{"id":3114,"date":"2014-07-31T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2014-07-31T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=3114"},"modified":"2014-08-03T17:44:52","modified_gmt":"2014-08-04T00:44:52","slug":"yellowstone-natl-park-go-for-the-flora-fauna-not-old-faithful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=3114","title":{"rendered":"Yellowstone Nat’l Park: Go for the Flora & Fauna not Old Faithful"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Bob Sparrow<\/p>\n

\"Upper<\/a>

Upper Falls on the Yellowstone River<\/p><\/div>\n

My first experience of Yellowstone<\/strong> was yesterday\u2019s geezer of a geyser and as you have no doubt surmised, I was less than thrilled. Today was a totally different story as we headed to Canyon Village<\/strong> in the heart of the park, which affords some of the most spectacular views of the deep canyons that the Yellowstone River<\/strong> has carved out over the years. Pat, Pam and I took a 6 miles loop hike on the South Rim that gave us spectacular views of Upper Falls, Lower Falls, Artist Point, Lilly Pad Lake, Clear Lake<\/strong>\u00a0as well as some close up inspections of geysers, mud holes<\/strong> and hot springs<\/strong>. We could have run into any type of animal on this hike so I made sure I had my bear spray with me. Which reminds me that I forgot to tell you about our encounter with a bear at Jenny Lake<\/strong> yesterday. We were hiking around the south end of the lake, minding our own business, when hikers coming from the other direction said that they just encountered a bear a few hundred yards up the trail. They said the bear had \u2018faked charged\u2019 them and one of the men who had bear spray stood in front and sprayed the bear, who then retreated. I thought I was being smart and prepared when I brought along some bear spray<\/strong>, but since I was the only one who did, I ended up being the stupid one as I was pushed to the front of the pack as we headed down the trail towards the bear. The rest of the group stayed close behind me, very close, in fact I was concerned about stopping quickly and getting \u2018rear ended\u2019, so to speak. We did indeed run into Mr. Bear as he crossed the trail about 50 feet in front of me; I stopped (and wasn\u2019t rear ended, thank you!) and pulled out my bear spray and had my finger on the trigger not knowing exactly what would come out or how far it would go if I squeezed it. The bear must have sensed that I was ill prepared for this situation and moved on without incident. It wasn\u2019t, however, without accident, as my shorts were in need of some laundering.<\/p>\n