Adventure is Out There - A Salute to All Nations, but Mostly America

[Nemo14]

Aug 13th Cont-

Exhausted, but going to try and finish up the 13th by tonight...starting now to get myself motivated. My company offers a number of volunteer opportunities and today I got a chance to volunteer with them at the Houston SPCA. I'm in peak busy season in my normal work role, so it was nice to get a change of pace. It's been raining a lot here in Houston, so I spent my morning walking large dogs in downpours...and then back to real work in the afternoon. I used to be an official volunteer there...back before kids. I forgot how tiring, yet rewarding it can be.

OK, back on track...

We decided to follow the trail up to the top (which is a fairly steep climb with a number of stairs) and saw this random bison along the way just chillin' on the hillside...

The yellow in this fumarole pic is also a good time to talk about the smell of sulfur. Yeah...there's a very powerful smell in this area. Unfortunatley, it was too much for David, but he kept pushing on with us.

Flowers!

We're now up at the top...

What's crazy is that last time we were here, this section was just a sulfur steam pit. We couldn't see anything. I remember having to walk slowly on the boardwalk path just because you couldn't see a thing. It reminded me of my first whiteout in college...except snow doesn't stink like this.

The pic is neat, but it's really the video that does it justice...

Now heading down...

Kind of cool panning out and seeing how the Yellowstone River is just on the other side of the road from all of this.

Oh well...more pics as we head down...

Steam can be really frustrating, but also make for some neat pics...

By the time we got to the bottom, David got sick...like violently ill sick. There was nothing I could do and he didn't want our help...so I wandered a little at the bottom while we waited for him to feel a bit better. I wound up taking this video, which I thought was pretty neat of this little vent...



He eventually got to a good enough point that he could get in the car so we could drive off.

We were there at the cauldron today, and did the paint pots. Our last day here - tomorrow we're driving down to Bryce Canyon.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Aug 13th Cont-

While I will probably do more of this at the end, since the kid pics are in such random order, I figured I'd share a few from the section above that were theirs that I kind of like...

In hindsight, I really should have segregated our uploads and made separate albums. I keep finding gems like this that are out of order, but fun.

Oh well, back on track...

So, we decided to head back towards the Canyon area and get away from the sulfur.

We went back to the room to rest for a little bit, but headed up to the quick service spot in the lodge (Canyon Lodge Eatery). One side had Asian food (wok bowls) and the other had more homestyle food. We weren't up for any of the wok options, so we went for the Slow Food Fast section. Everything came with mashed potatoes and green beans. Half of us got this beef tips and mushroom pasta stuff (like stroganoff without the cream) and the other half had chicken fried steak.

None of it was food I should be eating, so I'd regret it. It wasn't very good either. The chicken fried steak was horribly overcooked, the pasta was bland, the potatoes seemed like they were half real and half boxed, and the lemon green beans were just gross. And since I was already going to pay for eating bad stuff...why not go off the deep end and have a lemon bar too?

Awful for me, but this is the only decent thing I ate that night and I didn't totally regret it. At least I was feeling ill from something that tasted good.

I got the kids and David ice cream from the Canyon Lodge Creamery.

On the way out, we also noticed the translations on this trash. I'm guessing it speaks to the most common tourist groups they get in the park.

Hard to tell, but the skies were actually getting dark and we had some storms moving in. The week before our visit, we'd seen all kinds of storms in this area, but it was bone dry for us. We had a few rumbles of thunder and some sprinkles from this, but that's it.

So, a few things came up when we got back to the room that night...

1. The kids wanted a break from games and such...so I put in a movie. We brought David's computer for me to download memory cards from the cameras...and because the movie drivers work on his laptop (messed up on mine). And what do you watch when you're in the middle of Yellowstone...

Yeah...somehow we wound up on the Lion King.

David and I both expressed some guilt over having a movie on in the middle of Yellowstone.

2. I'm not going to post pics, because it king of scares me to look at them, but we had a room spider. Her name was Bertha. I am terrifed of spiders, but she was waaaaaaaay up at the top near the lighting and I'm guessing she was helping keep us from having mosquito issues. Tonight was the night we named her and photographed her...and just sort of came to terms with her being there.

