Bison, Bears and Wolves, Oh My (We hope)!! - TR UPDATE!! 8-19-14 - Page 6 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Day 2 - Headed to the Lamar Valley
We decided that our goal was to see lots of wildlife today. So - we woke up very early - and headed out at sunrise with the goal to drive the northern part of the park through the Lamar Valley.
As we left - we the Mammoth area - we saw our Elk buddy and a bunch of his girls.
Right after the sun came up - we came across a lone bison.
And then we came across the Yellowstone Institute crew. They had lots of spotting scopes set up and they were looking at a pack of wolves on the other side of the valley!! We were invited to look through the scopes and see the wolves. They said we were about 4-5 miles away from them!! I could see the wolves playing and jumping around. I wish my camera would have been able to take photos of them - but I got to see wolves. So I was happy.
Looking across the valley at the wolves
After we said our goodbyes to the wolves and the YI - we moved along - and came across a large herd of bison just resting on a hill on the side of the road.
A large male wallowed in the dirt in the middle of the group.
And then we saw a large herd of bison crossing the road.
Two of the males crossing the road decided to get into a bit of a rough up
All I could think was "take your fight off the road please. Don't charge the car"
After we passed through the bison crowd - we drove along through the valley and all of a sudden - we saw a group of cars pulled over to the side of the road. So - we pulled over too and hopped out of the car. We asked the other people what they were looking at - and there it was - A GRIZZLY bear!! Just walking along.
The bear was wearing a radio tracking collar. We later learned his name was "Scar Face".
After a bit, scar face went behind a hill area and was not visible from the road any longer. We loaded back in the car and continued down the road and entered the Lamar Valley. The Valley is the recommended location for large animals. And they were right!
Not long after we arrived in the valley - can found another bison.
The bison was sleeping and was serving as a resting spot for a magpie.
Then as we watched him - two people drove by and asked us if we'd seen the two wolves stalking the bison on the other side of the road?? EH - NO!!! So we crossed over the road - and started looking at the two white dots that the people claimed were wolves. I started looking at them with my camera and binoculars. And I discovered the two "wolves" were in fact pronghorn.
After watching the four pronghorn (2 males and 2 females) - we drove on and almost made it all the way to the NE entrance to the park at Cody, WY before turning around and heading back.
We came across two of the Lamar Valley wolf spotters and they were watching two sandhill cranes and a bald eagle nest.
Eventually we decided we needed to move along - we said thank you to the wolf spotters and moved along.
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Tower Falls and visiting the Canyon with Uncle Tom
We left the Lamar Valley and headed south, past the now-closed for the season - Roosevelt Lodge and on to Tower Junction. We were ran into road construction.
I had read about this before we left - so I knew about the construction - but thinking about it - it makes total sense that the Park Service squeezes in as much roadwork as they can in the slow times of the year - between the tourist crowds and the snow...
As soon as we passed through Tower Junction - we came to the Tower Falls pull off. In the summer there are restrooms and a snack shop here. Both were closed when we visited - but the trail to the Tower Falls overlook is open, and a nice 1/2 mile paved walk. At the end of which - you are awarded with this view.
This is the view from the upper viewing platform of the 132 ft tall falls. We didn't climb down the very steep trail to the lower platform to see the falls from the bottom.
Then we continued on through the Hayden Valley - like the Lamar valley - this area is home to large herds of bison and elk - and we didn't see a SINGLE critter here.... beautiful views of critterless-country.
We continued driving until we reached Canyon Village. We decided to explore around a bit, visit the visitor's center and let me get my stamp in my passport, grab some lunch and then explore the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Somehow I missed taking photos of the outside of the Visitor's center... I did take afew pics of the inside - particularly of the volcano parts of the exhibit -
Then we headed to lunch. The Canyon Hotel was already closed for the season - so our dining options were very limited - only two choices. 1) Grab and Go sandwiches and chips from the general store or the "lunch counter" - so lunch counter it was. I opted for the chili nachos... and Chris had the hot dog. It was ok. Not great. But it was something.
Then we left - and headed out to explore the canyon itself. We started with the North Rim Drive and the famous Artist Point.
Another Disney link here - this is the place that the WL restaurant "Artist Point" is named after. It is a breathtaking location looking up the canyon toward the lower falls.
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River
Then we hiked back up to the car and drove over to the South Rim. Our goal was to hike "Uncle Tom's Trail".
I had wanted to hike this trail when I was 13 and we visited the Canyon. My mom would not let me. Now that I was 42 - I was bound and determined to hike this trail.
The trail starts out at the Upper Falls overlook -
We had skipped this overlook so that we could do Tom's trail. Then the trail is about a mile along the top of the south rim - before you come to a hard left hand turn that begins to descend down into the Canyon itself. Then you see the warning sign -
They aren't kidding about this trail - it is not for the faint at heart (or lungs....)
Right after the sign - you come to the first set of stairs.
Here we go!
Looking back up at Chris
Wow - this is steep!
I look happy here - but I am not. The whole staircase is one solid piece, attached to the canyon wall in THREE places - so it MOVES when others climb on it... and you can see THROUGH the steps and although I typically do not have a fear of heights - today I did... UGH!!!!
As you get lower and lower on the trail, the lower falls begin to peek around the corner - although you can hear them long before you can see them -
Rainbow in the canyon
We finally made it to the bottom and the platform -
Getting down was the EASY part!! now to climb back up 328 steps - at 8,000ft of elevation - you want to guess who didn't have her inhaler with her??? At least I did have a water bottle - which seemed to help a fair amount.
I counted each and every one of those 328 steps.... and the 1/2 mile of trail back to the canyon edge.
After we were done and made it back to the car - we drove around the canyon over to the north side to be able to take a photo of Uncle Tom's Trail -
The platform at the bottom.
All in all - I am glad we did it. Do I ever need to do it again?? Nope.
We took a few more photos of the canyon from the north rim at some overlooks down from the upper falls -
Before hopping in the car and heading back to Mammoth - today was the day to explore the hot spring terraces!!
WOW! Good for you doing that descent and climb.... on a moving staircase. Very brave. Just shows that people shouldn't wait for retirement to travel. There's a lot you won't be able to do at that point!
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EH - NO!!! So we crossed over the road - and started looking at the two white dots that the people claimed were wolves. I started looking at them with my camera and binoculars. And I discovered the two "wolves" were in fact pronghorn.
PassPorter Guide Author
Very brave. Just shows that people shouldn't wait for retirement to travel. There's a lot you won't be able to do at that point!
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