Whew, 3700 miles in two week; but we are finally at our second home. We got into Gardiner Friday night but it never truly feels like we’re here until we take a quite drive into the park up to Mammoth–so that’s what we did. The elk were out in full force; they are just now beginning to migrate back into the park. There was an elk carcass about half-way up to Mammoth–and about 25 people waiting to see if the wolves would come back to finish their meal.
Just past the church, however, was the highlight of the day–the Canyon Pack (2 blacks and 4 greys) in full force..and then they started howling. It’s a sound that’s chilling in an awesome-mother-nature kind of way; not at all scary. It’s also a sound you will not soon forget–and one that you will want to experience again.
We came straight down to Old Faithful this year, instead of spending time up a Mammoth so we are already unpacked and in the dorm room. Tim’s training starts today; mine starts in 2 weeks. I’m looking forward to doing some exploring this upcoming week–and spending time up in the Lamar Valley next week (looking for wolves, of course). They say that the baby bison has just started to drop–and I hope to have those pix soon. While I love the convenience of shooting with the iPad, we’ll now be shooting with real cameras–so it will take a little longer to get things posted–but the image quality will be a lot better.