Yellowstone — Long Enough to Notice
Meanwhile, a lone ram nearby is unceremoniously using the guardrail to scratch his rear end...
Setting
East Entrance Road near Middle Creek
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Spring morning
44.466063° N, 110.093422° W
Observation
Less than an hour into the drive through Yellowstone’s East Entrance, a roadside pullout appears active enough to warrant stopping. A spotter points toward a bighorn sheep high among the trees on the steep mountainside. Through binoculars, it is visible — but distant. Too distant for a worthwhile photograph.
Cars arrive, occupants look, and most pull away again.
We wait.
Then another sheep appears. And then another.
What first seemed like a single distant animal gradually becomes a small bachelor group descending the mountain.
Moment
The sheep eventually reach the road and cross it. Some linger near the guardrail. Others move beyond it toward the valley side. Some remain above on the mountainside. One is down near the creek.
Two rams go head to head and butt their long, spiraled horns.
An explosive crack, similar to a gunshot, echoes through the valley.
They stare at one another either assessing the impact or recovering from the blow — or both.
The exchange ends after a single blow.
Meanwhile, a lone ram nearby is unceremoniously using the guardrail to scratch his rear end as if that was the guardrail’s true purpose. He lets out low grunting sounds as he rests along the side of the road.
Suddenly the animals that originally required binoculars to see are quite literally all around us.
Reflection
The landscape revealed itself slowly. We only had to remain long enough to notice.
