Preliminaries

An old journal

Sheltering at home, reviewing old pictures, I discovered an old attempt at “journaling” on Facebook and on Smugmug. Neither platform worked well but I like this story and my pictures. So here is a lightly edited post of my first attempt at blogging.

Bear spray

Sept. 28, 2012.  Wow!  Almost two full weeks in Yellowstone!  It’ll be awhile before I have any pictures to post – I’m going to begin posting a Yellowstone Journal on an occasional basis. Since I never saw a bear I can start my journal with an entry on bear spray. My daughter Megan asked if it was like a bug spray? The answer is a big NO! Everyone who hikes backcountry buys a can immediately. $50.

Here’s a similar can of bear spray in its holster – purchased for use while camping in Denali. Saw lots of bears but didn’t use the bear spray except as a comforting accessory while camping and hiking. As I left Alaska, I stored it in the back of the car and still have it. Wonder how I should dispose of it?

You practice drawing it out and pulling off the safety. Then you Velcro the holster to your belt or to the front strap on your pack. It stays there until you see a bear.  (Sometimes when hiking alone I’d even carry the can in my hand as I walked.)  Hopefully, the bear goes one way while you back off slowly. If the bear starts toward you, you stand your ground – you can’t outrun a bear. If the bear gets within 30 feet and keeps coming, you fire the extremely strong pepper spray – the bear’s eyes tear shut, and its nose and mouth swell. Statistics say it’s far more effective than a gun. And the bear will recover with a lasting memory of a species not to fool with. You never see a bear? You give the can away. They won’t let you fly to your 50th class reunion with it!

My budget cabin

Yellowstone is an incredible place and staying in the park enabled me to get where I wanted to be, when I wanted to be there. A “budget cabin” made everything possible. (Especially mid-day naps! And quiet evenings on the front porch.) Simple, but very nice – although mandatory trips outside to the bathhouse in 30 degree nights were a little inconvenient.

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The Lower Terrace of the Mammoth Hot Springs

Yellowstone sits on top of the largest supervolcano on the continent. The Yellowstone “caldera” is considered an active volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years. Half of the world’s geothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism. Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone. While the Old Faithful Geyser is the best known sign of this activity, the terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs (where I stayed) are another. This is one of the lower terraces.

The Loving Cup Cafe

My sister taught me that a small town bakery and coffee shop was the place to start my morning (remember Sisters, Ann?) Here’s a great one in Cooke City just outside the Northeast Park entrance. This is where I got the weather and the morning news reports on bear, the wolf pack, and the mountain goats.

Here’s my table

Here’s my table – a pleasant place in the sun to begin the day.  The Cafe is a goldmine of funky music, an eclectic book collection, great pictures, even an old typewriter!  Chris prepares my “breakfast sandwich.” He adds jalapeno peppers which really got my day started quickly!

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Buffalo, buffalo, and more buffalo

I think for most Americans, Yellowstone and buffalo are one thought. And seeing your first herd is very, very exciting.  At first you stay mindful of the danger. There are a LOT of buffalo injuries in the park – probably more than bear injuries – because people think buffalo are big and slow. They’re not. They are surprisingly fast and agile – buffalo can be quite animated.  A distant buffalo is a safe photographer. After you become accustomed to seeing so many, you learn to get better pictures.

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Of course, when you get better pictures you have to get closer. I didn’t have much of a telephoto lens so I hid behind parked cars to get these.

See why I was careful to hide?

Unfortunately, after sighting your 100th buffalo you say, “OK, I’ve seen enough buffalo.”   But they ignore you. Buffalo love to cross the road, no idea why. You can wait an hour while they do!

The landscapes are breathtaking

Sunrise in Yellowstone

The wildlife was exciting, but to me the lasting images in my mind are the landscapes. Sunset and sunrise – the best times to photograph landscapes in Yellowstone. The colors, the shadows make the picture. So here is sunrise over the mountains near Cooke City.

And sunrise in the Lamar Valley …

One tree

For some reason I’ve always been attracted to pictures of a lone tree in its environment. Like this one.

In Yellowstone there are so many opportunities to photograph one tree alone in the mountains.

And another.

Or perhaps two

I also would stop and get out of the car to photograph two trees!

Or maybe two trees and a bird!

Yellowstone is a land of landscapes. I did a lot of hiking. Four, seven, ten miles. With camera, pack, and tripod. Always on the lookout for wildlife. Never saw any. Maybe I’m a noisy hiker.

Meanwhile, the landscapes were so exciting I didn’t miss the wildlife while hiking. Usually I carried my camera on my tripod over my shoulder.

(Click on the first image of the gallery. Once the first picture is up, you can view each image by clicking (tapping) on the arrow that appears on the right edge. Click through the image set. Move forward and backward. Then you can click on the small [X] in the upper right corner to return to the blog.)

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Water is everywhere in Yellowstone. I enjoy this little detail.

For now, I’ll leave you with this shot of trees in the sunlight!

The Wildlife is all Around

Wildlife is actually everywhere even if I didn’t see it while hiking. Instead I found them while driving. Stopped, grabbed my camera, and joined the crowd! The big ten are probably buffalo, pronghorns, coyotes, moose, deer, long horn sheep, mountain goats, elk, wolves, and bear. I saw nine out of the ten. No grizzly bear. But in the end, I was so overwhelmed by what I did see that I scarcely missed the bear. Since I saw them basically in this order, I’ll show them in this order.

