On the way in from West Yellowstone we saw a bald eagle in the mist:
West Yellowstone to Madison, bison almost guaranteed.
Mammoth Hot Springs – spectacular crystals
Long 6% grade down to town, more downhill to Gardiner. This would be a long uphill pull from the Gardiner (north) entrance.
- Mammoth to Canyon clockwise – WOW!
- Big hills, clear, good wildlife views
- started seeing bears through a ranger spotting scope
- very hilly, feels high, about 6000 ft at Mammoth, up over 8900 ft at Dunraven Pass, 4C and sleet there
- we saw a bear find and kill an elk calf in the distance, with the mother elk running around in circles, helpless. A coyote sat and watched the whole thing too, from a nearby ridge.
- looked down on a flying Golden eagle
- Roosevelt Lodge looked like a great place for activities, cabins, horseback rides, stagecoach, wagons. Lots of open meadow, good views.
- Dunraven Pass is a bit scary in places – high, steep, winding, many places with no guiderails
We stopped in to the Grizzly Center in West Yellowstone afterwards and had a closeup view of Grizzly bears and wolves, $21 for two. It felt like a donation to grizzly rescue, we're ok with that. It was kind of sad to see these amazing beasts penned up, but they are there for necessary reasons.
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