Aspens and Elk

Overlooking the Terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs

Hurray for fall! What could be better than a day in one of my favorite places during my favorite season? Michigan fall will always be THE best for me, but Yellowstone National Park plays a pretty good second fiddle. 

My objective for this trip was simple ~ golden aspens and rutting elk. When we want to make sure that we see elk, we head straight to Mammoth Hot Springs. We hiked there back in June and saw them, so we returned to the Beaver Ponds trail and started up. It was a great day for a hike: cool but not cold, partly sunny, and once we left the Terraces, we saw only four other people. I was a little disappointed that the aspens hadn't turned much yet, but we did find a few to photograph.  


After we had hiked more than two miles, we still hadn't seen any elk, despite plenty of sign ~ tracks, scat, and flattened grass where they had bedded down. I was just starting to think that we weren't going to see them when a very distinctive sound cut through the quiet air. Nothing else sounds even remotely like the bugle of a bull elk. We quickly set off in the direction of the sound. An elk bugle can carry a long way, so there was still no guarantee we would locate him. But we sure were going to try. After nearly a mile of quiet stalking with frequent stops for listening, we finally spotted our quarry ~ a nice 5X6 bull with a small harem of cows. We carefully worked our way closer and got some pictures. But he wasn't the only bull in the area. We were hearing more calls from right, left, and in front of us. So we moved cautiously through the trees and soon spied another bull, then another and another. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon stalking one bull after another. (Better than hunting, because there's no bag limit!) Even as the shadows grew longer and we knew we had to head back, another bull would bugle nearby and we were hard-put not to set off in pursuit once more. 

Bull Number Two

Leaving Mammoth, we felt sorry for the crowds of people taking pictures of the elk on the courthouse lawn. Yes, the bull that they were seeing was bigger than any we had seen, but I couldn't help but feel that I was the lucky one. 

These little bluebirds added to the day's entertainment. 

Elk shed their antlers every year. Dan found this nice specimen. 

A Close Encounter

Camping in the Pryors for Labor Day weekend... what could be better than that? As regular readers of the blog already know, the Pryors are a favorite destination of ours. But this weekend, we got the whole banana split AND the cherry on top! 

Having hauled the camper down after work on Thursday night (Friday morning, really), we were on the trail by the time that we are normally just pulling away from home. It was a beautiful day, and the morning quickly slipped away. We stopped to eat lunch near a small stand of pine trees with the entire valley visible below. Dan spotted a brilliant auburn pine squirrel and went back to the machines for a camera. He came back only to discover that the squirrel had disappeared. So he finished his lunch and stood looking out through his binoculars. I walked over to join him, still munching on my apple. Just then, I caught movement off to our right. Ears! Coming up out of a watering hole, three heads appeared. Wolves? No, BEARS! A momma black bear and her two cubs had been startled by something and were loping along in our general direction. They weren't running hard, but they weren't stopping, either. Dan had the shutter clicking constantly. The bears kept getting closer, and Dan reached down and flipped the thumb loop off of the .41 magnum, just in case he needed to fire a warning shot. We kept expecting them to notice us and veer off, but at this point, they were actually coming right at us! By now, I was directly behind Dan, watching over his shoulder. (I kept wondering if she was after my apple!) Dan kept taking pictures until the bears were about 50 yards from us, then he yelled out, "HEY!" Boy, did Momma Bear hit the brakes! She looked at us for a moment, then led the cubs away. Well, then... Weekend made! 

This is my favorite of all the pictures. I just love the running cubs. 

Saturday morning, we were joined by a buddy and we set out to ride. And did we ever ride ~ like 75 miles! We covered pretty much the entire Pryor Mountain Range! We left our campsite on the south side, rode over the switchbacks and nearly to the Crow Reservation on the north end, then decided to go see the sheep and horses on the east side. I finally got to explore the arch that Dan and I have seen off Syke's Ridge Road, and on the way out, we were treated to a spectacular lightning show. Unfortunately, we didn't beat the storm back to the camper. The whole way home was a cold, wet ride. But we had dry clothes in the camper, so it really wasn't so bad. All in all, it was a great start to fall!