90 East is a major highway, so not much to see. Beth takes a short nap in the back and when she wakes we are almost to our turn south toward Yellowstone, 87 South.
We again are following a river - the Yellowstone - and there are a scattering of campgrounds and resorts, a few small towns. Mostly wilderness. Some areas of evergreens, some areas that are dry and rocky.
We drive the whole way to Gardiner which is the north entrance to Yellowstone, and check a National Forest Campground up Jardine Road above the town. The campground there is full but doesn't look very inviting anyway - no trees and it is getting hot. Of all the campgrounds inside Yellowstone, only four are open and they are all totally full, probably reserved months ago. Beth talks to the camp host and a ranger and they suggest going back to 87 and north to Canyon Campground, another National Forest site that we must have passed. There are some boon docking spots further up this road we've read, but the ranger says they are full also. So we follow their advice, and see some camera-shy elk along the road back down the mountain.
Canyon Campground is pretty nice and has trees - and lots of rocks and is a whopping $3.50 a night. A few chipmunks check us out. All of the campgrounds we've stayed at have been self-serve, where you fill out an envelope, add your money and deposit in a special depository. So, no contact. It is warm today and we find a nice site amongst the rocks and trees.
It is early afternoon, so we decide to spend the afternoon exploring the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone since we will not go that way tomorrow. We leave chairs and an "occupied" sign at the site, just in case.
It is a quick drive (14 miles) to the park entrance with only a few cars in front of us. Map in hand we head for the Lamar Valley, enjoying some beautiful sites along the way like Undine Falls and Floating Island Lake.
This large bull bison surprises us at one spot, preferring to be away from the herds. He has lost his heavy winter coat.
The Lamar Valley always holds many bison and today is no exception. A few are near the road but the majority are across the valley. Still a marvelous sight to behold! Though the bison in Yellowstone are managed, they are still free to roam.
This guy is stretching for some tasty leaves but can't quite reach.
We drive almost to the end of the 40 mile long valley, and then turn back. Traffic slows and stops and soon we see why - not a bear jam, but a wolf jam! Two wolves have crossed the road and are heading into the hills! This is the first time we have seen wolves in the wild and it is so exciting that I can't focus the camera and end up with one all time crappy fuzzy picture. 😜
They are not very near - about 100 yards - but even at that distance the size is impressive. It looks like an adult followed by a younger one and they quickly move out of sight while a frustrated ranger behind us tries to get traffic to move.
A short while later, this herd of elk catches our attention and we sit and watch them for a while. Probably a dozen in all.
A few wander closer to us, including a spike with his velvet nubs.
Back at the campsite we have hamburgers and salad for dinner after chips and a 6-layer dip that we picked up last grocery stop. Long driving day for Greg, thank you. We aren't very far from highway 87, but noise is hardly noticeable and we sleep well. We plan on an early start tomorrow to maybe beat the crowds that are Yellowstone-in-Summer-amplified-by-COVID.
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