Wild and Scenic

In celebration of the fact that the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act turns 50 this year, Ken and I have been wanting to get back to one of our favorite spots on the Clarks Fork to get some shots of the canyon. After all, it isn't everyone who can brag they have Wyoming's first Wild and Scenic River practically in their backyard! Today seemed like a great day for a hike, even though the sky was actually too blue  to get the landscape shots I was hoping for, so we left home about 6:30 am and headed to the parking lot at the canyon mouth. 

"Wild and Scenic" signage at the canyon mouth.

 Like most of our hikes we needed to travel off-piste to get to the location we had in mind. We had about a two mile hike in followed by a relatively steep climb of 1000' up a rocky slope to reach a narrow pass where we had a small flat area to set up and wait for the light to be where we wanted it. The north side of the pass is an even steeper drop straight down to the canyon floor.

Like always, I traveled with my telephoto lens on my camera but once we got to our destination I switched it for my much shorter landscape lens. I then went to work setting up my tripod and locking down the camera in preparation. Ken was doing the same, setting up a little higher than me, on my right. I should note that Ken's hearing is pretty bad these days which can make for some interesting moments.

I was looking through my viewfinder, fiddling with the settings and trying to make sure everything was level when I heard a loud rustling on my left. In the same instant I wondered how Ken had managed to get by me I realized that wasn't possible and I looked up and directly into the face of a large black bear standing about 10' away. I am not sure whose eyes got bigger - mine or the bears! I turned to Ken and shouted "Bear!"and by the time he looked up and I turned back all we saw was the black furry butt moving away from us at top speed across the face of the slope we had just climbed.

No hike in the canyon is complete without a side trip to Bridal Veil Falls.

 Neither one of us managed to get a shot off but it was quite a thrill just to see the bruin in that location. It would have been one of the last places I would expect an encounter but it was a good reminder that we are indeed in a "Wild and Scenic" spot!

5-shot panoramic of the canyon looking southwest. 

The Clarks Fork River from a lower viewpoint.

Checkerspot Butterfly. 

Yellowstone in February

 With the spring-like weather, we decided to drive over to Gardiner, Montana, on Friday and do a day trip into Yellowstone yesterday. It is always a treat to enter the Park this time of year as the crowds are a small fraction of their summer size and everything looks different with snowy highlights.

In the top photo you will see an interesting collection of Goldeneye. Yellowstone is one of the few places where you are almost certain to see Barrow's instead of Common. The interesting thing about this small group is that not only are there male and female Barrow's, I am pretty sure the duck in the lead is a female Common. The one that is third in line and to the front is an immature and may be either a Barrow's or a Common. I need someone with more knowledge and experience to confirm.

The next two shots show why it is always nice to have two camera bodies on hand; one with a long lens and one with a wider angle of view. Both shots are of the same Bighorn Sheep. In the first shot the landscape becomes the subject with the large ram merely a point of interest within the frame. In the second shot, it is all about the animal and we get to see the evidence of his many battles in the detail of the horns.

 This coyote was all alone when we spotted him crossing a snowy field in Lamar Valley. But as we rolled down the windows to take a shot he raised his head to howl and was immediately answered by other song dogs both to the west and then to the east. I can never get enough of their voices raised in chorus!

 After Lamar we backtracked to Tower Junction and set out on cross country skis on the groomed trail up the hill toward Mt Washburn. Along the way we stopped for a quick view of Tower Falls encased in ice.


Below is a shot from our Friday afternoon hike above Gardiner. In the center near the bottom of the image you can see the Roosevelt Arch with Yellowstone stretching off into the distance behind it.

Hanging in there

I have been photographing this tree on my property for about twenty years now. It doesn't seem to get any bigger but it still appears healthy and I am always amazed at its ability to hang on. I know there is a great caption there, somewhere!

Winter Beauty

I love that I live in a place where I can walk out the door for an afternoon stroll and come back renewed by a sense of awe at the beauty that surrounds me. Tower Rock brings a feeling of joy every time I look at it - which is many times a day. There is rarely a morning when one or both of our resident Golden Eagles are not sitting on the top watching over their territory in search of a meal. At some point the Common Raven pair comes along and harasses the bigger birds until they give up and retreat to a further ridge but we continue to see them throughout the day and the next morning they are back in place again.

The tracks that are visible at the base of Tower belong to both bobcat and coyote. Somehow they manage to avoid each other most days although occasionally their paths will cross and then the bobcat usually has the upper hand (paw?) despite his smaller size and being out numbered.

