Synopsis
    
Two years ago, we took a road trip to visit Brent and Elizabeth, who had at the time, recently settled into Bozeman and were eager to show off their wonderful house and "neighborhood" in the mountains outside of town.  We impressed then, so we were happy to take up their invitation to visit again this summer.

So we, along with Todd, Christina, Ed and Joann, met up at Brent and Elizabeth's place.  We spent most of our visit kicking around their house - looking for the occasional fox, deer, or moose that would wander the neighborhood, eating great meals, and enjoying the company.

At their house, I enjoyed the many singing birds - the Black-headed Grosbeaks, Veerys, Yellow Warblers, and Lazuli Buntings.  The bird highlight at their house was a Northern Goshawk that flew into a tree before being mobbed and chased up the valley.

I was thankful for the roof over our heads, as last time we were caught in a frightful lightening/rain/wind storm while camping in the open on a mountain.  During this visit, we didn't experience a storm to that magnitude, but there was an impressive show one night with a downpour, wind, and frequent lightening.

We took a day trip to the Gallatin Canyon Area to look for Callipso Orchids or any other wildflowers.  We hiked up the Indian Ridge Trail and around the forest roads in the canyon.  Compared to our fist visit, there were only a few Callipso Orchids still in bloom, but we saw many other wildflowers that we missed the first time.

We also took a day trip to Yellowstone National Park, with the goal of visiting the Lamar Valley and seeing the abundant wildlife.  On the way to the Lamar Valley, Ed sighted a moose tucking down in the shade.  As we continued on, we spotted our first black bear or rather we saw a large number of cars on the road and stopped to see what they were looking at.  Once in the Lamar Valley, we stopped to watch the large herds of bison.  Elk and pronghorn were peppered in with them.  We also saw a couple of coyotes.  We watched one pronghorn family chase their young around the meadow.  It was quite impressive to see such a young, small pronghorn move so quickly!  Outside of the Lamar Valley, we stopped to scope the mountains.  We found both Mountain Goats and Big Horned Sheep.  Both had young with them.

After a nice lunch at Cooke City, we drove through the Lamar Valley making a few stops along the way.  We pulled over twice at the large mass of cars to see one black bear and then a pair of black bears.  After a brief stop at Mammoth Springs, we spotted yet another black bear along the side of the road. - The fifth black bear for the day!

We had a great, but brief, visit and we're very thankful for them entertaining and putting up with us.  Hopefully, we haven't put them off the idea of having us in the future. 

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Pictures

	Garter Snake, Brent & Elizabeth's house Bozeman, Montana
	Coralroot, Brent & Elizabeth's house Bozeman, Montana
	Spotted Frogs, in front of Brent & Elizabeth's house Bozeman, Montana

	Brent & Elizabeth's house Bozeman, Montana
	Calliope Hummingbird, Brent & Elizabeth's house Bozeman, Montana
	House Wren, Brent & Elizabeth's house Bozeman, Montana

	Columbine, Gallatin NF, Montana
	Gallatin NF, Montana
	Indian Ridge Trail, Gallatin NF, Montana

	view from Indian Ridge Trail, Gallatin NF, Montana
	More Spotted Frogs, Gallatin NF, Montana

	Lady Tresses Gallatin NF,  Montana
	How to spot a bear at Yellowstone NP: Look for a black spot on the hillsides or...

	Look for the long line of tourists on the sides of the roads.
	Black Bear, Yellowstone NP

Bison herd, Lamar Valley, Yellowstone NP

	Yellowstone NP
	Common Raven, Yellowstone NP
	Step 1

Step 2 A handout everyone gets when they enter Yellowstone Notice the similarities in the bison's tail position. Remember a raised tail means one of two things - charge or discharge. For more examples of people being stupid, click here.