3. Our flight home on the 16th had been bumped up by several hours. Initially we just thought it would mean leaving Yellowstone just before dawn. We were starting to see daylight around 5:30am, so at first it seemed doable. Then we saw a notice in the OFI that the road between Norris/Madison and Mammoth would be closed every night from 10pm to 7am. Now we had a problem. That would mean having to leave earlier to take that awful mountain pass in the dark (my GPS at 2am the previous night confirmed it's the slower/longer way). NOPE. Not doing that...so we decided to check out a day early and book lodging for our last night in Billings. So, the next morning, I'd have to pop in to set up early check out.

Not too much after this...just discussion of a game plan for the next day, since we'd be driving down through Grand Teton into Jackson, WY.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We were there at the cauldron today, and did the paint pots. Our last day here - tomorrow we're driving down to Bryce Canyon.

I'll be curious to hear what you think of Bryce. Not that we can go anytime soon, but my parents are going on a parks of the southwest tour next month and I know Bryce is the one my dad is really looking forward to seeing.

 

[Nemo14]

We've been a few times and really loved it. The last time DH and I went we were celebrating our 25th anniversary, and now we're celebrating our 35th, so we thought it was only fitting to go back there too.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Aug 14-

We got up early...but not as early as previous days. We went over the check out details for the following day to get our early departure squared away and then headed up to hte main lodge for some breakfast.

[/url]

I guess some tour groups had just rolled in that morning, because the place was more crowded than previous days...and there were a lot of confused people. I guess the various tours have meal credits, but since they hadn't checked in yet, those credits weren't converted to vouchers to use for food just yet. It was a mess...but we just sat there eating our eggs...

Yeah, we decided for a more substantial meal since we weren't sure what time we'd get into Jackson Hole and we were worried about some of the road closures in Grand Teton due to a fissure that had recently opened up. We also had some trouble with sausage. While it's an awful pic, the ugly shriveled looking ones are my turkey sausage. The blurry normal looking ones are Kendall's...but she had to wait forever to get them. The guy plating our food put them on her plate and then another girl came flying across the kitchen to tell him not to serve them. Never said why, but it took almost 10 minutes to get fresh sausage and it wasn't until the end of this that they dumped the entire dish of the previously made links.

After that, we got in the Jeep and headed towards Grand Teton National Park. I was driving since David still wasn't feeling well. Now, I will be the first to admit that I go above the speed limit in many places while driving, but the national parks...especially YNP...are places where I'm really good about obeying the limits. Aside from the wreck risk, too many animals are killed by vehicles each year. Case in point... when making this drive, I passed a dead porcupine around the Lake area. Now, I've never seen a porcupine outside of a zoo, so it really bothered me to see something like that as road kill. And of course, some idiot starting tailing me the bulk of the way to the south entrance...before finally getting around me. From the looks of it, he was going between 60-70 in a 45. We wound up at the same lookout an hour later.

Now I won't bore you with any of the backstory on Grand Teton or why the highway leading into the park from the north is the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway, but it's an interesting story if you're at all curious about how some of this all came to be. So, with that...first stop...Colter Bay...

There's actually a beautiful lookout before you get to this point, but it was full of people, so we decided to make this our first stop...which is fine, because this is pretty too.

I was hoping for better pictures of Mount Moran, but there was a lot of haze out there from the various wildfires. In fact, this would be an issue for everything today. However, it did produce one extremely funny moment. Samantha read the 'a' in Moran as an 'o' and wondered why anyone would name something Mount Moron! LOL

I went inside the visitor center, where i found the kids checking out some of the hands on exhibits.

I also thought it was pretty cool that these donation boxes were in a donation by country format...

We explored the store a bit...

Sadly, these would be the only Mountain Bluebirds we'd see or hear all trip. Also disappointing that the quality of these Audubon plush have gone down. The pic below is not mine (mine got lost in our move last year), but as you can see...the older version is more detailed and if it looks softer...it's because it is.

The kids also thought it was a riot that BB the Bison backpack looked like he sprouted hair when Sam was wearing him...

We all kind of split up and checked out various things in the center. I thought this was pretty neat...

But I really wasn't there to be cooped up inside, so we went back out for more mountain views.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We decided to move on. The kids were really hoping to see a moose, but a lot of the areas on the drive that can sometimes be good spots were looking pretty dry from the lack of rain.

We decided to stop at a pullout in an overlook section of the Snake River. This is where we saw that idiot driver from back in YNP! I didn't really want to be around them and I wanted some better framing for shots, so we took off on a trail to find a better spot.

