November 2007

Bighorn Mountains, WY...one last time. We took another weekend trip to the Bighorns just before leaving MT/WY for the season. We wanted to visit Shell Canyon, so headed to Lovell, WY then to Greybull, WY to enter the canyon from there...heading up the mountains. The trip is beautiful, but we were disappointed to see little color...we were just too late. I convinced Chris to head back down the "Oh, My God Pass" (14A) so we could visit the Pryor Mountain Horses one last time. We saw "Admiral" and his family off in the distance, so since it was late, Chris wanted to leave..."Just a bit further," I said...and we were rewarded with viewing another family of wild horses coming against us on the road. We stopped the car, got out, and just watched, expecting them to adjust their route and go away from us, but they kept coming towards us. "Merlin" and his family walked right up and past us without even acknowledging our presence....magic! For those who would like to see more on the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustangs, here's the link to their website which is full of information...and a great blog about the horses. http://www.pryormustangs.org/ Along the same road, a bit further on, we found a group of female bighorn sheep with this one standing guard while the others ate and rested.

Shell Canyon, WY, just north of Greybull, WY

"Merlin" and his family, Bighorn Canyon, WY

Bighorn ewe, Bighorn Canyon, Pryor Mountains in the background

Billings to San Diego. We left Billings, MT and headed to Yellowstone National Park where we had reservations at Madison Campground (no hookups) for several days. The weather was good, the aspens were still in high color here and there, and the bison and elk were much in evidence. We were disappointed to see no bears...well, one through a spotting scope waaayyyyy up high on a hillside. This was a great time to visit the park...very few people in the campground and few on the roads. They closed the pass to the southern entrance (Tetons) the day we left, so we left via West Yellowstone in the snow.

Old Faithful and bison, Yellowstone National Park

Firehole River area...cold weather means lots of steam!

Bull elk, Mammoth Hot Springs area, Yellowstone National Park, WY