Pronghorns

I’d never heard of pronghorns before this trip. I had to learn fast – and was completely amazed by what I saw. I was lucky to witness two telling pronghorn stories. Pronghorns are closely related to antelopes. Wonderful to watch. Fascinating to study. In my first encounter, these pictures illustrate the dominant male and his does.

The dominant male stands watch!

He spots an errant doe and chases her back to his does.

Next, realizing a male competitor is nearby, he herds all four together.

Success! The does are all lined up properly!

Pronghorns are part of the wonder that is Yellowstone. Amazing.

Pronghorns – and coyotes. Or, always listen to your waitress!

Dinner by myself in Gardiner – Barbara had returned to Vienna so I had the week to chase vistas and wildlife. The waitress told me, “Don’t go directly back into the park. Follow the boundary gravel road that eventually winds deeper into the mountains. You’ll see pronghorns and maybe some coyotes.” Coyotes are relatively small. No match for the wolves, many have moved to the hilly edges of the park where the waitress told me to drive. At around 30 pounds – perhaps a medium sized dog – they generally eat smaller animals. So I followed her directions, hoping . . .

A male and three does! Fun to follow and photograph.

Then – two coyotes! On the isolated road, at dusk, two coyotes tested the male pronghorn and three does. At the limits of my lens and camera I followed the story as it unfolded. One ahead, one behind, the coyotes continued their harassment. Looking for any weakness. But two coyotes are not strong enough to attack healthy, adult pronghorns – especially in open land where the pronghorns’ great speed works to their advantage.  Finding no weaknesses, the coyotes headed off towards the hills while the pronghorns gathered before heading on through the prairie.

In the fading light I watched, fascinated. In a bit, they moved away. These pictures are among the highlights of my trip!

When it got too dark to continue photographing, I returned to the restaurant, bought a beer – and left a huge tip!

Special note: fun with grandkids!

I simply had to try the local Yellowstone beer.  Moose Drool is an excellent brown ale – I enjoyed properly disposing of the contents of several cans.  But for even greater enjoyment, I saved a can and prepared a special present for my grandkids.  

The source of Moose Drool

I described to the grandkids how a friend and I waited until the moose laid down. Then I went to the front with a bucket while he quietly moved to the back. He kicked the moose in the behind! I collected the drool and ran like crazy!

This very moose!

After suitable operations I brought the grandkids the can – but now I’d filled the can with a root beer float! First, do you know hard it is to even find root beer anymore? And can you imagine how hard it is to get ice cream into a beer can? But when I succeeded, it looked like very good moose drool! That creamy white foam. The grandkids wouldn’t even try it! Finally they tried it – they hated it! They’d never heard of root beer! They’d never tasted it, never had any kind of ice cream float! My God, kids these days are simply not being raised right!

Deer – where’s Waldo?

Another grandkid game – find Waldo. Here’s an easy one – a young deer, resting in the sunset.

This one is also pretty easy.

These pictures were favorites for my young grandkids – they never tired of showing me where the deer were! (Of course, now they are older and much smarter and quicker than me!)

Mountain goats – work with me on this one

Left center, just below the left pair of pine trees in the bottom row. There are two tiny white dots. A mother mountain goat and her kid. I could see them clearly through the 60x Swarovski spotting scope another photographer let me use. My 6x telephoto is a poor substitute. The grandkids found them pretty quickly!

Long horn sheep

There is a major element of luck in seeing wildlife. Driving to dinner, the last light of the day. I catch a quick glimpse and brake into the nearest spot where it might not be legal to park – but in moments like this, who cares. Park, grab the camera and hope they are still there and the light holds!

I’m happy, not proud. Aren’t they beautiful? Did I tell you that I hiked for hours, hid in the high grass off trail, laying on my stomach, waiting …

Elk

My favorite elk encounter tells the same story as my first pronghorn encounter. Why is this elk in the river?

Because this guy chased him there!

The big old guy isn’t going to let the young upstart near his cows! The biggest bull rules!

Wolves!

I knew nothing of wolves. I learned at the ranger station that in 1995 thirty-one wolves were released in Yellowstone, primarily in the Lamar Valley. Today the wolf packs are a huge attraction. I wasn’t brave enough to hike through wolf country alone. I was lucky enough to be offered a spotting scope so I could watch a pair of young wolves frolic in a field – breathtaking. Later I watched the pack move through a field. My 6X lens and heavy crop can only hint at the awe you feel as you watch …

Note:  I believe the gray wolf near the bottom of my first picture above – the one looking at me in the second picture – was the alpha female of the Lamar pack. If so, she was shot and killed during the third week of October, 2012 when she ventured just outside the park.

The heat below must vent

A visitor told me that his wife was a geologist – and wouldn’t visit Yellowstone because she felt it could blow at any time!  The steam warns us and the steam is everywhere.

Makes for great pictures!

It’s funny. The heat and the steam – and it’s still cold there in October. Frost. Hard freeze. Some snow!

You have to be careful where you step.

Often its hard to take pictures without including signs warning tourists to be careful. Stay on the path, on the walkways – or else!

Sunrise in the Lamar Valley

Inside Yellowstone, the Lamar Valley is the place for wildlife renewal. Rangers gathered a few of the remaining buffalo from the original genetic population on the Lamar Ranch and slowly restored the herd. The restoration of the American wolf is strongest here. It’s a beautiful place at sunrise. I’ll end with one last image.