Mitch Lives!

On my first visit to Yellowstone National Park, I drove down from Jackson Hole alone one afternoon during a conference there. While driving the Eastern loop around the park, I became so overwhelmed by the breathtaking beauty of the Hayden Valley that I decided to sit down on an elevated perch adjacent to the road for a while to take in the small group of Bison grazing 100 yards or so below.

I didn’t know a lot about the behavior of Bison at the time - this was 30 years ago - so, as the little herd of 10 or so began slowly moving up the hill in my direction I decided to just sit still and watch them pass. A few of them, including one big bull that looked right at me and snorted as he passed, came within a few yards of me as they moved on across the road into a more elevated pasture to graze.