We arrive in Yellowstone

Sunday 8/12   

We got here early and the first order of business was to check Buffalo off of our "must see" list.  We saw them singly and in groups, grazing, and occasionally galloping (across the entrance to our campsite!).

They're bigger than they look

We were warned that it is rutting season and they are particularly aggressive at this time.  We heard some serious noise-making on the part of one ardent male whose attention was divided between the female next to him (who pretended he did not even exist) and us in our truck.

Merely the tip of the Buffalo Iceberg

His low, menacing call was not unlike those gigantic, horrifying man-eating dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park movies.  He clearly meant business.  Or he was just trying to impress his lady-friend.  Either way, we moved right along and left him to his wooing. 

Once we were set up at our campsite, we took our first Yellowstone hike, along the enormous Yellowstone Lake. ( Circumference is 145 miles around and in area it is half the size of the entire Grand Teton State Park.  Depth up to 350 feet.)  After hiking across a meadow and then through piney woods, there were giant rocks, wind and big waves crashing…..it could just as easily have been the Maine Coast.   Definitely felt more oceanic than lake-like. One of many  surprises on this trip

The Maine coast.  I mean, Yellowstone Lake

Or perhaps I should call it "Sturm Punkt", as we were speaking German with each other most of the day (Nils had a vivid dream about German friends last night and declared that we had to have a "Deutsch Tag".  So that's what we did!)

To bed under the big blue down blanket in anticipation of low temps tonight and big hikes tomorrow….