Author: Jesse Yow

Alaska Cruise 2025: Sitka

~ Jesse Yow ~ Leave a comment

Sitka was our next port of call, and we decided to take Viking’s “Fortress of the Bears” shore excursion. Who could resist an outing called Fortress of the Bears? As it turned out, we saw brown bears and black bears at a bear rescue/recovery center, but we first visited a homestead out in the wilderness, and saw several bald eagles, perhaps watching for the salmon run. Here are some photos:

Bald eagle in classic profile view, perched near the water. This is in the coastal rain forest where everything is damp if not wet, and you can see moss growing from some of the branches. We were near the homestead site which, while remote, did have electricity. There was even a small hydroelectric plant nearby, manufacturing electricity for the power grid.
Sight-seeing boat that brought us to the homestead site. It was a comfortable ride, as we were cruising in fjords branching off from a sheltered bay, and the water was quite calm.
Adult bald eagle on the left and an immature adult bald eagle on the right. Our guides said that eagles do not get their characteristic white heads until they are about five years old. These birds were near a fish hatchery, and we noticed that the hatchery had screens in place to keep birds from raiding the tanks.
Another adult eagle, looking at us head-on. We did not see any eagles fishing, but maybe they fish only at certain times of day or at a certain stage of the tides.
And yet another mature bald eagle, spotted in a striking pose. All of the eagles we saw were perched, alert, and watchful.
Salmon attempting to swim up a waterfall. The flow was unusually heavy because of recent rains, so we don’t know if any of them made it.
By now you may wonder what became of Fortress of the Bears. It came later in our tour, and here is our first photo of a grizzly, or brown bear at the refuge. A poster in the lobby attempted to explain that grizzlies, brown bears, and a third kind of bear that I can’t remember are all sub-species of a kind of bear that differs from black bears and polar bears. Kodiak bears are part of the brown bear sub-species, or maybe they are a sub-sub-species? Guess we should have taken notes. Regardless, the brown bears on the Alaska coast are larger than grizzlies we have seen in Yellowstone, Glacier, and Denali National Parks. Time for the annual Fat Bear contest?
Healthy-looking black bear at Fortress of the Bears. This black bear was more active than the brown bears in the other enclosures, but we don’t know if this was a matter of health, personality, or ??? Bears are brought to this center as accident victims or perhaps as orphaned cubs. After rehab they are released to the wild, but some bears may have to kept here indefinitely for their own good.
Float plane near Sitka. A road map of Alaska would not need much ink because there simply are not very many roads. It is a huge state, and float planes, bush planes, or boats are often the most practical way to get around, depending on where you want to go. It was always impressive to see these planes take off or swoop in for a landing; for some reason it reminded us of crop dusters flying close to the ground and making daredevil turns on no notice.
Evening view as we leave Sitka. Mostly cloudy skies, calm seas, and smooth sailing.

Next Post: Alaska Cruise 2025: Ketchikan

Alaska Cruise 2025: Skagway

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After visiting Juneau we sailed back north to Skagway. Why not visit the ports of call in order from north to south? Maybe Viking varies the sequence slightly according to how many cruise ships will be in each port at a given time. This may have something to do with the availability of on-shore excursions, too. At any rate, Skagway was fun to visit, with the town having tried to retain much of its frontier character from the days of the Klondike Gold Rush. We spent most of our time riding the spectacular White Pass & Yukon Route narrow gauge railway to the top of White Pass and back. Here are some photos:

