by Natalie Ogbourne | | Lessons from Yellowstone
Yellowstone is quiet right now. Its hibernators have denned and many of its birds have flown away. Its roads, except for the one between the North and Northeast Entrance, are empty. The park and its visitors are waiting. They aren’t waiting for the traffic to unsnarl...
by Natalie Ogbourne | | Lessons from Yellowstone, Navigate by Faith, Yellowstone Guide
It wasn’t until the third hike of our week in Yellowstone that we found the dreaded bear frequenting area sign planted in the dirt at the trailhead. I sighed. Every time I see this sign I’m not only frustrated that it gives absolutely no useful information, I’m left...
by Natalie Ogbourne | | Lessons from Yellowstone, Navigate by Faith
My youngest daughter was eight when my family and I found ourselves in the path of a bear at close range on the trail. (Read more here.) As kids are prone to do, her response to learning there was a bear heading down the trail in our direction was to make an...
by Natalie Ogbourne | | Lessons from Yellowstone, Navigate by Faith
Tyson the Bison That, according to the signs in the Madison Campground bathroom, was the name of the bull hanging around in the campground. The signs prompted campground residents to be aware of his presence so as not to accidentally get too close. Even docile-looking...
by Natalie Ogbourne | | Lessons from Yellowstone, Navigate by Faith
“You’ve got a griz!” The call came from the picnic area below—just seconds after I had discerned that the brown shaggy head and shoulders cresting the hill twenty-five yards to my left was not, in fact, a bison. It was a bear. Wherever it was headed, we were in the...
by Natalie Ogbourne | | Lessons from Yellowstone, Yellowstone Guide
One evening, toward the end of my shift at the Old Faithful Inn gift shop, I saw a woman circling the front of the store, searching. When I approached her to offer assistance, she turned and said, “Where do you keep the food for the animals?” Food for the animals? I...