Saturday - 14 April

At about 1:00 PM we headed into Parkadise. We had a very nice drive along the Madison with views of a few elk and bison and mallard ducks on the river. We saw more bicyclists on the road than we had ever seen. The skies were clear and the weather was fairly warm in the high 50's to low 60's. This made it especially nice as the forecast had been for snow and cold. We took what mother nature gave us and loved it. The snow levels are very low in the park. No snow on any of the roads and most meadow areas were snow barren. We did not see any eagles in the Madison River area or the nest. There is still snow on the mountains, but it will not be a heavy runoff year as usual unless we get a lot of spring rain between now and summer. It should be an interesting year to watch.

At about 2:00 PM we spotted a really nice grizzly bear on the west side of the road just north of Norris. It was a very nice griz. It looked like it had weathered winter well and was big and healthy. We didn't get to enjoy it too long as a ranger came along and moved us along on our way. We weren't too close, the ranger was just having a bad day... too bad for us, but maybe he will hang around for some time. He was grubbing and it would really be nice if this was one of 264's cubs that had stayed in the area. It was a great surprise and a very nice welcome home to us. The road was full of folks on bikes enjoying the last spring weekend before regular vehicles are allowed in the park next Friday, 20 April 2012 at 8:00 AM. Another fun year in Parkadise is about to begin.

We had a slow drive behind a couple herds of buffalo that were ambling down the road. We saw a great blue heron just as we entered Norris Meadow. Blue herons are real camera shy and I did get a few pictures in flight, but sure wished for a few stills.

We didn't see a lot of wildlife in the meadows as we headed north, mainly Canada geese and mallards and the one heron. We did see a few sandhill cranes on Swan Lake Flats. No other bears or wolves on the trip north to Mammoth. Once in Mammoth, we stopped at our friends home and visited for awhile before heading down to Gardiner where we were staying with some friends up in Jardine. We visited with them and then spent some time driving around Gardiner showing Tyler our old homes and haunts and enjoyed being back in our old home town.

We then spent our evening up in Mammoth at our friends home for dinner and sharing all that was going on in their and our lives. It was great food with great family and friends. A very nice evening. We then headed back to Gardiner and our place of abode for the evening. We did see antelope, elk and mule deer in the area between the Roosevelt Arch and the North Entrance. We stayed up a little while and Tyler and Rachel taught us a card game called "The Lucky Duck". It was fun and then we headed to bed.

Sunday - 15 April

Sunday morning we went to church at 10:00 AM and our friends farewell. Our spirits were uplifted as we met with old friends and companions. We had lunch together and then we changed and headed back into Parkadise. We looked for but did not see the Big Horn Sheep in the Gardiner Canyon. Bicyclists were still on the roads enjoying a nice day that was turning stormy. There were a few elk in Mammoth but not very many at this time. We saw mainly waterfowl on the rivers and creeks and meadows, and a few bison. We herded some nice bison along the road and they are looking really good, well fed and strong, from the light winter. Not much else in wildlife viewing. Tyler and I talked while Carlene and Rachel napped. It was a quick fun visit with family and friends to a special place with special folks. We love it and miss it and look forward to the coming weeks and months.