Yellowstone: The Bear Necessities

On Monday, we headed to bear country. And, we did actually see our first bear of the park! Ironically, it wasn't actually in said bear country. 

We drove south and east this time, down the road that would have eventually led us to Cody, Wyoming. This brought us by Yellowstone Lake, which we learned is the largest lake in the United States over 7,000 feet. As we gained altitude we passed over the Continental Divide. This was a term I knew but didn't really fully understand until we stopped by an informational kiosk that explained it in the National Park Service's universally interesting manner. For the uninitiated, the Continental Divide marks where flowing water essentially changes direction. Everything to the east flows to the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico, and everything to the West flows to the Pacific. There was even an small aquatic oddity on site: a tiny pond with two outlets - one that flowed east and one that flowed west. And, just to show it had a sense of humor, the easterly outlet twisted in such a way that it ultimately flowed to the Pacific, and vice versa for the westerly outlet. Those crazy NPS ponds!

Just as we were about to arrive at our big hike for the day, we saw a group of cars parked along the side of the road. In the park, this is a sure sign of wildlife! We pulled to the side, stepped out, and there it was! Our first Yellowstone bear! A big ol' grizzly creeping around some fallen logs looking for food.

For those keeping track, that's three National Parks, three bears. We were still batting 1.000, and that fel pretty good especially after all the big talk of the Yellowstone grizzlies. And, to make this encounter even more exciting, our hike was reputed to be the best bear-sighting trail in the lower 48. This was a place where, once you hit the wood line, you didn't just carry your bear spray ... you carried it in your hand!

We eventually made it out onto a vast plain, where you could see bison grazing in the distance. It was enchanting, but, sadly, we didn't see a single bear.

Our hike was pretty lengthy (a healthy 7 miles), but with almost no elevation change we thought it would be a piece of cake. Quite the contrary! With the melting snow from the previous day making the trail a muddy mess and the blustery winds, this was one of our most demanding. 

In the end, even without a trail bear sighting, we considered the day a huge success. We'd seen our roadside bear, keeping our average up. And, we'd had an epic hike that really gave us a sense of Yellowstone's vastness. Not a bad day, if I do say so myself.