I don't know what it is about sage, but I just love walking through it...well, the paths cut through areas like this.

The view of Grand Teton is simply awesome!

This is probably my best shot of it for this trip. It would be super hazy later on and everything would look sort of fuzzy. I guess I also can't help but look at it and think of our first visit. Back in 2005, we flew into the Jackson Hole airport and while it's a teeny tiny airport (I may have a pic later), the mountains are sort of like flying into a big city with iconic towers. The plane turns just before landing and you get this amazing view of Grand Teton (and a chunk of the range) that's sort of like the mountain version of flying in along the NYC skyline.

Well, I was still driving, so my next pictures wouldn't be until we parked in Jackson, but the kids were kind enough to take some along the way. Most are blurry because we were driving and some make me question what they were thinking....like this...

But then they got other cool things, like the stage coach going through town.

As well as the wagon on top of some museum...

Sam was also appreciating some of the local art...

This would be the only moose we'd get to see...and I think Sam took a liking to this because she wants one for the wall in her room.

I looped around the town a couple of times to look for dining options and parking. We finally just decided to park where we could and get out and walk. I remember taking this right after we got out, wondering what this must all look like at night in the winter...with the snow on the mountains and the lights all lit.

Coming up....lunch in Jackson and traveling back into YNP...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We've been a few times and really loved it. The last time DH and I went we were celebrating our 25th anniversary, and now we're celebrating our 35th, so we thought it was only fitting to go back there too.

Happy Anniversary! Seems like a really nice place to also come back and visit for those milestones.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Aug 14 cont-

Whew...I was hoping to post this weekend, but between some kind of critter taking up residence in our attic, softball, and a potential choir dress fiasco...it's been crazy...and it's not over.

So, when I left off, we had found parking in Jackson and were getting ready to seek out a place for lunch. We headed on foot up to one of the major roads and saw these interesting flags.

While traffic is supposed to stop for pedestrians in the cross walk, I guess they find it better to have people carrying these neon orange flags so they stand out more to motorists.

I'm sure we would have found more if we kept walking, but David and the kids wanted pizza. This is an all out no-no for me, but I was hungry. I guess if food is going to make me sick, let it be food that tastes good. So, we went up to the counter to order...

David and I each got pizza by the slice while the kids had a medium pie. What's really crazy...this first pic is 4 slices, but clearly, my veggie slices came out to be more food than David's pepperoni...

We also got a calzone, but I don't think any of us took pictures. What I did take a pic of was David and the toilet sign pointing towards his head.

Other signs...

*Actually, faux windows...since we were downstairs.

Speaking of signs...we saw ones like this all over the place. After talking to several different people (from Yellowstone to Jackson to South Dakota), they have a huge problem with the Asian tourists using American bathrooms improperly. This was one of the less detailed signs. We saw a few that had 6-8 different examples of what's improper toilet use.

After lunch, we headed back to the car...and I admired the antler theme on the trash cans on our way back.

After getting past some car envy (apparently, the handles only seemed to recognize me when it came to touching them to unlock it), we drove around a bit. David's turn to drive, so I took pics.

Ski town in the winter...

Rafting in the summer...

We'd thought about rafting on this trip, but staying in Canyon and rafting in Jackson wasn't the most convenient idea. There are more rapids down in Jackson, so it would have been better than going up to Gardiner (the more convenient option), but we just decided to skip it. I also wasn't winning any popularity contests with Sam, since I also opted to skip the cowboy coaster in Jackson.

David needed more meds, so we went in search of a pharmacy. It was nice to at least have service here. No Walgreens or CVS (or anything like that), but we found an Albertsons...that totally fit the theme of the area.

Sam went as far as trying to photograph all of the wildlife represented in the lot...

She also got the wildlife IN the market too.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

It was time to start heading back towards Yellowstone.

But not before driving past those iconic antler arches...

I tried to get a pic of the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, but I couldn't get anything good.

I had a much better picture from our 2005 trip, but those pictures are lost.

And more antlers on the other corner...

Funny, but if you fly into Jackson Hole, you go through one of these to enter the airport as well.

I took a few more pics as we headed out of town...

And it wasn't long before we were back in Grand Teton NP.

The national elk preserve was off to our right, but no elk to be seen this trip.

A more official sign...

