2022 July Yellowstone

I had the great pleasure of spending 2 weeks in Yellowstone in July. Very early in the visit I found the well known grizzly sow, Raspberry and her 2 year old cub, Jam. She is a great mother, and it was a joy to watch her and Jam wrestle and play together, something I understand they are well known for.

Grizzly sow, Raspberry and her 2 year old cub, Jam

Around midday one day I took a drive up towards Tower Falls. That road from Canyon was rebuilt over a two year period and is greatly improved. In one section, just past the turn to drive to the top of Mt. Washburn there are several new large pullouts where several vehicles can park and people can stand safely to view any action in the valley. Sort of like having balcony seats for a show (IF there is anything to see), of course that is unpredictable! On my visit I saw some people stopped so I pulled in and got out my binoculars. Sure enough there was a relatively new bison carcass in the distance. I needed to get back to the trailer but planned on returning later. I returned to that pullout out for 4 evenings and 3 early mornings, spending anywhere from 3 to 5 hours there each time and it was worth it. Unfortunately the action was far away, best viewed through a spotting scope. I have a little rig to put my phone on the scope and used that to watch the animals, both wolves and grizzly bears. It was nice to be able to share the experience with others who could stand and watch the action on the phone, like a mini tv screen. Unfortunately the videos and photos I took using that are not very good, but boy, do they bring back memories! One evening there was a black wolf at the carcass along with a grizzly, then we all watched as two more grizzly bears came in. They circled around and around, during that time the wolf would dart in a grab something off the carcass while the dominant bear was chasing the other two off. The second bear chased the third one away after awhile. When I left that evening the wolf was still around and the dominant bear was allowing the second bear to feed at the carcass. A memorable evening!

A little south of that same area I knew that a black bear sow was hanging out with two cubs of the year. One morning (after the carcass had been pretty much demolished in the space of 4 days) I found her.

black bear sow, cub nursing

Cinnamon black bear cub

The first morning I was in the park I took a drive south through Hayden Valley. Just past the Mud Volcano I spotted a grizzly sow with two young cubs, she was far away and headed into the woods so I did not get any photos. I learned that the south end of Hayden Valley is roughly her territory and so hoped to see here again. Sure enough, late one evening she was spotted a bit further north in an open area feeding on roots. I got a few images but with the light fading they were not particularly good. The next morning I headed out early, hoping she might be in the same area. She was out feeding in the open with her two cubs. The blue flowers in the background are Lupines, they are abundant in the park this time of year.

Grizzly sow & 2 cubs of the year

Of course the Bison were everywhere, the older calves now getting their darker coats but there were a few of the late born “red dogs”. The newborn calves are almost an orange-red color and are thus called “red dogs”. There were quite a few elk cows, looking sleek after shedding their winter coats and a couple of handsome bulls with their antlers still in velvet.

All images © Jean Clark

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2022 WY Reservoir stay

I’ve been here nearly two weeks and what a wonderful place to use as a base for exploring this part of WY. The side dinette window in the trailer faces west so I have a really nice view. Sometimes it’s a beautiful sunset and sometimes impressive storm clouds. There is almost always a nice breeze, in the afternoon I usually roll the awning in because the wind can really pick up and by then the trailer is in the shade. It can get busy here on a hot afternoon and the weekends when locals come to enjoy this area but they respect others and I’ve never felt uncomfortable here. It’s about 30 minutes to Powell for food and gas and an hour to Cody.

One day I drove over to the Bighorn Canyon Nat. Rec. Area, to check out the campground and to see if I could find any of the Pryor Mtn. mustangs. The campground is not one I’d choose to spend much time in, very barren land, no shade and rather a long drive to anywhere. Driving past that into the wild horse range was interesting, some very impressive rock formations.

Several miles past the campground turn off is one for Devil’s Canyon so I stopped there. There were some Bighorn ewes there with lambs, too.

