West Thumb Day

Our goal for the day was West Thumb, but of course we were distracted by wildlife jams. This bison was very photogenic and we spent a lot of pixels on him. Then, just as we were deciding to move on, he decided to move on, too. To our side of the stream. He plunged in and waded across.

When we got out on our side of the stream, he moved to a stand of trees to scratch his back and his head and everything else he could rub against the trees -- which explains why the trees are in such rough shape all over Yellowstone!

We made it down to West Thumb when both Joyce and Ron bemoaned the fact that the pools just aren't as colorful as they used to be (and for Joyce that was just last August!). But that doesn't mean there aren't some beautiful deep pools with compelling color.

West Thumb is on the edge of Lake Yellowstone. In fact, some of the features are in the lake itself. It would be so cool to see one of those geysers go off, but we never have. There are no longer sightseeing boat trips on the lake but visitors can bring their own boats or rent boats from the marina.

We are loving the wildflowers we are seeing everywhere. There are so many varieties and we still are noticing new ones as time progresses and we visit different parts of the park.

These two guys were near Canyon Village where we were headed for lunch. The big fella above has a pretty impressive rack. The younger one, below, stayed with him but at a respectful distance.

Their necks are so flexible it sort of hurts to look at them. This is a natural pose and involved no taxidermy.

When we got back home to West Yellowstone, we went to see the movie Superman Returns. We decided it was a pleasant evening but not something we're interested in seeing again (and the popcorn was too salty).