Elk Buddies

Here's another image of the elk that greeted us at the entrance to Yellowstone yesterday.  They were the only two elk that we saw in that area and seemed to have a good relationship with each other.  It was easy to imagine that they were "buddies"!  

Yellowstone Elk - Official Park Greeters!

Yesterday we spent the entire day in the northeast section of Yellowstone National Park.  It was pretty cold when we left the hotel in Gardiner, about 5 degrees below zero.  We were hoping for a morning filled with wildlife sightings and right away we got off to a great start.  This pair of elk were hanging out right by the park's entrance station.  We were driving up to the station when these two buddies came walking up over the hill.  They posed nicely for us for several minutes then proceeded to walk towards town.  Our day was off to a great start!

Bison Highway - You shall not pass!

We are now in the northeast section of Yellowstone National Park, the only area of the park with a road that is open all winter.  This afternoon we drove in as far as the Lamar Valley hoping to see wildlife.  We saw several elk, mule deer, antelope, a coyote and at least a few hundred bison!  Our favorite was this big guy which was walking right down the road towards us.  A "classic" Yellowstone image!

Thanksgiving Morning at Earthquake Lake

On Thanksgiving morning I got up early to drive out to Earthquake Lake outside of West Yellowstone, Montana and (hopefully) catch some nice clouds and colors from the sunrise.  Things worked out quite nicely, as you can see!  It was a cold morning with the temperature hovering right around zero degrees, but the beautiful view was worth the cold.  Earthquake Lake is very unique.  It was formed from an earthquake on August 17, 1959 that caused a massive landslide which blocked the flow of the Madison River and created the lake.  The earthquake measured 7.3 - 7.5 on the Richter scale.  

Fearing that the pressure from the rising water would cause a flood, the Army Corps of Engineers cut a 250 foot wide and 14 foot deep channel into the slide.  By September 10th water was flowing through the slide.  To prevent more erosion another channel was cut, this one 50 feet wide and was completed on October 29th.  It is definitely one of the most unique features in the West Yellowstone area.

Happy Thanksgiving from Montana!

Sunset light over the Gallatin River between Big Sky and West Yellowstone.  We are enjoying a beautiful Thanksgiving Day here in Montana. I hope you are all having a wonderful day as well! 

Fiery Sunset over the Continental Divide

The other day after watching the moon rise over the Madison Range, we continued driving south back towards Highway 20 and West Yellowstone.  It had been a very gray afternoon with relatively thick cloud cover.  As sunset approached, however, there must have been a break in the clouds to the west.  We driving along when Jessica said "Ooooh, the sky is lighting up!"  Just moments later the sky was on fire with the reflected light from the sun setting behind the mountains.  We looked for the next available spot to pull over and enjoyed this amazing sunset from the side of the highway.  The mountains shown include Sawtell Peak, Mt. Jefferson and Nemesis Mountain.  The Continental Divide is in between Sawtell Peak in Idaho and Nemesis Mountain in Montana.  

Moonrise over the Madison Range

Jessica and I are in West Yellowstone for the Yellowstone Ski Festival and some sightseeing. This afternoon after our morning ski we went for a drive around the Madison Range.  As we were driving south along the western side of the range we saw a beautiful moon rising over the mountains just before sunset.