Heart Mountain is about 20 miles away but its form dominates the horizon in a way that pleases my sense of balance.

This is home.

Inauguration Day

Yesterday seemed like a good day to put on the skis and get out into the wild. The endless discussions and coverage from Washington were a constant reminder of the dysfunctional family that America has become over the last year or so. I chose to go to my healing place in nature which is a much more peaceful environment and doesn't involve people trying to talk over each other in an effort to make their opinion seem the most valid. 

This doesn't mean I am sticking my head in the sand. Like many others I have fears about what is to come in this country, particularly as it affects this beautiful world in which we live and its many inhabitants. But yesterday, for me, was about spending time gathering strength from the beauty around me and appreciating the natural world in all its glory. 

 Above, the view looking east from Yellowstone's east entrance.

This swing, left, was a discovery made as we returned to the car parked at Pahaska. I don't know who put it there and it is probably illegal but its presence tickled my fancy as a symbol of innocence and fun.

Snow Lodge

As far as Ken and I could figure out, I think this was our twelfth, or so, visit to Old Faithful during the winter. It may be more. The first time we stayed there during the snowy season was before 1995 because that was when the new Snow Lodge was built. 

For anyone who hasn't had the experience, it is hard to describe how different it is from the summer months. It is not just the lack of people - the entire attitude of everyone there from guests to workers has a more intense feel to it. After all, when the average temperature hovers around zero degrees Fahrenheit as it did this year, it takes a hearty and dedicated soul to really enjoy getting out and exploring each day. 

 Ken and I take our back-country cross-country skis with us when we go and we have our favorite ski trails all planned out in advance. Some years, like this one, are a little more challenging because of the need to break trail through pretty deep snow but we always come back with a renewed appreciation for the incredible environment that makes up Yellowstone in the winter.

The first photo, above, shows the bobby sock trees at first light.

 This tree, covered in rime frost, was barely visible through the fog at Fountain Paint Pots.

 The next two images are also from Fountain Paint Pots. The fog gave a mystical feel to the morning.

The bison were looking especially frosty this year. They always have the right of way on the roads, above.

I captured a shot of this collared bison, left, very early one morning.

 This bighorn ram almost looks fake with the amazing sky as a backdrop. This shot was taken between Gardiner and Mammoth on our way into the Park. I have seen lots of rams with broken horns before but never one like this where there is a big chunk broken off the very top. That must have been quite a battle!

 Ken skiing on the boardwalk near Castle Geyser. Usually we hike the boardwalks because the trails are so icy but the amount of new snow this year convinced us to don the skis for a loop around. Note the three bison grazing on the far river bank.

This coyote was passing through as we made our way back to Mammoth at the end of our stay.

A Tale of Two Winters

There is nothing quite like Yellowstone in the winter. Ken and I spend more time in the Park in the cold months than in the regular tourist season of summer. But conditions can be very different depending on the year. Last year at this same time we spent five days at Old Faithful during a period of record cold temperatures. The high while we were there last year was -30 degrees. We were warned by everyone not to ski because of the frigid conditions. But we know our capabilities and so we went ahead and enjoyed day after day of cross country ski adventures where we had the backcountry all to ourselves. 

This year is a marked contrast. The road in by snow coach from Mammoth was bumpy because of lack of snow in so many areas. The temperatures were at record highs with averages in the mid 40's each day and night temps barely making it to freezing. Again we were warned to stay off the ski trails, this time because of incredibly icy conditions caused by the daily freeze-thaw cycle. Even walking the boardwalks was a challenge because of the ice. And again we ignored the naysayers and enjoyed the incredible peace and beauty of near empty trails. 

 We saw very little wildlife on our trip into Snow Lodge. Even the swans on the Firehole River seemed to be in hiding. One exception was a pair of healthy looking coyotes who were hunting rodents along the river's edge.

Once we arrived at Old Faithful we threw our stuff in our room and headed out on a hike around the boardwalk. This Hairy Woodpecker entertained us for a while as he searched for bugs in a downed log.

 There was a small herd of bison hanging around the Upper Basin for most of the time we were there. I know they must have been enjoying the chance to get at the winter vegetation without having to push through inches or even feet of snow.








Our big plan for our time at the lodge was to try and get a winter shot of Grand Prismatic - no easy feat in a normal year but definitely possible this year with the incredible stability of the snow making the avalanche danger much smaller.

