Day 5 ~ Yellowstone National Park!

Wednesday ~ June 22, 2011

We wake at campsite 17 in Wapiti campground to a beautiful sunny Wyoming day! We are excited because today a guide from Grub Steak Expeditions is picking us up at 8 am. Diana found this company thru Yellowstone and called Bob Richards, the owner to inquire about private tours in Yellowstone. Bob could not have been kinder and offered to talk to all of us during one of our many planning meetings for this trip. We hired them at that meeting and were very excited about the idea of having Bob take us through Yellowstone. Kathy spoke to him several times during our travels, letting him know where we would be for pick up, and what we wanted for lunch, etc. She asked "Will you be our guide?" She was really getting quite fond of "Bob". Mr. Richards informed us that, "no, we would be with one of his other guides named Mick."

Well, we would like you to meet Mick...

Mick Barrus grew up in Cody and taught school and coached sports for 26 years. He worked summers for the Forest Service for many years and full-time for 10 years for the Shoshone National Forest. He's a popular speaker on the natural sciences and wildlife especially black bears and grizzlies ~ his special interests. He's known throughout the country as a motivational speaker and lecturer, and is dedicated to community service and Lions Club International.

Specialties: Natural sciences, wildlife, history.

Mick arrived at our campsite driving a red and white suburban, old school! Introductions all around... Mick, Kathy, JIm, Dave and Diana.

We found out, after being with Mick for a few minutes, that we were in really good hands!

We drive the 25 miles or so to Yellowstone National Park all the while Mick fills us in on some Cody to Yellowstone history~

Mick takes our picture at the entrance sign! Smiling and happy faces!

Kathy says, "Thanks Bob." We say, "It's Mick, not BOB!

The road in is so scenic...

Mick pulls over to show us a map of the lake.

We are thrilled to see all kinds of wildlife as we tour the Upper Loop of the park.

This first day will include Lamar Valley and Fishing Bridge Village.

Got a look at this guy... We were so excited!

We saw many geological sites like the Norris Geyser Basin~

This is Diana trying to reign Dave in for a quick picture!

We approached a traffic jam and Mick was pretty certain it was a black bear that had been hanging around in that area the past few days. We jumped out of the car and ran up to the spot and sure enough there he was... a cute little guy!

Diana could not get a clear shot of him though, he just stayed behind some trees!

In Fishing Bridge Village we spot these lovely creatures...

Snow still on the mountain...

This stuff just won't melt! The bison don't seem to mind it! We are headed for the Lamar Valley where we will see abundant wildlife, so we are told!

Speaking of snow, Mick pointed out the world war two cannon which sits on the mountain side to set off avalanches of snow so it won't build up.

This is a view across the road from the cannon...

We see so much damage from fire here in Yellowstone. It is sad to see such devastation. Kathy asks Mick how the fires started and he says they are from heat lightning. We wonder why they are not cleared out and Mick explained that everything in Yellowstone is left in its natural state. He then showed us some new growth area that had new trees. When the fire burned the trees, the pine cones fell to the ground and the heat melted away the outer part, which then allowed the seed to stay on the ground. He did say the new trees probably needed to be thinned out, but Yellowstone wouldn't do it ~ they leave it natural.

Geyser activity...



Absolutely amazing but so awful smelling! Dave, Mick, Kathy and Jim, posing for the camera!

We see beautiful lakes as we travel the park.

Nature at its best...

The majestic buffalo~ shedding winter layers by rubbing against trees. In Yellowstone, they walk leisurely along the road, sometimes causing major traffic jams!! When babies are born, the bison often stay near geysers since the smell will help keep predators, like wolves, from harming them.

Bison in Lamar Valley~

Mick is a great story teller~ he fills our heads with detailed stories from the parks past! He also tells great jokes and keeps us laughing!

Lunch time~ Mick brings lunch for us and he takes us to a great picnic spot! Here we are unloading the car~
After lunch, Mick passes a small cooler and asks "Want any fruit?" As we look in the cooler, we laugh again because it is filled candy treats!!

These little squirrels were running in and out of holes in the ground near by...
Diana walked over to the boardwalk to get the shot above and the little fellow jumped right up next to her!
Perhaps he is hungry too!
Isn't he so cute? Not one of us could remember what kind of "squirrel" he was but we still wanted to share the pictures!

We then went to Tower Falls. This is a shot of the river at the bottom of the falls.

Back before Yellowstone was a national park, artists painted pictures that they used to help create interest in the area. Here is a painting of Tower Falls...

Mick points out that sometimes the details on the painting were "embellished" a bit! As if they needed to add more to something so beautiful! All day long, our Kathy keeps calling Mick ~ BOB! We all get some good belly laughs every time she does!

Here's the shot Diana took of the falls~

New trees~

Larkspur... We were told this little flower will make the animal go a little nuts!

Look out little guy...
Out looking for a little fun~ He is sure beautiful!

Day 2 in Yellowstone coming up...

When we arrived back at camp, we had a visit from the camp "host", who informed us the river was rising and our campground might be flooded. WHAT? We had to move from our cozy home to another spot along with four or five of our neighbors! Remember that picture of Dave in the river last post? That gravel spot he had crossed the river to stand on was now GONE~ We put a stick to mark the rise of water and we made a new camp on the other side of the campground road. More on this excitement later!