Moose and Sheep and Bears, Oh My!

The past two days have reminded me of just how incredibly lucky I am to be here.

Yesterday, I went out with a group. We drove over the newly opened Dunraven Pass where the snow was easily 8 or 10 feet tall in some places. On the other side of the pass near Tower Falls, we saw a mom black bear with two yearling cubs. I didn't manage to get any good pictures though because they were in the trees and doing a pretty good job of staying hidden. We then drove to Lamar Valley, where we saw a group of big horn sheep. On the way back out, we saw a mom grizzly and her cub. They got into the water to bathe and started tussling, then they got out and ran up the hillside. It was unreal. Then on the Canyon side of the pass on the way home, we saw a lone male grizzly. He was hard to see and get pictures of, but it was still pretty amazing.

Dunraven Pass, 5/27/17.

Bathin' Bears, Lamar Valley, 5/27/17. 

Thinking that we had reached the end of our luck, we were skeptical about going out today. We were almost to Norris Junction, when we saw a bunch of cars pulled over. We joined them, and found a bull moose in the grassy meadow. Haileigh took my camera because she forgot hers, so photo credits go to her (begrudgingly haha). We watched him for probably 20 or so minutes. We went and hiked the small loop near Fountain Paint Pots, which I had never done before. There are a ton of thermal features all in a small area, and the sun was starting to set, so it was pretty amazing. We were almost back to Canyon when we saw a mom grizzly and yearling off the side of the road. It was pretty dark, but we were still able to see them.

Bull Moose near Norris Junction, 5/28/17. 

View from Fountain Paint Pots, 5/28/17. 

So I have now seen 6 grizzlies (two female, two male, and two cubs), three black bears (a mom with cubs), 7 big horn sheep (one male, six female), a bull moose, two swans (a mating pair), two ospreys and chicks (from pretty far away), and the usual countless bison. Not too shabby of a start to the season!!