yellowstone

Yellowstone is the first and oldest national park in the world and covers 3,470 square miles (8,980 km²), mostly in the northwest corner of Wyoming. The park is famous for its various geysers, hot springs, and other geothermal features and is home to grizzly bears, wolves, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk. It is the core of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the largest intact temperate zone ecosystems remaining on the planet.

In any drive through Yellowstone National Park it is completely obvious that the animals, especially bison, are accustom to the constant traffic of humans. Wildlife is everywhere in Yellowstone, and if you happen to see a traffic jam up ahead you can count on seeing wildlife. Unfortunately, many visitors do not understand the danger of these animals and choose to park their cars (many times on fragile plants and vegetation) and walk up to them as if they were domesticated. The bison in particular seem very docile and tame but can run at over 30 mph and easily gore a human with its huge size (many near 1 ton) and horns.

This day we were driving out of Yellowstone, heading to Glacier National Park and we got one final view of this American icon. I guess he decided that the easiest route around the park was to take the roads, not particularly caring about the line of automobiles behind him. I'm just glad we were on this side of the road and not stuck in the traffic.