I had dinner at the lodge at the East Park Entrance and headed to St Mary Campground excited with the days quarry. Now I think what creeps me out the most about Grizzly Country is seeing all the warnings in campgrounds, and then walking back from the pay stations in the dark. At this time of year however, I just park in the closest space to them. This was a long day, and I was well fed, so getting the bears off my mind and getting to sleep should not be much of a problem. So here I am, down for night……. What the hell is that smell? Where’s it coming from? How could I not have noticed it before? What is it? Why….. It smells like lemon! Oh no, I didn’t. Sure enough, in my haste to get my Van all clean and disinfected, I didn’t pay attention that the wipes had a lemon scent. Of course it’s obscured when first using them because the Clorox scent is so strong. So here I am, in the middle of bear country, smelling like a big freaking lemon. Come and get me. How stupid is that? Keep the bear spray handy, and just hope them bears notice the Van is light green. Then maybe they’ll think the lemon isn’t ripe and pass me by.
I drove around the next couple days in the cold and rain with my windows down, airing out the Van while still looking for images. I still smelled like a lemon, but it was more like a wet lemon with a slight scent. A herd of bighorns occupied me for awhile at Mini Glacier and then I took a walk to a location where people had been viewing a big bull moose for several days. No luck with the moose but still waters at the lodge made for some wonderful reflections as the skies finally started to break and the sun occasionally peaked through. The first shades of autumn adorned the canyon floor and I was treated to an osprey roaming the river adjacent to the road. Going to the Sun Road was being closed for the season, clearing it for construction activities the following day and I was getting fatigued of being wet so I decided to head south for Yellowstone. Besides, the color was changing and I needed to give myself some time in Yellowstone before the aspens started peaking in the Tetons. I was a little late but so were the autumn colors in Glacier it seemed.
The day through Montana was rather nice as I stopped along the way to photograph some water birds and see some old friends. Got a tip about some good bear country west of 191 and the Gallatin River and found a couple more barns of interest along the roadsides. Boy do I love bein’ a roady.
Campsites were abundant but I was stopped in traffic on three occasions with passers-by viewing black bears along the roadside. 191 was a little busy and night was near so I passed on the bears in search of camping a bit closer to West Yellowstone. I did explore a dirt road west into the forest and caught a glimpse of some distance bighorns high on the cliffs. This was a good sign as it seemed this particular year I had already been blessed with abundant wildlife, but they still kept coming. My primary focus is on grand views and scenics with a few floral portraits and animals to round out my submissions. I had a few places to visit in Yellowstone with my 4x5 and 6x7 in hopes of further improving my library but one cannot pass through Yellowstone without stumbling on a few critters that peak your interest. I have a wonderful black & white of Old Faithful but have never had proper skies at Artist’s Point and wanted to take a new look at the waterfalls and some of the geothermal areas. I had no idea I was about to have my best Yellowstone experience ever as far as the wildlife were concerned.
