Original subtitles

Hi. I'm bill pullman.

As part of a ranch family,

I know that water is precious here in montana.

It's the lifeblood of the west.

Most of america's great waterways have been dammed,

But the yellowstone river is an exception.

It flows free for the entire length of its journey.

But it can also be a place of peril.

In this chapter of "epic yellowstone,"

You're going to see two mothers, a grizzly and a bison,

Each with the challenge of getting their young

Across the raging river.

Both have fierce determination, and both face uncertain endings.

I hope you enjoy the journey down the river wild.

It's among the last of its kind--

A mighty river still wild.

♪

It flows from the heart of yellowstone national park...

And carves through the mountains of the american west.

♪

This is the story of a river moving as few rivers still do...

Undammed...

Untamed,

Of raging waters that give...

And take.

♪

This is a journey from the peaks

To the plains,

Where ancient lands welcome creatures from another time.

[thunder]

This is the yellowstone river,

Unleashed and free.

♪

The peaks of the world's first national park

Feed the largest high elevation body of water in north america,

Yellowstone lake.

[trumpeting]

Its shore circles more than 100 miles.

Its depths plunge nearly 400 feet.

This giant natural reservoir has only one outlet...

[trumpeting]

The mighty yellowstone river.

But on this January day,

The river's exit is locked in ice,

Reduced to a few steaming pools,

Critical refuge for a species that once faced extinction.

[trumpeting]

Nearly all the trumpeter swans in the rocky mountains

Migrate here each winter.

They flock to open water heated by geothermal springs.

But even in this sanctuary, safety is not a given.

[trumpeting]

♪

The world's largest waterfowl have attracted a hungry coyote.

[trumpeting]

Hunting on the frozen river is a challenge.

There's no cover,

Nothing for the coyote to hide behind.

It must be patient

And wait for a misstep.

♪

♪

It's not easy to catch the swans off guard.

Their crowded safe haven is small, but it's enough.

♪

Those lingering farther from the water

Won't be able to make such a quick escape.

Gathering momentum to lift

A 20-pound body into the air takes time,

Time that's running out.

♪

[trumpeting]

The coyote watches its chance fly away.

♪

This goldeneye duck can't escape to the air...

Or retreat to the water.

It's injured,

Just the advantage the coyote needs.

♪

[quacking]

[trumpeting]

Not a swan, but better than nothing.

♪

♪

A few warm February days open the channel.

[trumpeting]

The swans have room to move,

To stretch their wings.

[trumpeting]

And the river that gave

Yellowstone national park its name

Flows free.

It leaves the lake, heading north,

The start of a journey to the missouri river,

Nearly 700 miles away.

This is no ordinary voyage.

♪

The yellowstone is the longest undammed river

In the lower 48 states.

It flows with a wildness that's disappearing from america.

It still harbors extraordinary life.

♪

Even in the depths of winter,

It's an artery, drawing many to its banks.

♪

The coyote must be endlessly on the hunt

For calories that will carry it through the winter.

It follows the open river.

The coyote spends much of its year alone.

Sometimes a hunter, often a scavenger,

Its strength is adaptability.

♪

But the coyote isn't at ease in the icy water,

And its quest to find enough food

Will be as long and grueling as the season.

♪

[squealing]

River otters are at home in the water.

They rely on the yellowstone river

When their summer habitat

In lakes and tributaries freezes over.

♪

Less than a year old,

Two pups have already grown as big as their mom,

But they still have a lot to learn.

They'll stay with her through winter,

Following her every move.

The mother leads the pups downstream,

Toward a place they've never been--

A perfect fishing hole.

But as they get closer to their destination,

She can't let them stay in the water.

Up ahead, the river is changing.

The pull of the current is suddenly swift,

And the sound of a distant roar swells.

[roaring]

[squealing]

The mother calls the pups out of the water

And into the deep snow.

There's only one way to escape the danger around the bend.

The upper falls of the yellowstone river

Plummet more than 100 feet

Over a lip of hard volcanic rock.

The otters can't risk a swim.

A ride over this giant would likely be their last.

Forced out of the river,

The otters must find another route.

When you can't swim,

You can slide.

♪

Following their mother's lead, the pups get the hang of it.

♪

The daunting descent becomes a new adventure.

♪

By the time they reach the bottom, the pups are flying.

