Northeast Yellowstone-Lamar Valley

One of the best things about being here at Yellowstone is the unexpected knocks on the door when Anthony comes to visit.  We miss working with him as we did at Great Basin, but touring the Park that he knows so well with him is a delight!  Our second adventure together was an area about 40 miles northeast of Madison in the Lamar Valley.  This area is one of two valleys known for wildlife and it is more remote and less traveled.  We had not ventured that far north yet.  We went over Dunraven Pass below Mt. Washburn to the Tower Falls Area.

Snow is still melting in this area so the Falls was very impressive!  We had a quick lunch at the grill there.  A big waffle cone of the local Montana dairy-Double Chocolate Almond ice cream was a great choice for me!

The Lamar Valley quickly proved itself when Anthony spotted a bear on the ridge.  We dived into one of the last spaces in a pullout to get some pictures. ( If you click on the picture, it will enlarge. ) All my closeups show the bear nose down enjoying his breakfast.

In the next few miles we began to see lots of Bison and calves.  The meadow strewn hills behind the herd made a perfect setting for photos.

The Lamar River makes this lovely valley and Anthony knew a great spot for a walk down to the river edge.  The mud didn't reveal any wolf tracks, but the flowers in full bloom made me want a closeup view.

Terry and Anthony stayed behind to enjoy the river sights and sounds.

The roadway leaves the Valley and gets into high mountains and forests as it leaves Yellowstone and enters 2 small towns, Silver Gate and Cooke City, MT.  We stopped for a snack near this cabin under the still snowy peak at the northeast Park Entrance.

All the beauty we saw in this one corner of the Park made Anthony's comment so true that located anywhere else this would be Lamar Valley National Park.  The entire trip was almost more beauty in a day than we could take in.  We found several trails we'd like to wander next time!!