West Yellowstone

Today we explored West Yellowstone and a slightly more mellow day. After a few days of long drives (albeit with beautiful scenery) we needed a bit of a break.

We started the morning at the Bear & Wolf Recovery Center, which is about 2 blocks from our campground. As the name implies, the purpose of this organization is to educate and promote for the recovery of these animals. I had mixed feelings going in, anticipating an onslaught of political correctness regarding the wolves in particular. However, the Center did an OK job of balancing the beauty of these animals with the costs of preserving and reintroducing them. They didn't necessarily talk about the impacts to surrounding farms when they created a pack of 37 wolves who rules the park and took over the habitat, forcing other packs into neighboring lands. But, they did talk about the line we have to walk between preserving and allowing for natural attrition (and perhaps man influence as well).

All that said, the coolest part by far was watching the bears (browns and grizzlies). The monsters weigh up to 1000 pounds and were impressive to say the least. A really fun part was an unexpected testing of a supposed "bear-proof" garbage container. It took Rebel all of 4:16 to bust through the metal container and reach the fish and peanut butter inside. That container did not get the bear stamp of approval, and went to the graveyard with the rest of the busted containers. I suppose this activity was a lot like going down to the dump and watching the bears bust into smelly things - but with a little more class and safety precautions. We may pretend this is all in the name of science and preservation but the bottom line is we are sadistically curious about what animals will do to get to stinky, smelly food.

The boys then signed up to help hide food for the next pair of bears. In typically fashion, Grady backed out at the last minute and refused to go. But Colby entered the pen with 19 other kids (no bears) and they hid fruit and vegetables around the pen. After the kids got out, they released Sam and Illie, 2 Kodiak Grizzlies into the pen. they both proceeded to find each apples slice and hidden piece of lettuce in the joint.

We then spent a couple hours walking around the tourist shops of West Yellowstone and having lunch at a little hole in the wall BBQ joint. After a couple errands we returned to the campsite, where we cooked pork loin on the grill and are now rolling around a ball, making ice cream. A very good way to end the day!