- Visit the original western towns of Nevada and Virginia City
- Continue to West Yellowstone
- Fill up the tank and make the last few purchases
- Evening ranger talk about the adaptations of animals in autumn for the harsh winter in the park
After a slightly fresher night than last, we wake up in glorious sunshine. Let's go over Butte and Twin Bridges to Nevada City. The grass of the enormous pastures literally shines yellow under the blazing sun. Once I briefly see a pronghorn lying in the grass, otherwise cows, horses, meadows and fields can often be seen in the hilly landscape. Around noon we reach the gold rush town of Nevada City. I came through here almost three months ago on the way to Glacier National Park. Unfortunately, most of the shops here are already at the end of the season, just like the part of the old Wild West town that is accessible as a museum.
In the restaurant we have an excellent snack before we drive the short distance to the neighboring and more touristy Virginia City. The picture is largely the same here, only a few shops are still open. Nevertheless, Niki gets a glimpse of times long past.
Niki continues to West Yellowstone, the entrance gate and supply center to the west of the park. We briefly buy some groceries and fill our tank. Then the journey to Yellowstone National Park can begin. It's already the third visit for me, but that doesn't bother me in the least. After all, the park is so incredibly large and diverse. In addition, different weather conditions, different animal sightings and especially different seasons make the experience exciting every time.
Soon the first bison will be in sight. A mighty bull trots comfortably towards us on the street. Although all open campgrounds should already be full, let's try the nearby Madison Campground. In fact, they still have a place for us today.
We cook our dinner a little earlier than usual. I make my own hamburgers while Niki eats the remains of her vegetable and chicken stew. In the last light of the day we drive south to the Midway Geyser Basin. Unfortunately the sun has just disappeared behind the hill, so there is not much left of the blaze of color. Still, the steaming pools are a marvelous sight.
Back on the campground we visit the amphitheater, where a ranger gives his evening lecture. Today we will discuss the change in the animal world in autumn. So how the various local animal species prepare for winter and try to survive it. The whole thing is very interesting and educational. These include some amazing natural achievements. How, for example, amphibians can be frozen thanks to their unique metabolism, how bears and rodents hibernate or how the large ungulates get by in deep snow.
In the question and answer session that follows, the ranger patiently provides information on the many questions that park visitors have. Here the visitor gets a deeper insight into the highly complex interrelationships of the ecosystem. Wolves have been regulating the elk population since their reintroduction into the ecosystem, which in turn leads to more vegetation along the watercourses and causes less erosion. They also hunt more elk bulls in winter, as they are weakened by the rut and have not prepared themselves optimally for the waiting winter in Yellowstone. Bears, on the other hand, have increasingly hunted elk fawns in spring in recent years, as their original source of food, the spawning native trout, dies out at this time of year. This means that despite a decline in the wolf population, the deer population has not increased again. Large areas of preferred elk and beaver habitat were destroyed in the great forest fires in the park in 1989. Nature seems to be slowly recovering, so the beaver populations have been increasing again recently. These make for more swampy areas, which will almost certainly attract more moose again in the future.
