Today we headed towards the Old Faithful area of Yellowstone National Park, WY. Of course, there was a lot of wildlife in the meadows along the Madison River requiring more stops. This time we were rewarded with a show by a coyote (another first for us).
We watched this coyote stalk and pounce on his prey.
I wonder if the tracking collar is a source of pride or shame among the elk population.
Spring had sprung in Yellowstone! Babies were plentiful.
When we reached the Old Faithful Inn we found it was closed. To our great surprise, however, it was due to open for the season in about 15 minutes - how is that for timing? I guess that explained the front row parking spot I found. The snow started coming down in huge flakes making it look like a winter wonderland. Fortunately, it seemed to melt quickly on the roads, so I was not concerned about getting home.
Old Faithful was difficult to see against the socked in clouds and snow.
We found a door on the second floor of the Inn that led to a partially covered balcony with a view of Old Faithful (handy in the snow and rain).
Later, outside of the General Store, I saw this woman trying to leave, but her wheels were in the air spinning. Her husband told me later he had an "emergency" that did not allow him to think much about parking. He drove onto the bank of snow, threw it into park and ran for the restroom. A Coast Guard veteran took charge of things and we shoveled while he tied a strap to another car to provide some extra pull. When all of the tires hit the pavement again the woman was so relieved! Who knew the snow could be packed enough to support the weight of an SUV?
A gracious shop owner loaned us the shovel.
The snow started again and this time it did not seem to let up, so we had to abandon any plans to visit the geysers for the day. On the drive back to the coach, the snow started to pile up on the roads becoming a slushy mess. Fortunately, the temperature did not drop enough for it to freeze, or we would have been in some serious trouble.
The bison seemed oblivious to the snow, except that every once in a while one would shake his head to clear it off.
It was all pretty enough, but I was starting to get really concerned about making it out of the park without needing a tow truck. We made it back to our nice warm coach without incident and continued our Big Bang Theory marathon.
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