So Happy Together

When Dan suggested the Pryors for our camping destination for this weekend, I must admit, I internally rolled my eyes and thought, "Pryors? AGAIN?" But hey, it beats sitting at home, right? 

We pulled the camper down Thursday night after work. We arrived at our campsite (thankfully, our VACANT campsite), at about 2:30 am. If you have never stared up into a cloudless, starry night in the high desert, well... you have missed out on something truly special. After marveling at the incredible display of stars, we retreated into the camper and promptly fell asleep. 

By late Friday morning, we were up and ready to ride. We got a whole three and a half miles in before we were off of the machines with cameras and tripods in tow. Since we were still at lower elevations, I was on high alert for snakes. Then I decided that maybe, if I saw it first, it would be a cool photo. Which, of course, guaranteed that I never saw one. (Murphy's Law of Photography.)

Since it was just the two of us and we had no set agenda, we just wandered. Late in the afternoon, we ended up at the irrigation pond where we saw Mama Bear and her two cubs a couple of years ago. The bears were not at home, but the bumblebees and the butterflies were busy. The whole area was vibrant ~ the red soil, the green grass, and the blue skies were just beautiful. The old song, "So Happy Together" came to mind and stayed in my head the rest of the day. 

Our buddy Ronny came up to ride with us on Saturday. Ronny loves two things about the Pryors ~ the wild horses and the big horn sheep. So we set out for one of our favorite roads to the top of the wild horse range, Burnt Timber Road. Okay, I know that it was a beautiful, sunny Saturday in June, but seriously... I thought that I had been teleported to Yellowstone! I don't think we have ever seen that many vehicles in the Pryors! Everyone had the same destination in mind, the high meadow where the horses hang out. I did want running horse pictures, but I was starting to feel sorry for the poor creatures. They would run to one end of the meadow only to be pushed back the other way. We had had enough of the circus and headed back down toward the Big Ice Cave. When we were here a couple of weeks ago, Dan noticed a trail that we have not ridden, so we gave it a try. As we expected, it dead-ended at the edge of the canyon. But, we had the whole place to ourselves and I could breathe again. 

As we pulled out of our campsite at the end of the day, I was so glad that we had come, once again, to the Pryor Mountains. It truly is my "happy place"!

Bonus pics:

We did find sheep, too, as well as something that we have never before seen in the Pryors: A turkey! 

What's Better Than A Day in Yellowstone?

The only thing better than a day in Yellowstone National Park is, of course, TWO days in Yellowstone. We hauled the camper up on Friday morning. I was a little concerned that we might not get a spot, since Canyon Campground in the Yankee Jim Canyon has only 17 spots. Amazingly enough, it was deserted when we arrived! We hurried to set up and eat lunch because we had an agenda: Get to Mammoth and hit the Beaver Ponds Trail. This time, doggone it, I was GOING to get baby elk pictures! 

Not exactly a baby...

When we stopped at the gate, Dan asked what was being sighted. The ranger said that there was a grizzly sow with two cubs in Mammoth. Okay, bears are cool, but I want elk calves. We told him that we were headed for the Beaver Ponds Trail, but he said probably not. The trail was most likely being closed even as we spoke, since that is where Mama Bear actually was. Well, then, now what? Since it was already afternoon, we decided to meander our way towards Lamar Valley. We did a few short hikes and spotted quite a few animals (fox, marmot, black bear, elk), just not elk calves. Late in the day, someone told us about a coyote den. Of course we had to check that out! Fading light and too much distance between us and the den prevented good pictures, but we did see two pups. 

Saturday, we got up and made straight for Old Faithful. We weren't going to see the geyser, however. We wanted to visit the art gallery. We wanted to see the winning entries from last year's Yellowstone Forever Photo contest. (Not us... not yet.)

We came back by way of Dunraven Pass (because Dan likes that road) to Tower and then back to Lamar Valley. We decided to try the hike to Trout Lake, because a) it was short enough for the time we had left, b) we've never done that hike, and c) there have been otter sightings there. I guess if I can't find elk calves, otters will have to do! 

How have we missed this hike all these years? The lake was absolutely beautiful! The water was so clear that we could even photograph the plants on the bottom. We could see the trout, too, but they were too quick for me. Even though we didn't find the otters, we did enjoy the walk around the lake, and we agreed that we would be coming back soon!

We returned to the camper, packed up, and hit the road for home. I was very disappointed that, once again, I did not get baby elk pictures. I may even have been pouting just a little when Dan exclaimed, "There's one!" On a main road, hauling the camper, no shoulder... Absolutely no chance of a picture. All I could do was watch as the little one ran circles around mama and aunts. That's when it hit me: It's not always about "getting the shot," it's about living in the moment. I settled back into my seat for the drive home a much happier girl. 

***Bonus Pictures***

We found this guy in the meadow way below us on one of our hikes on Friday. Just a quick glimpse, but we wondered if it was the same giant we saw a couple of weeks ago.

Above: I am so glad that we took the time to photograph these flowers growing up through a fallen evergreen on the way up the trail, because when we came back down, they were wilted/smashed. 

Right: Calypso 

Can you spot the coyote? We were on the way back to the camper when we saw a bully of a coyote pestering a handful of antelope does. While they were wary of him, they were very determined not to be chased away from their location. Dan thought that perhaps they had babies nearby, but if they did, we never spotted them. 

(Hint: Click on the photo to view in full screen, then look at the second sagebrush left of the antelope. You can just see the coyote's ears sticking up.)