One morning we were invited over to Mike's and Laurie's trailer to say "hello" and meet Laurie's sister. Their dog and cat were there, of course, Jane and Poncho. Mike says Jane is SO happy to be back in Yellowstone because she has way more friends here. I held her on my chest just cuddling and she snoozed for awhile. Back in Florida, nobody comes to visit, so it's kind of a quiet season for her. Poncho was being super extroverted that day. Ranger Laurie is a retired vet and kept saying, "She's not usually this friendly! Boy, she's being really outgoing today." Kass and Sirri came over so it was fun to chat with them as well. You get those four talking and the entertainment is at its finest. So good to catch up and see how everyone wintered over! We mentioned we were going to hike the Storm Point Trail (BEAUTIFUL weather that morning) and Kass, the wildlife specialist specializing in grizzlies, just sort of caught my eye and said, "There's a bear ranging between Storm Point and Steamboat." Gotcha. Fortunately, we didn't see any bears while hiking.
The trail starts at Indian Pond. There was a bull bison hanging out, but as we started, he headed off into the trees toward the shoreline. The lake is the lowest I've ever seen it. The rest of the ice had just finished melting. The birds were loving the sandy shore--looked like the tide was out or something! We saw a lot of bison hair that had been rubbed off on the trees along the trail. I had to photograph this particular patch that looked more like an entire carpet! Shaggy, shaggy bison! I photographed some bear scat--it was everywhere. Actually, we saw all manner of scat--different types of animals. Some rangers put bear scat on a paper plate and stick it in a gallon sized baggie in order to use it as a display item in their interpretive programs. Me? I've never scraped up bear scat for any reason. The trail crew hadn't been through yet, so we were crawling under downed trees, climbing over downed trees, and finding our way around downed trees, just like the bison. I was once again so grateful for my knee surgery. The trail was a little more adventurous that day. We had Storm Point all to ourselves. It was such a pretty, Pretty day and a wonderful time spent with my Sweetie.
Great pictures of the bison hair. Before I read your post I saw the pictures and thought - "Is that hair?" but thought it must be some kind of plant like Spanish Moss because there was so much of it! Glad you didn't see any bears. Stay safe!!!
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