Yellowstone National Park, Day 1

We made it to Yellowstone National Park! Drove in this morning from our cabin in Gardiner; the road was steep and curvy, took about 30 mins to get from the cabin to the Mammoth Hot Springs area. First stop was the Albright Visitor Center, where I got my NP passport stamped, trail maps and looked at the exhibits. It was a busy place! There were also a lot of people outside the Center, looking into binoculars at some tall trees. We joined them with our binoculars and saw a gray owl high in a pine tree. It was too far for my phone to capture a photo. Debi's phone camera was much better, and she got a photo of it.

Back at the parking lot, we stopped a young ranger with questions about bears. The park recommended hiking in groups of three but there were only two of us. Ranger Jacob took time to described precautions to take such as making noise or talking loudly when approaching blind turns, trying to make ourselves look bigger if we encountered a bear, carry bear spray and know how to use it (we did not). He demonstrated this how with a can of inert gas, very interesting and educational. He also recommended the 5-mile Beaver Ponds Loop, 500 ft elevation gain, for chances of viewing wildlife. Suggested starting from the trailhead near the Mammoth Hotel on Old Gardiner Road, to get the steep up slopes out of the way, a tip that we appreciated later.

Near the start of the trail we met a family of three, the young lady lives in New York, while her parents were visiting from China. We hiked together on and off, for safety. This was a beautiful but long trail, lots of wild flowers blooming. Weather was warm and sunny, skies were clear. Halfway through the trail, we were at the ponds, disappointed that we had not seen any animals other than some ducks and birds. No beavers nor muskrats that were supposed to be near the ponds.

As we walked on, hikers coming from the opposite direction told us they saw a black bear and cubs on the trail; some saw just the Mama Bear, others saw the cubs. We kept looking around to see if we can spot the bears ahead of us. Debi had her hand near our one can of bear spray, just in case. Then, as we descended the last quarter section of the trail, we saw them across a shallow ravine on the right. Cutest family ever: Mama Bear with 2 cubs who were climbing up and down a tree, playing with each other. Much of the time, Mama watched us from under the tree; we kept our distance. I was able to get one decent photo while Debi got videos of the cubs climbing up the tree and then on their Mama. What a treat for the eyes, well worth the long and tiring hike!

Our hike ended near Liberty Cap at Mammoth Hot Springs. We were tired but stoked over the bears sighting. And then we saw some elk at the Hot Springs, one was on the travertine terrace, licking something.

We stopped at a cafe for cold drinks. We had wanted to walk the Mammoth Hot Springs trail, but were too tired. Drove back to the cabin, showered and cooked dinner. There were some nice perks to staying in a cabin, despite the expense, as opposed to a small RV.