Stream of Consciousness Writing | Cooke City, Montana Pt. 3

Feb 27

There’s a smell in the dark morning air. An incoming winter storm. 10 to 20 inches predicted with up to 60 mph winds. As much as I would like to stay and be snowed in (major Shining vibes being felt), I need to get back to Big Sky. An early departure is a must. Storms out west are a bit different than out east. They're treacherous, unpredictable, deadly.

The northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park is accessed from Cooke City, and it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite sections of the park. Mountains, jagged peaks, deep pockets of snow, wild animals, rivers, creeks, and endless lines of trees.

It’s cold. 9 degrees Fahrenheit to be exact. A light pink can be seen to the east, just beneath the mountain tops. No sign of animals. Do they sense the incoming storm? Where do they go? What do they think? How are they able to stay warm through such inhospitable conditions.

I pull over besides the Lamar River. America’s Serengeti as it’s so appropriately named. Leaving my camera behind, I climb over a small hill and see down below a bull moose and his cow (female moose.) Figures! I race back to my truck, grab my camera, and am lucky to see that they haven’t grazed too far from their morning breakfast cafe. A small herd of bison and a single coyote all fill in the early morning scene to my right. I watch, and I watch some more. How do I have this entire spot to myself? Summertime, forget it! The male makes a few attempts to mount the female, but it seems to be more playful than anything serious as the main rutting season takes place in the autumn.

Minutes before the exchange with the bull and the cow, this one antlered bull looks across the Lamar River at his mistress.

Thirty or so minutes pass me by. I’m not really sure. Being encompassed by nature means a loss of time. Back to Cooke City to finish out my thoughts. That is until I meet a bison head on. One last capture to encompass everything that I had set out to do. I’ll admit, I was probably a lot closer than I should’ve been to this gentle giant, but I wasn’t worried. We both shared a silent agreement as we stared at each other from the pavement.

I grab a tea back in Cooke City. London fog once again. It’s 10:30am. The sun is out, the snowmobiles are revving. The dog is in mid morning nap mode. I’m looking out the window of my motel room. Can life get any better? In this very moment of time, not one bit!

An hour passes by. One last adventure into the woods. No camera, no words, just the remnants of memories. Blue skies abound, the wind is whipping. Nature is preparing!

Fin.

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