The Best Ride Yet

Ever since we bought our four-wheelers, people have been telling us, "You have to ride Pipestone!" Of course, they also warned us to make sure we took our GPS or went with someone familiar with the territory, since it is a large area with lots of trails. Well, it just so happens that our frequent riding partner Grif lived in Butte for a while and actually helped build and maintain some of the trails. I guess you could say he knows the place!

Grif and our buddy Rick drove up on Thursday night, but we couldn't leave until Friday morning. We got there early in the afternoon and promptly unloaded and set out for Ringing Rocks. Something in the erosion and composition of the rocks makes them ring like bells, a phenomenon that happens in only a couple places in the world. (Check out the video at the bottom of the post.) Of course, Dan had to climb all the way to the top. 


As we left Ringing Rocks, clouds were forming and thunder rumbled from time to time. We were down in a  wooded valley by the time it started to rain, which was a very good thing. The raindrops were huge and quickly turned to hail. It lasted long enough to soak us to the skin. So we went back to camp and started supper. I surely was glad to get into dry clothes. The change of clothes, a hot supper, and clearing skies made us all feel better. Enough better, in fact, that we decided to take an evening ride. (It was my favorite trail of the whole two days.) Then it was back to camp for a fire and s'mores. 

Saturday morning came early as neither Dan nor I slept all that well. (The fact that the air mattress went flat in the night and left us sleeping on the hard ground didn't help anything.) But that just meant that we were on the trail early. More time to ride! Another thing that Grif wanted to show us was an old granite quarry. It was fun to look around, but I don't

envy anyone the hard work that went on there in days gone by! Unfortunately, I inadvertently  picked up a souvenir from those days along the way - a railroad spike in my tire! But Rick had a tire plug set and a mini-air compressor, so at least we didn't have to cut our ride short. (Although we did have to stop from time to time to re-inflate the tire.)

Well, there's yer problem!

All in all, Dan and I rode 60 miles and Rick and Grif nearly a hundred! For all that riding, we left many, many trails unexplored. We will definitely have to go back soon!

 

Check out the Ringing Rocks. Pretty cool!

"Rock" My World

Despite rain in the forecast, we were determined to ride this weekend! We were

joined by our buddy Grif and set out to a spot that Dan had researched on a local trail-riders' association website. The weather was actually sunny and warm, although there was a pretty good stormfront building over the Beartooth Mountains. We interspersed times of riding and times off the machines just appreciating God's amazing creation and the fellowship of being friends.

One of the things that caught Dan's attention on the website was pictures of some really neat rocks. We had ridden this location once before, looking for them, but without success. Maybe it was the sunshine, but whatever it was, this time he spied them. We parked the atv's and spent some time wandering among the rocks, speculating what forces had shaped them the way they were.


When lunchtime came, we satisfied both our hunger and Dan's "King of the Hill" syndrome. We climbed to the highest point around, and found ourselves in the midst of a whole "rock garden" of formations. We ate our lunch while we watched the clouds continue to build over the mountains.

 
Upon returning to the machines, we turned back in the general direction of the truck. But the best riding of the day was yet to come. We took a side road that eventually turned into a trail. (That's more like it!) We followed the trail until it petered out. But from where we were, we could see the spot where we ate our lunch! Surely the roads had to connect! (Dan later confirmed on Google Earth that no, in fact, they did NOT.) Since it was getting late in the afternoon and it was starting to sprinkle on us, we decided that the better part of wisdom was to run for the truck. We got back and loaded up just before the skies opened up and the rain came fast and furious. Whew... good timing. All in all, it was another great ride in Big Sky Country. 

Just Another Day in Yellowstone

When the alarm went off yesterday morning, Dan rolled over and lifted the curtain. "THAT'S ugly!" he said, referring to the western sky. So I cuddled back down deeper into my blankets and thought that I might as well go back to sleep. But he got up, so I did too, and soon we were rolling down the interstate through scattered rain showers toward Gardiner and Yellowstone Park. 

Upon arrival at the park entrance, we actually turned away and continued down the "main" road toward the school, acting on a tip that we got from a local on our last visit. He was right about seeing lots of wildlife - the most we saw all day- but he missed the date on the babies. (He obviously mis-spoke himself in telling us mid-April for elk calves.) We took a side road off a side road off a side road, but eventually we turned back as the roads got muddy and slick. Ok, back to the park. 

When we stopped at the entrance, we were told that the roads to Old Faithful and Canyon Village were indeed open. But what the employee failed to mention was that the roads were the ONLY things open! We wanted to go to Artist Paint Pots, but when we got to the turnout, there was still a wall of snow. The snow was still deep all along the route, and there was not a living thing in sight, not even a buffalo. We decided to go out West Yellowstone rather

than just back-tracking. We were nearly to the town when we spotted a wolf trotting across a meadow, watching a couple of elk and buffalo. Dan pulled into the turnout, and we grabbed the camera and tripod and started snapping pictures. I even got some video. As we were leaving, Dan commented that the satisfaction quotient for the trip just rose significantly. (Unfortunately, once we got home and got the pictures zoomed in, we discovered that our "wolf" was merely a coyote! Oh well, he was still fun to watch.) Our wildlife viewing was not quite complete though, as we later saw a mama moose and her two yearling calves dining on brush along a river bank. 

After dinner in Bozeman, we turned our backs to the setting sun and enjoyed views of the glowing mountains. I had to stop and photograph the Crazy Mountains yet again. They are just so perfect with their snowy-white peaks rising sharply from the prairie floor. 

