Day 2 started off with a couple black bear encounters |
I set the alarm a bit earlier today, hoping we'd actually make it onto the northern road as the light emerged this morning. That didn't keep Jenn from sleeping in until 5:30, but we were still out the door by 5:45.
Two moose were the first to greet us this morning, at their usual spot near Petrified Tree. All the way up the Tower Road all was quiet, so we were finally headed to the Lamar. As we approached the bridge after Roosevelt, I spied a black spot working its way through the trees on the far side. A bear was approaching the road just as we were converging on the same spot via the bridge. I slowed to a crawl, and Jenn was able to look down out of her window at the mildly inquisitive, mostly disinterested blackie. We snapped a couple photos before it proceeded up the hillside, so off we went to the Lamar.
The valley was empty until we reached Footbridge, where a number of wolf watchers were staking out a fresh carcass. An injured elk that had been seen in the area for days had finally expired overnight. A coyote could be seen through the scope tugging at the elk, but no wolves had arrived yet to take over.
We completed our customary Lamar loop at Round Prairie and returned through the valley and Little America. Back at the bridge, a hoard of vehicles were parked and everyone was staring downward toward the river. It turns out we had just missed the show, as Bill and Bart reported that a black bear had been kicking around an old bison carcass. Was it the same bear we had seen at the bridge less than an hour before? We'll never know.
At this point we also saw Bill and Linda Kaiser (who thankfully was wearing shoes). The reunions continued when we reached Tower Junction. The scopers were out seeking out wolves that had been spotted coming over from Elk Creek, and it's at this point that I spotted Ria and her badger-clad dad. They told me about all the great stuff we missed over the last week :roll: before I headed back up the Tower Road for another potential Rosie sighting. She wasn't around, but the reliable blackie at the bottom of the hill was on his usual trail through the woods near the road. It was our first good opportunity for a few bear shots, as he sat down like the great Buddha and sniffed around for a while.
Anticipating that he'd continue up the road, we hopped in the car and went up to Rainy Lake, only to find another black bear out in the meadow. So we parked and concentrated on that bear instead. This plump ball of fur spent a lot of time going from tree to tree, scratching its bum, occasionally standing up and scratching its back, and then moving on to the next tree. Too often, it stood up on the other side of the tree, but thankfully it found a nice small contoured trunk and showed off its satisfaction as it did away with an annoying itch.
We had a few hours to kill after that before returning to Tower for a pre-planned meeting with Helene and Rene, so we drove up to Silver Gate to visit some friends and conduct a little business. As of this afternoon, my wildlife maps and some photo prints are on sale at the Sun Dog Trading Company in Silver Gate, so make sure to stop by! ;) So yes, it was a fruitful trip, and we also got to hear about how a few days ago, wolves came storming through Silver Gate in the middle of the night chasing elk, even felling one in the willow flats right in the middle of town. Must've been quite a ruckus.
Pronghorn chased each other through Little America |
Back through the Lamar. A golden eagle was seen hopping around the ground near the elk carcass while a couple of disgruntled hawks were taking turns swooping in and divebombing it. The eagle seemed content staying landlocked as it hobbled through the brush.
We just made it to our appointment with the Dutchies at Calcite Springs in time, in the midst of a bearjam of course. No Rosie, but it was one of the many, many black bears that has been frequenting the area and bringing traffic to a standstill. Hugs all around as we exchanged gifts (stroopwafels!), met Helene's parents (more stroopwafels!) and shared stories from the last few days, and then decided to head out and explore. Another trip to Lamar, where I pointed out what seems to be a new osprey nest on the western edge of the valley. But that was really all we saw until we got back to Little America and stopped for several pronghorns, which were showing off their tremendous speed as they chased each other over the hills.
We dallied here a while as Bob and Diana showed up, followed by a couple of Loons who waylaid H & R. Then, one more shot at Rosie... and this time, she was there! Alas, it was fairly far off the road, but that didn't stop the crowd from swelling to a tremendous size. Pretty soon, the rangers got busy corralling all of us into something of an invisible pen. No one was allowed to go past a certain point, which happened to be really far away from the bears. The rangers were hoping to give Rosie and the cubs room to cross the road, but the bears never did leave the hill, and most of the time we were all milling around like a forgotten herd of sheep, craning our necks to see if we could spot the bears over the hillside 200 yards away without a ranger in sight to free us from our designated holding zone.
Still, we had plenty of time to chat with Shannon, Katie and Stacy (and dad), whom had all arrived to join in on the wait-and-see fun.
So in this case, a Rosie close-up was not to be, but perhaps there will be better opportunities once the holiday crowds thin out. We closed out the day by heading back to Gardiner for dinner with Helene and Rene before their long haul back to Lake. No trip reports from them for another day or two before they move their home base back to Gardiner.
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