	Cliff Swallows or in this case Urinal Swallows, Yellowstone NP
	Elk, Yellowstone NP
	Mammoth Springs, Yellowstone NP
	The 5th black bear we saw for the day, Yellowstone NP

	Have to plan our next trip to Montana
	A composite view of the stretch of road between Spokane and Mosses lake... after 8 hours of driving.

To see pictures of "Hippy Fest" during the Montana trip, click here.

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Bird List

American White Pelican	Roadside
Great Blue Heron	Roadside
Trumpeter Swan	Y
Canada Goose	Y
Lesser Scaup	Y
Turkey Vulture	Roadside, Y
Osprey	Roadside, Y
Bald Eagle	Roadside, Y
Northern Harrier	BE, Y
Cooper's Hawk	Roadside
Sharp-shinned Hawk	Y
Northern Goshawk	BE
Swainson's Hawk	Roadside, G
Red-tailed Hawk	everywhere
Golden Eagle	BE, Y
American Kestrel	Roadside, Y
Ruffed Grouse	BE
Sandhill Crane	Y
Killdeer	Y (w/4 juveniles)
Mourning Dove	BE
Rock Pigeon	Y
Common Nighthawk	BE
White-throated Swift	G
Calliope Hummingbird	BE
Red-naped Sapsucker	BE
Hairy Woodpecker	BE, G
Northern Flicker	BE, Y
Dusky Flycatcher	BE
Willow Flycatcher	BE
Olive-sided Flycatcher	BE, G
Eastern Kingbird	BE
Tree Swallow	BE, Y
Violet-green Swallow	Y
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	Y
Cliff Swallow	G, Y
Clark's Nutcracker	BE
Black-billed Magpie	BE, Y
Common Raven	everywhere
Mountain Chickadee	BE, Y
House Wren	BE
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	BE, Y
Gray Catbird	BE
Mountain Bluebird	BE, Y
Veery	BE, G
Swainson's Thrush	G
American Robin	everywhere
Orange-crowned Warbler	BE
Yellow Warbler	BE, Y
Yellow-rumped Warbler	BE, Y
MacGillivray's Warbler	BE
Common Yellowthroat	BE, Y
Cedar Waxwing	BE
Western Tanager	BE, G, Y
Lazuli Bunting	BE, G
Green-tailed Towhee	BE
Dark-eyed Junco - Pink-sided race	BE, G, Y
Vesper Sparrow	Y
Savannah Sparrow	Y
Fox Sparrow	BE
Song Sparrow	BE
Chipping Sparrow	BE, Y
White-crowned Sparrow	BE, G
Red-winged Blackbird	BE, Y
Western Meadowlark	Y
Yellow-headed Blackbird	Roadside
Brewer's Blackbird	Y
Brown-headed Cowbird	BE, Y
Red Crossbill	BE
Pine Siskin	BE, Y
American Goldfinch	BE
Black-headed Grosbeak	BE

BE = Brent & Elizabeth's, Bozeman, MT	mt, valley, alpine, elevation ~7000; sunny -> breezy, rain
G = Gallatin NF, MT	mt, alpine, meadows, lake; overcast, partial sun
Y = Yellowstone National Park	alpine, grasslands, valleys, mts, rivers; overcast, windy

Other Critter List

Richardson's ground squirrel	Y
Red Squirrel	G
Yellow-bellied Marmot	Bozeman
Black Bear	Y
Fox	BE
Coyote	BE, Y
Elk	Y
Pronghorn + young	Y
Bison + calf	Y
White-tailed Deer	BE, Y
Black-tailed Deer	BE, Y
Moose	BE, Y
Mt Goat + young	Y
Big Horn Sheep + young	Y
Garter Snake	BE

Notable Flower List

Calypso Orchid	Gallatin NF
Balsamroot
Spotted Coralroot	Gallatin NF
Larkspur
Paintbrush
Anemones
Shooting Star
White Phlox
Forget-me-not
Lupine
Death Camas

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Information

Yellowstone National Park
Map of Gallatin Canyon Area Trails

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