A powerful diesel locomotive pulled our narrow gauge train of vintage passenger cars from Skagway, at sea level, to a turn-around loop at the top of White Pass. We climbed to nearly 3000 feet above sea level in about 20 miles, roughly following the path of the Klondike Gold Rush prospectors as they hauled their gear from Skagway to the summit and then over into Canada for the trek to the gold fields. For the railroad, this was an average grade of better than 2.5%, so our climb was not very fast.
This almost obliterated path just below the “Trail of ’98” sign is a remnant of the original prospector’s trail to the summit. Canada realized that many gold rush prospectors were arriving unprepared for a northwest Canada winter, and that they needed to do something to avoid having to rescue thousands of starving, freezing prospectors. The solution was to close the border; each prospector was required to have about 2000 pounds of supplies on hand (to demonstrate that they could support themselves) before they could enter the country. So they each had to carry that ton of supplies, load by load, from Skagway up to the border checkpoint. The market for a railway was obvious, although building it would be another matter.
We had a mix of sun and clouds as we rode to the summit and back, but the beauty of the scenery could not be hidden. Cliffs, peaks, waterfalls, gorgeous gorges, tracts of coniferous forest, and even a few patches of snow above the timberline. And certainly rugged!
Distant view of our track tracing its way along the mountainside. It took about two years to build the railway from Skagway over into Canada, and, except for a few years in the 1980s, the route has been in use ever since. This part of the route is known as the “high line” due to the steep cliffs above and below the track. You can see a wooden trestle bridge about 1/3 of the way from the left side of the photo; the next photo gives you a closer view.
Here is the wooden trestle seen at great distance in the previous photo. This area gets a lot of snow in the winter, so for the first few decades the trains ran when not snowed in, and to serve the mines. The Alaskan Highway, built during World War II, connects with the far end of the railway, and during the war the trains ran year round with only an occasional interruption by avalanches. After the war, the railway went back to mostly summer operations, and eventually tourism took the place of freight service as the main business.
This was once the highest iron trestle bridge in North America, with the track standing at least 200 feet above the river below. Eventually the engineers and surveyors opted for a different route, and the wooden part of the trestle fell into disrepair. Or you could say it literally fell. We were happy to see that we were not taking this part of the old route.
View looking back at the old bridge, and the rushing water it crossed. Amazing that this railway was even built; it ranks up there with the Eiffel Tower, Panama Canal, and other international engineering accomplishments.
Marker at the top of the pass, decorated with fireweed and some trees stunted by the severe winter weather. Our turnaround loop was perhaps a mile past this point, in Canada. The track from Skagway to the summit was mostly single track, but did include several long sidings to let trains pass. On the day we were there, I think we saw perhaps four other trains on the route, one of them pulled by an old steam locomotive. The track is well maintained and, as mentioned before, continues past the summit and turnaround loop to reach the towns of Fraser and Bennett in British Columbia and then Carcross and Whitehorse in Yukon Territory. The full length of the route is 110.4 miles.
Think this is a replica of the cabin used by the Canadian authorities to enforce border security back in gold rush days. In addition to the US and Canadian flags, we see flags of Alaska, Yukon Territory, and British Columbia. The main track is in front of the cabin; at this point we are going off into the turnaround loop that will eventually send us back down the track to Skagway.
Two happy tourists in the railway station back in Skagway. The town also hosts the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park, which is probably worth a visit if time allows (ours did not), and an assortment of saloons, shops, and frontier-style tourist attractions. But the White Pass & Yukon Route was the highlight of our day. Over the years we have been blessed to be able to ride the Cumbres & Toltec, Durango & Silverton, and Roaring Camp & Big Trees railroads (all narrow gauge), and the White Pass & Yukon holds its own against any of them!

Next Post: Alaska Cruise 2025: Sitka

Alaska Cruise 2025: Juneau

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After Icy Straight Point, our next stop was Juneau, capitol city of Alaska. Viking’s Orion was one of several cruise ships docking at Juneau that day, so we had to take a tender from the Orion to the dock. No worries, it was a smooth ride and well orchestrated. Between whale-watching, museums, sight-seeing, and other activities, Juneau offered more options than time allowed, so we had to make some hard choices. Given that we had already seen whales, bears, and lots of scenery, we opted for a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. Here are some photos:

My favorite tourist seated near the Juneau waterfront. This is between where passengers disembark from cruise ships, float planes, and ferries and where they find the taxis, buses, and other ground transportation. Our tour group for the Mendenhall Glacier mustered here, and, not coincidentally, there are plenty of restaurants and shops all around the area. We even chatted with the Executive Chef from the Orion here as he waited for a taxi to take him to Costco!
Tender moving folks from the Orion to the dock. It was a smooth ride, but we noticed that float planes were using this same stretch of water for takeoffs and landings. No collisions, so the pilots must know what they are doing. Or maybe someone was providing traffic control under the radar.
After a short bus ride through town and out into the forest, we arrived at the Mendenhall Glacier. The USDA Forest Service runs a great visitor center there, with nice natural history exhibits and a balcony view of the glacier and some adjacent waterfalls. And, for those who might have a problem with the many stairs from the sidewalk up to the visitor center, they have an elevator!
Mendenhall Glacier, kind of ragged looking as it terminates near the water. The blue color is characteristic of glacial ice, and the dirty look comes from the rocky material the glacier carries. Interestingly, some glaciers in Alaska are retreating while others are advancing, and this changes from decade to decade. The whole climate-weather-glacier system is more dynamic than a single photo can show.
We found this sign on the trail towards the glacier. I guess bears like to walk an easy path rather than shoving their way through the underbrush, just like people do. No bears showed up to claim right of way, but we kept our eyes open just in case.
Large (maybe 15 feet tall) rock surface polished and gouged by glacial ice. This was near the visitor center, a long ways from the point where the glacier currently terminates, but it shows that ice was here at some point in the past.
Two bear cubs playing near their mother. No bears on the glacier trail, but here they are in Juneau. A fish hatchery next door might have brought them here, but the hatchery was (supposedly) bear-proofed, so it was probably wishful thinking on the part of the bears.
Sunset as we sail away from Juneau: a beautiful evening in a beautiful area.

Next Post: Alaska Cruise 2025: Skagway

Alaska Cruise 2025: Icy Straight Point

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After sailing past Hubbard Glacier we continued to work our way southeast, eventually arriving at Icy Straight Point, on Chichagof Island. A community of native Americans owns and operates this remote port, and it was well-run. We had booked a wilderness excursion through Viking to look for wildlife, and Chichagof Island has one of the highest concentrations of brown bears in the world, so we were optimistic. Here are some photos:

Bald eagle soaring overhead as we entered the wilderness to look for bears and other wildlife. Our clear, sunny days had come to an end, at least for a while, but visibility was good otherwise. Chichagof Island is large enough to include the Spasski River, so that was our destination. Our guide and a driver took us into a muskeg area to start our search, but even while en route we spotted black-tailed dear and various kinds of birds.
Our path to and from Spasski River was a half mile loop through muskeg and coniferous forest. Muskeg is essentially a northern swamp (my description), with a lot of water and soft ground, so we hiked on a boardwalk. The most dangerous bear is probably a surprised bear, so our guide carried a radio to stay in touch with what I would call a security perimeter. The tour company had two spotters along the road where the minibus dropped us off, and maybe a couple more in the woods around us. Their job was to help us avoid surprising a bear by letting our guide know if one was headed in our direction.
The loop trail led us past three different observation platforms along the Spasski River. There was no action at the first platform, but at the second we found a young brown bear fishing for salmon. The salmon run had started just a few days earlier, and every minute or two we saw fish thrashing their way over shallow riffles in the river. Here you see the bear looking for fish in deeper water. The telephoto lens you saw in our previous blog post served me well in shooting these photos.
Coming up for air. So what is the difference between a brown bear and a grizzly? Practically speaking, brown bears live on the coast where there are a lot of fish and edible vegetation (roots and berries), and tend to be better fed than grizzlies living in Yellowstone, Glacier, or Denali National Parks. This bear seemed to be relatively unskilled at fishing, though, and in the 20 minutes or so that we watched him, he never did catch a fish. Not for want of trying.
Standing up to look around. I don’t know if he was curious about us, of if he sensed the possible approach of another bear. Shortly before we started back to the road, one of the spotters radioed that another bear seemed to be headed towards our path, so we waited while the spotter verified the bear’s location and direction. The approaching bear changed course, and once it was safe we finished the loop trail to get back to our minibus.
Old fishing boat near the harbor. How old? Well, old enough to be fallen into disrepair, but new enough that it has a radar antenna on top. We found this near a shopping area, after our bear search and before returning to our ship. Picturesque, and it made for an interesting end of the visit.