[squealing]

They arrive for the first time

In a place that's unlike any other on the yellowstone.

♪

In this grotto of ice,

The constant impact of the cascade

Keeps the pool from freezing over.

The force of falling water creates a deep plunge basin

Full of oxygen,

Ideal habitat for large fish.

Finding confidence in this sheltered cove,

The pups explore their new home.

They fish from rafts of floating ice...

And dine in sculpted caves,

Making the most of a winter wonderland.

In March, sunlight slowly returns to yellowstone.

♪

Climbing temperatures unlock snow and ice.

Slabs break free, unleashing powerful floes.

♪

They build volume and momentum in the channel.

♪

Meltwater from 70,000 square miles

Drains into the yellowstone river.

By may, streams begin to swell.

Tributaries become torrents.

Millions of gallons of water race to the river.

♪

Half a mile downstream from the upper falls,

Spring's raging flood

Pours over the largest vertical drop in the river--

The lower falls.

The river plummets 308 feet,

Nearly twice the height of niagara falls.

The thundering whitewater slices through rock,

Carving the grand canyon of the yellowstone.

Iron in the rocks paints the walls of the famous gorge

A bold yellow.

[chirping]

Hot springs and steam vents

Leave stripes of pastel pink and orange.

24 miles long, as much as 1,200 feet deep,

The grand canyon of the yellowstone

Is a monument to the force of raging water.

♪

♪

[grunting]

With the big melt, bison begin a migration to higher ground.

They must cross swollen rivers to reach summer pasture.

They're not the only spring travelers driven by hunger.

A grizzly bear, just out of hibernation,

Approaches a rushing tributary,

And she's not alone.

After a long winter in the den without food

And months of nursing three new cubs,

Her reserves are gone.

She needs to reach hunting grounds

On the other side of the river.

But getting there will be no easy feat.

In these early days out of the den,

The cubs are still clumsy on foot.

This river is a turbulent place for a first swim.

Bison move as a herd,

Protecting young calves with the strength of numbers.

The calves stay close,

Even when their mothers lead them into dangerous waters.

A calf takes the plunge,

And instantly, it's in deep water.

♪

It takes all of its effort to keep up with its mother.

As the rest of the herd piles in, chaos ensues.

[grunting]

♪

The grizzly hasn't found an easy place for the cubs to cross.

But her empty stomach pulls her into the water nonetheless.

♪

Fear grips her entourage.

[growling]

The sow stays put, coaching the cubs to follow,

But it's a big river for little bears.

The bison herd struggles to stay upriver

From the most violent rapids.

Lose your footing, and the river takes you.

♪

[groaning]

Even the strongest are lost.

The same current drags the calf down.

The grizzly may have made the wrong move.

All three cubs followed her into the river.

Now they're swimming for their lives,

And she can't help them all at once.

Maternal instinct is fierce,

But so is the river.

♪

The cow uses her body as a shield, breaking the current.

In her lee, the calf makes headway,

While others falter.

♪

[grunts]

They've escaped the water's deadly grip.

[grunts]

For the bear cubs,

The other side of the river is finally in reach.

One down...

♪

Two to go.

♪

Against the odds, all three cubs have survived

Their first encounter with the river,

But the battle has drained them.

Before they can set out to find food,

It's naptime.

♪

♪

The bison herd will continue the journey to higher pastures

In the heart of yellowstone.

But the river travels in the opposite direction,

Leaving the park

And meeting civilization.

It runs through the gateway town of gardiner, montana,

The northern entrance to yellowstone.

But the streets are soon replaced

By a man-made tapestry of ranches and homes.

♪

In paradise valley,

The sharp ridges of young mountains

Rise above the river,

And spring turbulence mellows into easier currents.

Beneath the surface, warming temperatures send an ugly bug

On a quest to find a partner.

For three years, the salmonfly lives in the form of a nymph

On the river bottom.

Not a pretty phase,

But a dramatic makeover is in reach,

If the nymph can make the journey

From its watery home to dry land.

In this clean, fast-flowing water,

The salmonfly nymph has grown to be

More than two inches long.

It's the largest of more than 3,000 species of stonefly.

For the first time in its life,

The giant leaves the water and meets the air.

But before it can take a single breath,

It must transform.

As the sun sets,

Thousands of nymphs emerge from the yellowstone

And begin the same metamorphosis.

