Outside our hotel is a group of deer that seem to hang around at all times. This morning they were especially cute; they were all huddled up next to a house trying to stay warm. It is a nice thing to wake up and have wildlife basically sitting on your doorstep.

There was a lot less wind and bad weather today and even some really nice sun that greeted us frequently throughout the day. The remnants of yesterday still remained and the snow plows and blowers were out in full force trying to clear away all the snow off the roads.

It was really fun to watch the snow being jettisoned hundreds of feet into the air. After the roads were cleared we decided to take advantage of the sun and go snow shoeing. We went out to Lost Lake which included a hike through the Petrified Forest, and a beautiful walk through a snowy canyon way tat led to the lake. We also found a kill. it was an old dead buffalo that had been eaten from the inside. It was gruesome but interesting to see.

After our snowshoeing was over we drove around Lamar Valley looking for animals. Sadly still no wolf sightings and in fact there are very little animal sightings at all. It seems like our luck may be changing soon however. We found a beautiful bull elk that we were able to follow for a while. This means that the elk are moving into the valley which means that the wolves should soon follow.

And as our final good sign for our changing luck was a couple of coyotes running across the road right in front of us. They didn’t stay long but we got a couple of pictures.

Tomorrow is a new day and with that we hope, as always, to find and photograph wolves.

We started our day with the Enchanted Highway whihc is almost to the border of North Dakota and Montana. It is a thirty two mile long road that is peppered with statues ranging from ones like this to huge pheasant statues and fisherman. It i really interesting but we only saw the very begining and had to move onward to Roosevelt National Park.

Truthfully there isn’t a whole lot of stuff in Roosevelt National Park but I can guarantee one thing if you go there: great prairie dog shots. There are tons of prairie dog towns along the side of the road and they are quite funny to watch. The funniest thing they would do is squeak and stand up on their hind legs while whipping their arms in the air. It was quite the sight.

By the way none of these are cropped so you can tell just how close I got to these guys. I love their feet and hands, they are surprisingly creepy for such an adorable creature. This has got to be one of my favorite photo of a prairie dog; I caught this one in mid-yawn and it makes him look positively evil.

After that we headed into Montana, the Big Sky state.

We headed down Beartooth Pass which took us to our place of lodging, Silver Gate. Coming over the pass was a little scary because there was a storm and the mountain was cloaked in fog and mist. At some points you couldn’t see anything. It did clear up finally in the end leaving a beautiful day.

After the pass in Silver Gate we checked into our cabins which were these really quaint cabins right outside of the park. Before we even have time to settle I hear my mom yell to me as I am in the bathroom, There’s a coyote right outside!

So naturally I flip out and rip out of the house looking frantically for my camera before he runs off. The neighbors thought I was a mad woman they way I ran out of the cabin. As I snagged my camera and run up the hill behind our cabin I saw him. It wasn’t a coyote, but a red tailed fox with a kill. So I prayed for him not to move so I could get just one shot and I did. I got one shot of him before he took off behind a cabin.

He was one of the most beautiful animals I have seen in a while with his angled face, long neck and color markings. Of course naturally I ran up the hill and into a small ravine looking for him but he had vanished. We hadn’t even been there for five minutes and already I had a wild life shot.

We decided to head into the park with the few hours of day that remained to see if we could spot anything at dusk. We found a big kill out far in a creek bed that had five grizzlies on it. The crowd surrounding the area was enormous even though you could barely discern the grizzlies from the surroundings. It was really interesting to see. I had never seen a grizzly before.

We moved on through the park and found some buffalo that we running around and across the road. We were still a little wary about buffaloes from our trip to Custard where we got charged. So I stayed in the car, standing up through the sunroof to get photos.

We then watched the sun set on Lamar Valley and the rivers. It was so beautiful.

Lamar Valley coated in the fading light of sunset was really a treat. To watch the light change the entire way the valley looked, literally night to day. It was so different and so gorgeous.

The next day was a full morning of Yellowstsone. Stay tuned for me catching up on our trip. There is even better wildlife to come

I had never seen a river otter before I went to Yellowstone, and let me say

THEY ARE ADORABLE

We heard that at the confluence of the Lamar River and the Soda Butte River in Lamar Valley, Yellowstone there were some otter lodges. So we all hiked out of the car dragging our giant cameras and all the equipment out of the car and then walked a half mile to the second otter lodge along the river. We set up the tripods and waited for quite some time when we finally spotted one otter. He was bobbing in and out of the water regularly teasing us with his appearance as we tried to catch a good picture of him. We were about to head back in when Mark turned around and saw the three otters playing.

Keep in mind we can’t exactly yell at each other to tell us that the otters were right behind me and I hadn’t noticed; so there was a lot of frantic gestures and quiet yelling. Not to mention as we ran in the snow with our equipment to relocate in a better spot for the magnificent otter trio. It was quiet the mad dash.

They were rolling around on their backs, sliding in and out of the water just having a good time. They were climbing all over each other, this picture captures some of the playful spirit I got to witness from these little creatures. They really look a lot like little Loch Ness monsters as they crane their necks out of the water, it is really funny to watch especially because of their whiskers.

It really was an amazing experience watching these guys play around. We wanted to let them have their fun and not disturb them so after they crawled back into their lodges we left them behind with a very satisfied day behind us.

Here is the site I got to see everyday when I was in Yellowstone. This picture can’t truly describe how beautiful this place really is. I must say it is extremely different than Santa Cruz and this is one of the hardest parts of being back home.

I keep looking outside expecting to see snow and gorgeous mountains but instead I see rain and lots of trees. I am not complaining, it is just such a shock because it is so entirely different. It really reminds me just how lucky I am to get to travel like this because I can experience all the different terrains and lifestyles of the world around me. That is why I believe it is essential to travel because people have to get out of their normal atmosphere and see the world in all of it’s different lights.