Just Ducky!

I love spring in Yellowstone National Park! Everything is so lush and green, the babies are beginning to arrive, and entrances that have been closed for the winter are starting to reopen. 

The road from the Chief Joseph Highway to Cooke City opened up this week, so the northeast entrance was the obvious choice for this trip. I was a little concerned when we got up yesterday morning to cloudy skies and light rain. Home is at 3,500 feet and the Chief Joe tops out at just over 8,000. If it's raining at home... well, you get the picture. My apprehension was not eased at all as we drove closer to the mountains. They were not even visible. We began our climb and quickly found ourselves swallowed up by the clouds. We never did encounter falling snow, but we were pulling out cameras when the snow-frosted trees emerged from the shroud. I intended to photograph the trees, but got distracted by the flowers. 

Our first destination stop was Trout Lake. I was a little agitated to discover six or eight cars and a dozen people in the parking lot. But we quickly started up the "back way" and left the rest behind. Imagine my surprise when we broke out of the trees surrounding Buck Lake in absolute solitude. We spent probably an hour photographing the lake and the ducks. We eventually made our way over to Trout Lake and down the trail back to the car. 

Beautiful Buck Lake

Someday, I am going to get a really good picture of a mallard.
They are my favorite!

I'm not sure what these ducks are called,
but they are plentiful in YNP.

There was no solitude when we reached Tower Junction. I knew that people had been seeing bears, so I was not surprised at the bear jam. Fortunately, the bears were not far up the road, so we parked and I walked up to join the crowd. As expected, I found a mama bear with three cubs! I was enjoying watching them, but it was starting to rain, so I returned to the car. 

Of the three cubs, this one was hanging closest to Mama.
The other two had already wandered off to play somewhere out of sight. 

Just a few miles later, we spotted a big grizzly bruin. He was out of sight by the time we got pulled over and got the cameras out, but we caught up with him when he flopped out in a mud puddle. Then he got up again and lumbered off into the trees. 

After a short wait in a buffalo jam, we decided that we were hungry, so we made our way into Gardiner. The sun came out as we were leaving and sealed the day with a rainbow. 

*** BONUS PICS ***

Just What the Doctor Ordered

The restorative power of nature is well established. (Do the names Henry David Thoreau or Walt Whitman ring a bell?) I actually read an article just this past week that quoted a medical study showing that time spent in nature was as effective in treating PTSD as any conventional intervention. ("Wilderness RX"; Annette McGivney; Backpacker Magazine, March 2018)

While I certainly don't suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the long, snowy winter that we just came through certainly had me eager to get outside. Both Dan and I were more than ready for our annual Pipestone 4-wheeling trip. Since you probably don't want to read a long, detailed, day-by-day account of our outing, here are just a few highlights. 

*HAPPY CAMPERS*

You haven't seen happy until you take an 8-year-old camping with his grandpa! Our buddy Grif brought his grandson along for the first couple days of our trip. Whether shooting his BB gun, riding in Grandpa's Razor, climbing around at Ringing Rocks, or helping me build a campfire, he never stopped grinning!

Colton wasn't the only happy camper!

*BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS*

We planned our trip a week earlier this year than usual, so we didn't have the plethora of bluebirds that we sometimes have had. Nevertheless, we did have one pair hanging around camp. More than once, either Dan or I (or both) jumped up from a meal or a conversation to grab the camera when that bright blue bird showed up! 

*HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU!*

For some reason, we didn't pile on the miles this year like we have in the past. We only covered about 150 miles over the eight days. But ride we did: through snow and mud puddles and through warm temps and choking dust; from creek bottoms to high mountain meadows; and from quick forays around camp to all-day excursions. Each trip was punctuated with quality time spend with friends. 

All in all, we had a great time! I was so very happy to get back outside. So, I suggest that you also follow doctors' orders and take a "happy pill"! Just consider yourself warned: This is heady stuff, and it's highly addictive! 

*BONUS PICS*

What happens when the sun is setting
in the west and shining through
pouring rain in the east!

We knew that white men had been here for a long time...

...but we weren't aware that the Indians had also left their mark!

Macro fun... this little weed was about the size
 of my pinkie fingernail.

This busy bee wasn't staying put for more than a couple of seconds
at a time. 

At Least We Didn't Get Skunked

...or did we? ;)

Not every weekend jaunt that we take is all about photography. Dan's primary goal for yesterday was to sight in a new rifle, so we headed for the Pryors. It was rather dreary, but not actually raining. When Dan finished shooting, we debated over where to go next. (There is still way too much snow in the Pryors to bother hanging out there!) We returned to Bridger and cut over the mountain to Red Lodge. We filled the truck (and our bellies) and turned north. We looked for eagles near Luther and Roscoe, but found none. 