I tried taking pics of the Tetons, but the haze and smoke weren't helping...

We passed the teeny tiny Jackson Hole airport...

And more hazy mountain pics...

We saw a lot of people biking in this area, but at least this looks safer than what we saw in YNP.

I must have been getting bored, because I started taking part in the whole crazy car pics thing the kids were doing...

We did at least spot some pronghorn on the way through GTNP...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

And now reason to start back up with Sam and the Mount Moron jokes...

It's funny, you can drive pretty far into GTNP before hitting the official entrance stations. The ranger this time wasn't super chatty, but that's ok.

By the time we actually got into range to see Mt. Moran...this was all we could see.

 

[Nemo14]

Wow you really did have a lot of smoke there! That’s how Salt Lake City has been for the past few days.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Aug 14 cont-

We passed a couple of creek beds...one with water...one without...maybe even the same one from earlier.

I also mentioned earlier about John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s impact on Grand Teton. Well, he gets his own memorial highway going through the forested areas to the north.

I also seem to recall this area being a forested sea of green the last time we drove through here, so it felt a bit strange to see so much of the area impacted by fire.

Passing over the river and much more in the way of trees here...

And we're back to Yellowstone...

Sam was in dire need of a bathroom. So, we stopped right after entering the park. We tried to explain to them that we were returning and we didn't need any more maps...just a bathroom...but the rainger was feeling chatty. I think we took her by surprise when David pulled a hard right out of the gate to get to the awkwardly placed bathroom area.

After that, it was a peaceful drive into the park...taking pics from high above...

I know it must look like nothing more than some trees with little bits of river, but this was the area where I took one of my favorite pics from our 2005 trip. The sun was just coming up, it was very cool and there was a mist/fog over the area. I asked David to pull over because I could see a team of pro photographers off on the side of the road. We didn't say much more than a hi, but I could see what he was seeing....beautiful colors created by the light and fog. It didn't show in my photo, but in the center of it all was one little tree glistening like the ones in the foreground of the pic. I was a little disappointed when I got the film developed, but it still turned out to be a beautiful picture.

It was just a stunning morning. Not that I like driving in YNP when it's dark, but that trip afforded us the chance to see a few places just as the sun was coming up. A little while before taking that tree pic above, we stopped and I took these great sunrise pics near the West Thumb area. Sad that I didn't come home with anything like these this time.

OH well, enough memory lane. We kept driving and I spotted something in the sky...

It was our first bald eagle of the trip. We pulled off, but of course I had the wrong lens. I did something I normally wouldn't do...I took the chance that it would still be there and ran back to the car to swap lenses. Sam was given directions to take as many as she could while I was away.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

She probably took about 15 pics, but I figured I'd crop a couple so it's more clear that it's a bald eagle. And of course, he was gone by the time I got back with the telephoto.

We were already down by the water and the kids were hoping to at the very least feel one of the rivers. So, we stayed down there for a little bit.

Still in awe of the crystal clear water.

Now both kids are playing...

It's no wonder so many people choose to have picnic lunches in these kinds of spots.

We eventually got back in the car and moved on. Went over another part of hte Continental Divide...

We were in the area and we've never been to Grant...so, we decided to pop in...

Clearly, this is where to go for permits...

Speaking of...we watched some people go through their back country inspection for a bit. It looked pretty intense. I can only imagine the amazing things these people get to see, but I just couldn't see myself going that far off into the wilderness. I remember when we were there in 2005, a group of back country hikers emerged and the first question was why the flags were at half staff (Hurricane Katrina)...but they were just so out of touch because they'd been out in the woods for quite some time.

Oh well, we went inside and it was time to start our explorations. Kendall immediately went to the desk to talk to the ranger because she wanted to inquire about the location of a particular trail (more on that later). I was just happy they were really embracing this experience.

Sam was having more fun learning about the camera...and I was having "fun" trying to teach her when to use the flash.

I let her go for a bit and started examining the wolf territory maps. It was pretty cool to see how the packs move and have expanded.

Enough inside...we headed out...

Obviously, Grant is along the lake. And as the kids were heading down to the water to explore, I was admiring the NPS picnic tables.

Kendall wandered off to do her own thing, but I decided to follow Sam down to the water (kind of a steep way down)...

At first, I was just having fun watching her play photographer...

*because apparently, this stance improves your pics.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Kendall got over her fear of slipping and went down there...

