Back To Lamar Valley

Since we were already on the east side of the park, we headed to Lamar Valley to try to spot more wildlife as the sun started to set.  The Lamar Valley is a breathtakingly beautiful place, absolutely teeming with bison.

We were rewarded early in our search by spotting a pronghorn antelope lying in a field.

The bison were kicking up dust.  Too bad Woody was too slow with her camera to catch him wallowing around to itch his back.

As we continued down the valley, we spotted a gathering of people near Yellowstone Institute.  People with huge binoculars and spotting scopes.  We definitely needed to figure out what these people were looking at!  Turns out, they were keeping watch on two bison carcasses - waiting for wolves or grizzlies to come down for an evening meal.

I was in fear for my life and was hiding under the seat the whole time.  Being eaten by a wolf or bear is not my idea of a good time.  Woody and Vol Fan are NUTS!

The first carcass was just out of sight, over this hill.

The second was in plain view down by the river.  One bison was holding vigil for his fallen comrade.

As we watched and waited, the bison herd kept us entertained.  The calves jumped and played.  Eventually some of the bigger guys got in on the fun, racing around the meadow.

We met several nice people that let us look through their spotting scopes.  Their views were amazing!  There was a very nice couple that kept us entertained with stories of seeing wildlife.  They had been coming to Yellowstone annually for over 50 years!

Unfortunately, there weren't any takers of the free meal while the sun was still up.  But the anticipation made our evening very exciting!  We had been warned that with a fresh kill in the area, we did not want to be hanging around after the sun set.  We definitely listened to that advice!