I can't believe I'm finally coming to the end of reliving my Grand Teton/Yellowstone adventure through my blog posts! May 2021 was a long time ago, but I still feel like it was last week. I know I want to go again soon. Soon! I'm going to shoot for 2027...maybe in Fall.
As always, please click the links below to see the rest of the series!
Previously in the Grand Tetons/Yellowstone series:
Jackson Hole, Grand Tetons Day 1, Jenny Lake Campground, Elk Herd
Beautiful Jenny Lake, Foxes and Bears
Lovely Vistas full of Bison and Horses
Mormon Row, Pronghorn Antelope, and Ravens
Wildlife Art, Yellow-bellied Marmot, Colter Bay, and Ground Squirrels
Colter Bay to South Yellowstone
Black Sand Basin and Bison
More Bison, Old Faithful, Biscuit Basin, and Beginning of Artemisia Trail Hike
Hike to Morning Glory Pool! Plus Bison with Red Dogs, Elk, and Coyotes
Grizzly and Wolf Center in West Yellowstone
Fountain Paint Pots and Grand Prismatic Spring
Mama Elk for the Win! Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Surrounds
It's Elk! It's Birds! It's Mammoth Hot Springs Campground!
Tour around Mammoth Hot Springs!
Landscapes and sights on the Northern road
So my title is kind of a misnomer... I said "in Lamar Valley" but as I later found out, I never really made it inTO Lamar Valley. I only made it to Slough Creek which is the western edge of Lamar Valley. Oh dear.
But like most of my time in Yellowstone, I saw animals. Much wildlife! My heart was happy. My soul was at peace. And this is a photo essay of the animals I saw in western Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park!
I stopped at Undine Falls and saw a new bird for me. A lifer as we birders call it (and I use the term "birders" loosely for me haha). A Vesper Sparrow in the snow.
And then I drove through the windy hills until there was a hill on my right side and a small valley on my left. There was a herd of bison in the snow in the distance. And they had babies!
They also had coyotes ranging around them. I saw three I believe. They had their eyes on the babies, but seemed wary of the adults.
A little further up the road, some bison decided - as they do - that they would rather be on the other side. It created a small bison jam. I don't know why the car on the other side is sideways though. Strange.
And then a little further, there were some crossing the road from the opposite direction! This was a popular bison crossing apparently.
A short while later, I had left the snow behind (or so I thought. Some more would fall on me at Slough Creek and it was so magical.) and was starting down into the valley when I saw a tour bus on the opposite side of the road. The guests were looking through scopes towards a hill on their side. I quickly pulled off the road and grabbed my camera with my 600mm lens on it.
There was a Big Horn Sheep ewe! I've always wanted to see Big Horn Sheep! I got two photos and this is my best one. :)
It always pays to stop when you see people with scopes. Except when I stopped as Slough Creek hoping for wolves. haha They were long gone by the time I got there. But anyway, there was more to see! Lots of bison with their red dogs! And Pronghorn! I took so many pictures of pronghorn but very few turned out decent. They were quite a ways away.
So many bison!
When the snow started to fall on me at Slough Creek, I was talking to one of the wolf watchers who told me that another storm was coming in. That made me very nervous. I knew I had to go across a pass in Idaho on my way home (which was a different route than what I had taken to Grand Teton on the way in) so my already anxious brain was now on high alert.
I thought I was already in Lamar Valley proper so I decided to head back through Mammoth to West Yellowstone and hopefully beat the storm. So off I headed back west.
Back in the snow, my adventures were not over! I saw a pronghorn in a wide turnout. He didn't even look at me when I pulled past him, pulled over, and got my camera out!
A short time later, I pulled off again for what I think may be one of my best photos of the trip. A lone bison (the herd was a short way off) standing just off the road.
I was just about to Mammoth when I saw three Elk in the bushes just off the road. I pulled over again because of course I did!
At this point, I was getting quite a bit anxious as the clouds continued to become darker. It was only mid-day but it seemed a little darker than it had been that morning.
I started for Gardner to fill up on gas for the long road home and then headed back to West Yellowstone. Except! I had to stop once again. For one, I wanted some video of the Roosevelt Arch. for two, I saw a pronghorn in the exact spot that I had seen one the last time I went to Gardner! Just before the North Entrance to the park in a little field there grazing. I swear it's the same one.
And then I was on my way home, racing (not really) the storm. I did have to stop one more time as I saw my last bison just before the Norris Geyser Basin and it was such a beautiful, peaceful meadow that I needed to stop and photograph it.
Okay, NOW I'm on my way home.
Did I mention I don't really drive in snow? Well, that was put to the test as the snow was coming DOWN on Targhee Pass. It was getting bad when suddenly I was headed down the other side. Scared myself as my car hit some ice and slid along the lane as I was coming up behind another car, but luckily no crash and from then on it was smooth sailing.
I didn't even stop except for bathroom breaks and to stretch my legs on my whole way back to California! Unlike when I was going to Grand Teton and I needed to stop and take a long nap on the way.
I thought I was done with the snow but I-80 thought different! I couldn't believe it but it was snowing as I entered California and headed up to Donner Pass! It wasn't as bad though so I was able to just keep going.
What an unbelievable adventure I had! It was so amazing and wonderful and I'm so glad I could calm my anxiety and take this beautiful trip!
I'm so glad you've joined me for my photo recap of my adventures in Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. You should go yourself! It's an amazing place that makes for some wonderful memories.
xoxo
Nikon D600 with Nikkor 28 - 300 mm lens
Nikon D7200 with Sigma Contemporary 150-600 lens
