Sorry all,been a bit of time since our last update.
We've been through Yellowstone Park now,and I've got a little advice for anyone going that way.
Firstly,dont think that by staying further away from the park that you'll save a bit of money on accmodation.We tried that the first couple of days we were there,and quickly realised that time spent travelling to and from the park really cuts into time available for seeing stuff.
If you shop around a bit,cheaper accomodation may be had.Our reccommendation is the Evergreen Motel,just outside of the center of West Yellowstone village,which is ran by a very pleasant young couple.The rooms are a bit small,but well decorated and have what I describe as my Holy Triumvirate of facilities (Fridge,Microwave and Coffee-maker,Amen).There's also a good,if a bit pricey,restaurant next door called 'Kiwis'.They sell meat pies,and proper fish and chips..a bit of a thrill for us slightly homesick Brits.
We used West Yellowstone as our base mainly because its more or less the same distance to everything in the park from the west entrance.
Word to the wise tho.The earlier you can get into the park from that side,the less time you'll spend queueing 5 miles or so inside the gate,where a Bald Eagle has set up nest next to the road.We lost nearly an hour the first couple of days because of that.
We didnt encounter much wildlife to start with,spending the first couple of days in the south end of the park,admiring the geysers and other geothermal phenomena...we must have seen 'Old Faithful' spout a good 7-8 times before our time in the park was done,but its also worth checking out the others.Castle Geyser is particularly good,and spouts away for ages.
Third day in,we took a wrong turn,and ended up going towards Mammoth Springs in the north.I'd just turned to Persistence to point out our mistake,when I was struck dumb,and ended up pointing out of the window making odd noises.We'd just trundled up about 5 metres from a Bison,who was quietly breakfasting by the roadside.
It turned out to be the first of many we saw,and I found them endlessly impressive creatures.It should be noted however,it doesn't do to disturb them too much,as apparently many more people are hurt by Bison in the park every year than the other large wildlife.
We did see a bear too.I'd more or less given up hope by the middle part of the 4th day of seeing one.In a last shot to encounter bear,we'd headed down the Hayden Valley in the east of the park,and we just happened to notice a couple of cars pulled up by the side of the road,and people outside of the cars with binoculars.
'Ah well,another Bison,' I said,as we pulled up for a look.Its worth noting,that if you're a bit crap at spotting stuff like I am,watch for cars pulled up at the roadside,but not in the provided turn-outs.Its usually an indicator that theres something worth looking at.
Anyway,I grabbed the camera,as Persistence scraffled in the back seat for the binoculars.I jumped out and trotted up to a couple of ladies chatting in a low and excited tone.
'There's a Grizzly up there,' one of them volunteered to me.I spent a desperate and fruitless couple of minutes scanning the tree-line,and was joined by Persistence,who pointed it straight out.And there it was,a good couple of hundred metres away,but definately a bear.
I went snap-happy,wishing I had a much better zoom function.I was however,absolutely thrilled.
The spell of the moment was only broken when we all realised that much,much more traffic had now parked up,and we were witnessing a truly bizarre spectacle provided courtesy of the human animals
Much like in Saknussem's thread in the quality images forum,I could hardly believe my eyes.There was a cavalry charge of parents carrying children up the slope towards the bear.It was like watching some sort of twisted,macabre game-show,the parents charged forth it seemed in an attempt to get their kids eaten by a bear first,with a vigour that suggested a large cash prize was at stake.Or at least an appearance on 'Americas funniest videos'.
I was particularly impressed by a plaid-shirted and baseball capped gentleman who burst through the front of the field,with a toddler stuffed under each arm.
Luckily,a Ranger appeared to stop the madness,although plaid-man must have got to about 10 metres before he was halted.
The bear,I have to say,was remarkably un-phased by all the ruckus.He was having far too much fun pulling bark from felled trees,looking for bugs I guess.He shuffled back off into the woods,hopefully very unimpressed.
We've moved on quite a bit since then,I'll update this thread more tomorrow.