David wasn't feeling well, so he stayed up top...

She took some nice lake pics and was also pretty fascinated with this bird...which looked like some kind of seagull.

She was also pretty into the rocks...

OK...I can't fault her for that because even I took one...

The kids were even debating about going barefoot in the sand...

We moved a little farther down because Sam spotted some kind of bird...

I'll spare you all of her blurry bird pics, but I'll share mine and the backstory. One of the birds on the animal spotting sheet was Clarks Nutcracker. The girls insisted they saw one pretty early on, until we saw another one of whatever it was and I confirmed they didn't see Clarks Nutcracker. But today...we would...

The kids were thrilled because now they could officially cross him off of their animal spotting list.

We hit the road again and got behind this guy...

We got around him and I was happy that we weren't able to confirm or deny if anyone was following along with this sign.

As we were approaching the Lake area and West Thumb, we asked the question we ask every time about this island...Does anything besides birds live here?

We passed the mud volcano area and made sure to keep the windows shut tight so David didn't get any sulfur exposure.

Shortly after, we got stuck in a bison jam...

Clearly not the kind where bison are in the road, but enough to slow traffic a lot. We'd eventually come up on this hill with lots of people wanting to look at bison.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

It's funny, when you first get to YNP, you're thrilled to see bison and elk. By the end of your visit, you go back to remembering that those animals are everywhere and start getting annoyed by all of the bison and elk jams.

It was still early, but David wasn't doing too well. So, he decided to stay in the Jeep while the rest of us set out to explore a bit on foot in a quiet pull out in Hayden Valley. There was one lone bison up on a hill, but there was actually quite a bit of distance as well as the river between us.

Sam was hoping to head down to the river, but the grass is deceptively tall and the ground is very mushy. So she and I both retreated to lower grass on firmer ground. We were also covered in sticky little pods.

I just found a spot to sit and rest and take pics of whatever seemed interesting or pretty.

Kendall was just having fun posing, but Sam wanted to throw rocks...since she couldn't get close enough to skip them.

While I sat and watched...I also saw a really big bird swoop in to get something out of the river. One person who has seen the pictures said it could be a golden eagle, but I don't think so. The white band on the base of the tail makes me this of Harris's Hawk or a Black Hawk. These, from what I know, are southern hawks and shouldn't be up in YNP. And none of them have this red chest. So...if you know what this is...help me out here! I have looked through all of the Yellowstone bird charts and I can't find anything that's a spot on match to this.

On a side note, we had decided to drive out to the west entrance on the previous day. I was driving and didn't get a single pic. I bring it up because we're pretty sure we saw an osprey during the drive. Unfortunately, when we doubled back to see it...it was gone. That's the tricky thing with birds. And after looking at all of the birds of prey found in Yellowstone, I'm still stumped on this one.

We decided to move farther up the way to a new spot that was closer to the water. Still gotta watch for the bison.

We were also attracting some attention because people thought we'd stopped for something specific...like an animal.

I did think it was neat how you could see all of the areas where the bison had come down this bank.

More geese...

At they're getting along...

A couple more random ones while I sat...

While the kids were exploring they also found something...

Coming up...Dinner and games at Canyon

 

[Nemo14]

It's funny, when you first get to YNP, you're thrilled to see bison and elk. By the end of your visit, you go back to remembering that those animals are everywhere and start getting annoyed by all of the bison and elk jams.

It was still early, but David wasn't doing too well. So, he decided to stay in the Jeep while the rest of us set out to explore a bit on foot in a quiet pull out in Hayden Valley. There was one lone bison up on a hill, but there was actually quite a bit of distance as well as the river between us.

Sam was hoping to head down to the river, but the grass is deceptively tall and the ground is very mushy. So she and I both retreated to lower grass on firmer ground. We were also covered in sticky little pods.

I just found a spot to sit and rest and take pics of whatever seemed interesting or pretty.

Kendall was just having fun posing, but Sam wanted to throw rocks...since she couldn't get close enough to skip them.

While I sat and watched...I also saw a really big bird swoop in to get something out of the river. One person who has seen the pictures said it could be a golden eagle, but I don't think so. The white band on the base of the tail makes me this of Harris's Hawk or a Black Hawk. These, from what I know, are southern hawks and shouldn't be up in YNP. And none of them have this red chest. So...if you know what this is...help me out here! I have looked through all of the Yellowstone bird charts and I can't find anything that's a spot on match to this.