Driving further into the area I did finally find three of the mustangs, a mare, colt and stallion.

While in Powell for some groceries I saw a sign announcing WY Gaited Horse Auction. When I got back to the trailer I checked and sure enough it was scheduled for the next day so I went over to watch for a bit. Turns out by “gaited” they meant horses like Missouri Fox Trotters or TN Walkers or those having the unique gaits associated with those breeds. Few of the horses were actually registered but all definitely were gaited and there were even a few mules in the sale. The animals went for anything from about $2500 to close to $20k.

Across the gravel road from my trailer is a slight hillside with various scrub brush, a bit of sage brush and some hardy flowers. Even up there there are cactus and some other colorful specimens.

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2022 Red Lodge Escape

If you’ve been following this blog you know I was staying in a campground just south of Red Lodge, MT. I had been expecting to stay another 3 nights then head north to camp along some of the rivers in MT. That was not to be.

Sunday June 12 started out pretty sunny but it started raining by around 9 am. I was the only person left in the campground since others all packed up and left by 11 a.m. (their reservations ended that day). Rock Creek runs alongside the campground and very close to the turn around at the bottom of the campground. There are only about 9 sites and the lower level is close to 4’ lower than where I was. The water had been running strong the whole time I’d been there and was certainly getting stronger. I talked with the camp host early in the afternoon but he didn’t mention any problems with my site. He did say some other campgrounds further south had been closed and that campers were hard pressed to find spots, he also said the bridge at the north end of the dirt road my campground (Sheridan) and his campground (Rattin) are on was closed. Around 3 pm  a supervisor form the NFS came by and stopped to talk after checking out the lower loop. He said that if the water should rise another 6” or so it will cover the turn around. He said he had to report conditions to the sheriff and the sheriff might decide to close the campground. I kept that in mind and walked down every once in a while to check the warmer level.

Sunday, 6-12,Mid afternoon, water starting to get into the turn-around at the lower end of the campground

By around 8 pm or so it was covering the turn around.

just before 8 pm, water overflowing the river banks and filling in the turn-around

Late that afternoon I had decided to get somewhat ready just in case I had to evacuate so I moved the van into position so I could drop the trailer hitch onto the ball quickly.  In the meantime 3 other car campers came in and set up tents. I talked with the campground host late in the afternoon and he said I was welcome to move over to Rattin cg, where his 5th wheel was. I declined and stayed put. 

1005 pm Concho alerted me to someone outside, yep, sheriff deputy knocking on the door. Everyone has to leave NOW the bridge at the north end of the road is gone and the one 2 miles south of the cg will be going any time. YIKES! I asked about the trailer and she said “we want to you leave now. OK…. I dropped the trailer on the ball and locked it down, put the spring bars in the back of the van along with the solar panels and cable. Removed the chocks and loaded the dogs. Rolled up the patio mat and threw it in the van and headed out. It might have taken me 15 minutes tops. I was the last one out of the cg but not by much! Made it across the bridge (at least 1/3 of the entrance to it was blocked by cones because the dirt had washed way).  

Fortunately there is a large pullout where there is a sign for the Beartooth highway across from the road entrance. I pulled in there at 1030 and I decided to stay there for the night. A carycamper pulled over and she said that the rangers said we’re ok to stay there for the night. She and a man in a truck had been camped in Rattin when the officers came through there and told them to get out. I do remember seeing the red & yellow flashing lights, as I drove past that campground. They had no warning, I was very fortunate that I was somewhat prepared. The camp host and his wife had a 5th wheel camper and I suspect that they had to leave it there. When I was settled in the trailer a bit later last night I saw some vehicles pulling out of the road, I do not know if they were rangers or residents, there are quite a few houses on that road, some up high and some who might wind up pretty darn wet. 

