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.