On our first morning back at OF I ventured out alone with my camera before sunrise in the hopes of capturing some special light on one of the features in the basin. As it turned out the light was extremely flat and nothing very exciting was happening with the thermal features. I wandered around for about an hour, enjoying the amazing opportunity to "own" the boardwalk with not another person in sight. About 7:30 am I found myself back in front of Old Faithful debating whether or not to return to the inn and join Ken for breakfast when I saw my first fellow humans of the day. As social creatures are wont to do they approached me and began making small talk. It turned out they were a very nice couple from Atlanta, Georgia; newlyweds despite being about my age. After we exchanged a few pleasantries, I heard the woman ask a question that I have only heard before as a punchline.

Her: So what time do they turn Old Faithful on?
I laughed politely then turned to see her indignant expression and realized she was dead serious.  Her husband, to his credit, was looking decidedly embarrassed.
Me: Ummm…they don't turn it on. It is a natural phenomenon.
Her: Well then, how did they turn it off during the sequestration last year?
Me: They didn't. That was a joke.
Her: They certainly did! I read that they shut it off to save water while the Park was closed.
Me: They didn't. It was a joke.
Her: I DON'T THINK SO!
At this point her husband, embarrassed for her, interrupted in an obvious effort to save face.
Him: What is that can you're carrying on your belt?
Me: (relieved at the change of subject) That is bear spray. With the warm weather we have been having, a few grizzlies are already leaving their dens.
Him, to his wife: Honey, I should get you some bear spray since you like to hike so much.
Her, obviously still upset: Why on earth would I need bear spray? The only bears in Georgia are black bears and they don't hurt people.
Me: (Bite your tongue, bite your tongue, damn…can't do it) Ummm…actually black bears are just as dangerous as grizzlies. Any wild animal is dangerous if it feels threatened.
Her: Well you obviously have a different kind of black bear here than we do in Georgia because OURS DON'T HURT PEOPLE!

At that point I decided the safest thing to do was to go have breakfast. I walked away feeling depressed. This was not a stupid woman. She was just incredibly ignorant of the natural world. How does nature stand a chance when humans are so blind to the world around them??

Once Ken and I started out on our mission of ski touring/climbing above Grand Prismatic, my depression quickly evaporated. It was a perfect day in so many ways. We managed to climb to the top of the ridge above the hot springs and I captured a five shot panorama of the area with no people and no vehicles, just pure white snow and glorious sunshine. On our 7 mile ski back to the lodge we crossed fresh wolf prints followed a short time later by fresh grizzly prints. As we entered the Upper Basin we encountered a charming woman from California who was absolutely overjoyed that she had just witnessed the eruption of Riverside Geyser. Her enthusiasm was contagious.

All in all we did about 12 miles of skiing on our first day and loved every minute of it!

Penguin Party

 From the bush in Sabi Sands near Kruger National Park we traveled to Cape Town where we spent the next three days being spoiled with some great tours and food. On our first full day there we boarded a bus for the Cape Tour which took us south along the coast around the Cape of Good Hope and up the side of False Bay to the African Penguin colony at Boulders before heading back to our hotel at Table Bay.

The coast is ruggedly beautiful. We felt right at home as the wind blew steadily while we were there. I wanted to change my lens at the penguin colony but didn't dare because of flying sand.

Our stops included the light house at the Cape of Good Hope and a shore lunch on the beach at the end of the continent.

The area of the lighthouse is inside Table Mountain National Park. One of many surprises about the landscape is that it is part of the Cape Floristic Kingdom, the smallest but richest of the six floral kingdoms in the world. There are thousands of various types of plants here, many of which are indigenous and a number of which are endemic, occurring nowhere else in the world!

 The African Penguin is listed as an endangered species. Just a few thousand remain of the 1.5 million estimated population of the early 1900's. The colony we visited at Boulders is one of the few still thriving, due in large part to the reduction in commercial trawling in False Bay; an activity that previously decimated the fish life that made up the penguins' diet.

 These guys are not very big and they have a braying call; a trait that once earned them the name of Jackass Penguin before it was changed to the current African Penguin.

 Their coloring is subtle but fun with pink accents on the face and feet.

 The birds we saw were stretched out over a length of coastline consisting of scrubby bushes and large rock. Some of the animals seemed just as anxious to avoid the wind as we were.

 This bird, above, seemed to have more mottled markings than most.

The bird in the center, below, has started molting. The height of the molt is in December but we saw a few penguins that were already well along. They need to fatten up before it starts because they have to go on a forced diet - a fast of about 21 days that they can't enter the water while their new feathers grow out.

