we continued on to the north part of the park, where we were going to stay for a couple of days & explore Lamar Valley. i started to look for clutches of cars pulled, wonky-like, off the road & clumps of humans with cameras and binoculars rather than looking, specifically, for wildlife. these sightings were great indicators of the proximity of (or hope for) large mammals.
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| bison near a campground, just off the main road. |
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| photo by Mike |
while we were there, enjoying our peanut-butter sandwiches in a light rain, a ranger came by and walked the perimeter looking (he said) for any evidence of bears.
he didn't find any. our only visitors were little chipmunks and squirrels, which both looked quite different than the ones we have back east.
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| one minute, here. |
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| the next, gone! |
we stopped at several roadside turn-offs with historical/environmental boards that Mike and Samuel enjoyed reading. i mostly liked the flowers.
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| great lengths. or, at least, awkward postures. |
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| rain, again. |
i also took a picture of some nasty
tent caterpillars, before i quite realized what they were. ick. i will spare you that & stick with pretty flowers.
so, we got to Mammoth Hot Springs & checked into the hotel. after some lying about, we decided to try the secret (not) spot for bathing legally in the hot springs! just a couple miles out of town, as you are heading north out of the park, there is a
hot spring right next to the river - and you are permitted to enter the
river & enjoy the steamy water! this promised to be exciting enough for even a wifi- & tv-deprived young teenager.
sadly...
that was the only thing i wanted to do on this whole trip.
luckily, we all rallied enough to live & love another day.
