Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Friday, February 26, 2016

Dangerous Encounter


 

Yellowstone is one of my most favorite places in the world. Here standing at the Roosevelt Arch north entryway, I am reminded of the words of President Teddy. As Ken Burns recent documentary show eloquently pointed out, our National Parks symbolize the very best of what we stand for as a nation. That evening, after having dinner at the restaurant, we walked back to our small cabin. There were elk scattered throughout the area, busy munching on select shrubs and grass.
 
 Here Mrs Elk has found a delectible shrub right in front of our cabin. This particular encounter reminded me of a much more dangerous one I had had several years earlier at the very same spot. Here is how I described it on August 7, 2008. Keep in mind the small size of the porch in front of our cabin……
It's early Thursday morning and as always I am an early riser. As I peer out the window into the slowly dissolving darkness, I am reminded of other early mornings and things that go bump in the night. We were staying in a small cabin at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park with our good friends Gary and Rosie. It was several  years ago and the first week in October. A long time fishing visitor to the Park during mid-summer, a fall trip for wildlife viewing was a new experience. My three companions were late sleepers. I, being of the early rising variety, decided that rather than stare at the ceiling for a few hours, I would sneak out, book in hand, and walk over to the hotel restaurant to get my early morning cup of coffee.

The cabin we were staying in was quite small with a bedroom, two double beds and a bathroom. There was a small compound of these cabins surrounding a grassy area. As you can see in the above picture, attached was a very small wooden porch. Book in hand I quietly opened the cabin door and took a half of a step out onto the porch and into the darkness. It was very dark. Darker than I expected..... especially when the darkness moved. Suddenly, aware that a large buffalo was standing crossways on the porch and blocking the path, I literally leaped and fell over backwards back into the cabin.
 
Yes, a loud profanity was uttered on my part and the lights came on, with three rather disturbed people questioning my behavior and perhaps sanity. After resolving their concerns by showing them the  visitor, still standing on the porch, order was restored. Later, Gary managed to snap a picture of the culprit, who had slowly followed a path up the hill behind the cabins. It should be noted that several park visitors are killed each year by getting to close to these placid looking bovines. I still get up early but look carefully before I step out into the darkness.  Yellowstone Park  an exciting place 24/7….:)

23 comments:

  1. Yikes! I think that would have scared me to death!

    Can't wait to see Yellowstone some day.

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  2. That would be a great surprise to you and I'm sure all pandemonium broke loose with your housemates. They probably haven't let you forget it.

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  3. No need for coffee to wake you up after that encounter! Even in the UK ordinary cows kill the occasional hiker, as I just learned from 'The Road to Little Dribbling" By Bill Bryson. Awesome photo of bison against the sky! Quite frankly, I have been through Yellowstone twice and it always gives me the creeps. Too scary.

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  4. More jolting than a cup of coffee, that's for sure!

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  5. OMG - and you live to tell the tale. Enjoyed reading this, TB. As a child I used to hear about Yellowstone and always thought every stone must have been yellow! It's okay, I'm grown up now!

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  6. They can be a tough opponent. I have seen them jump 12 ft over a creek while standing still.I enjoy looking at the web cams occasionally to relive trips to the park.I have that fishing fever bad.Had my grandson casting in the front yard last week.

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  7. That would have scared me, too! Oh my, TB, you do have some interesting adventures with four legged critters. :-)

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  8. Morning, oh that would have been a little scary. Love that your sharing your adventures with us.Blessings Francine.

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  10. Well, that seemed to be the ending of a bad dream! Yikes! Of course as the pro-2nd Amendment folks get more laws passed to carry guns into our National Parks, I expect there might be a dead buffalo at the cabin door as someone with a smoking gun standing at the door says "I have the right to stand my ground..."

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    1. More likely a dead tourist clutching a smoking gun...

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  11. Sounds exciting! And you woke everyone up to share the excitement:)

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  12. They are so huge and that had to have been terrifying. I did not know they were responsible for human deaths. So glad your close encounter had a happy ending. Love the silhouette of him going up the hill.

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  13. A good memory. Nice that you could revisit. I don't suppose you ever thought you'd be telling the world about it.

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  14. I've got that first shot of the headquarters with elk all over the place, except in late winter. The last picture looks like the Lamar valley.

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  15. I've never been to Yellowstone but the grandkids go there for a day or two most summers, and they love it. They did have bison walking alongside the car a couple of times, but usually everybody is at a safe distance.

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  16. Well told story TB. I agree with the other commenters, and with you when you say that our "National Parks symbolize the very best of what we stand for as a nation."

    I don't know if everyone is aware of it but there are serious efforts underway at the state and national levels to sell off our national parks and privatize the facilities there. If you want to read about one such battle that's going on, go to the web site of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which I belong to because I know one of the board members, but Utah also borders my state and has some of the most beautiful public lands anywhere.

    When we lose those things we own in common, like our parks, or our schools, we'll lose not just those things but what sense of community we have left. Building up our national park system was something we did in common. It will be difficult to identify as an American, and collectively as the American nation, if we don't own those things collectively and the nation consists only brand names.

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  17. Your pictures show the glory of the setting.

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  18. Love your stories! Every year someone has to get a "selfie" with a Bison, or some equally 'dumb' thing. Those animals are not tame, nor pets. We do enjoy Yellowstone, however we have great respect for the "Wild Animals".

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  19. Wow ... I can't imagine how scary that would be. Thanks again for taking me along on your fun journeys.

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  20. What adventures you and Mrs. T enjoy!! Good thing Baron wasn't around at that time... you might have had a different story! :-)

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  21. Hi Troutbirder, The older I get, the faster time seems to go by. It seems like just yesterday I was looking at your blog ... the post you titled The Oregon Trail Time Travelers ... and yet that was almost a month ago. And then, of course, it is a bit of a challenge for me to keep up with all the blogs I'm following or trying too ... ha ha. Yours is one I really enjoy so I like to go back and see what posts I've missed and it is sure good to have found this one about YNP. You started by saying, "Yellowstone is one of my most favorite places in the world." Well, that makes two of us. I love this story about the encounter with the buffalo. I don't recall if you were following me back in 2011 but I think you might enjoy my post Coaching Through Yellowstone published on April 8, 2011 http://john-s-island.blogspot.com/2011/04/coaching-through-yellowstone.html Thanks for sharing your blog and for your kind comments on mine!

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