Wednesday, August 24, 2022 we returned to Yellowstone National Park, but not until around 3:30 pm in the afternoon. We wanted to drive over to the Lamar Valley area where we were advised that wildlife such as wolves, bears, bison and antelope might be seen around dusk.
We entered through the West Entrance again and headed east to Madison, but instead of turning south as we did the day before, we headed north to Norris then east to Canyon Village and then north to Tower-Roosevelt. Both the North and Northeast Entrances were closed due to tremendous flooding damage earlier in the summer and if you look at the photo of the map of the park you can see those “no-travel” areas highlighted in yellow.
We arrived in the Tower-Roosevelt area around 6:30 pm after a few hours of leisurely driving, stopping to take photos, and visiting the Canyon Village along the way. Unfortunately, the only wildlife we observed were a few bison and they were so far away from the road and/or viewing stops that, as you can see on the photo, they appear only as almost indistinguishable dark shapes.
I had REALLY hoped to get some photos of a pack or packs of wolves, but it was not to be on this visit.
But, we did get to see some beautiful scenery and landscape during our drive there and back. We also got to see something that neither of us had seen before; a petrified tree. We have both seen pieces of petrified wood before, but seeing an actual petrified tree was a first for both of us. Granted, it was just the trunk (I think seeing petrified branches and leaves would have been cool, lol) but it was still quite a sight to behold.
It began storming on our drive back around the Norris area. Lots of lightning and thunder. Then it slowed down a little to just some light rain just as we approached the Norris Geyser Basin. Cindy wanted to get some photos and video of it, so I pulled over and she hopped out of Voyager to walk down to it. She came back about 10 minutes later wet and not happy that I didn’t accompany her, but she got some good shots. She said with the light rain, far-away lightning and thunder, hissing, bubbling and the mists from the geyser rising all around her it felt like she was at Hellmouth (something to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer I think, lol).
This would be our last visit into the park for this trip. We decided to save some other forays for later trips, hopefully when the North and Northeast Entrance roads have been repaired and reopened.
And maybe we’ll see more wildlife on subsequent visits.
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