Day 29 - Bears, Geysers and a tough Elk

While at breakfast this morning there was a great comotion with lots of people running to the windows and pointing towards a hill. There was a Black Bear, wandering around - which we all enjoyed watching.

We headed off for a day of walking round Geysers and hoping to spot lots of wildlife.

We had a good start - with an several Elk and their young calves. They were a long way off - so the binoculars came in handy. Onwards to LOTS of Buffalo - which are everywhere in Yellowstone. Buffalo in North America once numbered 60 million (no lie) and fell to only 50 (yes, 50, 1 more than 49) in 1902. Since then they have recovered and there are 3,000+ in Yellowstone. They must have been the easiest animal to hunt - basically walk up to them, point gun at head, shoot.

Lots of waterfalls and geyser walks today. Yellowstone has more geysers than hte rest of the world combined. Each geyser has its own unique colours/rocks formed by years of erupting. They were very interesting.

We eventually got to Old Faithful - the most famous of the geysers. Old Faithful erupts every 92 minutes. It is fairly predictable. Most other geysers erupt every year or so. There are a few that are every 5 minutes, or every 14 hours - +/- 3 hours. You need to be patient to see geysers erupt - except for Old Faithful.

We got a great spot....on the balcony of the Old Faithful Lodge (huge wooden hotel). We enjoyed sitting in the sun (it was only 4 degrees today) with a beer watching Old Faitful do her thing. Right on queue at 4:02pm she did her thing - spurting water and steam 100 feet in the air for about 4 minutes. Cool.

Lots more walking and trying to avoid Buffalo and another 90 minutes later another show from Old Faithful. This time we were on the opposite side...and got wet as the wind blew the eruption towards us.

At dinner tonight we met an Elk. He was cooked 'Medium' and in the form of a Burger, with bacon and blue cheese on top. I advise you NEVER to try Elk if you can avoid it. It's tough as old boots.

We are into our 5th week now in the USA. The fast pace continues tomorrow as we enter the Grand Tetons - which many have told us will be the highlight of our trip.

Ken