trail as well as Mammoth Hot Springs, but nothing compared to what we just witnessed.

Gardiner's Old Jail built in 1903

That night we had dinner at Wonderland Cafe & Lodge and met a really nice couple from Minnesota. We traded stories about our travels and told them all about our once in a lifetime experience. Afterwards, we checked out Gardiner's old jail built in 1903 containing 3 cells.

The next morning, we slowly made our way to Bozeman for our flight home. We stopped at the Old Saloon in Emigrant, MT, about 30 minutes down the road, for a delicious breakfast. Their slogan is, "Serving outlaws and cowgirls since 1902". The Old Saloon might possibly be the reason for Gardiner's old jail. We passed the rest of our time in downtown Bozeman. We shopped a little and tried the Bozeman Spirits Distillery before heading to the airport for our flight home.

Until the next trip!