Saturday, June 20, 2015

It was a waterfall day.

Nobody was seeing wolves anywhere. Even the Wolf Project people and Doug and Cathy and Ray left the northern part of the park and came down to the Hayden valley in an attempt to see something. They had no luck there, either.

In the afternoon, I hiked up the Gibbon River to photograph the falls from below. I've been wanting to do this for years. It requires wading across the river just below the falls to get past the last turn.

Most people take this picture of the falls, from above:

Standing on the patch of grass on the right side of the stream at the lower edge of the picture, I was able to take this one:

Not many people take that picture.

Friday, June 19, 2015

The day started with a Scarface sighting. He was just below the Tower store, crossed the road and headed up the hill:

The, it was over to Gardiner for some internet to see about a package. The replacement camera is scheduled to arrive at my house on Tuesday and I needed to know if it needs a signature. It doesn't. That means my last full day here will be Sunday. I'll leave Monday morning and get back home Tuesday afternoon or evening.

On the way back were bear cubs:

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Lots of driving around and a few photos.

I ended up in Bozeman buying new lenses to replace one I'm not happy with. On the way, I saw some elk calves:

In the evening I went down to the Hayden Valley to see of the Wapiti pack pups were visible. They never were, but the 2 adults came out and chased some elk around in the river before the elk ganged up and chased the wolves away.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Today was a waterfall day.

I drove down to the southwest corner of the park (I'm in the northeast corner) to photograph Cave Falls. Along the way, I stopped at Mesa Falls. There was a pretty rainbow there:

And lots of flowers:

Cave Falls was also spectacular:

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

It was a mixed day.

I went out intending to update the blog in Cooke City. To get there, you pass through the Lamar Valley, so I figured I'd see if any wolves were to be seen. Each time, I'd see a full turnout, so I'd stop in the next one, but couldn't see anything. Finally, at the end of the valley, I saw one wolf cross the road - I saw it for a total of about 15 seconds.

So, I continued to Cooke City, updated the blog and then came back to camp. It was laundry day, so, after lunch, I did that. On the way I saw a bear:

The laundry is closed from 1:30 till 3:00 for cleaning, so I didn't get started until 3:30. So, I ate dinner in the Canyon cafeteria.

Then, it was back out to the Lamar to see if any wolves would make an appearance. They didn't. The turnout was full of people who had heard you could see them there:

Monday, June 15, 2015

Today was hiking and taking photos of non-moving stuff.

I hiked out to Farie Falls and took several shots.

It was a bit of a comedy of errors. I forgot a part I needed for the tripod, so I had to take the shots hand-held.

On the way out, I saw this neat scene of people on the boardwalk in the geyser basin

Also on the way out, I wanted to climb the hill above Grand Prismatic Spring and get pictures of that, but the Park Service has closed that area. It seems so many people have been going up there and they've worn many unofficial trails that erosion is a problem. People are still going up there, but I didn't. I found another way to get the picture.

Instead, I climbed the hill across the road from the geyser basin. After looking at topo maps, it's just as close to the spring and only 50 feet or so lower. On top of that, there are no trees to block your view of the spring. It was a steep climb, but not too bad.

The rest of the day was showering and recovering and putting my gear back in order. Right now an evening storm is coming and the wind is shaking the trailer a bit and marble sized hail is banging on the roof.

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Today was mostly checking out some places I want to photograph over the next few days.

First, though, I went out to see what the status of the bison carcass was in the Lamar valley. Its status is gone. Nothing is there, now. Along the way, there was a fox near the road.

And an antelope.

And the black bear with 3 cubs.

In the evening I went down to the Hayden Valley and saw the one of the alphas of the pack there, briefly.

Saturday, July 13, 2015

It was a good morning and a quiet afternoon and evening.

It started with a wolf at the west end of the Lamar valley, but the fog quickly rolled in and it was lost, so I moved east. There were people looking at the bison carcass we have been keeping an eye on for nearly a week now, so I stopped. Scarface, the grizzly was there:

A little later, we followed some wolves as they moved east in the valley and they finally found the carcass:

It was later in the morning and the heat waves were getting so bad the camera wouldn't focus.

The afternoon was spent doing chores, showering, a trip to Gardiner for groceries and gas and a short nap.

