our trip // animals

All my reading and research leading up to our trip to Yellowstone sure set my hopes high for amount of  birds and beasts we'd see. I was a little nervous that we'd get out there and see nothing but robins and one lone buffalo. That was not the case, thank goodness. Within the first 20 minutes of entering the park, there were animals galore.

We saw many creatures throughout the week, but by far the largest concentration of animals was in Lamar Valley. We got up early one morning, made some instant coffee, grabbed some muffins, and drove for 45 minutes in the sunrise to this valley that plays host to hundreds of buffalo, antelope, and elk. It was beautiful. And I can definitely see why people get attacked/gored - the animals are so close and there's hardly ever anything separating you from them. It's amazing.

Throughout the week, we saw:
buffalo (by the hundreds)
elk
antelope
wolf
coyote
black bears
sandhill cranes
marmot
moose
black billed magpie

But by far the most exciting animal spotting of the entire week was the mama grizzly bear we encountered on a hike. JUST KIDDING. We never spotted a grizzly bear, even from the car, which looking back I'm kind of disappointed, but I'm sure I would've been a little freaked out in the moment.

one of many buffalo

a moose chowing down

our lone bear sighting, which was sort of tainted by the fact that they were crossing a bridge

sandhill cranes

early morning elk

a nasty little marmot