Wind Songs: Yellowstone In November

On every single trip we have ever taken to Yellowstone in the past, we have always seen large numbers of buffalo.

Sometimes they were traveling alone, but often they were seen in large herds, and their sightings always made for wonderful and exhilarating experiences.

We have been stuck in a long line of traffic while one lone bison walked along the center of the road through Sylvan Pass. The terrain for miles in both directions was all steep hill and loose rock, and there was no way that he would have traveled across country. Which meant that he had walked the two lane highway for miles in his travels. We saw him on the way home much later in the day and he had made it through the pass and was now happily grazing on sweet grass along side the road.

We watched as one lone bison slowly lumbered along a single track path, stopped by the side of the highway to use a traffic sign as a scratching post, slowly lumbered across the highway and then picked up the single track trail again on the opposite side of the road.

We have watched large herds grazing in rolling hills and along the side of the road, sometimes all adults but sometimes also with large numbers of baby-bison - all light brown and cuteness.,

We have seen large herds sitting and sleeping in the volcanic mud pits when lush grass was only a few hundred feet away.

And we have seen them standing against a back drop of rolling hills, of majestic mountains, in wooded areas and in muddy areas.

We never had to search for them in the past. They always seemed to find us.

And so by the time we were many hours into our most recent adventure at the Yellowstone, I was very surprised to have not run into even one bison.

Where did these guys migrate to this late in the year?

Surely we would not travel such a long distance in the park in November without seeing buffalo?

Just as I was becoming resigned to the fact that we may indeed not see buffalo, we turned a bend in the road not far outside the community of Mammoth Hot Springs.

LC hit the brakes hard - not emergency hard, but hard - because this lone prehistoric-looking animal was standing in the middle of the road.................

I quickly snapped the picture above through the windshield of the truck as LC pulled the vehicle over to the side of the highway so that we could watch him.

He took his sweet time (as they always seem to do when they are undisturbed) but eventually he made his way to the opposite side of the road and we watched him briefly as he grazed.

Good.

At least we had seen ONE bison after all.

We continued and drove further, now firmly amidst vast areas of pasture and snow covered mountains.

In truth I think that we were all beginning to get tired at this point.

We were still 35 miles from the North East Gate, and still another 60 or 70 miles from Cody beyond the gate.

LC had greatly wanted to show Gary some of Yellowstone before winter arrived in force, and I think that we both sensed that he may again be leaving soon.

A lost soul.

This may have been our only opportunity to show him the park.

Gary did indeed leave the next afternoon.

Regardless, it had been a long day (and although I was still greatly enjoying the trip) I made fewer requests to stop than I normally do during these kinds of trips. We had to begin moving along............

And then, finally, there they were.

After such a long day of not seeing bison, we found where bison migrate to in November.

Herd after herd after herd.............

There were no cute and light brown baby mammals.

Only herds of grown and almost grown.

They quietly ate and sat and wandered, finally undisturbed by the million or so tourists (except us) that visit this park each year.

I was tired, but as LC and Gary and James sat in the truck waiting for me, I stood watching them in their quiet world. There was a fierceness and a calmness about them all at the same time.

They looked like prehistoric throw-backs and they lived as though they owned the land. Which of course, they do.

I was pleased to see them..........

Scenes taken during the last few miles of our trip through Yellowstone.

It was a long and extraordinary day.

The highlight for Gary and LC was the sight of herds of elk grazing in a residential area of Mammoth Hot Springs.

They were wonderful to see, but the highlight for me was the elk in the river.

I have said many times that there is an adventure around every bend in the road when traveling through Yellowstone, and that is true.

But beyond the adventure are the stories around every bend - the bison who walked the road alone through Sylvan Pass. The scared new-momma elk who stood for too long in the middle of the freezing cold river. The run down and scared wolf. The butterball-fat grizzly bear with her three butter-ball fat cubs. The camera-hogging pelican.

All adventures. All stories. All seen at Yellowstone during our visits.

It is a magical and wonderful place......................