When I was in sixth grade, my dad, brother, and I went to Yellowstone National Park. My Mom wimped out and so we took our friend Mike Galeski along. We met up with his family at Yellowstone. We had a lot of fun on the first couple of days, but the final 24 hours would prove to be the most intense. Our harrowing final adventure began when we were setting up the tent for the Galeskis. We had learned from a park ranger that a man had been gored in that campsite the night before. We began to unpack the supplies and noticed a bison placidly chomping on grass in the meadow. As we started erecting the tent, we noticed that the bison was steadily but surely coming our way! He began to walk very slowly and methodically towards our campsite. We started to slowly back away. My heart was pumping double and my breath got caught in my throat. I saw his crazed, bloodshot eyes goring into my very soul and his massive head lowered, a sure sign he was going to charge. I thought that this was it, my young life snuffed out by this massive, shaggy beast. All I could think about was all the things I was going to miss if I died. I closed my eyes and when I opened them, the bison had just started walking away, much to my relief. After that experience I couldn't move for about ten minutes I was so scared. Finally I returned to a normal heartbeat and went on with our day, but the most exciting moment was still to come.
When I woke up the next morning I was still a little shaky, but a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, grits, and sausage really made me feel better. On our final expedition we decided to hike up to a lake where some trout were spawning. We arrived at the lake but much to our disappointment it was crowded with people. A local guide advised us to climb to a still higher lake where a family of otters lived. We decided to climb the mountain towards this lake. As we reached the summit of a hill we could not believe our eyes, down below under the cliffs we saw a grizzly bear swimming in the lake. It was magical. The majestic, magnificent animal that we had heard so much about was swimming after ducks in the lake. We sat under a tree and watched him for half an hour. It was a magical trip and I won't it forget it as long as I live.
