Osprey and Marmots and Bears, Oh My!
Thursday we loaded up the cooler with lots of food and snacks and got an early morning start. Our goal was to head north and see the upper loop. It was quiet and cool in the early morning. We spotted a few elk and bison, some cranes, and a cute little chipmunk. The scenery as we headed north was beautiful. Much greener and lots of little lakes on the side of the road.
We stopped briefly to check out Roaring Mountain which was steamy in the early morning light. We passed the Obsidian Cliffs which actually don’t look like much from the road right now. We drove in to see Sheepeater Cliff and had great fun watching the yellow bellied marmots scurry around.
Next, Swan Lake Flats afforded us some gorgeous panoramic views and then we stopped to see Rustic Falls before rounding the corner and heading towards the terraces near Mammoth. For us, this was just a really lovely scenic drive.
We had lunch in Mammoth and then drove up to see the arch at the North entrance. Then, we headed east towards Tower/Roosevelt. We saw some elk and stopped at Udine Falls. Then, we saw a lady with a scope on the side of the road. She was watching a grizzly that was sleeping under a tree across the valley. We could see the brown more clearly with the naked eye. She told us that there were some black bears up the road near the petrified tree. So, we continued on our way.
We decided to take a little scenic off road and soon cars were stopped in front of us and the bushes were rustling. It was a little black bear. He scurried away pretty quickly, but we all got a glimpse. We were pretty excited about that!
We continued on and drove through Lamar Valley and saw lots of bison, elk and at the picnic area where we stopped for a snack we saw lots of ground squirrels. They were funny, although perhaps a bit too friendly.
We returned to Tower and headed south towards Canyon. We spotted a lot of deer and some more elk. And then a major traffic jam. The mama grizzly and cubs were down in the valley again – closer this time – we could see them playing and moving around. Apparently about 30 minutes earlier they’d come down from the hill and crossed the road. We got some video and some decent photos. You can see the bear and one of her cubs in the shot below. At this point, the girls were very excited. Laura was jumping around saying “I’ve seen FIVE bears today. This is the best day EVER!”
As the bears moved into the trees, we continued on our drive and stopped when we saw more folks with scopes and spotted osprey in their nests! That was pretty cool too.
Along the same road, we also had a stop for a bear shaped rock. The guy who told us it was a bear was positive, but we zoomed in and it was definitely a rock. I think everyone had a bit of bear fever at that point after the grizzly bears. We had a nice view of some male deer with lovely antlers.
As we continued home, we spotted a herd of elk after leaving Canyon and then on the road home a bison coming at us in the oncoming lane. It was fun to watch him walk along with no concern about the pile up of cars he’d created. Then, when we were almost home, a red fox darted in front of our car.
Here is the bison just wandering down the road towards us!
Overall, it was an amazing day of wildlife and scenery!
We stopped briefly to check out Roaring Mountain which was steamy in the early morning light. We passed the Obsidian Cliffs which actually don’t look like much from the road right now. We drove in to see Sheepeater Cliff and had great fun watching the yellow bellied marmots scurry around.
We had lunch in Mammoth and then drove up to see the arch at the North entrance. Then, we headed east towards Tower/Roosevelt. We saw some elk and stopped at Udine Falls. Then, we saw a lady with a scope on the side of the road. She was watching a grizzly that was sleeping under a tree across the valley. We could see the brown more clearly with the naked eye. She told us that there were some black bears up the road near the petrified tree. So, we continued on our way.
We decided to take a little scenic off road and soon cars were stopped in front of us and the bushes were rustling. It was a little black bear. He scurried away pretty quickly, but we all got a glimpse. We were pretty excited about that!
We continued on and drove through Lamar Valley and saw lots of bison, elk and at the picnic area where we stopped for a snack we saw lots of ground squirrels. They were funny, although perhaps a bit too friendly.
We returned to Tower and headed south towards Canyon. We spotted a lot of deer and some more elk. And then a major traffic jam. The mama grizzly and cubs were down in the valley again – closer this time – we could see them playing and moving around. Apparently about 30 minutes earlier they’d come down from the hill and crossed the road. We got some video and some decent photos. You can see the bear and one of her cubs in the shot below. At this point, the girls were very excited. Laura was jumping around saying “I’ve seen FIVE bears today. This is the best day EVER!”
As we continued home, we spotted a herd of elk after leaving Canyon and then on the road home a bison coming at us in the oncoming lane. It was fun to watch him walk along with no concern about the pile up of cars he’d created. Then, when we were almost home, a red fox darted in front of our car.
Here is the bison just wandering down the road towards us!
Overall, it was an amazing day of wildlife and scenery!
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