Page 37 - USA ROAD TRIP SUMMER of 2000

the library so we just stayed put. The rain came in buckets but the

hail and high winds got left behind. Just fine with us.

Ate at the local Mexican restaurant (Don’t worry, La Napolera) and

headed back into the park for the evening. The rain had brought
out even more animals than usual. Saw a 4-prong mule deer buck

and several does. A grouse with chicks was along the road foraging
briskly.

We came upon a herd of perhaps 100 Bison walking down the

road. There was a car from Minnesota in front of us with his

reverse lights on. A bluff wall on the left and a steep drop off on
the right hemmed in the road at that point. The Bison were

heading right for his car and this guy was backing up the road as
fast as they were advancing. We pulled over in the left lane and he

backed right past us. He and his two female passengers looked
pretty shaken. We sat still and let the animals mill past us. When

last we saw, the fellow was still backing up and the Bison were still
making their stately way up the road in his general direction.

We met a second herd of about 60 Bison settling in for the night
on both sides of the road while some of them just stood in the

road. We had to move very slowly through them, at time nudging
some of the bulls, but no one butted or kicked the car. We hung

around a little while to see if the Minnesota guy showed up as we
couldn’t wait to see what he’d do about this situation. But we

think he turned around finally and fled the park.

He will have many stories to tell about the fierce Bison he

narrowly escaped in Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

Saw one last coyote as we drove out after sunset. The sunsets
here are marvelous and prolonged. Gets dark after 8:30.

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