Massive Grizzly Bear versus Boiling Mud Pot

This past Saturday after my shift at The Adventure Store in Canyon Village at Yellowstone National Park @juliabreheny and myself decided to take a drive down to Hayden Valley which is just a few short miles from where we are working and living here in the park. This is one of our favorite drives because it is so close to home and rarely fails to deliver on decent wildlife experiences and NEVER fails to deliver on stunning landscape. On this particular day we were about 5 miles south of Canyon Village and had not come upon a single bison (buffalo for all of you Bills fans out there). We figured we would drive another few miles and turn around and be happy with the scenery regardless of not getting to see any bison. Although, as luck would have it as we came around the bend near Mud Volcano and Sulphur Caldron (yes, those are the names of real places aka thermal features here at Yellowstone, we saw a huge herd off the the left. The familiar sight of brake lights and backed up traffic clued us both in that we may be in for a treat. What a treat it was, we got up close and personal with several buffalo on multiple occasions and after turning into the Nez Perce picnic area we found ourselves literally SURROUNDED by the very same herd we had passed a few minutes earlier as they were heading towards the river to cross. It was absolutely incredible and I will be posting additional photos and videos of these magnificent beasts in an upcoming post BUT... there's not a single mention of the word Buffalo or Bison in the title of this post, now is there?

Fucking A right there isn't, the title says MASSIVE GRIZZLY BEAR versus MUD POT and that's what you stopped in to see isn't it? Oh sure, you might be asking yourself what's a Mud Pot and why would a massive grizzly bear go up against one? To the latter, I asked myself the very same question. To the former well maybe I should just give a brief explanation of what a mud pot is. According to Wikipedia here is the definition "A mudpot, or mud pool, is a sort of acidic hot spring, or fumarole, with limited water. It usually takes the form of a pool of bubbling mud. The acid and microorganisms decompose surrounding rock into clay and mud." So in short, a boiling pool of water which has enough acid to break down the surrounding rock. The bear doesn't stand a chance. Disclaimer: This video is a mash up of 4 separate videos and the idiot you can hear in the background trying to urge the bear away from the mud pot is none other than yours truly.

So, without further ado I present for your viewing pleasure... Massive Grizzly Bear versus Mud Pot.

All in all I would say that's a WIN for everyone involved. Had the bear fallen in I'm sure I would have watched in macabre silence and even admittedly probably shed a tear but that question didn't have to be answered on this evening.

Stay tuned for more adventures as we work and play in Yellowstone National Park.