Nothing was seen in the evening except a grizzly and cub way up high on a ridge.

I did contact Amazon about the camera and they are exchanging it, but it'll be next month, so that's all for this trip with it.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Well, it was a good day and a bad day.

Saw some wolves and Scarface, the old grizzly this morning and was getting better pictures with the new point and shoot camera through the scope:

This morning, for about an hour, a little girl about 9 years old used the scope to follow the wolves and then Scarface. She was just glued to it the whole time.

Later in the day, there was a bear jam near the campground. Some people were getting way too close. In this photo, the bear is circled. It is a black bear with 2 cubs and the guy in the blue shirt above him is about 15 feet away.

But, the new camera broke this evening. So I'm going to contact Amazon tomorrow and see what they'll do.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Much more action today, and the chance to try out a new toy.

Went out in the morning to the far end of the Lamar Valley. They were getting lots of wolf collar signals, but nobody was seeing anything, so I moved west to see about a badger den I had found. I watched it for an hour, but nothing happened. So, I moved back east. When I got to the hill where we were watching the bison carcass from, you could see lots of cars further east. They were following wolves up in the hills to the north. I eventually saw 5 briefly.

The rest of the morning was spent waiting for something to show on the carcass and talking to a woman from Germany who works for Leica, the big camera and spotting scope company. We were comparing gear.

Around 11, I headed back to camp and stopped at the falcon nest overlook. I saw a chick there yesterday, but today it was all empty. Nobody knows why

In the afternoon, I went in to Gardiner for groceries and to pick the point and shoot camera I ordered to use with the scope. After dinner, it was back out to the Lamar to see how it works. It was a pretty good start:

I need to work on the settings to get the shutter speed higher, but that doesn't seem to be a problem. It's a promising start.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Another slow day. I spent most of it watching the bison carcass, to no avail. Nothing showed.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

It was a slow day. I slept in and did laundry in the morning.

Then I went down and took photos of the harlequin ducks at Le Hardy Rapids.

Then it was back to camp for dinner and back out to the Lamar Valley. Sunday night, a car hit and killed a bison in the valley. Today, the park service moved it from the road out nearer the river to minimize the people/animal interactions. But, it's plenty close for photos. Here's what I can get with the scope:

So far, nothing big has found it, but that will change in the next few days. I plan to be watching it.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Most of the day was spent on getting a shower, updating the blog and going to Bozeman to replace a camera part I broke yesterday.

I got back into the park about 4:00 pm and got sidetracked again. This time by a bear and 2 cubs:

Then, after dinner, it was back out to the end of the Lamar Valley to see if any wolves showed. Two did – 965 of the Lamar pack and one they are calling Dark Black from the Prospect pack. It's unclear if 965 is bringing Dark Black over to the Lamar pack or not. They were deeply in Lamar territory this evening. This is 965:

I'm still working on getting good focus on shots through the scope.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

I saw a couple of wolves this morning and a bear as I was passing, but no photos.

While waiting for a wolf to show this morning I had a nice conversation with a couple from South Africa. We were comparing the differences between the wildlife viewing here versus there. The biggest difference seemed to be the distances. There, if it isn't within 50 yards or so, nobody bothers even to stop. Here, they'll stop for a grizzly or a wolf 2 miles away.

I've decided that I'm going to re-take some photos I did 15 years ago or so with film, but this time with digital. So, today was Moose Falls near the south entrance gate:

I also did Lewis Falls:

In the evening, I went back out and got 3 wolves howling.  It all started just as  got there, and I spent the time letting folks see through the scope.  I'm gonna work on pictures the next few days.

Saturday, June 6, 2015

No wolves today. They were briefly seen this morning and I was in the wrong place this evening.

In between, I got a 2 hour nap.

We did have a colorful sunset:

Friday, June 5, 2015

Yesterday, after laundry and the shower, I took some photos of the lower falls:

Then it was up to Gardiner to update the blog, with several stops along the way.

I stopped at the falcon nest and spent about an hour talking to a woman from Chicago about scopes and cameras and such. I also got this picture through the scope:

Then there was a bear jam at Elk Creek. It was the same cinnamon bear from Tuesday, so I didn't stop:

A little further on, the traffic was stopped for a wrecker getting a car. They had half the road blocked, so we had to wait. I was next to a turnout and when I looked over, I saw this:

So I pulled over, and took some pictures.

