06-25 Lamar Valley and the Fires

These photos were taken yesterday.

This coyote was walking along a ridge as we returned from Lamar Valley. Lamar has some of the most beautiful light I’ve seen. It is a broad valley, heavily glaciated, lots of moraines and erratics are seen everywhere. Buffaloes come to the Lamar River in the afternoons to graze and drink its water. They rest along the banks and benches by the hundreds. (See 7th photos below.)

My biggest surprise in Yellowstone, apart from its sheer size and beauty, was the extent of the fire damage of 1988. Fires around and in the park destroyed 1.2 million acres of which almost 800,000 were in the park. As can be seen in the road photo, the forests in the higher elevations are very slow to recover. Remember, this is twenty years after the fact.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Glacier National Park.