2:11 am

May 31

Written By Claire

The clock said 2:11 am.

The darkness seemed to choke out any sign of life and light.

We passed through the guard shack.
Grand Teton National park.

A little while later-
Yellowstone National park.

2 of the most iconic landscapes, slipped through our fingertips as we saw nothing
but the black of the pavement and the trees that lined the road.

Trees so close and thickly woven they seemed to be the
metal straps of a barrel, hugging the wooden framework.

What were we doing?

Looking for wildlife.

Teeming with abundance in these rich lands,
Lamar Valley, just under 4 hours from our boondocking spot with a Teton mountain scape view.

We had to be there before the sun rose,
that was the time the creatures liked it best.

We went with no scope, no telephoto lens.
Just my 105mm hoping to get lucky and spot something close.

The drive went by in a blur-
in and out of sleep, braking for deer,
eyes glued on the road, slowing in dense fog, dismayed in not seeing anything but blackness and trees.

This wasn’t our first time in this wild landscape,
so that offered some consolation.

We passed bodies running through the trees,
something big and black in a field, a bison, a bear?

So…

Did we see things?

Yes.

We did.

Bison so close I saw the emotion in their eyes,
Grizzly’s so far we drove aligned with them as they ran through the fields,
Wolves so hungry they tore up their prey,
Elk so near I saw the soft velvet of their antlers,
Pronghorns so innocent, all they did was stare.