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Mark your calendar! There are just a few weekends left to make a quick dash to Yellowstone Park through the West entrance (East orSouth entrances as well). On Monday, November 3rd at 8:00 AM, these three gatesand Yellowstone’s interior roads inpreparation for the winter season.
Fall in Yellowstone is a seasonal oxymoron.There is a frozen crunch as you walk over frosted grasses that havetransitioned from yellowed brown to frozen white icicles. Yet, the warm afternoon sun burns your face and reflects brilliantly off sparkling rivers.

These last few weeks in Yellowstone belong to hardy souls willing to bundle up and ignore the chill in theair.  This is a time for birders, serious photographers, die-hard fly fishermen, and locals.

Every turn brings a photo waiting to be taken. Snow-capped peaks expose their true heights, while snowdrifts outline crags and crannies harder to spot in other seasons. A coating of frost lines riverbanks, while blocks of ice formerly white foam bob down the rivers.  Rivers take on a new murky indigo color offset by waves of steam sweeping over the surface.

Overnight, colors seem to change from the greens of summer to the golden hues of autumn. Tucked in-between the pines are the lemon yellow colors of honeysuckle and purplish red leaves of huckleberries. Sunsets seem tobe even more brilliant this time of year.

Thermals are more noticeable as the colder fall temperatures create billowing clouds and highlight soft steamy tendrils from hidden corners.This is a time to walk the boardwalks, sometimes with just a nearby grazing bison for company.

Canadian geese are everywhere. The sight of dozens of black heads suspended on narrow necks emerging from the grasses is comical. Common loons will actually increase in number over the next few weeks on large area and will as long asopen water remains. Ducks began to gather on ponds and lakes, staging in anticipation of their fall migrations. It is your last chance to hear a songbird or see a sandhill crane until next spring.

Wildlife is on the move. The bison herds migrating back from Hayden Valley after their August rut (mating). Once again, bison rule the roads in the park. You can be unexpectedly caught in a bison jam in Gibbon Canyon or maybe find yourself driving along a group of cows and calves.

Heads down and unflinchingly focused on gorging themselves, the bison wade back and forth across rivers looking for the best, last grass of the season. With large bellies almost touching the ground, they waddle down roads at a slow pace heading to the next hummock. Their coats are now heavier and darker, thick fur readying against the coming winter. Solitary bulls andpairs of cows can be seen in Elk and Gibbon Meadows, along waterways including the Madison River.

One late afternoon, as we were driving from Norris to Madison Junction, we found ourselves among such a bison group. We proceeded slowly, giving the herd plenty of space. Some of the older bulls are still a bit feisty after the rut. One calf, however, got a bit confused. He mistook our small, black car for possibly an adult in the herd. He came running up alongside us, and stuck his head in the open window. I don’t know who was more shocked…the calf or my husband!

Moose can be found feeding along rivers, while antelope and their new calves bound through the fields. Our fall ungulate favorite has to be the elk. This is the time of year when elk dominate Yellowstone. I think that what makes the elk rut so fascinating is that there is always something going on whether it is a bull constantly gathering his cows, bugling and chattering, or a male bull doing his best to demonstrate his absolute dominance.

In most years, the peak of elk breeding in Montana occurs around September 25th, although it can start up to three weeks earlier in higher elevations. This year, like the bison rut, it seemed to start early. We have already had some interesting afternoons and evenings along the Madison River watching a young bull work some cows, bugling his authority, and trashing young trees.

Older bulls (usually four years or more) begin to shed their velvet from mid-to late August. Often, bulls can be seen in later August and September rubbing, thrashing, and crashing their antlers against trees and shrubs. This removes the protective furry skin (velvet) that appears with each year’s annual growth. Once the velvet is removed, the bulls continue to polish the antlers to a white color and then darken the tips, an attraction to the cows.

They also being bugling to express their dominance and attract cows. Younger bulls do not start bugling until later; early Septemberfor 3-year olds and not until mid-September for 2-year olds.

As the older cows enter estrus (early September), they begin to herd together along with calves and one year old bulls. Young bulls may remain with the herd until driven out by the oldest bulls at peak breeding. Older bulls begin to hang around the edges of the cow herd and are constantly acting out to drive off other bulls and retain dominance. Dominant bulls are those that are the largest, strongest and most demonstrative, not necessarily the oldest.

The bull elk selects whichever female is ready. Or, females when ready just seek out the nearest bull and complete the act. Cows tend to select mates with the most impressive set of antlers.  Research has found that as many as 8 out of 10 cows (older than one year) become pregnant.

Yellowstone warns its visitors to be cautious around elk until the end of October. This includes both people and vehicles. You will always want to maintain a safe distance, at least 25 yards (the length of six full-sized pickup trucks parked bumper to bumper)! Both male and female elk will charge you. We watched one large bull attack a red pickup truck last year when the driver stopped next to it and started yelling.

Bears enter into a state of hyperphagia eating as much as they can in anticipation of the coming winter. Their goal is to pack on as much fat as possible before entering hibernation. A bear can gain as much as 3 ½ pounds per day.

Fall brings a welcome quiet to the Park. This is the time of year when the sounds of the rivers and thump of the thermals replaces the summer sound of a constant stream of passing cars. The honk of Canadian geese, chirping of an elk heard, or grunting of a passing bison echo off adjoining cliffs. Now, is the time to see the unusual – a favorite bird sitting on a still pond, a young moose meandering along a stream, or a group of playful of otters jumping on and off a log on the banks of the Yellowstone River. Skip work, take a weekend day! Make your plans to come and enjoy autumn in Yellowstone.