Giraffes

 On our last game drive in Sabi Sands Game Reserve we were on a mission. Each jeep contained 6 guests, a guide (who was also the driver) and a tracker. Most of the people in our jeep wanted to see a giraffe. We met up with other groups at dinner each evening and all had stories to tell of the herds of giraffe they had seen and how impressive the animals were. Our group had not seen one.

We spent several hours driving to and then searching a remote section of the reserve in hopes of finding  the large animals. You would think they would be incredibly easy to spot from a distance but that is not so. Since they tend to hang out in the areas of taller trees, they are remarkably invisible until you are right on top of them.

We drove by many other animals in our search, foregoing the opportunity to observe others in our quest for the tall, elusive giraffe. Our tracker was obviously unhappy. He repeated numerous times that in 20 years of working he had never NOT been able to find giraffe for his guests. Then the radio crackled and another guide who knew of our search came on to report he had spotted one large lone bull. Not only was it in an area some distance from our location, it was moving into an area belonging to another camp where we could not follow. The next 20 minutes or so were exhilarating as our driver told us all to hold on tight while he took the jeep to maximum speed over rough tracks and cross-country in an effort to got to the animal before it was out of our reach.

Once we arrived at the general location where the big bull had been seen, we stopped to figure out our next move. Then, as we were sitting quietly, the giant animal suddenly appeared beside us as if by magic. It was the most "Jurassic Park" like moment of our trip. Everyone knows giraffe are big but all I can say is "Wow"! This guy was breathtakingly tall and on a mission of his own. We were able to get off a dozen shots before he disappeared into the forbidden territory of the other camp. Was it worth it? You bet!

Not only was he tall, he was somewhat battered - probably from a fight with another bull. An oxpecker was working hard to clean bugs from a wound on the giraffe's neck and he had a cut on his face that was still bleeding.

 He was kind enough to look back one last time as he headed off into the sunset. See the oxpecker now traveling on his head?

 Another surprise of Africa was in discovering that they have many different types of starlings and all are beautiful. We are so used to the rather annoying invasive groups of colorless starlings in the US that I never realized there was so much more to the species. There are 13 different types of starlings in southern Africa. Pictured here are the Cape Glossy (above) and the Violet-backed (below).

Gentle Giants

 My original plan for today was to write a joint post covering both hippos and rhinos but the news out of Africa, recently released, that 2014 was the worst year in many for poaching of these incredible gentle giants, made me change my mind. So this post is dedicated to the magnificent white rhinos of South Africa.

The white rhino differs from the black rhino not in color, but in size and the shape of its head. One train of thought is that the early English visitors to Africa misunderstood the Dutch name for the animals that included the word "wijd"or wide, referring to the shape of the animal's mouth. The name white rhinoceros stuck and so when a second species was discovered it was named black rhino in order to distinguish the two.

There are two classifications of white rhinos: Southern and Northern. Northern white rhinos are on the very brink of extinction with only a handful left. More bad news this week reported the death of one of the last two remaining fertile males, making continuation of the species almost impossible.

The southern white rhinos have had much more success but are under constant threat from poachers after their horns. The horns, which are made of keratin - basically the same material as human fingernails - sell on the black market for a higher price than gold!

On our first evening game drive we left the small group of lions at dusk. As we headed up a hill to make our way back to camp we suddenly spotted a mother and baby white rhinoceros feeding on the grass of the plains. The low light combined with their constant movement meant getting a sharp image was a challenge but I did capture a few, including one (top) that has both animals in the shot. The second shot, to the right, shows just the baby as it scrounged around for the best grass. It was easy to see how these animals could fall prey to poachers as they seemed totally unconcerned by our close proximity.

Mama stayed fairly close to her baby most of the time.

 It was tough to get a shot with the animal's head out of the grass but eventually mama did raise up for just a second.

This red-billed oxpecker started  working at the rhinos nose and slowly made its way up the head and onto the animal's back, picking off insects as it went.

 On day three we came across this massive, mud-coated male rhino (above) at a watering hole. The guide explained that the animal was exercising another method of insect - particularly tick - extraction. If you look at his sides you can see streaks where he has rubbed against a stump, knocking off mud and with it, the ticks that were clinging to his thick hide. The guide took us to a mud covered stump where he was able to pick out several fat ticks, still wriggling.

 On our way back to camp for lunch we came across this duo lounging in a dried up mud hole. This image is actually huge as it is a two shot panorama. I can't wait to print it as a large canvas!