Epic RV Trip: Yellowstone, Lamar Valley, Gardiner

Tuesday morning, June 4th, half of our group set alarms and woke up early in hopes of getting to Lamar Valley in Yellowstone early enough to spot some of the predators like bears or wolves. The other half slept in. (Insert eye roll.)

Noah had second thoughts when we woke him up, but he turned out to be happy he came!

My parents, Noah and I left our campground at 6:30 and arrived in Lamar Valley around 8:00. We heard rumors that the wolves had been spotted there earlier but we were not lucky enough to see any. However, as the day warmed and we considered heading back, we had a surreal encounter with a red fox.

Without any warning, a little fox came trotting a few feet away from our family and a few other wildlife spotters who were parked along the road near us. I didn't have my camera in hand, and could only gape as this wild animal sauntered past. It went over a little hill and out of sight, so I grabbed my camera in case I could get another look. Sure enough, Mr. Fox circled back along the road, then went up a hill across the road, then came back to our side and again, with a purposeful stride, crossed about two feet from us without paying us much attention!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that encounter, we stuck around a little longer and spotted a coyote in the telescopes. He entertained us as he hunted and caught small animals while we watched! I tried to capture him without the use of the tripod, but keep in mind he was very far away and I was shooting handheld.

Down the road we could see a bison traffic jam unfolding.

On our way back to Gardiner, we stopped to check on what we now knew to be an osprey nest.

 

Also on the drive back, we saw a coyote hunting nearer to the road than his relative from earlier.

 

 

Of course, the easiest animal to spot is the bison. We enjoyed watching the calves play!

 

We returned back to camp before lunch, but Chris, Jamie, Drew and Audrey had ventured into Gardiner to check out the shops. They came back and we ate lunch and rested; later, we went back into town for more window shopping, souvenir hunting, and pizza for dinner.

The sign says "Walmart 83 miles," so we had to get a photo of our Walmart addicts!