This morning, we woke up early, grabbed some McDonald’s breakfast and coffee in West Yellowstone, and headed to the Grizzly and Wolf Rehab Center. We wanted to see these animals up close and really liked the idea of supporting a local nonprofit.
The park itself was really small, but that was perfect because we didn’t want to spend a ton of time there. We got to hear the background stories of the grizzlies and wolves who were housed there and got to see two huge grizzlies let out into their area and watch them forage for the food and toys that they had hidden for them throughout. We also got to listen to a Ranger talk about the wolves and got to see a few wolves walking around. They also had a really cool river otter section where we got to see an otter swimming and learn more about that habitat. It was only a couple hours, but it was perfect!
Then we headed into Yellowstone with the plan of doing the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone for the afternoon. We listened to our trusty Guide Along narrator, Dave, and pulled off whenever he told us too, but ultimately made our way to the lower rim. The spot called Artist’s Point was spectacular — it lived up to all of the hype and then some. A huge waterfall is the backdrop and then the river just carves its way through this steep canyon. It’s gorgeous. We took lots of photos and stayed there for a few minutes just enjoying the view. There were a handful of other vantage points, but nothing was as good as Artist’s Point.
We also stopped at another waterfall area and stood on the ‘brink” if the falls — looking right over the edge. It was really pretty and we continued to be amazed at how few people are actually at these popular sites. We rarely have to wait for a parking spot or viewing spot. September is definitely an awesome time to visit!
We wanted to head back to West Yellowstone for a bison burger — top of Mark’s list of things to eat. But we decided to take the ‘backside’ of the loop around Yellowstone through Hayden Valley and past Yellowstone Lake since we hadn’t driven that way before. It was a longer drive time but we figured it would be worth it to be able to say we did everything!
Just a few minuted into Hayden Valley we came upon a large group of cars and people on the side of the road. This is usually a good sign that there’s wildlife. We were done stopping for bison, so asked one of the people walking beside the road and she said it was a grizzly bear! I hopped out and started walking and Mark actually nabbed a parking spot right in the pull off area because someone was leaving at just the right time.
The bear headed over the small hill, so we walked a bit up the road and were able to clearly see it. We watched him walk into the stream and submerge up to his neck, then walk out and do a good shake. We then spent like an hour watching him hunt for bugs, mice, and other small creatures in the sage bush and grass of the hill. He was literally just on the other side of the stream!! It was so cute watching him dig with his front paws and sometimes ‘jump’ on whatever he found.
Another funny part was the park ranger right behind us. His sole job was to scream at drivers for stopping in the road — which happened a lot because seeing a grizzly bear is kind of amazing. This poor guy had to eventually lose his voice because he would just yell “Jeep Cherokee MOVE!!!!” Since he wasn’t screaming at us, it was kind of funny to witness.
Of course this delay meant we were kind of late driving into West Yellowstone for dinner, but it was totally worth it.
Finding a bison burger wasn’t as easy as we had hoped. Anywhere that had them didn’t have GF options for me. We ended up at a bbq place that was on Diners Drive-ins and Dives. It was really good! After that we walked around a bit and bought some souvenirs and grabbed a beer at a cool little spot called the Slippery Otter.