Next Post: Alaska Cruise 2025: Juneau

Alaska Cruise 2025: Hubbard Glacier

~ Jesse Yow ~ 1 Comment

We spent a full day at sea sailing from Valdez to our next port of call. The route was not just an unswerving path past magnificent scenery; the weather was clear and the sea calm, so we took time to sail close to the Hubbard Glacier. Here are some photos:

Regency’s Seven Seas Explorer headed northwest while we sail southeast on Viking’s Orion. Beautiful weather for this day at sea, so it was easy to see the mountains in the background. These are probably part of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. I used to have an app to identify mountains in distant views, but it was not on hand to help me name the peaks as we sailed past this gorgeous mountain range.
Mount Saint Elias as seen from our approach to the Hubbard Glacier. Stock photos of Mount Saint Elias look very different, depending on your viewpoint. We really like this view, which almost reminds me of the mountain used in the introduction to old Paramount movies. The trees where you might expect some kind of beach are actually the edge of a broad, flat outwash plain stretching from the base of the mountains to the sea. The peak itself is probably 40 miles or more away from us (as measured on Google Maps), which accounts for the haze in the photo.
Here we are on an upper deck of the Orion, with Hubbard Glacier and various pieces of floating ice in the background. You can see one of my two workhorse cameras hanging by my side: a Canon R7 with Canon’s 100-500mm zoom lens. This combination weighs about four pounds, so you have to get used to the weight, but it is great for distance shots, closeups, and wildlife. A friend took this photo with my other camera: an iPhone 15 Pro. As you might guess, it was windy with a chill was in the air, even in late July. A glorious day, regardless!
Wide view of the Hubbard Glacier where it meets the sea. We did not see ice calving off the glacier (too far away), but you can see pieces of ice floating all over the bay. The main glacier flows down a valley in the far right side of the photo; another, smaller glacier comes down the valley near the center of the photo to join it. The glacier is more dynamic than you might expect: sometimes it advances for years in a row and then sometimes it retreats. To be clear, the flow of ice is alway downhill towards the sea; it never reverses and moves the other way, even when the glacier “retreats.” So if a glacier retreats, that simply means that the edge at the sea is breaking off or melting faster than the ice flows downhill into the sea. Conversely, if the glacier advances, that means that the ice is flowing downhill faster than it can melt at its front edge, effectively pushing the front edge further and further forward.
Part of the front edge of the Hubbard Glacier. The highest parts of this front edge tower at least 400 feet above the water line, giving you some idea of scale. Further back from the water, the glacier is quite a bit thicker as it flows down out of the mountain range. Ice dynamics on a large scale!

Next Post: Viking Alaska 2025: Icy Straight Point

Alaska Cruise 2025: Valdez

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After a full day in Seward (see previous blog post), we sailed for our next port of call, Valdez. The weather continued to be relatively sunny and clear, which was remarkable considering that the west coast of North America from Seward all the way south to Northern California is pretty much a rain forest. Lots of cloudy days, lots of rain, and lots of snow in winter. We were grateful to have mostly blue skies and clear views. Here is some of what we could see:

