Chasing Winter

Ken and I have returned from our annual pilgrimage in search of the last vestiges of winter. In other words, we spent a week Cat-Skiing the Canadian Rockies. For almost a decade now we have been driving up to Golden, British Columbia to hop on a helicopter and get dropped in the mountainous back country along with 34 other adventurous souls. Except for one year, we have always used Chatter Creek and I still believe they are the best for a whole bunch of reasons. 

The new, black Cats are bigger and more comfortable but not as photogenic as their yellow predecessors.

 One noted change this year was that we were definitely the oldest two people there - not just among the skiers but also taking into account the two dozen people working at Chatter. It was not a position I enjoyed, to tell the truth. It was pretty clear there were those wondering just what the two old folks were doing risking life and limb at a young man's sport. The other change this year was that, although there was lots of snow, it had started to warm up and instead of powder, we ended up skiing cement most of the time. That meant working a lot harder to get our turns and it also meant the potential for injury was much greater.

Over the years we have been doing this sport we have seen a few wrecks but this was the greatest number of injuries in a short amount of time. Before the trip was over we had witnessed a torn achilles, a dislocated shoulder and a blown ACL - none of which happened to any of the twelve people in our group but it did end up disrupting the day as our guides were called upon several times to join in rescue attempts.

Our Cat of twelve guests was a mish-mash of six groups of two including one other female. Several of the skiers grew up racing and some of the lines they chose were absolutely mind boggling. I really enjoyed getting to know every one of them and appreciated their support and encouragement of the "old lady" of the group!

The end of the road. It's all downhill from here!

Early morning light.

All the Cats start out together and then split to different areas.

Looking back at the group skiing down one-by-one.

Another group is visible just off the Cat road.

Thank heavens for yellow road markers. The Cat drivers are incredibly skilled at what they do. 

Around the GYE - Continued

One of my favorite Wyoming winter birds is the Crossbill. What an evolutionary marvel to have a beak that has been perfected in such a way to allow access to their main food source!

We don't see this species in the high desert - occasionally I have been lucky enough to spot them in Yellowstone on a winter trip and, in this case, he landed in the trees along the road. I would have preferred shooting him in a little sunlight but I will take what I could get!

 The photo below shows the sight-seeing wagon heading out onto the National Elk Refuge in Jackson. Even though I have concerns about the health of the herd under these man-made conditions, I have to admit this looks like a Christmas card to me.

 It is March so love must be in the air for this pair of Common Mergansers. Their coloring seemed especially intense, which I suspect is due to the mating plumage.

Sleeping Indian Mountain was sleeping in early one morning as we headed north to ski Shadow Mountain. 

There were actually three coyotes in this hunting pack, below, but I only captured two as the third had already moved off to the right. The lighting was beautiful both on the animals and the Teton Range behind them. 

 We decided to take a quick drive back the Gros Vente one morning on our way to a cross country ski trail. For miles along the road we followed wolf tracks indicating a pack of at least five animals. At one point Ken got out and took a shot of his foot next to one of the large wolf prints. About five miles in we came around a corner and caught sight of two wolves scurrying up a snowy slope near the road.  The first one had a muzzle covered in blood so they must have been dining on a carcass near by. The second one had just a hint of pink around its mouth.

 It is always a thrill to see the big dogs, even if they are quite a ways away.

Around the GYE

For some time Ken has been suggesting a "round the GYE (Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem)" ski tour. We decided this year to finally do it during spring break from my teaching job at the college.

We set out for Jackson Hole last Thursday, spent four days there, then moved on to Grand Targhee for one day and then to Big Sky, Montana for three days, arriving back home late yesterday afternoon. 

The goal was to ski the mechanized hill at each location but also to take advantage of our cross country gear and explore a little bit at each place. 

I didn't take a lot of photographs along the way but I feel I have enough for two posts on what we saw, most of which was in the Jackson-Grand Teton NP area. 

 Never have I seen as many moose as I did during our few days in Jackson. We estimated a dozen different animal sightings, a thrill for sure. Many of the moose we saw were bulls but they have lost their antlers so are not nearly as imposing looking as they were a couple months ago. I have to wonder if it is a relief not having to carry around all that extra weight. Or is it stressful knowing that one of your weapons is no longer available?

 We spotted this female walking on the road as we headed back the Gros Vente. With so much snow this year (more than 500 inches in Jackson!) even the moose are opting for easier travel ways. I didn't take a shot of her on the road but when we came out an hour or so later, she was on a hill beside the road with the sun on her. This is one of those shots where I am sure someone is going to accuse me of superimposing the moose but it was just a beautiful setting with lovely lighting.

