Chronicles from the Road, Post WWS 2014 October 8, 2014 Wow. I thought yesterday was eventful! Today has been even more so. We got up early to see the Lamar Valley, and hoped to see more wildlife. As it turned out our major experiences happened on the way to the Valley. I think that during the course of our drive we may have seen at least half of the buffalo that call Yellowstone home (there are about 4,000-5,000 head currently). We also saw a rare (for the park) bald eagle and many pronghorn antelope. A highlight was our encounter with a herd of about 100 buffalo. Our participation began with a few buffalo mothers and their calves that had decided to use the road to cross the bridge to get to grazing on the other side. And (lucky us), they were right in front of us so we became part of the herd. Unfortunately, some people did not want to wait and would roar past us which spooked the mothers into running and one calf started to panic. Thankfully no one was hurt. So, we held space and reassured them that we had their backs and would just mosey along with them. The greater part of the herd was ahead of us, and when they reached the other side of the bridge they began to climb up the hillside into the trees. Our small group of mothers and calf joined them, and we wished them well. As we left them behind we rounded a bend in the road and there was an area where you could pull over. On the off chance that they might be headed that way we stopped. What happened next was simply magical. Led by the matriarch the herd appeared out of the trees to our right. We realized that they were following a path that would take them across the road directly in front of us. As we silently watched and held space the entire herd filed past. I was standing outside the van a reasonable distance away from the herd, holding the Buffalo Blanket out to them. About midway through the procession of bulls, cows, and calves I heard the sound of hooves behind me. Turning, I realized that some of the cows had decided to use the road which meant I needed to get back in our mini-van since they would pass by very close to me. So, I hung the Buffalo Blanket out the window for them as they walked on by. The Buffalo Blanket may have been intended as a blessing for them, but I feel that we were also blessed. I think about 15 minutes elapsed until the last of the herd passed. It was just us, the herd, the prayer stick for the buffalo, and the Buffalo Blanket—no other people or cars. We had many more buffalo encounters that day, including sitting above the herd in an area that I think of as the Standing Stones. Reluctantly we had to get back on the road to complete our journey—we had many miles to cover before we could sleep. Instead of back-tracking we decided to exit by the Northeast entrance, which created another adventure. We had no idea that that route led us through the Beartooth Mountains. We found ourselves on crazy switchbacks, and ended up summiting at 11,000 feet. The scenery was breathtaking, but the drive reminded me of the old-style roller coasters, which was somewhat hair-raising! Adding to the adventure was there were no signs so we had no idea where we were going to end up. Eventually we made it down the other side and back to civilization (-: We were now somewhat off track and decided to take a shortcut using US 78. Turned out there was a detour we had to take to get there due to road construction. The detour took us onto a dirt road by the airport in the town of Red Lodge. When we finally found US 78 it took us through stunningly beautiful Montana countryside. However, we had another delay which was at least entertaining. The sheriff was blocking the road because a herd of cattle had broken loose. Several cowboys (and girls) with their herding dogs were rounding them up and moving them down along the road in front of us. For the next 20 minutes we crawled along behind them, essentially becoming part of the cattle roundup. There were three horses in the field next to the cow parade who raced along showing off and kicking up their heels. When the cows finally reached the ranch they had escaped from, we gave the thumbs up to the rancher in charge (mounted on horseback) who bore an amazing resemblance to Theodore Roosevelt. We are now about four hours behind schedule for the day, and it is going to be a long drive before we reach our hotel this evening—but it was worth it.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 22:47:08 +0000
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