We got up early this morning since we wanted to be in the Lamar around sunrise. It was another warm and sunny day. The sunrise was beautiful and we stopped to take pictures. The view of the sun striking the tops of the mountains also required additional pictures. Obviously we would not get to the Lamar as early as we wanted to. We did not see any sheep in the sheep management area. The elk were still near the Blacktail Ponds area. They did not move much over night.

The roads were clear until we got to Hellroaring Overlook. There was some icing in that area. By the time we got to the bottom of the hill the roads were clear again. We noticed some cars in the Elk Creek area. The Agates were back and they were visible. Unfortunately there is not much parking in that area. We continued towards the Lamar. The wolves had left the area in Little America. We already knew where the Agates had gone. There was no one at Dave’s Hill so we continued on into the Lamar.

There were some bison on the road near the Trash Can pullout. We did not want to disturb them so we just waited for them to leave the road. A government pickup truck passed us and pushed the bison off the road. I guess government employees do not have to obey the same rules that we do.

There were a lot of cars at the confluence. We stopped and saw that the otters were out and were playing in the Soda Butte along the road. We got some pictures but some woman came up and started yelling and the otters moved on. We also moved on. We stopped at the Foot Bridge and saw the seven Druids. They were in the snow high above Dead Puppy Hill. They bedded down and Deb and I decided to go to Barronette Peak to look for goats. We stopped at the elk kill near the Soda Butte and there were a number of coyotes on it. A bald eagle was sitting near it.

We continued on to Barronette Peak. Unfortunately, we could not find any goats. It had snowed last night and the snow was sparkling along the road. The sun was at the right angle so that the sparkles refracted the light and were actually in color. They were red, blue, yellow and green. This is the first time I had seen that phenomenon.

We continued on to Cook City. The roads were all snow covered past Barronette Peak. We were low on gas and thought we would get some at the Sinclair station. When we found out that gas cost $2.20 for regular we decided we had enough to get back to Gardiner. We had our picture taken and then went to the Soda Butte Hotel for breakfast. They had stopped serving breakfast so we just had a bowl of soup.

We headed back toward the Lamar. We stopped at Barronette Peak again to see whether the goats had come out. They hadn’t so we continued on to see whether there were any more eagles on the carcass. The eagles had left and only ravens were on the carcass. We stopped at the Foot Bridge but the Druids had gone over the hill and were no longer visible. We checked out the area around the confluence but there were no otters or beavers. The rams were still up on the hill. We went to the Trash Can pullout and decided to take a nap. We rested for about an hour.

We then decided to go back to the Foot Bridge to see whether the Druids had come back from the other side of the hill. We also wanted to check the carcass again. As we approached the confluence we saw someone waving their hands at us. It was Ballpark Frank and Roadie. We stopped to say hi. The rams were on the hill so we took a few photos. We had a nice discussion about Yellowstone. Ranger Mike Ross stopped by and joined the conversation. We mentioned the government vehicle pushing the bison but we did not get the license number. After a while Deb left to see whether she could find the otters or beaver again. Frank decided to cross the Soda Butte Creek.

As Frank was navigating the creek, Roadie and I noticed a small herd of about nine bison coming to cross the Soda Butte at the same area that Frank was. We were interested to see how Frank would react when he met the bison. Meanwhile we noticed a coyote walking along the Lamar River heading to the same area that Frank and the bison were in. Deb had walked pretty far up the road and was not a party to anything that was going on. The bison were very feisty and were pushing and shoving each other. A couple mounted each other and a couple was sparring. Then the three, Frank, the coyote and the bison, saw each other. You could almost hear the bison saying “What is happening to this neighborhood?” Frank left the area and walked over to the Lamar River. The bison and coyote just looked at each other and eventually the coyote decided that he really wanted to be somewhere else.

Now Frank was a safe distance from the bison, the coyote was making a large circle around the bison and Deb was still a distance away from everything. She was not aware of anything that was happening. Roadie and I were on the other side of the Soda Butte just taking in everything. We got pictures of everything. Then the first bison decided to cross the Soda Butte at the same area as Frank. When he got up to the road, he started down towards Deb. She had no place to go and was not sure what to do. Just then a Xanterra van stopped beside her and she used it as a shield. The bison turned around and started to walk down the road towards Roadie and me. Deb was out of trouble for the time being. Frank was on the far side of the Soda Butte with nowhere to go. Roadie and I were still watching everything. The rams had bedded down and were minding their own business, just watching the happenings.

Now the rest of the bison decided to cross the Soda Butte. The single bison was real close to Roadie and me but he was on the other side of the road by the cars. He did not appear to be a threat. Roadie and I had to stay put. The rest of the bison came up on the road and started to walk towards us. We stayed still and they went by with no problems. A couple stopped and gave us a nasty look but didn’t do anything. That was all but the last two. They started to spar just a short distance from us. The main herd of bison was now past our cars so Roadie and I decided to go the cars.

The last two bison turned around and went back down to the Soda Butte. The first bison noticed us moving and he took exception to us. He turned around and started back towards our car. A couple of other bison followed him. Meanwhile Deb had joined Roadie and me and wanted to know why we did not go into the car. Deb saw the first bison coming towards us but she did not realize that two other bison were coming towards us on the other side of the car. Everyone, the three of us and the bison were just watching each other waiting for someone to make a move. Meanwhile the last two bison came back on the road and started towards us. The coyote had disappeared and Frank decided to follow the Soda Butte to the area where the beaver was last seen. The rams were just watching the happenings.

Then the feisty bison started towards us and we decided that we could make it into the car before any bison could get us. All three of us got into the car and watched the bison pass. Frank was now back on the road watching everything. I think he was enjoying everything now. The Bison started up the hill towards the rams. You could almost hear them say “How could this be happening?” The bison and the rams stared at each other and finally the rams gave ground. The bison continued over the hill and Frank came back to the car. We had a good laugh at everything.

It was getting late so Deb and I decided to go back to the Foot Bridge and check out the Druids. They were gone so we started back to Mammoth. There were a lot of people on Dave’s Hill. The Slough Creek pack was back in its home territory. The Agates were back near Elk Creek and the Druids were back in their territory. We didn’t see anything special on the way back.

We needed to get gas so we stopped at the Exxon in Gardiner. While we were there Carlene stopped by and we talked for a bit. She said John had gone to the park, but we did not see him. We went back to the room and packed for our trip into the interior.