Christmas Week

 A few more random shots from this week. The top one is a view along the North Fork headed to Yellowstone. It is a section of 50 miles of spectacular scenery any time of year.

The dramatic sky called for a black and white shot of the unusual house in Wapiti. The owner died by falling from the roof while working on it many years ago and it is slowly falling apart. Doesn't it look like it must be haunted?

I have seen this pair of eagles sitting in the same tree along the Clark's Fork the last few times I have gone to Billings. I never have the right lens with me when I go by but I still think it is a beautiful shot with the mountains in the background. The lower eagle is a little harder to see - he is near the center of the trunk about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the picture.

Bighorn Sheep

 Today we had to go to Cody to run a few errands so I talked Ken into driving out the North Fork first to see if the bighorn sheep were around. Sure enough we saw a few groups with the biggest being the one including this ram and about 10 ewes.

 I think he was telling me what he thought of having his photo taken!

Week in Review

 With classes being as demanding as they have been for the last month or so, the only chance I get to photograph wildlife is on my daily commute back and forth to the college. Luckily for me, that is really not a problem around here! The backlit pronghorn buck above gave me a rare chance to snap his portrait as he stood trying to decide if I was a threat or not. They are much more accessible this time of year as they gather in herds - they obviously feel there is strength in numbers. One of the amazing things about this guy is the shininess of his horns. That is because he most likely just shed the old covering so these are sparkly and new. You almost never find shed antelope horns (although I have found pieces of them before.) I suspect the reason is that they shed just the husk, not a solid horn, and I think they are kind of like fingernails in makeup so they simply disintegrate soon after being dropped.

This beauty to the left was sitting in a cottonwood tree alongside the Clark's Fork River two days ago. His beak seems to be huge in comparison to the size of his head!

 Yesterday we loaded up the snow machines and headed to Pilot Creek for a day of backcountry skiing.  I don't know how it works but even though we have no snow at all down here, Cooke City has a whooping 65" base already. The snow was perfect for skiing - knee high powder with a solid base. Getting to the area we wanted to ski was not so much fun - the trails have not yet been groomed and we just about beat ourselves to death riding the snow machines over the bumpy roads for a dozen miles or so.

It did not stop snowing the whole time we were there so the photos ops were not plentiful. At one point I had a short window when I could actually capture Republic Peak in the background.


I thought this snow snake to the right deserved to be photographed before it plunged under its own weight.

Bridal Veil Revisited

 With final projects well underway at the college, I feel like I have been chained to the studio and my computer for the last few weeks. Therefore when today presented itself as sunny and bright we decided to take the opportunity to hike to nearby Bridal Veil Falls even though the thermometer was hovering in the single digits.
The falls are absolutely gorgeous at any time of year but especially so in the winter months when the water vapor on the top turns to ice. Very few people seem to visit this spot - which is pretty well hidden if you don't know its location - even in the summer but this time of year you are pretty much guaranteed a private showing.

The falls are not that easy to photograph because of their location back a relatively narrow canyon. But the view when you get there is worth it, in my opinion. In this first image I have merged five separate photos to create a panorama. The size of the original image is more than 40 inches high and 23 inches wide.

 I was determined to photograph this icicle before we left. I think its steely appearance and the reflection of the sun in its crown is pretty amazing.

The last photo is here to give a little perspective on the size of the falls. Ken is almost 6' tall so you can see that they are actually pretty impressive in their size!

 After weeks of above normal temperatures it seems that winter may have finally arrived. Yesterday morning I looked out to see a beautiful sunrise enhanced by the presence of fog over the plains to the east.

Today the pinyon jays were out in force enjoying the handout at the feeder.  These birds are so easy to photograph as they are amazingly human tolerant.

First Snow

The llamas never seem to know how to handle the first snowfall of the year! I'm not sure how Dusty managed to collect icicles on her eyelashes but they don't seem to bother her a bit.

The pinyon jays have returned for the season as have the rosy finches. Both species travel in flocks and it is always fun to see a whole tree decorated by their presence!

The pinyons are really beautiful but I need to get some shots of them in the sun so you can truly appreciate the depth of color.

Windy Mountain

Yesterday we decided to take on a hike to the top of 10,200' Windy Mountain before the weather made it impossible for this season. The day was absolutely beautiful with clear skies and a slight breeze.

We were able to drive to a spot at just under 8000', leaving us with a little more than 2000'elevation change each way over a distance of 7 - 8 miles. On the way in to the trailhead I had Ken stop the car so I could snap a photo of the amazing landscape by the river, above.

 One of the joys of this hike is the 360 degree vista at the top of Windy. The ever familiar Pilot and Index Peaks could be seen to the northwest once we reached the ridge at around 9000'.

To the right is the Forest Service marker on top of Windy Peak.

One of the idiosyncrasies of this particular mountain is the skeletal remains of a Forest Service lookout that is still in place.
The lookout was built in 1940 and was destroyed by the Forest Service sometime around 1970. Strangely enough, they left in place the outhouse which had the unique feature of being built to hang out over the sheer drop on the side of the mountain. The rocky soil made it impossible to dig any type of hole so apparently the powers that be of the time decided the best disposal of the human refuse was to let it roll down the side of the cliff! Curiosity about the outhouse has been one of the reasons for climbing the mountain for many years. A number of people mentioned its existence when I said we were planning the hike. We were totally amazed therefore to discover the outhouse smashed into pieces when we arrived at the top. It seems the violent winds of last winter finally did in this infamous landmark!

We were expecting to trudge through some snow on our climb and were not disappointed. For about a half mile once we reached the 9000' mark until we hit the windswept ridge, we were post-holing through knee high drifts.

The view to the southeast from the top revealed Heart Mountain with the scar of Chief Joseph Highway in front of it.

Other highlights of the day were the sounds of howling wolves early in the climb, clear wolf and grizzly prints in the snow and a very fresh mountain lion track on the way down, obviously walking over the top of our upward prints!