After our eventful day yesterday, neither of us wanted to repeat our mistakes. We decided to wake up early and get the bulk of the day in before the crowds come (apparently midday). This also helps us avoid the heat of the afternoon, allowing us to enjoy the coolness of the morning air. Additionally, this also meant we were ready to leave the park before the dinner and sunset, hopefully missing that traffic as well. Going into the park was a breeze, no real issues or parade of brakelights. We hiked the north and south rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, a strongly recommended hike for anyone planning a visit.
After visiting other parts of the park, we decided to head back to the hotel. When we made it onto the exit road without any issues we were excited that we had played our cards right and had missed Yellowstone traffic today completely! Just about 6 miles east of the exit, we saw brake lights. Immediately our pride we felt was shattered as we tried to understand why there was traffic. In our state of disbelief in our slow moving vehicle, we immediately noticed a brown bear cross the road right in front of our car. Literally. Luckily, our car has a moon roof which I did not hesitate opening and popping up through in order to get a picture. What crazy luck!
Is this possibly why the cars ahead of us were stopped? Why would they still be slow if they already passed the bear? Are there more? As the bear passed right by our car and up the side hill, we moved forward, now on the lookout for more bears.
When we got to the reason for the slowdown, we didn't get an answer. The parking area on the left was full of cars and people had crossed the street (now encroaching on our lane of traffic) to view up the hill or up in one of the many trees. People were pointing but both Alex and I couldn't see what they were seeing. Did they know there was a bear that was only 10 car lengths away? Did they know that by standing in the middle of the street, they were blocking traffic? Alex and I did not feel the need to stop or investigate more. After our experience of seeing a bear right in front of us, few things could have been more amazing.
Comments