Last day at Yellowstone and on to the final leg

So, the last morning of camping and we had got the tent dismantling and car-packing down to a tee - less than 30 minutes from waking up (at 4:30) and we were in the car on the way to Lamar armed with a Starbucks and bug-free windscreen ready for some pro-bear spotting.

We arrived at Lamar Valley at around 6am to find quite a number of animal-spotters already in position. We were looking forward to seeing wolves especially, as well as any bears that happened to be hanging out… but instead on arrival we were greeted by the largest group of Buffalo we had seen to date, as well as a large group of lesser-spotted geography students also looking to see something moving in the undergrowth.

Nature at one - a herd of Buffalo with a small group of deer in the foreground

We had a long lens but no binoculars, though were mildly amused by the seriousness of the whole animal-spotting experience, so thought we'd lighten the mood somewhat by suggesting various creatures we "may" have seen in the distance… This "may" not have been appreciated, so we headed back off towards the exit, only to come across another large herd of buffalo, as well as some less common deer and Pronghorn which emerged just as the wolves were due to retreat.

A grand Pronghorn, our favorite animal (after the bears) to see in "America's Serengheti" at 6am....

One of our Squirrel friends on the drive out of Lamar Valley

Having taken a few photos, we continued to head towards the exit of Yellowstone via the 45 million year old petrified tree which is now surrounded by an unfortunate fence to help reduce the  number of people stealing parts of it...

The one remaining 45 Million year old Petrified Tree

Mammoth Springs, on the northwestern edge of the park, had some interesting topography and a very pretty old hotel to look around.

The view from Mmmoth Springs and over the mountains

There was also a rather impresive 4 foot snake along the route which Sherrie managed to  photograph before making a swift retreat...

The 4 foot snake in the undergrowth at Mammoth Springs

From there, we headed from the park to the Montana border and continued to drive across Montana to Idaho, where we had decided, due to the weather, we would much rather stay inside, so contacted Sherrie's aunt Yvonne and uncle Rusty. We had a small family reunion, accompanied by delicious home-cooked venison burgers, hand-picked salad and range of home-pickled accompaniments. Lovely last evening before heading off in the direction of Seattle…

Last leg coming soon.

Sherrie and Joanna