Yellowstone

We left the town of Buffalo and followed US 16 into the tiny town of Tensleep. There at a local bar we met a jolly rancher who put me in the mind of Roy Clark, so I called him Roy. We talked about snakes, bears, ranching and branding the herd. He said that every rancher west of the Missouri River brands their stock. Cattle rustling, however still happens. If a few thieves round up some cattle and load them onto a trailer, they can sell the cattle at a market with no questions asked if they can get east of the Missouri.

About bears, he said that a black bear had killed a few of a rancher's hounds last year and all locals were on the look-out for the dangerous critter. Roy had met up with the bear one day when out riding with his hounds while hunting. He chased the bear for several miles. the bear easily out ran his horse as well as the dogs. The bear would occasionally stop to rest until Roy and hounds caught up then be off again.

He later discovered that the bear had chosen a spot behind some bushes near his home to take up summer residence. "When he laid down flat, you couldn't see him behind those bushes. I shudder to think how many times I rode right past him and never knew he was there."

The big critter stayed too long before hibernating the previous winter. After an early snow, a local rancher had no problem finding him and turning him into forest food for the coyotes and buzzards.

About coyotes he said, "they are the smelliest, most disgusting animals that God created. I killed one that was being a threat this summer and the buzzards wouldn't even eat it. I had to drag it out into the prairie where he could rot away."

The photo below is the bar in Tensleep and a sign that tells how the town got its name. Click to enlarge.

We spent the next night camped in Cody, named for Buffalo Bill, of course. We got an early start with a plan to stop along the way to cook breakfast. We fount the perfect spot along the Buffalo Bill Reservoir.

Our introduction to Yellowstone was a spectacular view of Yellowstone lake.

and a black bear digging along the main entrance. He stopped traffic simply by being so photogenic.

Not long after, traffic stopped again due to this buffalo walking slowly up the center line of the highway.

The park road is shaped as two joined circles forming a figure 8. Our chosen campsite was on the west so we drove south along the lower circle along the lake.

Along a side road that followed by a beach we saw this raven tearing at his roadkill.

We had more beautiful scenes like this than we could stop and photograph. We wanted to get to our campsite before dark but we also wanted to see Old Faithful along the way.

One of thousands of bubbling caldrons. The variations in color is the result of different strains and concentrations of bacteria.

Mandy in front of Old Faithful.

More later