Once home, I spent the rest of the evening fighting with FaceBook to display the pictures I had uploaded to share. If you haven't already done so, check out our public FB page ~ Photography by Dan & Tammi Capron. Don't forget to like and share. 

Spring Has Sprung

We FINALLY got a warm, dry, weekend day to go outside and play! My poor ATV hasn't been out of the garage for two months!

We figured that our best chance of getting very far off the road was in the Pryors, so we headed south. It was crazy windy, but that wasn't going to stop us! As we got close, we could see that there was still a lot of snow on top, but the main road was dry. 

We took the first side road, then the first side road off of that one. It was a fun ride, but we hit a spot that was a little too much like "technical riding" for relatively inexperienced riders like us. ("Technical riding" is ATV-jargon for "DUDE... That. was. INSANE!") We walked up the trail a little farther, but it was obvious that we had gone as far on this road as we were going to get. So we headed back to the main road.

Coming out, Dan spotted a high point that just had to be conquered, so we parked the machines and started up. However, we kept getting distracted by cool rocks. (Rock hounding is a lot of fun in the Pryors because of the high concentration of crystals and geodes.) We did ultimately make it to the top and the view was incredible.  

We spent the rest of the day alternately riding, rock hounding, and hiking. It was just SO good to be outside again! We did find some lingering snow. I made it up the last drifted incline of the day, but Dan was good and stuck, so I turned back. He got himself out before I got back, but we decided that that was the end of that road for today. In spite of the snow, I am convinced that Old Man Winter is losing his grip at last and that spring has arrived. Seeing bluebirds and a robin only has me more convinced that summer will get here after all. Bring it on!

Who Needs Sleep?

I could hardly believe what I was hearing when Dan got home from work on Thursday night (Friday morning, really)! Be on the road by 8 am? Seriously? Well, it IS Yellowstone NP, so less than six hours later, I was dragging my happy hiney out from under the covers. (Ok, happy might be a stretch.) By just shortly after 8, we were on the interstate headed west. 

Since we have never been in the park earlier in the year than May, and only one road is currently open, we weren't sure what we might see. The flip side of that, though, is that we spent more time in the places where we COULD get ~ namely Mammoth and the Lamar Valley. Without the summer crowds, we did a lot more exploring (and photographing) on the lower level of the hot springs than we ever have before. The contrast of steam and snow was beautiful! 

From Mammoth, we moved on to Undine Falls. I wasn't sure if they would look much different in winter. Since the water moves so quickly, I wasn't sure that it would freeze. But it was different, and it was gorgeous. 

Now our focus turned to wildlife. We passed a group of people with spotting scopes (usually a dead give-away that something is out there), but the pullout was full, so we continued on down the road. Of course the buffalo were out in force. I do not generally enjoy photographing bison because they are so common, but on this trip, I challenged myself to find a setting that made for a memorable photo. We also added pictures of big horn sheep, moose, and elk to our collection as well. 

On the way back out, the spotting scopes were still set up, so we decided to stop and see what was out there. Thanks to the generosity of one of the spotters, I got my first look at a Yellowstone wolf. There were two of them, sleeping on a hillside nearly a mile away. Yes, these researchers had been sitting in the exact same spot for THREE hours watching wolves sleep!! ANYWAY...

Over dinner in Gardiner on the way home, we were looking at the pictures we had taken. The employee saw us looking and told us exactly when and where we could get photos of elk calves. Looks like a return trip to Yellowstone is in order. Well, if we MUST... 
                                                         to be continued. 

Red Rocks and Wild Horses

Nothing says "wild west" like a mustang! Dan and Ashley saw a few back in '09 while I was at work, but we haven't seen them since, despite several drives to areas that they have been known to frequent. I was telling a co-worker this last week that I have never seen one, and she suggested the Big Horn Recreational Area. She said that they "always" see them there. Sounds good to me!

Since we started a photography class this morning, we couldn't leave town until afternoon. The sunshine felt so good after all the snow and cold temps that we have had of late! When we got to the recreational area, we pulled off at an overlook to photograph the canyon and the river. Sure enough, there were a couple of wild horses grazing on the other side of the canyon. Unfortunately, they were probably half a mile away ~ a little much even for the big lens. 

We got back in the truck and drove to the end of the pavement. Coming back out, we were saying, "At least we saw them." Just then, we rounded a corner and there she was ~ a beautiful little mustang mare! She even trotted obligingly toward the truck before going out of sight around the bend. NOW we were satisfied. Not much later, we encountered a couple of coyotes in the road, but they were going straight away from us ~ not a flattering pose even for a slender young canine. 

Winter afternoons are so short! The daylight was running out on us, so the day's photo shoot was over and it was time to go home for dinner. 

An Eye for Eagles

If you have been following my blog for any time at all, you will have noticed that eagles are a recurring theme. While I am not a bird-watcher by any stretch of the imagination, I never tire of seeing these huge, majestic birds. 

Eagles have obviously made a comeback due to protection. I don't recall ever seeing one when we lived in Michigan, but they are fairly common there now. Even when we moved to Montana, it was a rare treat to see one. Now, in the winter and spring, we see them nearly every time we go for a drive. But just seeing one, of course, is no guarantee of a good photograph. Golden eagles are especially challenging. They just don't stick around! But we are having lots of fun trying to get the perfect shot. 

I thought you might enjoy some of our best. While you're looking, we will be out trying for more.