Yellowstone day 1
We’re having a totally different kind of camping trip this time around. Forget the “roughing it” part—this trip comes with power, internet, and working cell phones. Now that’s my kind of camping! No water hookup, but that’s no big deal. We got to fill the tanks right here, which means no hauling all that extra weight. And when it’s time to leave? We’ll dump the tanks before heading out—no hauling that shit home with us.
We rolled in around 11 a.m., took our “after-school naps” (yes, I still call them that), and then headed out to the park. We’re only 7.5 miles from the Gardiner entrance, which is perfect because the whole reason we’re here is for Rick to photograph the rutting elk. We didn’t spot any big action today, but we saw a few hanging around in Mammoth, a couple more on the way back, and even a bunch right in downtown Gardiner. Tomorrow’s looking promising.
Driving deeper into the park, we spotted a storm up ahead. It wasn’t long before we drove right into it. As we climbed toward Cooke City, cars coming down the road were dusted with two inches of white. Snow? Hail? That part’s still up for debate, but either way, the road was covered in the stuff. Then, around one curve, we saw something eerie—a lone tree on fire, struck by lightning in the storm. The tree itself was a leftover skeleton from the massive 1988 fire, now lit up again like it wasn’t ready to give up just yet. Just as I wondered if anyone had called it in, a convoy of park service trucks came barreling toward us. Clearly, someone had.
Traffic in Yellowstone is its own beast. I had my phone ready for photos when we came across our first jam of the day, but all I managed to capture was a bear’s backside disappearing into the trees. Another hour later, we hit dead-stopped traffic again. If you’ve ever driven Yellowstone, you know what that means: animals. And sure enough, one stubborn bison was blocking the road all by himself.
The real show was in Lamar Valley. Thousands of bison, all of them apparently deciding 4 p.m. was rush hour. They crossed one at a time, slow as molasses, while we sat there in a parking lot disguised as a highway. By the time we turned around and retraced our path, the burning tree had escalated—this time, a helicopter was swooping in and dumping water right on it. We pulled over to watch and snapped some great shots.
All in all, no rutting elk today, but plenty of storms, bison, and even a fire show. Not a bad first day at all.