We were still getting over some travel fatigue, so we relaxed and did not take any of the excursions available to us in Valdez. Nevertheless, as we prowled about our ship, the Orion, we found wonderful views on all sides of the vessel. Here you can see a fishing boat at anchor, with rugged mountain scenery in the distance.
View looking across the harbor towards the tanker docks. The terraced tank farm is the holding area that receives crude oil arriving through the Alaska Pipeline, which starts on the North Slope and ends in Valdez. Tanker ships arrive at intervals to take on loads of oil from these holding tanks. Another fishing boat sails past us in the foreground, and the green landscape behind the tank farm vouches for the frequent rains that come to this area.
While in port we were able to take a tour of the Orion’s bridge. One of the officers showed us around (this is how I know we had 914 passengers aboard), and a few members of our group took the opportunity to sit in the Captain’s chair. As you might expect, the view from the bridge was excellent, and we were impressed with the redundant navigation and control systems used to pilot the ship. Speaking of pilots, on previous Viking cruises we often saw pilots board the ship to help with navigation into or out of a port. These pilots were trained specifically for each port, but the pilots helping with this Alaska cruise were regional pilots. They knew all of the major ports in their region, as well as the fjords and inside passages that we might sail to get to a particular harbor.
Closer view of mountain scenery as we left Valdez. Notice the waterfall coming down the mountainside, and the glacier filling a saddle between peaks in the upper center of the photo. Alaska has lots of wilderness that starts right outside the doorstep, and this is part of it.
View of the mountains behind our ship as we sailed out into the Gulf of Alaska. The ocean swell shows up as a pattern of transverse lines cutting across the wake of our ship. More accurately, our ship cut across the swell as we sailed, with little if any discernible vibration or movement.
Here we are, on deck to enjoy the breeze and evening sun after supper. This was late July, so sunlit days were still really long and the nights were short.
I was taking an evening shot off the stern of our ship when I noticed increasing mid- to high-level cloudiness and decreasing light as we approached sunset. And I noticed something unexpected in the snowy mountain range behind us. Look in the center of the photo, and what do you see?
In case you did not find the surprise in the previous photo, here is a closer view. We see what appears to be a gigantic cross, perhaps as much as a thousand feet high, in a snow field near the top of the mountains. It must be a pattern created as the snowfield partially melts each summer, and we would not have seen it if we were socked in by clouds or rain. It was nice to see, though, and it was a pleasant end to a beautiful day.

Next Post: Hubbard Glacier

Alaska Cruise 2025: Seward

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Many years ago we visited Alaska (twice!) with our kids. These were improvised trips on a tight budget: we flew to Anchorage, rented a car, used a camp stove to prepare one-dish meals, and toured parts of Alaska that we could easily reach by road. Those were wonderful times, and we have always wanted to go back. It finally happened this year when we flew to Anchorage and took a Viking cruise down the Alaska coast and through the inside passage to Vancouver, British Columbia. After leaving the ship, we visited Victoria, B.C. and then took the Rocky Mountaineer over to Banff. The entire trip lasted about 17 days, and was superb! We will share some of our photos and highlights of the trip in a series of posts, starting here with Seward:

Our cruise ship, the Viking Orion, in port at Seward, Alaska. The Orion would be our home for the next several days as we made our way down the coast to Vancouver, British Columbia. If you are not familiar with Viking, their ocean cruises carry about 900+ passengers (there were 914 on this cruise). These ships are spacious enough to not feel crowded, yet small enough to get into places that are too tight for larger ships. And Viking cruises are quiet: no casinos, water slides, theme-park entertainment, or herds of people. However, they don’t sack and pillage villages along the way, so if it is loot you want, you need to look for a different cruise line.
During our day in Seward we took a smaller boat, shown above, for a tour of Kenai Fjords National Park. We had taken this tour during our first visit to Alaska many years ago, and knew it to be a winner. The scenery and wildlife watching were both spectacular, and definitely worth the risk of getting seasick on this size of boat. This excursion was one of the top highlights of the entire trip.
On our way out of the Seward harbor into Resurrection Bay. This view to the east shows the immense scenery that is so typical of Alaska. Notice the glacier flowing down between peaks of the Resurrection Peninsula; this was one of many glaciers we saw on this excursion and on most of the cruise.
Small pinnacle islands (they probably have a name, but it escapes me) along the edge of Resurrection Bay. We are not yet out into the Gulf of Alaska, so we don’t see the ocean swell that prevails in the Gulf. Small fishing boats turned up from time to time in this part of the Bay, so I expect the fishing was good.
Bear Glacier, the largest valley glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. We were thankful to have good weather, with clear views of the amazing scenery. Given the ruggedness of the terrain, a boat tour is the best way to see the Park. Other than helicopter or bush plane, it may be the only way.
Whales! As we sailed from Resurrection Bay into the Gulf of Alaska, we were fortunate to come across a group of about 10 humpback whales bubble feeding. Basically, the whales circle under a school of fish and exhale to create a curtain of bubbles to herd the fish closer together. Once the fish are close enough, the humpbacks lunge up through the school of fish to scoop up as many as possible. The area under their chin expands as they scoop up water, fish, and (if they get in the way) birds, and then they squeeze out the water to filter and swallow the food. The birds know to look for the area of bubbles, and fly in to grab some of the fish. This photo shows at least two or three of the humpbacks shoving their heads up through the water as they scoop up fish.
More humpback whales, with the flukes of one of them up in the air as he prepares to go deep. How many whales can you find in this photo? We see the arched back of one, the flukes (tail) of a second one, and the faint exhale (blow) of a third. And I think that might be a small area of exposed back of a fourth whale showing behind the flukes of the second whale. What do you think?
Aialik Glacier where it enters the sea at the end of one of the fjords. The ice flows downslope several feet per day, and the glacier is probably at least 200 fee thick where it calves off into the water. Sizes are hard to estimate on this scale and at this distance, so the face if the glacier might be quite a bit more than 200 feet high.
Tufted puffin cruising in the water near Resurrection Bay. Glaciers don’t move very fast, and mountains are even slower, so they are relatively easy to photograph. Birds are a different story, and I lost track of how many times I was lining up a shot only to have the bird suddenly take off or take a dive underwater. Anyone who successfully photographs wildlife, butterflies, or young children has my respect!

Next Post: Valdez

How do I Know?

~ Jesse Yow ~ 3 Comments

Readers of this blog know that we visited Yellowstone National Park in early May of this year. However, some weeks before the trip, at least three concerned friends and family members asked us how we could safely visit Yellowstone since the newly elected administration had dismissed all of the park rangers? How could we even think of making such a trip, given the dangers and lack of maintenance to be found in an unstaffed national park?

We keep track of the news pretty well, but had heard nothing of DOGE reviews or any other federal action that would lay off all the rangers. So we checked our usual news sites. Nothing. Poked around on social media. Nothing, except some mention of a letter by the park superintendent saying that rumors of layoffs were false. We checked the park web pages but could not fine the supposed letter, nor could we find any mention of staffing changes. Finally, we checked the Association of Park Rangers (or whatever that group is called) and learned that there was a temporary hiring freeze in place, but few if any positions had been cut. As a former national lab worker, I knew from personal experience that nearly every new administration starts out with a hiring freeze that could last for days, weeks, or even months, so that did not worry me. Bottom line: contrary to what our friends and family members were led to believe, there were still rangers at Yellowstone, and the park was fully staffed for that time of year. In fact, when we visited in May, we verified this with a couple of rangers, and we saw two groups of new (summer) employees going through orientation.

One of my five sisters-in-law had raised the alarm about “no park rangers.” When we told her about our visit, we also mentioned what we learned about the staffing situation. She realized she had been misled, and asked, “How do I know” what is true to avoid being misled again. That was a good question, and we don’t have easy answers. However, here is what we suggested:

First, use your critical thinking skills and ask lots of questions. Questions like what is it, why did it happen or why will it happen, and how do you know. If things don’t add up or if somethings seems fishy, and the topic is important to you, keep digging. You are smarter than you give yourself credit for, you are literate, and you have the tenacity to find out the truth. And if the story comes from “they said” or from an “unnamed source,” hold on to your wallet!

