Eek, it's an Elk!

Day 12 - Monday, June 24

Today we headed back to Yellowstone to explore the southeast section of the park.  To give you an idea of the size of the park, once you enter the east gate, it is 70 miles to the south gate!  It continues to be an awesome experience to view the scenery and unusual things the park has to offer.

On our way to see the West Geyser Area, we came upon an Elk, just standing by the side of the road, chomping away.  It is funny because once somebody spots an animal, cars start pulling over, and people literally run to the scene with their cameras.   This guy didn't mind the activity, and even seemed to pose for the paparazzi.  These are huge, impressive creatures, with fuzzy horns.  I found out the horns are fuzzy as they grow, but the elk will scrape off the fuzz in the spring when the antlers quit growing.  (Because of the fuzz, I thought these might be reindeer.)



See if you can find him behind the branches

 

We saw three additional elk today.  They were further away, but were even bigger than the first one we saw.  They were laying down, resting in the afternoon breeze.  We knew something was up because of a traffic jam where all of the cars pulled over...it was really funny to watch people try to get their photo.

We headed south toward the West Geyser basin and saw some bubbling pools, very similar to yesterday, but these were different because they were very colorful!  Supposedly this effect is caused by microorganisms in the pools.  They were quite impressive, and because of the color, looked peaceful and mysterious--not quite as eerie as the mud pots and cauldrons from yesterday.  It is so unusual, and you wonder why these things don't erupt because they seem to have so much energy.  They emit bubbles and steam and all kinds of sounds.
 

Check out this video that Jim did of the mud pots we saw in the mud volcano area on Sunday:

http://youtu.be/LWA_JsWDfrY

(I hope this link works...another new skill for both Jim and I)

 

 

On the way back, we were not very far from the campground when we passed a huge buffalo running down the berm of the highway, like he was out for an afternoon jog.  We were going 65 miles an hour, so I wasn't able to get a picture.  It was just quite strange to see him outside the park, however the locals say it happens all the time.

 

We went into Cody to watch the Cody gunfighters do a reenactment of a gun fight.  It was pretty cute, and we met some interesting people...a lady that just moved here from Alaska, and a couple from Charlotte who are on an RV trip through the west. 

For dinner we came back and had Elk Burgers....figured it was an appropriate way to close out the day!  (They weren't bad--tasted like a spicy hamburger)