Author: Mike

Yellowstone: Day Two

by Mike

Day two started out in a magnificent manner!  I stepped out of our residence to this view!  Snow capped mountains right out the front door!  What’s not to love about that!  Gardiner is a very small town right at the north entrance of Yellowstone.  I’m told that the actual population of the town is somewhere around 800 people, but obviously, the number of visitors, especially in the summer months, is much higher.  The size of the town is perfect for its location, nestled in a small valley surrounded by the wonderful mountains!

We get a somewhat early start to the day, still recovering from our normal work-life and travel.  One of the places I wanted to visit is a trail over the Blacktail Plateau.  It is known to have copious amounts of wildlife, so we’re really hoping to see and photograph them.  However, this trip, it seems that about the only wildlife to be seen there is this herd of bison grazing in the fields.  Still, any chance to interact (even from the car) with a beast powerful enough to leap it’s 2,000+ pound body over a fence, is a chance not to be missed.  While these animals appear to be very docile, their looks can be deceiving.  In fact. more people are injured each year by bison than pretty much any other creature in the park.

Also, the safety of being in the car, give a great chance for those up-close shots that really accentuates the power of this beautiful animal.

One of the things Karen and I were really hoping to see this trip was snow, and we were not disappointed this day!  It wasn’t much, but coming from Texas where we just suffered through a record-breaking summer of heat, any change was appreciated.  Most mornings started out in the teens and twenties, which really didn’t bother us in the least.

After leaving the Blacktail Plateau, we headed to the Lamar Valley, known for wolf and bear sightings.  These are two animals we seem to always miss out on when we travel.  We are really hoping to get to see them this time.

On our way to the valley, we spot this lone elk in a field at the Roosevelt Junction.  This is another of the creatures which is numerous in Yellowstone.  The males, with their proud antlers always look so majestic.  This one was alone and we just couldn’t pass by the opportunity to capture a few memories of his image.

Once in the Lamar Valley, we traveled up and down the road with no luck.  Normally you can tell if there is wildlife (wolves in particular) in the area because there will be many people pulled off the road with spotting scopes and cameras.  Nothing was to be seen today though.  But even with this bit if disappointment, we were still privy to the wonderful mountain views from the valley!  It just doesn’t get much better than this.

After driving through the Lamar Valley a few times, we come across a guy and his dog Jake, (yes, I rememberd the dogs name and not the guy) and have an opportunity to chat with him for a while.  While talking, he casually asks, “Do you want to see some wolves?”  Well DUH!  He tells us that the Blacktail pack have been spotted over near Elk Creek.  That’s near the exit of the Blacktail Plateau Trail we were on earlier.  That’s all we need to hear and we are off, after we thank him for the information of course.

We arrive, and sure enough, there are all the wolf-watchers with the scopes and cameras set up.  We finally get a spot to park, and I grab the big lens and hike up to where they are.  Then I ask, “Where are they?”  I’m pointed to these little black and gray dots way out in a field!  Well, that’s even too far for my 600mm lens.  Disappointment sets in for a second, then someone says, “Listen!  The wolves are howling!”  How cool is that!  If you have never heard that sound in real life, you really should get to some day.  It is amazing!

But the adventure here isn’t over yet.  A couple of the wolves decide to come closer and cross over the road.  Still a ways off from where I am, but at least I can get a “I saw them” shot and crop it enough to tell they are wolves and not just dots.

Giddy with excitement, we leave the Blacktail pack and begin heading back toward the area of our home-base.  On the way, we spot a herd of Elk on the side of a hill, all grazing together.  We hike the trail at the bottom of the hill and are able to get a few shots.  The male elk was higher on the hill watching over his herd, taking a very masculine pose with his big rack and one of his ladies.  This situation just begged for a photo, so I obliged.

After leaving the elk, we stop off at Udine Falls, which is right off the roadway.  When out photographing areas, it is hard to grow tired of waterfalls, especially when they are surrounded by wilderness.  Waterfalls have that combination of power and beauty that just makes one feel right about the day.

Okay, for those that live in the area, the magpie is a nasty bird.  They are compared to our grackles here in Texas.  But for those of us who don’t live there, this is very pretty bird!  Very basic black and white color scheme just draws my attention.  I thikn I’d trade our grackles for the prettier magpie any day!

One of the craziest areas of the park is the town of Mammoth.  This is the area where the army set  up Fort Yellowstone when they were in charge of the park before the creation of the National Park Service.  This town almost always has wildlife roaming around the buildings.  Usually it is the resident heard of elk, but this day, we spotted this coyote roaming around like he was looking for something.  He didn’t seem to worried about us, as he gave us a single glance and then went about his business of sniffing out whatever he was looking for.

And the aforementioned elk.  This one caught our attention as it appeared he was about to bugle to his harem.  We paused, took pictures, but nothing ever came out of his mouth.  A silent bugle.  That was a big strange, but as you are about to see, strange is relative in this place.