Writhing from within,

The salmonfly struggles to break out of its hard exoskeleton.

Until it tears its lungs from its old shell,

It can't breathe.

♪

♪

With tremendous effort, the nymph becomes a fly.

♪

♪

In order to mingle in the growing crowd,

The salmonfly will need its wings.

Crinkled membranes must uncurl and dry.

♪

By dawn, the salmonfly shimmers.

Its transformation is complete.

But reaching new company will take a climb...

And a leap into the unknown.

♪

♪

Urgency fills the air.

The salmonflies have just a few days

To find a mate and lay eggs.

♪

♪

Not all maiden flights meet with success.

Heavy bodies and delicate wings

Make the salmonfly clumsy in the air.

The slightest gust can send them plummeting back into the river.

Wet, their new wings are useless,

And hungry mouths wait.

Trout rise to the surface,

Collecting the wealth of protein

Delivered by crash landings.

♪

Other hunters join the fish in making the most of the event.

But so many salmonflies emerge

That predators hardly dent their numbers.

As summer's warmer temperatures

Make their way to higher elevations,

The hatch continues in waves.

Dense clouds of salmonflies move upriver,

Back to the lower falls.

Along the river's banks,

Instinct drives them to fulfill their one and only purpose.

A male searches for his larger counterpart.

Over the course of a week,

He pairs off with as many females as possible.

♪

She has just one partner.

♪

♪

When the coupling is over,

She pumps a round egg sac out of her abdomen.

She'll drop this egg bomb into the river,

Leaving her legacy in the current.

The adult salmonflies will live for just a few weeks.

In that time, their presence becomes a siren call,

Pulling drifters to the river.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

It's the fine art of imitation--

A handmade fly crafted in every detail

To match the giant insect.

Attentions to the lure have been piqued by the hatch.

The cast requires grace and precision.

♪

♪

♪

♪

A perfect landing mimics the splash

Of a fallen salmonfly.

♪

♪

♪

It takes years to master this hoax.

The bend of the rod, the arc of the line,

Make all the difference in selling the stunt.

♪

It's not the mouthful the trout expected.

♪

But it will have another chance.

♪

For as long as the salmonfly hatch lasts,

Opportunities will be plenty.

And every link in the food chain

Benefits from the river's bounty.

The meeting of human and river is not confined

To the narrow channel of the waterway.

For thousands of years,

Floods have deposited rich sediment on the land

Stretching to the base of the mountains.

Water pulled from the river irrigates fields

And sustains a way of life.

♪

As settlers moved west to work the land,

Small towns sprang up on the yellowstone.

A bend in the river frames livingston, montana.

On the fourth of July,

The rodeo draws thousands to an arena on the riverbank.

Competitors wait behind gates.

♪

♪

While the river cruises calmly by,

Spectators settle in.

A torrent is unleashed.

♪

The challenge--to hold on for eight excruciating seconds.

The trick is letting motion flow like water...

♪

Diverting the impact...

♪

Finding fluidity and a kind of grace.

♪

♪

♪

[cheering and applause]

Every rodeo event tests a skill used to work the cattle

On the ranches up and down the river.

♪

Roping runaway calves...

Wrangling steers for branding...

Making tight turns while moving the herd.

The night builds to a grand finale.

[explosions]

♪

♪

The celebration of independence reflects on the yellowstone,

A river that runs free.

♪

Just beyond the town of livingston,

The yellowstone turns eastward.

It meets the northern pacific railroad,

A line which connected the east coast to the west.

As america expanded, many of its great rivers were harnessed.

Dams powered the growth of a nation.

But the yellowstone moves without obstruction.

It's the longest free-flowing river

In the contiguous united states.

In the absence of dams,

Water levels rise and fall with the seasons,

Keeping a rare forest alive.

Cottonwood trees depend on flooding for regeneration.

♪

In the spring, high water covers the gravel bars.

Water levels drop again just as clouds of white

Begin to drift from the cottonwoods.

♪

A single tree can disperse more than 25 million seeds.

Each is wrapped in downy fiber and floats on the wind.

It needs the perfect conditions to germinate--

Moisture, bare dirt, and sunlight.

The receding floodwaters reveal silty gravel bars

At exactly the right time of year.

The seedlings have a narrow window, just a few weeks,

To take root before their landing sites get too dry.

Cottonwoods thrive all along the yellowstone.

