Bull elk can be found at Gibbon Meadows.

The original plan was to wake up early (again), search for wildlife in the morning and then drive to Boise (maybe even getting there in time for fireworks). My, how quickly things can change.

We were going to make the most of our $130 room, so we "slept in" until 8:30am. Driving all the way back to Madison --yes, we got gas-- we stuffed the tent (thankfully still there), air mattresses and everything else in the car, checked out, and were back on our way.

Heading north around midday, we managed one more bear jam. This time it was a black bear and cub at Mammoth, bringing our total number of bears sighted to at least 15 for the trip. One problem with shooting in July is that the grass is so darn tall, it keeps blocking those all-important grazing bear faces! I also felt sorry for the bloke who brought out his whopping bazooka of a lens to shoot the bears. He was forced to stand back behind everyone because his lens was too powerful, and kept muttering any time someone walked in front of him. Score another point for the flexibility of the Bigma!

Another bear jam passed on the way to Roosevelt. The ranger said it was the same group as the previous day, and with our time constraints we chose to keep going. Needed to find some otters! Hiked to Trout Lake, and this time we were in luck. It was around 1 or 2 in the afternoon at this point, so I guess one doesn't need to get up early to see otters.

They were resting in a big brown pile when we arrived, and I was worried they had tired themselves out from playing all morning. Luckily, they soon stirred, and were bouncing in and out of the water with abandon. Watching them chase the spawning cutthroat was quite a sight, the otter dashing through the water like an olympic butterflyer... above and below the water line before finally catching up to its prey.

This particular group included two younger otters. Someone mentioned that two of the adults were actually last year's pups all grown up, and they'd come back to hang out with mom and the pair of new pups. The older siblings seemed to relish their status in the heirarchy, constantly teasing and bullying the wee ones, not allowing them to climb out of the water and even giving them a few dunkings.

The otters at Trout Lake put on a show.

A couple hours of watching and shooting made the day a success, despite some camera issues. 'Twas time to hit the road.

It didn't take long for our plans to go awry again, thanks to our third bison jam of the trip. This was by far the worst, as a herd exited Gibbon Meadows and began the long walk down the narrow road toward Madison. We were stuck behind them for 2.5 hours, only going about 4 miles in that time. Ultimately, it meant getting to Boise at about 2 in the morning and only having an hour-and-a-half of sleep before leaving for the airport. On the plus side, we got to see nearly every fireworks show in southeastern Idaho.

The End.