Let me recap. Early August we went on a family trip to Bear Lake with Mike's parents, Mike's sister and her daughter SJ, and my other niece and nephew JD & JR. Much chaos and merriment ensued. The key part for us was that when we all went our separate ways G-ma & G-pa took the Bean with them.
I had really been looking forward to the two weeks Mike and I would have to ourselves. I knew I'd miss her, but I wasn't really worried about being apart from her for all that time. That sentiment, so different from other moms I know, worried me a bit. So, strange as it sounds, I was really glad when the tears rolled down my face as they drove off.
But then came the fun stuff. Anyone who knows me and Mike knows that we're crazy about the outdoors, and wildlife in particular. So Grand Teton and Yellowstone was a dream come true - even if it was only for five days (a few weeks might be enough, but probably not). There was so much more we would have liked to see, but since we had such a short time we decided to hit the highlights and make a list of stuff to include on future trips. Doesn't it always work this way?
So here's the highlights, short and sweet as I can make 'em. C'mon, it's Yellowstone! I could go on for hours.
• Old Faithful & the Upper Geyser Basin. Of course we had to see the main attraction. It had been easily a decade since Mike or I had seen it last. But as cool as Yellowstone’s best-known attraction can be it wasn’t the best one by a long shot. Morning Glory hot spring, about a mile walk down the paved path, had the most amazing colors. And Beehive geyser, which the ranger told us only erupts every couple days, was absolutely fantastic (this link describes it better than I ever could).
• Mammoth Hot Springs and Beaver Lakes. Our second day we headed up to the northwestern corner of Jellystone to check out the Mammoth Hot Springs and do a 5-mile loop hike I read about the hike in our Lonely Planet guidebook. The trail took us up through the mountains at the base of the Gallatin Range to two algae-filled ponds called Beaver Lakes. Beautiful views of Sepulcher Mountain and we even got to see a beaver swimming in one of the ponds. It rained on us toward the end and we had to take cover under some trees, but on the up side we met a wonderful family visiting from Israel.
• Wildlife. The list is not as extensive as we might have liked but we got to see quite a bit. More than we thought we would anyway. And though the views maybe more close-up on Animal Planet, in person is way cooler. Forgive all the bird species (what can I say? I married an ornithologist?)
Mammals: Beaver, Moose, Grizzly bear, Wolf, Bison, Elk, Mule deer, Pronghorn antelope (the fastest land mammal in N. America!), Coyote.Birds: Sandhill crane, Trumpeter swans, Gray Jay, Barn swallows & Violet-green swallows, Red-tailed hawks, Ravens, Kestrels, Williamson’s sapsucker, Bald eagle, Osprey, Lesser Scaup, Mountain chickadees, Western tanager (female), Broad-tailed or Calliope hummingbird (?), Empidonax flycatcher.
• Lamar Valley. We spent a full day in the valley affectionately known in the park as the Serengeti of the American West. All I can say is WOW! This broad open valley, rimmed by incredible ridges and peaks, is where we saw at least half the species on our list. When we got there we were a bit tired from out 5-mile hike the day before so we decided to just take a short 1.5 mile walk along the valley floor, see what we could see, and then turn back. Well, about 1.4 miles out Mike looked up on a nearby rise and started poking me in the side and pointing. The brown spot he pointed to turned out to be two grizzly bear cubs (complete with the hump on the back and silvery points on the fur). The first thought that crossed both our minds was “Oh sh%t, where’s Mama?” We watched them for 20 minutes or so standing back to back, with one of us looking at 
them through the binos and the other scanning the surroundings for big mama. We never saw her thank goodness. That evening as we headed back to camp we stopped on the roadside a few times in hopes of seeing one of the wolves from the Druid pack or the Slough Creek pack that inhabit the valley. At our last stop we got our wish. It was at quite a distance so I don’t have a good photo though.
• Grand Tetons and that f*!#ing roll of film. Our last day in the area time constraints made hiking out of the question so we did a bit of wildlife watching near the southern end of Jackson Lake. We didn’t see much, so we went into Jackson Hole to spend the afternoon at the Wildlife Art Museum and go to dinner to celebrate our anniversary (see below). The next morning we got up early to see what we could see before starting the drive for Laramie. We had heard rumors of moose and bear. We stopped at joined a crowd gathered just off the road. Sure enough, it was a moose munching on a tree. A few people kept creeping closer, which made us all a bit nervous but the moose didn’t seem to mind. So I thought, “Well, why not? I’ll creep up, snap a couple photos and sneak out.” So I did. And I was able to snap almost a whole roll of film crouched in the grass about 35 feet from it. Talk about amazing. And dangerous. But here’s the clincher. When I sent the film to Photoworks to have it developed, guess which roll produced nothing but exposed greyness? Naturally the one with the closest, most incredible wildlife shots of the trip. Ahhhhrrrrgggg!
Other bonuses.• Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone: amazing, both visually and geologically.
• Artist’s Paint pots: smelly but beautiful.
• Lewis Falls: I found a very interesting railing. It looks runic but I think it was bugs. Hayden Valley: at least as good for wildlife viewing as the Lamar Valley, maybe better. We didn’t have much time to explore it, which was one of our main regrets as we left.
• Jackson Hole. We ate at The Gun Barrel Steak & Game House. Expensive but highly worth it. I had elk medallions and Mike had the elk chops and buffalo ribs. The chops were soft, melt-in-your-mouth good. Like nothing either of us had ever had before. And strawberry rhubarb cobbler for dessert . . . Mmmmm. I went to bed a happy woman.
After Grand Teton and Jellystone we headed to the American Ornithologists Union conference in Laramie, Wy where Mike presented some of the analyses he’s done on his Sage grouse data. It’s been a couple years since I’ve been to an academic conference, and it was really nice to be able to engage people on that level and learn about some of the current research going on.
In the end it turned out to be a good trip. And a nice anniversary present for the two of us (weird to think that it’s already 6 years!). We know it wasn’t easy on the heels of a long vacation, but thanks again Mom & Dad!
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