Wolves and Junior Rangers

On the day after Christmas, we set out for Cooke City, Montana. This is the only road kept open through Yellowstone in the winter. While Cooke City isn't anything to get excited about (think Princeton, Idaho!), the drive is gorgeous and takes you through several areas that offer opportunities for great wildlife viewing.

One great excitement of the day was spotting a single wolf whom we watched for probably 30 minutes. There was a dead animal which he was coming toward to feed on. He was very skiddish and it took him probably 25 minutes (of our viewing) to finally get over there. He was a black wolf and so we could spot him quite easily in the snowy field. We also enjoyed seeing a herd of 350 elk, and another herd of probably 200 bison.

We stopped for lunch at a picnic area - it was a little chilly for an outdoor picnic, but with the scenery and great company, we could hardly complain!




On the return drive to Mammoth, we were treated to seeing a pack of 5 wolves. It was an enjoyable site, and one that many people aren't so blessed to see when visiting Yellowstone. Throughout the entire day, I couldn't get a thought from Beth Moore out of my mind. In one of her Bible study videos, Beth talked about enjoying God's creation and the distinction between worshipping the CREATION versus the CREATOR. What an awesome God who creates such beauty simply for our enjoyment and His worship!

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We have really enjoyed the various options and activities we can participate in, now that we have older children. One of those things is the Junior Ranger program. Offered by Yellowstone, the Junior Ranger program is for children ages 5-12. Depending upon the children's ages, there are program requirements to complete which involve learning about their surroundings. It is quite an involved program, but one that was enjoyable as a family to work on together....

The older children had special assignments to do that required various scientific equipment that we had to check out from the Rangers. Sasha was quite proud wearing the fanny pack with the equipment! If you look closely, you'll see the blue Junior Ranger badge the kids earned on the fanny pack.


Mariyana measuring the wind speed and air temperature. After we came inside, they figured out the wind chill - which was pretty chilly!


Hiking up the Mammoth Terraces. There were many steps, so Sasha and Mariyana packed the stroller and Anabella up, up and up!

All 6 kids - aren't they great?!


Anabella - the youngest Junior Ranger. (She was too young to participate in the Junior Ranger program, but she earned a sticker for circling all the animals we saw.)


Reading the map for our Junior Ranger hike.


Working on our Junior Ranger newspapers.


It's badge time! After completing the entire program, we turned in the newspapers and the kids received their special Winter Junior Ranger badges.