Lamar River

Last week, we were back in Yellowstone.  Above are the meadows along Soda Butte Creek, with peaks of the Beartooth Range rising in the background. 

Steve practiced his fishing skills again, mostly along the Lamar River.

Quite a few 14-18 inch cutthroat trout succumbed to the siren call of his homemade dry flies. 

Since our last trip, he has been busily tying a supply of simply irresistible dry flies, the exact identity of which he is unwilling to reveal here.  (Hint:  not a hopper pattern.  And absolutely no night crawlers. Also, he insists that I report that he did not stoop to nymphing.)

As usual, he released all trout to be caught another day. The cutthroat left a swirl of water and a trail of silt behind him as he scooted off, stage right. 
Yellowstone fishing rules now require the release of all trout with any cutthroat markings.

Numerous pronghorn antelope graze in the Lamar Valley.  (The buildings in the background are the old Buffalo Ranch, now called the Yellowstone Institute.)

These graceful creatures will take off running sometimes, apparently just for the fun of it.  A couple of tourists, excited to share, told us these were elk.  Sadly, we had to disillusion them.  They seemed just as happy to have spotted a couple of pronghorns.

A group of common mergansers floated along the river.

Here's the osprey nest we saw last trip.  The young osprey have fledged, but we saw a couple of them flying back to the nest, probably checking to see if mom and dad had brought any snacks home lately.

Along Slough Creek, we spotted this badger peeking out of his burrow.

Look at that bull bison shamelessly goosing a cow right in front of all the tourists.  Why, some of them might have been impressionable children!  How rude.

This calf decided it was lunch time.  Neither he nor mom cared if they stopped traffic while he enjoyed a long drink.