2017 Yellowstone NP, Hayden Valley

 

Friday May 26 I was up bright and early to drive from Mammoth Hot Springs campground down to Canyon Village campground. That was the day it opened for the season and I had no idea if there would be a long line of folks waiting or not. I had to take the road on the west side of the park  down to Norris then across to Canyon. It snowed a bit and I encountered a group of Bison with some calves making their way along the road. Eventually I got to the campground and was surprised to find I was one of the first to arrive and check in. Good thing they weren’t facing a rush of folks because their computers were not working right. The campground had obviously been plowed out and there were great piles of snow everywhere. When I first pulled in it was like backing the trailer into an icebox. As the days warmed up a bit the snow started to melt. I was assigned a nice site with good exposure for the solar panels which I set up promptly. This year I was pleased to see a few other trailers also had solar panels of one sort or another. It was extremely cold and snowed off and on the first couple of days I was there and I was amazed at the number of tenters. So glad I had the trailer even though the furnace was not working consistently. 

There were some Bison in Hayden Valley, along with lots of Elk. I stayed at Canyon for 9 nights and didn’t see any Elk calves until late in my stay. The Bison were often close to the road but the Elk tended to stay on the other side of the Yellowstone River, a long ways away, even with the telephoto lens I have.

One afternoon while hanging around at a pullout I saw a black Wolf. It it was by itself, sort of chasing some Elk. I lost sight of it quickly and moved to another pullout later on. Lo & behold I saw movement and realized it was the Wolf, directly across the river from me. Managed to get a few shots of it, what you see here are greatly cropped.

Late one day as I was headed back to the trailer I came up to what was a growing “bear jam”. There was a pullout with no cars in it so I swung in and grabbed my camera. Just had time to catch it as it ran across the road and across a small open area into the woods.

 

Bison do swim, not going to win any awards but they can get from one side of the river to the other, with some drifting in the current.

One afternoon I was surprised and dismayed to see some obviously foreign visitors using a drone. Drones are not allowed in the park and it is stated plainly in various info sheets handed out. These people, along with the make and registration of their vehicle,were reported to the Rangers. I really hope they were caught and that the drone was confiscated.

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2017 Yellowstone Nights

When I’m this far north I regularly check out a website that gives info about possible Aurora Borealis sightings. On May 23 when I was staying at Mammoth Hot Springs campground the possibility for seeing the aurora was good so I went out at about 10 pm. The ideal spot would be as high as I could get, but unfortunately the folks at MHS don’t see to understand about light pollution. The view from the parking on the Upper Terraces was compromised by the lights below so I found a better spot on a pullout just below there with trees to hide the lights. The yellow plume in the image is steam from one of the hot springs that is lit up by the lights.  Once I was satisfied with that image I turned more to the east and was able to get a nice image of the Milky Way.

Three days later I got a notice that the Aurora might again be visible. O10:15 pm on the 27th I left the Canyon Village campground and headed south to Hayden Valley. When I had parked and got out to check the view I could immediately see some lights high above, Bingo!  Quickly got the camera and tripod out. Wow! Had to put the 14 mm lens on to capture the sight. The vertical spectre was amazing and moved slowly from north to northwest then faded out. This phenomenon is called “Steve” in Aurora circles for lack of a better name.

After that I concentrated on the Aurora down near the  horizon and moved to different spots to get different views of it with the Yellowstone River in the foreground. In some of the images you can see a bit of the Milky Way, but the moon is waxing and it isn’t the best time for that.

I went out the next night but didn’t see any lingering color. Once the moon was down low I did manage to capture the Milky Way, though not as good as it would be with no moon.

 

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2017 Lamar Valley, Yellowstone

A good scratching post

A variety of animals can be found in or near Lamar Valley, From the large Bison  to the more delicate antelope, all are  fascinating to watch. This time of year a lot of them still have not shed out their winter coats so they tend to look a bit shaggy or moth eaten compared to later in the year.

On my last trip out I was able to watch a black bear with her

Black bear

cubs for a short time and then a grizzly with a yearling for a quick few minutes before she left. Click here for more images

Grizzly sow & cub (on the left)

2017 Lamar Valley, 1

Recently moved from the Tetons up to Yellowstone NP and was able to get a campsite at the Mammoth Hot Springs cg. This will work nicely as a base and  Gardiner, MT, is close by for supplies. I plan to head over to Lamar Valley at least once a day. It isn’t a whole lot warmer here than it was in the Tetons but at least the only snow (so far) is on the ground, not falling.