Coming back from Gardiner, near Phantom Lake was an elk:

Not a bad day.

Today was wolves, bears and moose.

Up early again and out to the Lamar Valley. On the way I passed a black bear nosing in the weeds. This is how you mostly see bears:

With their nose in the ground.

Out at the east end of the Lamar Valley, after not seeing anything for a while, 3 wolves were spotted moving east. There was a pandemonium of people and cars and when it all settled down, they were spread over about ½ mile of the road:

I did manage to get one sort of OK photo of a yearling wolf:

There was also a moose spotted in the trees, completely ignoring all the activity on the road. After lunch I went to Gardiner for some stuff and saw this moose on the way back:

Where the bear jam was yesterday.

After dinner, it was back out to Lamar to wait. The woman from Chicago showed up along with a couple I met this morning and we stood around telling stories. After they left, two wolves were seen in the growing darkness heading towards the den.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Today was laundry and a long shower at Canyon.  Then I took some photos of the lower falls I'll post later.

On the way to Gardiner I stopped at the falcon nest and spent an talking about scopes and cameras to a woman there.  Then it was 2 bear jams before I could get here.

Pictures later.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

I signed up for 8 more days in the campground this morning.

Once again, it was out to the Lamar Valley early to see if anything was on what's left of the carcass. Nothing. Someone drove by and said they were seeing wolves further up the valley, so I went and saw one – a yearling of the Lamar Canyon pack. It wasn't doing much, just nosing around. We lost sight of it in the woods.

Then, Rick McIntyre, the wolf researcher gave a talk about that pack of wolves. I had heard it before, but it's always interesting.

Next I planned to go into Cooke City and order a point and shoot camera from Amazon, but I kept getting distracted. First were the coyote pups. I stopped there just to look and ended up staying for a couple of hours talking to a retired couple from New York. They are traveling in a van to Alaska – by way of the Grand Canyon. They are planning to take 6 months for the whole loop. We talked about trips and photography and cameras.

As we were talking, someone shouted as they drove by that several wolves were coming down Amethyst Creek. That leads up to where the Junction Butte pack has their den, so that meant they were coming down to the carcass. They were the ones that killed it, so they knew where it was. No other wolves or bears had visited it.

We followed them down the creek and a ways up the valley when we lost them in the heat haze – maybe 3 miles away. So, I got in the truck and went up there. Sure enough, there were 5 wolves on and around the carcass. The heat waves off the grass made it almost impossible to focus and get a good photo. I watched for a while and Rick gave another talk – this time about the Junction Butte pack.

Rick is kind of like the Jane Goodall of wolves. She watched chimps for over 20 years and because of her observations, the understanding of chimp behavior underwent major changes. The same can be said for Rick. He's watched the wolves here in Yellowstone for 20 years and in Denali for 15 before that. His observations and notes have changed what we know of wolf behavior in major ways. It's because of his work that we now know that the alpha female is the leader of the pack. Before, the alpha male was thought to be the leader. His observations showed that when a new alpha male comes into a pack, he will adopt all of the offspring of the previous male. That wasn't known before. He's documented territorial battles nobody had seen before. His talks are always interesting.

After that, I finally got back to camp, had lunch and then went out and ordered the camera. After I got back, I needed to do chores – fill the fresh water tank and dump the wast water tanks. I had an audience:

He was about 50 feet from the trailer and I walked about 20 feet from him twice.

Tomorrow will probably be a laundry day and I'll post the last few days of the blog.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

It was a busy day.

I woke early and went out to the Lamar Valley before sunrise to see if there would be anything on the bison carcass from yesterday. In the moonlight, I could just barely see 2 wolves feeding on it, but they left while it was still dark.

Later, wolf 911M, the alpha male of the Junction Butte pack arrived and started feeding. He was joined by a coyote and the 2 seemed to get along, but the coyote was very wary.

After 911 left with a full belly, it got really quiet, except for a herd of bison swimming the river:

So I decided to drive to over to Canyon for a shower. Along the way, I saw sparring antelope:

And the obligatory bear:

I went back out after dinner, but all I saw was a grizzly bear a long way off. It crossed the road and then made a bee-line across the valley floor to the Lamar River where we lost sight of it.