Out of the Backcountry

(July 27th) Yellowstone gave us a good, old-fashioned whipping. We had a few unfortunate experiences, so it seemed wise to head out of the backcountry for a bit and do some wildlife watching. First we had to get out of the backcountry though. Alex and I spent the morning hiking around near our campsite and got to witness some of the devastation the 1988 fire caused in Yellowstone.



While we hadn't seen much wildlife that was different from Michigan so far, we were treated to a lovely American robin in fantastic light and scenery. We also just missed quite a large bear that crossed our tracks as we headed back to the campsite.



On our way out of the backcountry, we had quite a few amusing experiences - including our favorite activity - water-crossings - this time complete with a buffalo that looked as if it was considering charging us and our cameras. But towards the end of our hike out, I spotted this blue grouse which let Alex and I approach it for some nice shots.



Once we got back to our vehicles, we spend the early part of the evening looking around for wildlife. Even Andy (witness to two photography nuts for the first time ever) was starting to call out things like, "the light is getting great". We spent the golden hours working a wonderful pronghorn male. He barely noticed our presence and spent the evening grazing and at one point scratched his head on a tall thistle.