Three Days In Yellowstone Park, with the wildlife cooperating

After studying the landslide detachment, we headed into Yellowstone. Pilot Point was ahead of us, (it was a waypoint for pilots to get their bearings),, when Renita spotted two Red Tailed Hawks perching in a tree alongside the road’.

I pulled over and she jumped out, heading closer for a better picture. Deciding she was having too much fun I grabbed my camera, after parking, and joined her. As I approached one of the red tails flew off and it was soon joined by the other, Both if us got great shots of the hawks in flight.

Driving through Cooke City we reached the entrance, and not long afterwards cars and people were pulling over. The attraction was several small groups of Mountain Goats. The problem was that they were so far away that all of our pictures were mediocre at best.

As we watched them a mule deer doe and her two fawns came out behind us as if to see what everyone was watching.

We didn’t see much else, so we continued driving along the Lamar Valley. Large herds of buffalo filled the valley. Nearing Slough Creek, a large group was watching a black bear looking for food. We both got out and one of my pictures caught the young bear and the light just right. It’s one of my best black bear pictures this year.

Many people were looking north toward the place where the Slough Creek Wolf Pack had denned. Parking we talked with several of the wolf watchers, and one told us that there were five new wolf pups lying in a small copse of trees. He set up his spotting scope and allowed us to look for them When it was our turn to use his scope I saw two running thought the shadows and Renita saw three.

The wolves must have laid down in the shade and so we headed west and then south as we drove e across the Yellowstone River to Roosevelt Junction. From there we continued to Canyon Tower. There were warning cones at one spot but there were no bears or car jams so we continued. We headed to Hayden Valley, where we saw many buffalo and a grizzly bear with two cubs feeding. They were on the other side of the river, at an extreme distance, but I did get one shot that showed the hump, It was definitely a grizzly.

We had heard that Harlequin Ducks were again at Le Hardy Rapids.

Upon stopping we discovered that not only were the Harlequin ducks there, but a huge hatch of salmon flies was occurring.

The two and a half inch insects were flying and crawling everywhere. Som of the others screamed as they thought the harmless bugs were dangerous. We shook our heads, the bugs are harmless, and wished we had a Yellowstone fishing license as the trout had to be in a feeding frenzy. At the fishing bridge, we turned and saw nothing else until reaching Buffalo Bill State Park.

A few days later Renita got great pictures of a herd of bighorn sheep and a cow and calf moose at Sylvan Lake,

(which is at Sylvan Pass).

Any day in Yellowstone is a delight and this trip, we got to spend three days in the park! Clear skies

The Japanese Dentention Center at Heart Mountain Wyoming

14th Amendment Section 1 All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. If you're in Cody, Wyoming, be sure to visit the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum. There are actually eleven museums in one large building.

A lesser-known museum is located outside Cody but is well worth the visit. It’s the Heart Mountain Internment Center. Each room in the museum contains displays portraying the concentration camp and a box of tissues. Many of the visitors cried as they read of their ancestors’ detention. This is the Heart Mountain Japanese Internment Center, (think Concentration Camp). It’s where twenty-two thousand American Citizens of Japanese descent were held captive for over three years, (It was one of ten such centers built in remote areas of the United States. It was the third largest city in Wyoming)

Their crime was that they or there parents were from Japan, and we were at war. Never mind that Americans of German, or Italian citizens were not arrested or detained. The Japanese Citizens had a different skin color….. These Issei and Nissie, (an Issei is the first Generation who had arrived here from Japan and and Nissie were their children who had been born here in the United States).

They had been torn from their rightful homes, farms and business The people detained here were from Southern California homes and moved to the Japanese Detention Center, Concentration Camp, in Northern Wyoming, they were never given back their homes, businesses, or stolen possessions).

They were guarded by armed Army Guards who sat in watchtowers, and their barracks were surrounded by barbed wire and machine guns. They were only allowed to bring one suitcase with their clothing which was insufficient for the harsh Wyoming Winter. It was the coldest winter in a long time and their only source of heat was Wyoming coal. Eventually the young men were allowed to prove their loyalty by enlisting or being drafted into the Army and sent to Europe to fight. (they fought in the newly formed the 442nd Regiment, which was the most decorated unit in Untied States Military history). A small group, thirty-one individuals, refused to be drafted until their parents had been released from the Concentration Camp. They were convicted and sent to federal prison. Clear skies

