Yellowstone Continued

I think I'll do the critter pictures first. We have many Buffalo pics but this guy actually posed for us. He was eating grass on the side of the road and John was standing next to the jeep waiting for him to lift his head, Finally John pleaded " lift your head will ya" and he did.... looking right at him as if to say...."if it will get you to leave, sure".

Most of the bulls are near the roads. Because the females have young right now, they stay further away in the fields, although occasionally some of them will cross the road. Does anyone know what the rangers call the young calves?

Here are a couple of Elk. Notice they are still shedding their winter coats.

This is a gray wolf. He was in a pack of four.

We also have seen prairie dogs and pronged horn sheep. The only thing we haven't seen in the wild is a grizzly.

Here in West Yellowstone is a Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center where a few grizzlies and wolves are kept because they cannot be released into the wild. We visited it several times and learned a lot. This place is a big hit with kids because they get to play "keeper" by going into the enclosure (without the bears .... of course) and hide food treats under logs and stones, in trees and water. Then they watch (from outside the fence) as the bears are allowed to enter and hunt for the treats the kids just hid.

Now for the volcanic aspect of the park. The center of Yellowstone is actually an active volcano that is exhibiting itself in the form of hot springs, geysers, mud pots and steam vents. Here are a few photos.

This is actually boiling mud.

I don't think I would like to be here when it decides to actually erupt. All of these features are heated by molten lava about 7 to 10 miles below the ground surface.

The other beautiful features of the park are the falls and canyons. Here are 2 photos from the grand canyon of Yellowstone.

The beauty and diversity of this country is just sooooo amazing. I could travel continuously and never see enough or be bored by what I see and experience.

Here is something else I could never see enough or be bored with......  one happy boy....Lukas.