As we get back into Gardiner, the strangeness steps up a notch.  There are elk everywhere.  We see them in people’s front yards and as I look across the river to the hotel there, I see elk, not just in the surrounding yard, but actually right outside the first floor rooms!  It made me wonder if when you check in they ask questions such as, “Smoking or non-smoking?  Elk or no elk?”

Bottom line: This is a very cool place, especially if you like close interactions with wildlife.  Today will not be our last interactions for sure, and the best is yet to come.

Day two comes to a close and we are thankful for all we have seen!

Delay in posting…

by Mike

Sorry I’m not keeping up with my usual daily posts from this trip.  Simply put, the number of pictures being taken, the length of time in the field, and then the time it takes to go through the shots that I want to make everyone envious about (and the very slow internet connection here), all add up to the fact that there just isn’t enough time.

So, once I get home to my main computer and full internet speed, I’ll update.  Until then, just know that Karen and I are having a great time.  Today we saw Bison, Mule Dear, Elk, Coyote, Grizzly Bear, Wolf, Big Horn Sheep, Bald Eagle, Gull, and a Woodpecker!  I can’t wait to share it all with you!

Yellowstone: Day One

by Mike

Welcome to Michael and Karen’s 2011 Yellowstone Adventure!  We flew into Bozeman MT on Saturday to rainy weather, and today (10/16) looks to continue that trend.

We got up early, not because we really wanted to, but I guess we’re just getting old and can’t sleep in as much as we used to when we were younger.  Today was to be an easy day, our first real “vacation” day where we really had nothing planned or anyplace that we just had to be.

I took the opportunity to test the camera equipment off the deck of our vacation rental.  It sits on the Yellowstone River in Gardiner, MT, just outside the park entrance.  Pretty view, but I’m hankerin’ for wild critters for my lens.

After breakfast and meeting with the property manger, we buy some bear spray (just in case) and head into the park to scout the route to the Hayden Valley.  Obviously, this is the park entrance.  As you can see, it is still rainy, and will rain on us most of the day.  But that’s okay.  Compared to the miserably hot and dry weather in Texas this summer, the rain and cold (lower 40s all day) isn’t all that bad to me.

Well, this looks promising.  Just after entering the gate to the park we see a group of mule deer trotting along the top of a ridge.  While this isn’t the last of the wildlife we will see today, let’s just say that most of the wildlife didn’t seem to care much for the cold rain.

The obligatory “entering-the-park” sign.

Our first stop was Mammoth Hot Springs, just inside the north entrance.  Very interesting place, and very photogenic. It also had a very “slight” odor of sulfur.

This was taken after leaving Mammoth and give you an idea of the weather here today.  Again, I am by no means complaining.  This is a welcome change to the record-breaking “Summer of 2011”.

After leaving Mammoth, we aren’t finished with the thermal features.  In fact, the entire western side of this park is spotted with them.  Technically, Yellowstone is sitting on top of a “super volcano” that is so large, it it were to go off, the effects would be felt around the world, and I wouldn’t really have to worry about being right here at the epicenter.

This is “Roaring Mountain”

I thought this was pretty cool.  From this overlook, you can see the steam rising from numerous geological features in the area.

We made our way down to the Canyon area, a place we visited two years ago when we were here, but this time we observed the falls from the north rim instead of the south.  Still a very impressive sight.

But even the beautiful falls cannot compete with the beauty of my wonderful wife, Karen!

Or to the power of her magnificent husband!  (Okay, maybe not).    (And yes, it was a bit chilly, but being a “real man”, my coat was in the car)

As be begin to get close the Hayden Valley, we begin to see at least a little more wildlife.  This hawk was sitting patiently in a tree right next to the road.  I shot it from the drivers seat.

After making it all the way to the Fishing Bridge with no bears or wolves, we turn around and head back north.  Then, while passing through Hayden again, we see a few cars stopped on the road.  That usually means some sort of wild action, and sure enough, there was this coyote.  Looks like it was planning an attack on some Canadian Geese that were in the nearby water.  Karen was able to grab this shot from her seat.  We turned around and I set up the big lens where we were expecting it to come out of the weeds, but it disappeared in a stealth-like manner and was nowhere to be found.

But finally, as we were approaching Mammoth, we saw activity and pulled over.  There were some elk out in the field.  We could hear the males bugling, but they were staying hidden.  I did manage to get this shot of one of the females before the light was totally gone.  Finally, a real-world test of my 600mm lens!  Not the greatest of shots, but a good start!

Tomorrow, we will scout the northern and north-east parts of the park near the Lamar Valley and see if any wolves or bear show themselves there!  The forecast is calling for sun, so maybe we’ll see some action.

(Pictures taken with Canon 5DmII, 7D, and T1I)