      Second, and if it is important enough to warrant your time and energy, consult multiple sources. Like it or not, CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Not the Bee, World Magazine, Epoch Times, Al Jazeera, the news aggregators, and all the others each put their own personal spins on news, they often write headlines with a slant to favor their world view, and they tend to either downplay or completely omit news that does not support their narratives. Compare how they cover things like an inflation report, crime in Chicago, or war in the Middle East (to name but three examples) and you will start to see the differences. You need to distill the truth from the information coming at you.

      Third, realize that while “the truth will out,” as a family proverb says, it may take time for the whole story to come to light. The news cycle will try to reach its desired conclusion and move on to the next marketable story (they do have to make a living somehow), but there may be more information that will come out in the next day, week, or month. We can afford to take a long view and look past the hair-on-fire hype that the networks dish out.

      Finally, please do not give up on your concerns for others, and please realize that we know Him who has all of us, from the greatest to the least or us, in the palm of His hand. He knows the past, present, and future, and He has our good in mind. There will be wars and rumors of wars; there will be earthquakes, fires, and floods; and there will even be visitors gored by bison in Yellowstone (every tourist season, apparently), but we can hope because of Him.

      Yellowstone 2025 May 7

      ~ Jesse Yow ~ 1 Comment

      On our last full day in Yellowstone we opted to look for more wildlife amidst the immense landscapes. We took another drive to Roosevelt and then Lamar Valley, and hit the jackpot in terms of bears as well as a few other animals. Here are some photos:

      Mammoth Hot Springs steaming in the distance. The white minerals making up the steaming terraces are travertine, a form of calcium carbonate deposits found in caves and springs. Look just this side of the terraces and you can see a few buildings to give a sense of scale. One of our photographic challenges was always how to capture the immensity of the views. Our eyes and brains work together to provide an appropriate sense of awe when we see this in person, but we are still learning how to capture it in an image.
      We passed a fresh elk kill near Blacktail Pond, on the way to Roosevelt. The kill had been there for only a couple of days, and the professional photographers were frustrated that something or some things were coming to eat the carcass in the middle of the night when nobody was around to see. One photographer had stayed until 11:00pm and another arrived at 2:00am, and in between those hours something ate about half of the elk. Probably a pack of wolves, since I don’t think a bear could eat that much that fast. Anyway, when we passed by on May 7 we were fortunate to see a coyote on the kill, and he saw us, too.
      We watched the coyote at his meal for several minutes, and in between bites he kept looking up to scan the area around him. Suddenly, he decided that he was done and headed off down the valley. Did he smell or hear wolves in the distance? We waited for a few minutes to see if some other predator would show up, but never did see the reason for the coyote’s sudden departure.
      Small herd of elk skylined on a ridge above the road. They know that they are potentially part of a carnivore’s food, and were appropriately skittish.
      “Red dog” baby bison. We saw many of these recently-born calves with the bison herds, and they were fun to watch. Usually they stayed close to their mothers, but once in a while they would prance, jump, and skip, bouncing all over the ground as they enjoyed their new life. Reminded us of Malachi 4:2, to see how they skipped and jumped!
      We first thought these were pronghorn in the distance, but then we realized the horns were wrong for pronghorns, and that pronghorns look much sleeker than these animals. Think these are female bighorn sheep, gradually shedding their winter coats.
      Osprey sitting in nest above the Lamar River. Kind of a raggedy nest, and it does not look particularly secure in that dead tree, but maybe that’s what they like.
      Grizzly bear among the thickets in Lamar Valley. This bear was was prowling around as if looking for something, but never did stop or graze. Nice looking coat!
      Another bear, further down the road. Not sure if this is a black bear or a grizzly. We can’t go by color, so does he have a hump between his shoulder blades?
      Yet another bear. This one had just crossed the Lamar River and started climbing up the loose slope on the far side from us. No shoulder hump, so we assume it was a black bear.
      Same black bear as before, at the top of the river bank. Looking at the size of the bear compared to the scrub brush, it would be easy to miss seeing such an animal if it was in among the bushes.
      Yet another bear, this one cinnamon-colored. We think this one was a grizzly, too, because we got a brief glimpse of the characteristic dish-shaped face. This was another bear foraging for something to eat.
      Tourists in front of the old entrance arch just outside of Gardiner, MT. This was near the end of our visit, and we were almost ready to head home. It was a great time, and we thank God for the opportunity to see such a spectacular part of His creation!