This has been the most difficult blog I have ever written. One of my reasons for going to the Museum was to show Renita one of the barracks I lived in while I attended Iowa State Universities summer field camp in Shell Wyoming. Iowa State donated the last one of the barracks to the Museum and it was moved from Shell, Wyoming and is being renovated to its original condition. It is the only original barracks left from the Heart Mountain Interment Center, (Concentration Camp). How many of you have ever read the United States Constitution. I wonder how many of my readers see the parallels to what is happened today……

A Low Angle Detachment Landslide

Way back in 1972, I was a Geology student. As part of my degree, I needed to complete a summer of geologic mapping. As my university did not hold a summer field camp I applied and was accepted at Iowa State University for their summer field camp in Shell, Wyoming. The field work involved doing a lot of walking as each day we were handed an aerial photo several square miles or larger in size and were expected to complete a geologic map with correct formation contacts, folds, faults. At the end of the day were expected to turn in a completed map.

We also traveled to different areas to study unusual formations, one of which was the Heart Mountain Thrust fault outside of Cody, Wyoming. While there a Geologist with the United States Geologic survey talked about the Heart Mountain Thrust Fault. He explained how old rock formations could move on top of younger rock layers in a thrust fault. One of my fellow students, was attending Princeton, said that his professor said that the geologist was wrong . He said that he had learned that the mass of rocks had slid like an air hockey puck. Imagine a block of several thousand feet thick rock the size of Rhode Island moving at a speed of up to 700 miles per hole. The Geologist got angry as he had studied Heart Mountain and said that the idea was ridiculous. It turned out that the Geologist was wrong! If you want to see how it happened you need to go to YouTube and look up a presentation from Myron Cook on the Largest landslide the earth has ever seen, (well that we know)

On the second day of our trip we decided to drive the Chief Joesph Highway and enter Yellowstone National Park by the North East Entrance. This would allow us to travel backwards along the slide path and take some pictures… Now to really understand what you are seeing you need to watch the presentation. Thank you Myron Cook for your outstanding presentation! Clear skies Imagine a block of rock moving up to sixty miles, moving at 700 miles per hour. Imagine it racing towards you! Pictured above Heart Mountian, Dead Indian Point, and the Sheep Mountian Blocks thst moved from the sudden detachment in what is now Yellowstone National Park.

Driving from our Home to Buffalo Bill State Park

It’s been a while since we last posted. We are now back home, recovering, from an eight day trip to Cody, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone. I have so many pictures and stories to share so I guess I will start with the drive. In March we reserved eight days at Buffalo Bill State Park, outside of Cody Wyoming. The reasons were two-fold, spend quality time in two of our favorite national parks, and to sell our jewelry at the Cody Wild West Arts Festival, (July 2 through the 4th). After some truck repairs we loaded up the car and truck and took off for Buffalo Bill State Park. The journey was just two hundred and twenty miles and took us through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Having our cameras ready we entered Grand Teton National Park and encountered a traffic Jam. As I was driving the truck, loaded with our Camper, I didn’t have any place to pull over and ended up driving to a pull out near Leeks Marina. Renita was able to find a spot for the Subaru and tried to take pictures of the small bear. It is the only survivor of the three cubs of the grizzly 1063. It was not with its mother and its doubtful it will survive., (I will post the picture if I can find it…). Leaving the park we continued on to the South entrance of Yellowstone National Park. From there the first part of the drive was up to the rim of the Caldera’s crater, marked by a sign that we were crossing the continental divide. The truck did not overheat and as we headed down, we drove through a thick forest seeing little in the way of wildlife. Turning onto the Grand Loop Road we reached the edge of Yellowstine Lake and stopped at our usual place for a picnic. A cold wind was blowing off the water and so we ate and then headed for Sylvan Pass. There were not many people on the Fishing Bridge and we didn’t see the usual number of Buffalos along the shore of the lake. Starting up to the pass we encountered another bear jam. This one was a large grizzly bear busy digging up plants, The bear was either grubbing or rooting, (they have over two bhundred foods in their diet). It was in an area where trees had blown down from a past fire and the bear would disappear, occasionally lift its head over the deadfall to make sure the crowd of people were not approaching. No one was stupid enough to bother a large grizzly bear, (I am still looking for those pictures), As we could no longer see the bear, we continued up and over the pass to the East Entrance of the YNP.

Arriving at Buffalo Bill Stat Park we set up camp. Our campsite had great views of Rattlesnake,(first picture) and Sheep Mountain. I will write more on these two Mountains in one of the next blogs. Clear skies