Monday morning I walked over to where the bridge had been to take a couple of photos (with my iphone). The power of the water is amazing. I was supposed to be back in that campground in just over 3 weeks but somehow I do not see that happening. 2 bridges will need to be constructed. (My future reservations for Sheridan campground were cancelled within 24 hours by Recreation.gov. )

6-13, 0700, East Side road is closed

One of the residents on that road taking photos of where the bridge was and the surrounding water,

Broader view of where the bridge was and where the water was flowing.

After sorting things out that morning and adding the sway bar and the springs bars to the WDH I headed north, having decided to head for WY. When I got to the south end of town (Red Lodge) where the river happens to run very close to the road the road was blocked off and it was under water. That meant I had to go north quite a ways then head southeast because the road east was closed due to the flooding. I had to take several back streets to get through town to where the main road was passable. The river continued to rise and Red Lodge quickly became another victim of the combination of heavy rainfall and snow melt. It will take a long time for it to recover!

I found a nice camping spot in WY, just south of the Montana border and maybe 50-60 miles NNE of Cody. I’ll stay in this area for quite a while I suspect since so much of Montana (along with the Greater Yellowstone area) has been so severely damaged by the flooding.

2022 Red Lodge, MT

This is a new part of Montana for me and it has been interesting. Red Lodge is a nice small and friendly town. I’ve been camping a NFS campground about 6 miles south of town and about 6 miles north of where the famed Beartooth Highway starts to climb.

I timed a visit to the Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary for 10 am, when they open and managed to get a few nice images of the cougar and one of the wolves (they have 2) through the fencing. they also have two black bears which are huge when seeing them up much closer than what I’ve seen in the wild!

When I arrived the Beartooth was closed and it finally opened several days later. That afternoon I took a drive up to Beartooth Pass, over 10k feet up. Many switchbacks and about 30 miles later I stopped to take a photo of the sign.

In some places there was bare ground in other snowbanks that were higher than the van’s roof. To the south were many dark clouds and I decided it would be wise to get down to a lower level. On the way down there was a large pullout and as I approached I saw some marmots (aka rock chucks, golden marmots) there so I pulled in. The van made a nice blind so I got out the camera and watched them as their curiosity overcame their fear. They are much like the woodchucks friends and I hunted in NJ but they have much longer bushier tails which they twitched a lot as they ran around. It was interesting to just sit and watch them run around and climb the rocks.

On the way back to the campground that day I finally saw some larger wildlife, an elk grazing near the main road and then a moose closer to the campground. The next morning Concho alerted me to a moose right across from my campsite.

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2022 Wyoming New Life, etc.

The last few days in the Tetons I had a couple of memorable experiences. I went to a favorite overlook where I’ve seen a bear, moose, ducks, swans, elk, etc., but this time when I pulled in someone told me there was a moose that had just given birth to a calf. Wow, maybe I could get some images….

Calf less than an hour old

Sure enough, she was laid down in a nice grassy open area with her tiny calf, less than an hour old. I spent 3 hours there, taking hundreds of images as it got up and took its first steps, and fell down a lot.

It did get to the point of taking a couple of steps and even tried to nurse. I went back the next morning then again that evening and was able to see the progress the calf made.

By the second morning the cow has moved off to somewhere where we could not see her or the calf. I took that as a good sign that the calf was getting better at moving and nursing.

Another event taking place nearby at the same time was a pair of Sandhill Cranes sitting on their nest. That first evening while watching the newborn calf I watched them and got to see them swap places on the nest and to see the two eggs they were sitting on.

I returned the next day and found that one of the eggs had hatched, there was a bright yellow chick!

The overlook is above a good size beaver pond and in the evenings I saw both beavers and a muskrat swim by. Of course there were numerous birds, too.

When reading posts by other photographers they’ve sometimes mentioned finding a Great Gray Owl to photograph in Yellowstone. That had been one of the things I figured was unlikely to happen to me since they are usually in the woods and I’m not going there by myself. On this visit one decided to perch in a large tree near the road, causing what I first assumed was a bear jam. Once I got out and walked to where everyone was standing I could see their lenses were pointing up, not straight out. Voila! There it was, the Great Gray.