Bison & coyotes in Lamar Valley, Yellowstone NP

Went over to Lamar Valley and got a few shots of some of the critters, most are quite a ways away, near or across the river.

One afternoon on my return trip to the valley I came

Black bear boar, resting and stretching

across a typical “bear jam”, but I was able to park at a turnout right near the action. Not much action for a long time since the black bear was lounging behind a tree. He got up and moved about 20′ then laid flat out, with one foot braced against a tree trunk. Once in a while he’d stretch a foreleg up.

Since I had a prime parking spot and nothing planned I

Coyote came along to keep the crowd interested

decided to hang out there and see what the bear would do next. He rested for about an hour but a coyote came along so it wasn’t totally dull.

Hmm, what’s he going to do?

Finally the bear got up and wonder of wonders he moved towards the little pond, nearer the road, not off into the woods. I guess the water was appealing or maybe it looked easier to swim by the rock scree than to climb over it to get to the other side of it. He did swim the pond then got out a did a great job of shaking the water off.  This was a nice way to spend a few hours.

Since then on my trips to Lamar I’ve seen two more black bears, many elk cows, a few bull elk, a moose, some bighorn sheep ewes, antelope and lots more bison. As is often the case, the opportunity to take photographs was severely limited or impossible to do safely but I’ll keep trying.

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2017 Grand Tetons

From Utah I headed north to Gros Ventre campground in Grant Tetons NP, just outside Jackson, WY. It was cold and snowy two days but the solar worked great keeping the trailer battery charged along with other stuff. Didn’t see any moose, but I did spend a bit of time at Schwabacher’s Landing, capturing a beaver, muskrat and some sort of interesting bird.

The snow fell mostly two mornings but once it stopped the roads were clear and dry. I took advantage of that and managed to get a few unique images.

As always it is interesting to photograph one of the old Mormon barns, the sunsets are never the same.

Last day I was there I finally got to see a bear.

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2017 Utah

Monument Valley from the roadside

From NM I headed to a familiar campground, Goosenecks SP, about 25 miles north of Monument Valley.  It is sort of barren, you pick a spot which may or may not have a table, but a one-of-a-kind view is guaranteed if you walk a few steps to the rim of the canyon. I tend to use this place as a base and visit Monument Valley to the south or Valley of the Gods to the north. This trip the weather was pretty overcast and each late afternoon I could watch the storm clouds pass by, sometimes with a rumble of thunder or flash of lightning, but no rain. A drive to view some of Monument Valley from the road was a must but mostly I just relaxed and caught up on stuff.

 

From there I headed north to another familiar place, Horse Thief CG. This is a BLM site, dry camping without

Twisted tree on a cloudy day, Canyonlands NP

even water available located just outside Moab, UT. It is convenient for Canyonlands NP, Arches NP and Moab. Sites are large with plenty of room and often some screening between them. One of the delights of this stop was that I was able to meet up with some friends from various parts of the country and to meet some new folks. The weather started out sunny each day, but with enough breeze so it stayed pleasant, not too hot.

Turret Arch lit by the moon, Arches NP

Arches NP is undergoing some extensive road work, prohibiting access 5 nights of the week and some sections of the park are closed completely. The closures will change as the work locations change. Fortunately I was able to get in on Friday night and the places I wanted to visit were accessible.

There was a full moon during my stay so instead capturing the Milky Way I decided to see how some familiar places looked in the moonlight.

Double Arch in the moonlight, Arches NP

Turned out the moon does a much better job of lighting things up than any artificial light.

 

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2017 Chaco Cultural National Historical Park

Also known as Chaco Canyon this location is a fascinating place. The canyon is home to several large pueblos, each with many kivas. The kivas are round “rooms” that were accessed using ladders down into them. Some were large, capable of holding over 100 people while others were smaller.

I camped there for 2 nights and visited three of the pueblos. Pueblo Bonito is the largest, but some of the others are nearly as large, covering two or more acres. Photographs help but they don’t really capture the feeling of the place. It is estimated that construction lasted about 300 years, starting in 850 AD. The engineering is amazing, I just wish there was more info available, so much is speculation based on the evidence left behind. For example it is known that the Chacoans were active traders. It appears they used Turquoise themselves for decorating various things and traded it extensively. In exchange they got cocoa, macaws, shells, etc.

In Pueblo Bonito it is believed there were close to 600 rooms, but many of them were used for storage, having no ventilation, light, heat, etc. Most of the rooms were very small and the doorways into them an interesting challenge since they tend to have high thresholds and low clearance.

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