1999 Yellowstone Trip (Thursday) - Page 6
Thursday, June 3, 1999 - We rise early and talk with a ranger before heading out on Beaver Ponds Trail. It's cloudy and a bit windy, and there's nobody else on the trail. There's little wildlife besides some elk and mule deer, until we reach the last pond filled with ducks and lots of noisy birds. 

We start the second half of the loop trail climbing a small rise, when what should we see as we crest the hill but a cinnamon colored black bear!  BEAR!  We scan back toward the pond and thankfully see no cubs, but the bear does not look happy.  We remember the advice: "Don't look like prey."  Together we figure we're as big as it is, so we stand tall and slowly step backwards.
It moves parallel to the trail in the woods, stops for a moment to dig, then circles quickly behind us on the trail, where it stops again to check us out. Then it turns and runs away -- whew!  We talk loudly and sing all the way back to Mammoth -- and tell everyone we encounter on the trail, "We saw a bear!"  And then we can then hear them talking loudly and singing in the distance as they move on down the trail.

We're tired from the hike, so we take a short nap after lunch and rise to shop for some souvenirs and postcards. After the short drive around the upper part of Mammoth Hot Springs, we head back up the hill and south through Golden Gate to look for moose.

Nothing again at Willow Park, so we stop to take a look at the Indian Creek Campground bridge. John walks out on the bridge to talk with a fisherman. Looking over John's shoulder, the man stop mid sentence, and exclaims, "There's a GRIZ, I'm outta here!" The grizzly bear crossed the road, jumped in the creek and started to float downstream towards us. 
Mammoth Upper Terrace
He was HUGE!  John and Carol now scramble to get in the car!  But the bear decides to swim across the river.  It climbs up the bank, shakes off the water and heads into the woods.  Boy, were we glad we met the other little bear, and not this fellow, earlier in the woods!

"Moose!" we both shout as we see one in the distance in a creek further up toward Mammoth. We look for a place to pull off to get a good look. But the distance and the setting sun allow only for a dim silhouette and a storm is approaching. The moose doesn't wait for the clouds to block the sun or move closer for a photo op, and now it's gone.
 
We head back to Mammoth as a storm hits to the west, and we're rewarded with a spectacular rainbow arching over the hot spring cliffs and down into the valley. The trip has blessed us with everything we could have imagined and we have one more day!

 
 
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