More of Gros Ventre Wilderness

The are just addditional shots from our wilderness adventure...It should be noted that while this is an adventure for us, it is a working cattle ranch road. So we encountered many ranchers along the way, moving cattle or horses to wherever...

The Gros Ventre Wilderness Red Rocks

On Wednesday we headed back to the Gros Ventre Wilderness. Remember that wild ride we took within our first days here? We vowed to go back when we had morning sun. So Wednesday morning we stopped on Mormon Row to photograph some beautiful old buildings, circa 1910 to 1930. They were part of a Mormon community which had since been abandoned.

Then we continued on into the Gros Ventre Wilderness area. That road too had become much more difficult to travel since the rains of the past week. But we were determined to photograph the red rocks in one of the canyons. It was a great day, and we thoroughly enjoyed the ride, although rough at times.

Today (Thursday) we’re doing house keeping chores, i.e. groceries, laundry, etc., and gettimg some much needed rest. The skies had begun to cloud over when we left the park yesterday. But high winds blew after we returned to camp last night. So the morning dawned without the clouds, and a brilliant blue sky.

The shots included in this posting are all from the Gros Ventre Wilderness Area. If you're ever planning a visit to Grand Tetons Nationall Park, we highly recommend a trip up this road.

Thanks for visiting the Grand Tetons with us!
Fay

And the sky is blue...

We spent Tuesday photographing scenics. We awoke on Tuesday morning to heavy fog. So we took a ride from Teton Village to Moose River Junction. It’s one of those gravel and dirt roads we discussed before. But since the rain and/or snow of the past several days, the road conditions are much worse. However, it’s still a beautiful quiet ride.

The fog lifted fairly quickly. So by the time we reached the Moose Junction the sky was a brilliant blue, and the high peaks were visible. We spent the day enjoying the sunshine, and the vistas which had been uncovered by the better weather.

We've also included a couple of shots of our new favorite wildlife animal, the bison. Note the lighter color of the calf's tail. That more golden color is how they come into the world. Then as they grow older they turn the darker color. Apparently the tail is the last part to turn.

Hope you enjoy the beauty also...
Fay

The grouse, and then the clouds lifted...

Another great day in the park…We headed to Gros Ventre first thing this morning in hopes of getting some morning light on bison and pronghorns. But no luck; we did see a couple of each, but not nearly the numbers of previous days.

So off we went to Oxbow Bend, looking for nothing in particular. It was still somewhat overcast this morning. So scenics were still not a good bet. We drove up Pacific Creek Road to the trailhead. It was a beautiful quiet ride on a gravel to dirt road. We saw lots of birds, but not much else. We stopped for a sandwich along the way, and just enjoyed the solitude.

Then we headed back toward Oxbow Bend, and stopped to watch the swans on the river. Before long we had quite a surprise. A grouse stepped out of the grass just at the edge of the pavement in the turnout. At first we tiptoed around in whispers, thinking that we would scare it away. After several minutes of both still and video photography, the grouse moved toward the road. We were afraid it would get hit by a car. So we ‘herded’ it back toward the grassy edge.

You’ll never guess what happened next. It scooted under our truck, and sat there. It preened, flapped its wings as though to stretch, and then just sat. We tried coaxing it out by slamming the truck doors and stamping our feet on the road side of the truck. Hoping that it would scoot back into the grass. But it did not move, except to change positions under the truck.

It had drawn quite a crowd by this time. Several people came along, asked what we were seeing, and then sat down on the ground to photograph it under our truck. After about a half hour, I decided it was time to move it along. So I extended the legs on the tripod, and began running it along the ground between the front and back tires. The grouse just moved to the area under the front bumper, and out of the reach of the tripod!!

Finally after several more minutes, it decided it was time to leave, and it sauntered back into the grass. The last time we spotted it, it had moved a little further down the turnout and scooted under someone else’s car. Obviously it had very little fear of people.

But as our attention had been trained on the grouse, we didn’t realize that the clouds have finally lifted off the high peaks. For the first time in days we could see the mountaintops. So we turned out attention back to scenics, and began to photograph the peaks before the clouds moved in again. The forecast for the remainder of the week calls for sunshine. We’re hoping the weatherman is right this time.

