"Soar like an Eagle…Yellowstone"

Yellowstone:  Day one.  An Eagle Soars…

Yellowstone.  Magnificent, and unforgiving. Winters are harsh here but not this year.   Sometimes the journey is difficult, but always worth the effort.

Elke Duerr

The trip can be long and taxing, but knowing that Yellowstone is waiting for you makes it every bit worth it. Feeling like I would never get there I smiled to get a text from filmmaker and friend, Elke Duerr, as I arrived at the Bozeman-Yellowstone Airport.   As I  was still  sitting on the plane , Elke’s text said, “Dave, Right now we must be two of the luckiest people on earth!”  She too had arrived and headed to Yellowstone.

As fate would have it we ended up meeting along the way to Yellowstone, stopping several times to view the magnificent splendor of the snow capped mountains.  The Yellowstone River was flowing , yet very low. The grasses were more than peeking through the snow, but dominating it.  The temperature in my vehicle read 44 degrees. As we experience a different winter here than last year, it is  still Yellowstone.  Unpredictable, always changing, and full of life.  Elke and I stopped once again as Elke said she felt this presence along the river.  We stood there looking over the Yellowstone River and an amazing creature caught our attention as he flew so magnificently along the river, and then, as if he knew we were waiting , turned and came back to give us a most incredible look. America’s symbol, an American Bald Eagle, welcomed us to Yellowstone in a most suiting way, in all his splendor.  His determined look, his style and grace, as he carried the winds of Yellowstone along the river and as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone.  A sign of things to come.  Yellowstone is always splendid in all its glory.  This trip, we both agreed, would be memorable.  Thank you, our friend, for sharing your beauty with us today.We are not so deserving, but openly welcome your presence as a sign of things to come.  An eagle soars in Yellowstone today. 

Dave Hornoff

National Wolfwatcher Coalition