Willows are a primary source of food for moose in the winter time. You can clearly see the scars of where this animal's antlers were before he dropped them not too long ago. 

 We drove to Flagg's Ranch one day to ski Flagg's Canyon. The snow was perfect but very deep as you can see in Ken's shot of me leaning on a stop sign at the entrance to Yellowstone Park.

I always welcome the opportunity to photograph Trumpeter Swans in Jackson in the winter. The bird above performed multiple flaps before settling down after its preening. 

The final shot is called "The Hokey Pokey" for somewhat obvious reasons!

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.

Winter Weather

For only the third time in almost 25 years, we find ourselves snowed in on our property. This time around is not as bad as two years ago when we had about twice as much snow and Ken was traveling, leaving me to fend for myself and the llamas alone. But we did get much colder temps with this storm and it is not over yet. 

 The hardest part is watching the wild animals trying to cope. For about 24 hours everything was locked in place as the storm raged but even once the snow stopped, life did not get much easier for animals trying to scrounge up enough to eat under a couple feet of fresh powder.

The bobcat, above, did his best to travel along the sandstone cliffs but he was eventually forced to push through the drifts to make his way forward. In this photo he is keeping an eye on the coyotes that passed by just a few minutes earlier (see below).

The pinyon jays and rosy-finches are lucky enough to have a stocked bird feeder and fresh water at their disposal.

The cottontails are having to work especially hard to make paths through snow that is about twice as high as they are. Most of their trails are tunnels they have dug under the snow's surface.

 The coyotes in the image below are two of a pack of four that have been hanging around for more than a year. They are easy to recognize because one of the animals (a female, I believe) only has three legs. She is the lead animal in this image. Although there is no way of knowing for sure, I suspect her injury is a result of a trapping incident. She is truly an amazing creature and I don't know how she continues to survive and even to thrive in such adverse conditions!

 Ken and I have cross country skied out our drive for the last three days in a row. Yesterday we did the six mile round trip ski to our mailbox and back -  an exercise in futility since we discovered once we got there that the county road hasn't seen a plow since the storm started so the mailman has not been anywhere near our box. But it did allow me to capture a sunny photo of our home in the snow on the way back.

Since this is my first post in almost two years, I should probably explain. I have been experimenting with different web site formats for my photography and hoped to tie my blog into the site. I finally settled on a web host and am in the process of building my site. It turns out that with the host I chose, sticking to my existing blog is the best option so I am firing up this site once again.

It is amazing to look back on the last two years and see what all has occurred. Not only have I made a second trip to South Africa since last I posted but I have also visited Zambia and spent 10 days in Morocco with the photo students from Northwest College. I am now in my second year of teaching photography at that particular institution and finding out everyday that the more I teach, the more I learn. So many other things have taken place in my life and in the world and I am sorry that I let myself get so far away from the opportunity to discuss things in this format!

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!

Winter in the Spring

 Spring finally decides to arrive on the plains and what do we do? We head back into winter for a final week of back-country skiing in some of the deepest, finest snow I have ever seen!

 Cooke City is only 34 miles from our house as the crow flies. In the winter it takes us about 2 1/2 hours to get there - assuming we even can - because of the Beartooth Mountains between us. Last Monday we left here with the snowmobile trailer in tow and headed up and over Chief Joseph Highway (above) to Pilot Creek Trailhead. There we parked our vehicle and switched to snow machines for the 9 mile ride over closed highways to Cooke City where we would meet the rest of our party.

The snow pack just got deeper and deeper as we neared Cooke. The snowmobile track "high pointing" this house as we neared town gives you an idea of the snow depth as does the shot below looking down main street back toward Highway 212. 

 From Cooke we got back on our machines for the 6 mile ride to the wilderness boundary at which point we boot-packed up to the Mt. Zimmer yurt at 9460'. This was to be our home for the next five days.

The yurt holds six people, barely, but two of our group had sustained injuries over the previous few weeks and so we had a comfortable foursome in the small space.

 This is our second year making this trip. We thought last year's snow pack was big but it didn't touch what we saw this time around. The 10' walls of the canvas structure were buried, necessitating a pretty good hike down snow steps to enter.

Nor was our weather anything like last year's big sunny days. We received about 18" of new snow while we were there and most days were cloudy and gray. While that meant the photography was somewhat challenged, it made for some absolutely amazing skiing.

 Inside the yurt is a wood stove for heat and melting snow for water. A three burner propane stove means meals are easily prepared.

There are three sets of bunk beds around the outer wall. Keeping organized is a must.

One of the biggest challenges of this year's visit was the trip to the outhouse. The 10' structure was buried under another five feet or so of snow, making the journey to the facility a daunting task!

Thanks to Ken for the two shots in which I appear!