Guide Stories 2

Yellowstone Highlights- Bison, Wolves, Grizzlies and thoughts on US-China Relations.

By · On August 13, 2019


A female from the Lamar Valley pack crosses the Lamar River at dawn, as she scouted the bison herds for vulnerable individuals.

This beautiful black female inspects the herd. Predators keep prey populations healthy, strong and wild. Wolves and bison evolved together, and the valley seems complete and in balance with a healthy wolf population.

I had not been to Yellowstone since I was 10 years old when my Dad took me there on a chilly long weekend in May. Since then I have heard and followed its successes with Grizzly and Wolf conservation for 30 years. It was a great thrill to explore the Park on a Natural Habitat Expedition this August.

Traversing the Lamar Valley early on a clear, cool morning with guides, and my friends, Corbin Hawkins and Jim Phillips was all I had dreamed it to be. Watching the Lamar is like dreaming of a scene from the Pleistocene- vast open meadows filled with herds of roaring, grunting bison kicking up dust and exuding belligerence, always watching the horizon for ever-present wolves and grizzly bears. This is North America at its wildest and most untamed- aged by brutal winters, hot summers and wildlife ultra-violence, and sweetened by the pungent smell of sage, and the euphonic song of western meadowlarks. I imagine John Denver’s ghost spends a lot of his summers scanning the Lamar Valley.

Giant, arrogant bison bull at sunrise. August is the beginning of rutting season, and the testosterone flows thick in the blood of these ultimate American beasts. The air is electric when you are amongst these herds.

You can just feel his foul mood.

One of my heroes, Doug Peacock, maverick bear conservationist and the original mold for Hayduke, used to work at high fire watchtowers, like this one on the top of Mt Washburn. He documented grizzlies scouring the alpine rocks for Army cutworm moths, the larvae of the common Miller moth. Bears can eat up tp 40,000 moths per day.

Obviously I was most excited to see the legendary grizzlies of Yellowstone. This huge male bruiser was laying on an elk carcass near New Pierce Ford.

Watching bison from these custom roof hatches on the Nathab vehicles. This was an awesome idea designed by naturalist Kurt Johnson.

Some of our group exploring Grand Prismatic Springs, one of the most impressive of Yellowstone thermal features.

One of the unique highlights for me was seeing so many Chinese Tourists enjoying Yellowstone. It seemed almost half of the visitors were from mainland China. I am very accustomed to interacting with Chinese while I am touring my groups of foreigners through their amazing natural wonders like Juizjaighou and Four Sister Mountain National Parks on our Natural Habitat trips. We are always treated like royalty, and the Chinese get so excited to see us enjoying the parks for which they are so proud. It was a thrill for me to speak to them, and watch them light up when I spoke to them in Chinese, and welcomed them to America, for which the Chinese word translates literally into “beautiful country.”

It is a reality that China will become the world’s most dominant country in the future. To see so many families sharing the wildlife and natural beauty of Yellowstone with their children seemed symbolic of a hopeful future where the United States and China share a respect for each other and nature.

John Hatcher, one of our travelers from Australia, soaking in the Lamar Valley.

Guide Corbin Hawkins has many years of experience in Yellowstone, and made this trip run amazingly well, and put at the right place for wildlife many times. Except we never saw the elusive american badger…. lol

Nathab guides Cornin Hawkins and Jim Phillips in front of Ouzel Falls near Big Sky, Montana.

Nathab traveler Sallie Hussey enjoying one of world’s most impressive waterfalls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Pronghorn chewing cud.

Beautiful young bull elk getting his antlers in and enjoying the rocky mountain sunshine.

Female moose just in from Silver Gate, near Cooke City.

I could never get enough of the bison!

Fireweed and baneberry.

Nice view of an American black bear!

Anne and Geoff Kerr, originally from the UK, in the Lamar Valley.

Limestone Tuffa deposits at Mammoth Hot Springs, with Mammoth Village below.

Good Old Faithful.

Black female wolf of the Lamar Valley Pack.

Our group on to of 11,166 foot Lone Peak above Big Sky, Montana.

This really was an amazing trip. After spending so much of time guiding in Asia, it was great to get back to the basics of the homeland and see an old American classic- complete with bison, grizzly bears, wolves and geysers.

Keep exploring! Brad


Brad has been a Natural Habitat Expedition Leader since 2005, guiding Alaska grizzly bear tours, Churchill polar bear tours, northern lights expeditions and China panda tours. His specialty is bear biology and ecology of the north country.

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2 Comments

  • Geoff says: August 19, 2019 at 9:36 am

    A memorable trip – with outstanding guides – we had a bucket list to see the all the wildlife first hand and this was certainly achieved! Also this was a great group well travelled with lots of questions – we all learnt a lot!

    Reply
    • Brad Josephs says: August 23, 2019 at 4:21 am

      Thanks Geoff! It was excellent having you and Anne on the trip. What a fun week!
      Cheers! Brad

      Reply

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