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2022 Grand Teton NP

My second week in the Tetons was an interesting one. One morning I went to a familiar spot which overlooks a small pond. In the past I’ve seen ducks, swans, moose and elk there. This time there was something large swimming upstream….. a big beaver? No! it was a grizzly bear!

I managed to get a few images of it as it swam to shallower water then it went into the woods. After a while it came out into the sagebrush, then back into the woods, making its way to the east. I did manage to get one last image of it as it looked through the bushes before crossing the road. It turned away and crossed a way further along. It didn’t look that big when I was looking down at it swimming!

Grizzly bear

The moose are around as are the elk. They all look rather rough because they are shedding their winter coats. The elk have yet to drop their calves but the moose calves are already pretty good size.

Another morning I was up early and went north to see if I could find any bears. Sure enough the sow 610 was walking along the side of a hill with her three cubs of this year(COYS). What fun to see the cubs romping around her!

610 and her cubs

That night in this area there was a little bit of sleet/snow but the next morning as I got about 30 miles north it was a very different scene, literally. There was 2-3″ of new snow on every tiny and large branch. It was also very foggy until it burned off.

Late May snow

Since Ox Bow Bend was right around the corner I hung around until the fog lifted and this is what I found.

Mt. Moran at Ox Bow Bend

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2022 Wyoming, 5-13

Going to start posting about this trip because it’s gotten off to a great start! The day after arriving in the Tetons I was lucky enough to come across the well known grizzly sow known as 399 with her cubs. They were in a wooded area so getting clear images was not easy.

Winter is hanging on here with very cold temps and frequent snow showers. Needless to say the mountains are very photo-worthy.

The moose are around, but just shedding their winter coat so not looking particularly sleek. The calves are young but surprisingly large.

This week has been a good one for watching the bears. 399 has ditched (or tried to) her cubs and has apparently come in season. One day recently I found her being followed by a large and healthy looking boar. Was really interesting to see them and fortunately they were in a pretty open area. Later that same day I found them again in the same area but one of the cubs was trailing long far behind.

Last evening I found a handsome black bear

Another day and more bears, an unknown grizzly then 399 followed by one of her cubs, no boar in sight.

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2022 Wyoming Photo Book

A few people have asked if I’ve thought about putting together a photo book so this past winter I decided to do one that contains some memorable images taken in Wyoming. The wildlife are truly wild, the landscapes so unique to the area and capturing the night images is both inspiring and humbling. Below are just a few samples from the 22 pages. They will be available for a limited time and limited number. $30.00 includes postage and each one will be signed. Please email me at borderbrae@gmail.com if you are interested.

2022 Lure Coursing

While visiting a friend in AZ I had the opportunity to attend a two day AKC lure coursing event. I took a lot of images of the dogs coursing and some of the handlers releasing the dogs. What fun to watch the dogs in action and to be able to capture the images for the owners. All the photos have been uploaded to my website, http://www.jeanclarkphotography.com and I’ll post just a few here.

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2022 Desert Botanical Garden

While visiting a friend outside Phoenix we visited the Desert Botanical Garden (dbg.org) to view the Dale Chihuly exhibit. He is internationally known for his glass work and it was quite something to see. I admire the imagination, color and creativity shown in the works. we got there before sunset and walked around them did another walk when it was getting dark to see the full effect of the lights on the works. The outdoor works ranged in height to maybe 15′ and at least one was probably that wide. There is more info about the exhibit on the garden’s website.

The botanical garden is large and has so many interesting desert plants in it, always a pleasure to spend some time there. For this exhibit they have a building open with some of the smaller works on display.

I don’t pretend to “understand” the works or think they have some hidden meaning, to me they wonderful examples of what can be done if you have the imagination and skill.

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