On a side note, we had decided to drive out to the west entrance on the previous day. I was driving and didn't get a single pic. I bring it up because we're pretty sure we saw an osprey during the drive. Unfortunately, when we doubled back to see it...it was gone. That's the tricky thing with birds. And after looking at all of the birds of prey found in Yellowstone, I'm still stumped on this one.

We decided to move farther up the way to a new spot that was closer to the water. Still gotta watch for the bison.

We were also attracting some attention because people thought we'd stopped for something specific...like an animal.

I did think it was neat how you could see all of the areas where the bison had come down this bank.

More geese...

At they're getting along...

A couple more random ones while I sat...

While the kids were exploring they also found something...

Coming up...Dinner and games at Canyon

I literally laughed out loud at your comments about the bison. The first day it was neat to see them, even though we had seen herds of them the week before on Antelope Island in the Great SaltLake. And when you see a herd of them at Yellowstone it's pretty neat too, but it gets annoying real fast when cars stop in the middle of the road every time they see one. We did have to stop a couple of times because they were crossing in front of us though.

Thanks for the bald eagle pictures too - much appreciated from a eagleholic. That bird you couldn't identify may have been an American Kestral, but it's hard to tell from the picture.

I'm so enjoying your trip report - feels like I'm still there!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Wow you really did have a lot of smoke there! That’s how Salt Lake City has been for the past few days.

I literally laughed out loud at your comments about the bison. The first day it was neat to see them, even though we had seen herds of them the week before on Antelope Island in the Great SaltLake. And when you see a herd of them at Yellowstone it's pretty neat too, but it gets annoying real fast when cars stop in the middle of the road every time they see one. We did have to stop a couple of times because they were crossing in front of us though.

Thanks for the bald eagle pictures too - much appreciated from a eagleholic. That bird you couldn't identify may have been an American Kestral, but it's hard to tell from the picture.

I'm so enjoying your trip report - feels like I'm still there!

I was shocked with the smoke, but thankful for what we were able to get earlier on in the day.

I didn't mind it so much when we were in Lamar Valley and the bison were very active (and plentiful), but backing up traffic for a mile for a lone bison on the shoulder gets to be a bit much. Still, you slow down and join the gang of rubberneckers just in case it's something more uncommon.

I should have one more set of eagle pictures on the 15th. Everything would be in the air, but you take what you can get. What's funny is this was just south of Lewis Falls and everyone else was so consumed by getting a spot to see the falls that I think most everyone missed the eagle.

Do you happen to know the size of an American Kestral? I mean, I can look it up, but just curious. This bird was fairly large...easily as big as the mature red-tailed hawks we see around here and larger than the Peregrine Falcons we often see. I keep thinking it might have been a juvenile or a female of something, so the plumage wouldn't be as easily identified.

Thanks! I think it's part of why I take so many pictures. It keeps the trip "alive" just a little bit longer.

 

[Nemo14]

Kestrals are generally smaller than a red-tailed hawk, but the markings made me think of that. I also thought maybe a juvie - possibly a juvie golden eagle? My sister and brother-in-law really know more than I do, but they're in Iceland right now. I'll check with them when they come back though.

 

[Nemo14]

Have you looked up Swainson hawks? I did because I saw one the first day we were there, and had no idea what it was. The one I saw wasa light color, but apparently there is a variety of plumage.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Kestrals are generally smaller than a red-tailed hawk, but the markings made me think of that. I also thought maybe a juvie - possibly a juvie golden eagle? My sister and brother-in-law really know more than I do, but they're in Iceland right now. I'll check with them when they come back though.

Have you looked up Swainson hawks? I did because I saw one the first day we were there, and had no idea what it was. The one I saw wasa light color, but apparently there is a variety of plumage.

That could be it. It didn't match the imagery on the various birds of Yellowstone pages and guides, but those only showed the light morph. That bird pictured above clearly is red breasted, like the bird in my pictures. I found a site detailing some of the specifics about all the different morphs and it could be an adult dark morph. I'd read that the wingspan is 4-4.5 ft, so that would put it in the right size range as well. Thank you!!! My pic isn't detailed enough to ever know for certain, but I think what you found is close enough to be fairly confident that we saw a Swainson Hawk hunting in the river.