      Yellowstone 2025 May 6

      ~ Jesse Yow ~ Leave a comment

      On May 6 the weather turned back to spring and we were ready for more wildlife spotting. This time we decided to drive south and east from Mammoth to reach Hayden Valley and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The south entrance from Grand Teton and the road between Roosevelt and Canyon were both still closed, so we were working around those obstacles on parts of the Grand Loop. After visiting Yellowstone Falls and Hayden Valley we took an evening drive from Mammoth towards Roosevelt. Here are some of our photos:

      Classic view of Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. So classic, in fact, that there were two artists there painting the scene. As you can see, we were still dealing with drifts of winter snow, and some of the trails to canyon overlooks were still closed. In fact, the Firehole Lake Drive, Blacktail Deer Plateau Drive, Tower Falls, Dunraven Pass, and trail to the overlook on the ridge above Grand Prismatic Spring were all still closed during our visit.
      Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, looking the opposite direction from the falls. You can see where the name of the canyon and river might have originated, although there does not seem to be any clear historical evidence for how they were actually named. We were hoping to see bighorn sheep or other animals on the slopes, but struck out.
      Closer view of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone. If you look closely at the left side of the bottom of the falls and use your imagination, the pile of snow and ice kind of looks like a bear taking a nap. The river was in full flow because of the spring runoff, and made for an impressive sight.
      While driving along the Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley we spotted some trumpeter swans. The image includes four swans (one has his head underwater) and an assortment of ducks. Bird identification is not our strength, but we think we saw mallards, harlequin ducks, coots, and maybe some loons. Problem is, we don’t know which is which, and we were not fast enough with Cornell’s Merlin bird ID app to identify what we saw. We also saw numerous ravens, geese, and magpies, but those were easy. It was nice to see such a variety as we moved about the park.
      Great Blue Heron wading in a backwater of the Yellowstone River. He had probably been fishing until we arrived, but then he stopped to keep an eye on what we were doing. A striking bird, although a little shaggy looking.
      White pelican fishing for his lunch. He would dip his bill and part of his head underwater and come up with something to swallow, but even though we took several photos in sequence, we did not get a picture of what he was finding.
      After returning to Mammoth in the afternoon, we decided to take a spin east towards Roosevelt to see what we could find. First thing was this black bear with a glossy coat. Bears had been coming out of hibernation for at least the past month, and we expected to find them lean and mean. Instead, nearly every bear we saw looked kind of prosperous even though clearly looking for food. A ranger told us winter was not as harsh as usual this year, and the spring was good in terms of opportunities to find food. So the bears looked healthy and the new cubs were growing fast.
      Further down the road we found this mother grizzly and her cub foraging among the sagebrush and undergrowth. Good looking bears! And look at how big the cub has already grown. We thought that many of the cubs we saw might be yearlings, but a ranger assured us that they were newborn and fast-growing, and not yearlings.
      As we passed the Petrified Tree turn-off en route to Roosevelt, a fellow tourist helped us spot this grouse beside the highway. Actually, there were two of them foraging for food along the ground. They did not seem to be spooked by passing cars, but we suspect that passing coyotes would get more of their attention.
      Last but not least on this fourth full day of our visit, we found this mother black bear and her cub. They were relaxed and playing, and, although the distance was too far to shoot a decent video, we were able to take a series of photos as they played rough-and-tumble on the grass. Fun to watch.
      The fun came to an end when they noticed us watching from the road. At that point we decided to move on rather than disturb their play, or business, or whatever.

      Next post: more bears and more wildlife on our last full day in the park.