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6/17/02, 11:30 p.m., Cody, Wyoming
Brian and I just got done looking at almost 300 photos that I took just today, certainly the most I’ve taken any day this trip. But today, again, was filled with wonder and, at one point again, I was on the verge of tears.

I started the day by waking up before Brian, getting dressed and going down the street to check out Cody. I found a nice little place to get coffee and some breakfast treats and then just checked out the downtown, taking a few photos as I went. It is really a nice little Western town. It was founded in 1896 by William “Buffalo Bill” Cody and his influence and image are everywhere. His original hotel, the Irma, is still in operation.

Western Wreath Fountian

Seidel's Saddlery Mural, Cody, Wyoming


At any rate I found it to be a nice-looking, clean, friendly town and I am glad we decided to stay here, though next time we come (and I can pretty much guarantee we will—we’ve already talked about it a bit), we will probably stay either in the park or closer to it.

From there we headed out on a nice leisurely drive up the mountains to Yellowstone National Park, the original and ultimate goal of our entire trip. Except for giving myself a really bad sunburn, especially on the upper face, the rest of the day was near perfect. Every day so far the weather has cooperated very nicely and, despite some overhanging clouds off and on throughout the day, that pattern held true.

Mountain View, Yellowstone National Park

The drive was beautiful, through some incredible mountain country. Shortly after we got into the park we came across our first wildlife, a great blue heron along the side of the road. It is my favorite bird and it seemed to bode well for the day that we had seen one. A short distance up the road there was a buffalo Buffalo in Classic Pose
feeding along a hillside. We stopped and I got some great photos of that.

Almost by accident we stumbled upon the first of the bubbling pools and geysers that mark this park. Thumb Paint Pots
I can’t recall right now what the area was called, but it was the “western” something, and it was amazing. Various hues of water bubbling, steaming, sitting idly by in numerous oddly shaped pools and cones. One would be a brilliant blue (and was called Black Pool) Black Pool
and the next would be rust or some other color. Pool with Steam Hillside, West Thumb Geyser Basin Shoreline, West Thumb Geyser Basin

The hillside looked like a bombed-out forest and the whole scene felt absolutely otherworldly, as if we were walking on some strange planet. It made me realize how little I know of the earth that I live on, and how much I have yet to see and to learn.

After we left the geysers we came across a number of stopped cars. One rule of thumb in a national park like Yellowstone is that if you see a group of stopped cars there is likely some kind of animal off the side of the road. In this case it was a moose calf, with its mother off just a short distance in the woods. I managed to get some decent pictures of it and was stunned that I was seeing yet another moose.
Young Moose


The main goal of the day was Old Faithful and we arrived just as it was finishing its eruption, but that gave us time to wander around the area and check out some of the many of other geysers and bubbling cauldrons that are strewn around. Geyser Hill Bacteria Mat
Old Faithful


While we were waiting I thought I saw a wolf and grabbed Brian to get his video camera out because of how much he loves wolves. It turned out to be a coyote and we got to watch it swim across a river, shake itself dry, and then amble off.
Coyote on the Firehole River


After that we waited and watched Old Faithful erupt and, oddly enough, found it to be the most underwhelming thing of the day. Old Faithful Erupting

I suppose it has to do with the fact that we’ve seen scores of photos and plenty of video footage of it, so it wasn’t anything new. It maybe had seemed even better on video. It didn’t help that the sky was full of clouds and the wind was blowing like crazy, so it was hard to tell what was water, steam, or clouds. At any rate, the rest of the day seemed more interesting.

Shortly after leaving Old Faithful we saw another group of cars stopped along the highway, so we did the same. We looked down an embankment to see a large group of elk—there must have been at least 12-15, I counted 12 at one point—lounging about on the grass below. Most of them were lying on the grass and a couple were standing. As most of the people left a baby elk came out from behind some trees and went over and joined the group, followed by an adult that kept pushing it along. Then, one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen, it moved over to one of the adult elk and started suckling, so we got to stand there and watch the elk calf taking nourishment from its mother. Elk Calf Nursing
When I got back to the car I had to wipe tears from my eyes for a second consecutive day.

That was not the end of it. Of course the mountain scenery was beautiful. At one point we stopped at an incredible waterfall Kepler Cascades
and, at another group of stopped cars, saw our first bear. I thought it was a black bear and Brian thought it was a grizzly, so we can’t say for sure which it was, but it was definitely a bear. Unfortunately, the number of people must have spooked it, as a few moments after we had stopped, as Brian was trying to get the videocam ready and I was trying to get my camera ready, it took off running and disappeared from view up over the hill.

The last incredible thing we saw was not only incredible, but very funny. As we were coming back down the mountain we noticed two vehicles stopped in the middle of our lane in front of us. Brian, of course, braked, both of us wondering what the heck was going on. Then we saw a buffalo, followed by a second one, calmly walking up the ascending lane of traffic, with mountain wall on one side of them and cars on the other. They walked within a foot or so of the car as Brian was videotaping and trying to get me to shut the window (which I had opened for a better view). Of course, they were on his side of the vehicle.

As we were just about down the mountain we stopped for a restroom break and some Pepsi and discovered that there was a mother bear and two cubs way up on a hill quite some distance away. However, it was close enough for Brian to be able to bring them in with the zoom on his videocam, so we did ultimately get some bear footage.

Lastly, we saw a number of mule deer along the road about dusk, but again did not have a place to pull over to photograph them. They continue to be elusive. Maybe tomorrow.

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