Turning onto Ingersoll Creek Road, we stopped to investigate a small cemetery that we have passed many times. We discovered burial dates ranging from 1905 to 2017, and the deceased were as young as a day or two up to nearly ninety years. Graves were marked with simple metal plaques, elaborately carved monuments, and everything in between. My favorite engraving said, "The John Wayne of all Dads."

Back in the truck, we continued across Ingersoll Creek Road until it ended on West Rosebud. We stopped near Nye at a fishing access to look for otters... without success, of course. We looped back around toward Beehive, stopping at a few other fishing accesses along the way. Still no otters, but we were seeing a lot of deer and turkeys. Just before we reached Beehive, I spotted something moving in the grass. "What's black and white and..."? Yep, skunk! The grass was nearly as tall as the skunk, which made it hard to get a clear shot, but I did get a few. 

At the last fishing access of the day, we spied a bluebird! Yay! Maybe we are going to get spring after all! A pair of eagles just down the road made for a good last pic of the day. 

PS. Just for the record, we didn't get skunked in the literal sense, either! 

Bonus Pics

I think the tree has grown some
since it was planted beside this headstone. 

Leprechauns, Unicorns, and River Otters

*I am now totally convinced that river otters are mythical creatures,

and any pictures of them are the result of trick photography!*

Well, well, well... We woke up yesterday to mostly sunny skies. As soon as we possibly could, we hit the road heading west. Where to go? Yellowstone always sounds good to me, and since I was driving, that's where we ended up. We drove through some scattered showers, but by the time we came to Yankee Jim Canyon, it was sunny. This was a good thing, because several people lately have told me that they have seen otters there. 

We stopped in the first pullout, and I was certain that the otters were just waiting for me in the river below. I walked the the river's edge while Dan moved the car to the next pullout and walked back to meet me. In this way, we worked our way down the entire canyon. We saw a young eagle and a small flock of ducks, but no otters. The sun shining on the emerald-hued water was, however, soothing and satisfying. 

I was disappointed at not finding the otters, but there was still time to run for Lamar Valley. Blowing snow had made the roads interesting in a few spots, but overall, they were better than when we we were there two weeks ago. 

The same ram was on the hillside across the road, but the river had my full attention. A couple of magpies were pecking away at what appeared to be scraps of fish, so this just HAD to be THE spot! We did have the entire area to ourselves, and we had fun photographing the ducks. Unfortunately, the otters never did put in an appearance, and daylight was running out on us. 

Driving home, I came to the realization that I was once again getting way too "hung up" on getting photos of one particular species. We are so blessed to live close enough to be able to visit Yellowstone on a whim! One of these days, we are going to stumble upon otters in the river and we will get our pics. I am just not entirely convinced that I won't get pictures of leprechauns and unicorns first! 

Bonus Pics

The wind was making it pretty tough
for this magpie to keep his footing on the ice. 

I guess you could call it a "tail wind"! 

Eventually, he gave up and took off. 

I have always considered mallards the prettiest of ducks.

Isn't Winter Over Yet?

 I am beginning to think that winter is going to last forever! We have spent way too many weekends recently stuck in the house. But coming into this weekend, I was especially anxious for the weather to be decent. We absolutely HAD to get to Bozeman!

Dan and I both took Thursday off, and as we set out, it appeared that the roads were going to be a challenge all the way. Imagine my surprise when just at the point where I expected the roads to go from bad to worse, they cleared entirely! Reaching Bozeman with daylight to spare, we set out in search of eagles, and boy did we find them ~ goldens, balds, and immature balds. Eventually, we got hungry and headed back into town for dinner. 

We take every opportunity we get to take pics of our flag
and the Montana state flag was a bonus! 

Friday morning, Dan dropped me off in town and set out on his own to chase down more eagles. What? Didn't I mention that that was the plan all along? I was invited to take part in a class with a Master of Photography! What an opportunity! It was well worth the time and money. I learned a lot, despite being way behind the other participants! When Dan picked me up after class, we beat feet to Gardiner. 

When we caught a brief glimpse of this little guy on Thursday afternoon,
I thought it was a beaver.
Dan got to spend a little quality time on Friday though
with what turned out to be a muskrat. 

Saturday was a Yellowstone day. We were really, really hoping to find otters. Unfortunately, the otters remained elusive, but at least the bison, elk, big horn sheep, and coyotes were more cooperative. 

Yes, the hillside WAS that steep!

While I am absolutely sick of the snow,
it did make for a special moment in photography!

By early afternoon, we decided to wrap up our trip and get home before dark. The roads were generally pretty good, but blowing snow in some places made us very glad that we had daylight visibility. I will be so glad when winter finally bids us farewell. 

   Bonus Pictures:

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a good picture.
This little group of coyotes was a long way off the road,
so we took the picture mostly to make positive identification.
I wish I knew how many of the other viewers went home
and told their friends that they saw wolves!