We hope you enjoyed our grouse experience as much as we did. Thanks for sticking with us…
Fay

How Grand the Tetons are today...

And now we understand why they call them the Grand Tetons!!! We awoke this morning to still cloudy skies and cold. We headed into the park, and were absolutely speechless. Not only were the high peaks covered with snow, but now most of the mountains also. There was even snow at the lower elevations within the park. At one point I said to Sal that the only way to describe the beauty is to say, “Look what God has made.” Only he could create something that beautiful. And for those of you who say there is a scientific explanation I say, baloney!!!

We had a great day in the park. We searched in the area where Sal saw the eagle yesterday, but to no avail. It wasn’t our turn to see eagles today.

But we had a great time this afternoon watching a ‘herd’ of Pronghorn. There were 17 females, and one male in the group. Another, much younger, smaller male appeared on the horizon. The more mature male began herding the girls into a tighter group. One of them must not have liked his looks or something, because she kept running away. We watched him chase her down, and turn her back toward the herd a half dozen times. Eventually, while he was herding the errant lady, the younger male infiltrated the herd. As soon as the old guy saw that, he headed back to protect his ladies, chasing he younger intruder off.

But of course while his attention was turned to the intruder, his runaway took off again. She had put quite a distance between herself and the rest of the herd by the time he noticed her. But off he went to round her up again. At one point Sal and I agreed that he should just let her go. She was probably more trouble than good. But he was having none of it. Every time she strayed, he chased her. We watched this scene for probably 20 minutes before moving on down the road to find the herd of bison. What fun to watch nature at its best.

By the way, through some internet research on the Pronghorn, we found that they are capable of running 80 mph in short spurts. So you can imagine what fun it was watching these two.

As we were heading back to Jackson it began to snow again. So we may find a fresh blanket of the white stuff again tomorrow.

Thanks for sticking with us…
Fay

Missed Out Again!!!

Another day in God’s country…weather prediction was for rain and/or snow, even in the valley most of the day. We had a bit of everything. Sun with clearing skies; rain, snow, hail, and now it’s clearing again.

I elected to stay in camp today. Getting a few home chores done while enjoying some space. Meantime Sal went into the park. And remember that day in Yellowstone when I stayed in camp? Well, today was the same deal. Yes, he spotted an eagle and was able to photograph it. Missed it again!!!! He did say that it was pretty far away, but he still captured it, even though not as clearly as he would have liked.

He said the weather was really strange to watch. The clouds were so low that you could actually see the snow falling on the mountain peaks.

Well, I’ll keep this short today, and just let the photos speak for themselves.
Fay

Back in Action...First Shots with the New Camera

We had another great day yesterday. The temperatures were still in the 40’s, with overcast skies. Not great weather for photographing; so we drove through the park, observing wildlife and enjoying the scenery.

The clouds had lifted enough yesterday to enable us to see the mountains. They are so beautiful with the snow covered peaks. But the camera’s lens could not capture the beauty. The clouded skies blend with the gray mountain peaks, making for ho hum shots.

We awoke to pretty much the same weather today. The prediction is again for rain and/or rain mixed with snow at the lower levels, and more snow at the higher elevations. So today may be a good day to enjoy the museums and photo galleries, of which there are many in Jackson. We definitely want to see the Wildlife Museum before we leave.

But back to yesterday…We found a back road yesterday, which we love. It had very little traffic, and was prime moose habitat. But still we did not find any moose. Then as we were leaving the park around 5:30 last night, you guessed it. A moose cow and calf tucked into the sage brush, just outside the park gate. Not a place we would expect to find moose, proving once again that animals don’t read the books written about them. We enjoyed just watching them for a few minutes. They seemed quite content to lie there and watch the people who were watching them.

We did take a few wildlife photos yesterday, and some are included in this posting. The elk shot shows a wound on his shoulder. We actually didn’t notice the wound while we were observing him. But when Sal downloaded the shots to the laptop, it clearly was visible. He otherwise appeared to be in good health.

The bison are free range animals. They are so much fun to watch as they wander. It always reminds us of yesteryear when they were free and plentiful.

Thanks for sticking with us. More to come as the weather prediction for next week is back to sunny skies. The new camera will be put to good use, and hopefully we’ll have lots of great stuff to share.
Fay