In early spring before the park roads are plowed and reopened for the summer season some sections of the park are open to administrative travel and non-motorized recreational vehicles such as bicycles, roller skates and roller blades. On a sunny spring morning a friend and I packed lunches and our bikes and headed to Hayden Valley. Approximately 7 miles long and 7 miles wide, Hayden Valley is a large, sub-alpine valley which straddles the Yellowstone River between Canyon Village and Yellowstone Lake. The valley floor along the river is an ancient lake bed from a time when Yellowstone Lake was much larger. In addition to being the largest rut of free roaming bison in the world, the valley is also an outstanding wildlife habitat for elk, grizzly bears, wolves, coyotes and a myriad of other smaller mammals and birds such as pelicans, trumpeter swans, egrets, Canada geese and many kinds of ducks. Decades ago as a college art student I explored my passion for minimalist art using a litho press, creating white on white embossed landscapes with titles like "Terra," "Ag Spectrum," "Strata," "Boundary Waters," and "Watercourse." Graduation ended my access to a studio press but I continued my embossed art using my car tires as a press and driving over the paper to create the impressions. In Hayden Valley I now witnessed my color-free landscapes come to life with the rolling valley terrain and the twisting Yellowstone River duplicating my earlier embossings but with added, passionate color. We began our biking exploration at the north end of the valley with paradise all to ourselves. The winter-poxed pavement was fairly dry with the residue of winter leaving occasional snow banks on either side as well as random patches of snow in the grassed and sage terrain. We biked a couple of miles into the valley and didn't see another soul. But we did notice a large, circular wet spot in the middle of the road. At the top of a small dip we encountered two female researchers who were following a pregnant bison cow, taking notes on her behavior and movements and awaiting what they hoped would be the arrival of a little "red dog" calf. We excitedly tagged along. The cow bison meandered along the river's shoreline and then to our surprise, she swam across the river and back, twice. Her slow, steady plod was interrupted every few minutes by a stiffening that could only be the onset of labor pains as the baby moved down her birth canal. Entranced from afar, we followed her every move in anticipation. After sessions off wandering amid a couple of small herds of her hairy and pregnant compatriots the big mama painstakingly made her way to the crest of a small hill. The researchers' cameras clicked away as the slippery lil one finally made its appearance into the the wide, wild world. Uncluttered with camera lenses we witnessed the birth with our naked eyes, albeit from a safe and respectful distance. What followed was a spectacle of flailing, skinny legs attempting to stand and on the fifth try, success! Second only to standing was eating. We chuckled at the round about game with the wobbly calf searching for mama's udders as mama tried to catch and lick her baby clean. It was hard to tear ourselves away from the sight of the new mother and child. We pedaled back to our car, past the wet spot that could only be the mark of mama bison's amniotic sac. It wasn't until halfway home that we realized something that made our lil red dog's birth even more special...it was the world-wide observance of Earth Day. ***I'm returning to Yellowstone in a couple of weeks to resume my adventures and explorations...and oh yeah, work. I will miss my three grandgirls, three dogs, two cats and the man and woman of the house in the woods. (hearts here)