They provide habitat

For more than half of montana's bird species.

The great blue heron stands four feet tall.

[squawking]

It spends much of its life in solitude.

♪

But to raise young,

North america's largest herons gather in a rookery.

High in the cottonwoods above the yellowstone,

They build platform nests and take turns defending chicks

From eagles, raccoons, and other predators.

But the relative safety of the elevated rookery

Also poses a problem.

Stranded in the air,

The chicks can't gather food for themselves,

Even when they get quite large.

Their parents have an increasingly difficult chore--

Feeding their enormous offspring.

♪

The heron hunts in shallow water,

Locating its prey by sight.

♪

Small fish compose much of its diet.

It always swallows fish headfirst,

Orienting the scales so they slide down smoothly.

♪

The heron shakes its catch, attempting to break its spine,

Making it easier to gulp down whole.

♪

Conveniently stashed in the bird's stomach,

The fish is ready for transport back to the rookery.

♪

The heron will regurgitate the fish for its chicks.

♪

As summer peaks, water levels continue to drop

And new features emerge.

A wave.

700 miles from the nearest ocean,

The yellowstone has surf.

A river wave only forms under very specific conditions.

On this August day, the yellowstone speeds by

At more than 4,000 cubic feet per second.

Hidden just beneath the surface,

A rocky shelf abruptly slows the river's flow

And creates a standing wave in its wake.

♪

♪

♪

♪

The river brushes off many who attempt to tame its swell.

But the force of the water can be harnessed.

♪

This wave will only last for a few weeks.

It's one of roughly a dozen standing waves

Ever surfed on the yellowstone.

The phenomenon is rare enough

That sometimes the hidden gems are kept secret.

♪

Each year, as the water levels vary, surf spots come and go.

But unlike an ocean break, this is a never-ending ride...

For as long as the wave lasts.

♪

♪

[thunder]

August storms fill the air with electricity.

[thunder]

♪

And the river flows with a new energy

As it moves into a drier landscape.

In eastern montana,

The snow-capped peaks of the headwaters are long gone.

Here, the yellowstone reveals ancient stories.

Each band of stone marks a changing geography

Stretching back 65 million years,

To a time when this was a tropical swamp on an inland sea.

♪

Light reflected on the river

Left distant galaxies thousands of years ago.

♪

The glow of the aurora borealis paints a ribbon of color

That winds through the badlands.

♪

On the river bottom, a different group of species appears,

Creatures that coexisted with the dinosaurs.

The snapping turtle has remained nearly unchanged

For more than 90 million years.

It evolved from turtles that had no hard protective exterior.

Like today's spiny softshell turtle,

They were defenseless.

The shovelnose sturgeon

Belongs to one of the earliest known families of fish.

All of these ancient species

Are at the far western edge of their range,

And their presence here is a harbinger of what's to come.

♪

The yellowstone is beginning to resemble

The wide and murky rivers of the great plains.

♪

Soon after it crosses the border from montana to north dakota,

The yellowstone meets the missouri.

Their streams converge,

And the yellowstone river ends.

♪

Together, these waters will travel nearly 3,000 miles

To the atlantic ocean,

But their path will be tame.

The missouri is carefully controlled by dams.

Reservoirs hold back water where it once flowed,

And much of the wildlife

That thrived across america's great plains is gone.

But there is a place on this prairie

Where the past is returning,

In small herds reintroduced to the grasslands.

[grunting]

Bison gather in late summer for the rut.

♪

Bulls fight for dominance and a chance to pass on their genes.

♪

The sound of their battles

Was once heard across these great plains

And on every bank of the yellowstone...

To its very beginnings in yellowstone national park.

♪

♪

At the river's headwaters,

Giants exchange blows...

♪

A ritual marking the end of summer.

♪

But like the river, the seasonal cycle continues.

♪

For those that endured the river at its least forgiving,

The tranquility of summer is a welcome respite...

A time of abundance.

As the seasons change, so, too, will the river,

A story constantly in motion

Along the wild banks of the yellowstone.

It's been well over a century since yellowstone became

The first national park in the world.

It's to all our benefit that it's protected forever.

But this place isn't frozen in time.

It's always changing, revealing new mysteries.

Yellowstone is a reminder that preserving our wild spaces

Isn't just for wild animals, but it's also for us,

If we keep looking after it.

Thanks for watching "epic yellowstone."