Saturday, October 9, 2010 

I had a guest up this week at the Borderlands Lodge, and one of our excursions involved a trip down to Yellowstone. Here are some of the shots, along with others from the Greater Bozeman Area.



The 'Boiling River,' close to the northern entrance to Yellowstone. A hot spring feeds into a cold river, meaning that at one spot it's really hot, while a few feet away the water is cold. It's like swimming in a quick-flowing stream of Irish coffee, only with less alcohol and more animal droppings.


...speaking of which: elk taking a drink a bit downstream


Near the Lower Canyon Falls. So now do you understand why they call it "Yellowstone?"


At the Upper Canyon Falls. Eyes rolled back into head, zombie-style


The Upper Canyon Falls


Buffalo doing buffalo things. Like roaming 


Surf's up! Yellowstone Lake


Another shot of Yellowstone Lake with sulfuric hot springs in front. Do you see the little wisps of steam rising up?


Boiling hot spring—and more wisps!


Big Ben—-I mean, Old Faithful


On the road. As you can see, this proximity to wildlife is bringing out my wild, teeth-baring inner animal. The buffalo, meanwhile, is just playing it cool.


Do you see the little otters? One is to the left, near the rock. The other is to the right and on the log. They were swimming in a little pool they'd created between two sets of logs and other debris. These were the first otters I'd seen in three trips to the park, and they're not even included on the wildlife pantheon found on the map's flip-side! Other animals I've seen at Yellowstone include: buffalo, elk, wolves, coyotes, moose, black bears, eagles, swans, frogs, chipmunks, mountain goats, rams, and many very fat crows. 


Elk hanging out near the western entrance. This was the first time I'd seen an elk with such big antlers.


After Yellowstone, we returned to Bozeman. This is the reservoir at the top of Hyalite Canyon, about eight miles south of Bozeman. There are loads of hiking trails and cabins at Hyalite, but we just drove up the road.


Then we drove out to Bridger Bowl, the local ski hill about 15 miles north of Bozeman. This shot was taken on the way out there, maybe 5 miles before Bridger. It looks like the painting on the wall of a restaurant called Bruno's Swiss Chalet, in West Lafayette, IN.


At Bridger. It's hard to believe that I'll be skiing down this mountain before too long. You can't see them here, but there are lifts going all the way to the peaks on both the left and right of this mountain. But even those don't represent the very top—there's another level of peaks further back and further up.


Back in Bozeman—downtown, with mountains peeking through


Main Street—-Vargo's Records and Books, obscured in the shadows to the left, has a great collection of vinyl. There's another record store up the block. The restaurant/bar scene isn't the greatest I've ever experienced—it's hard to compete with places like NYC or Istanbul—but there are a number of places I like on and around Main street.


Here's a shot of the edge of town from Pete's Hill, where there are mountain bike/walking paths and dog runs. At the foot of the hill is a paved path that I often take when I ride through town.

All in all it was a nice few days. I can't believe the weather is still so warm (60s and low 70s) this late in the year.