In Pursuit of Pikas

Every once in a while, I get "hung up" on getting photos of a certain species. Lately, I have been obsessed with pikas. I was looking for them a few weeks ago when we were up on the Chief Joseph Highway, even though I knew that we really weren't high enough. I climbed around in the rocks at Blue Lake while the guys fished last weekend, but despite what appeared to be perfect habitat, there was not one pika in sight. 

So this weekend, we decided to quit messing around and just go where we know that we will find them: the Beartooth Pass. The Pass was actually closed earlier in the week (yes, we really did get that much snow in August!), but on Saturday morning, we awoke to sunshine. By 10 am, we were starting up the Beartooth Pass. Nearing the summit, we pulled off to take pictures on the road's namesake: a jagged outcropping of rock known as the Bear's Tooth. As I walked away from the car past a pile of rocks, a squeak stopped me in my tracks! Lo and behold, a pika was scurrying among the rocks. I promptly forgot about that ol' rock peak and settled in to wait for my furry little friend to reappear. I didn't have to wait long at all before he resumed his frenzied gathering of roots and grasses.

Dan didn't forget the Bear's Tooth. 

Eventually, we left him to his work and returned to the car. Now what? It was barely past noon, way too early to just turn around and go home! Dan suggested Yellowstone, and there was no need to say it twice. 

One of our favorite drives in Yellowstone, Blacktail Plateau Road, is open for only a short time each year, so it was the logical choice for our next adventure. We parked the car alongside the one-way gravel road and set off on foot. Cresting the top of a knoll, Dan spotted an antelope at a watering hole below us. Suddenly, a cow elk and her calf came running around the hill less than 50 yards away from us. Just as we expected, a bull was right on her heels! She never stopped running, but whether winded or just bored with the chase, the bull slowed to a walk before making his way around the next hill and out of sight. All I could say was, "How cool was that!?" (Even if we didn't get any good pictures...) 

By now, we were getting hungry, so we hiked back to the car and turned toward Gardiner. But our day's adventures weren't quite over yet. Another road that has intrigued Dan for quite a while now is the old Gardiner-Mammoth Road. But it is open even less frequently than Blacktail. In fact, we have never yet actually seen it open... until yesterday. We didn't see any animals, but it was still an enjoyable, quiet byway. It was the perfect way to conclude our outing. 

***Bonus Pics***

because he's just so stinkin' cute!

I did take a couple of pictures of the Bear's Tooth
when the pika was out of sight. 

MIssion Accomplished

 If at first you don't succeed...

Blue Lake... at last!

We have made four trips over the last five years up the mountain past Natural Bridge to Independence, a mining ghost town from the early 1900's. But a few more miles of road remain before its terminus at the wilderness boundary. A quarter of a mile or so past the end of the road lies Blue Lake. Unfortunately, snow has always kept us from reaching the lake... until this trip!

We were joined Saturday morning at our campsite at Aspen Campground by our buddies Dave and Ronny. Both are avid fly-fishermen, so getting all the way to the end of the road was that much more important. The timing was finally right ~ late enough in the summer that the snowbanks that block the road much of the year had melted, but early enough to avoid fresh-falling snow. We ate our lunch along the shoreline, in between taking pictures. Dave and Ronny were content to fish, so Dan and I explored a little bit around the lake before heading back down to Independence. 

I didn't say they were BIG fish! ;)

On a previous trip, Dan and I had noticed that there were more buildings at Independence than just the ones along the road, and we wanted to try to find them.  We left our ATV's at the location of the town and set off in what we figured was the right direction. We had not gone far at all when we spotted a huge pile of tailings. From that pile, we could see another pile through the trees just to our right. At this location, we found not only another building (or rather, the remainder of another building), but also some other abandoned equipment. 

With our curiosity at least temporarily assuaged, we circled back to where we had left our machines. Our timing was perfect, as Dave and Ronny were just coming back down from their fishing to rejoin us as planned. We returned to the camper and had dinner, feeling quite satisfied with our outing. 

***Bonus Material***

If you enjoyed this post,

you might also like the accounts 

of our previous visits. 

The More the Merrier

"I'm Gonna Die!"

"Oh, What a Beautiful Day!"

I hope this little guy makes it through the winter.
He seems to have gotten off to a late start. 

I love how the wildflowers live
long after the humans have gone. 

We rarely stop for pictures on the main road
when hauling the camper,
but when the full moon popped up
over the ridge,
stopping was imperative!
(Make sure you click on the picture for the best view.)

It's Cooler in the Mountains

Where do Montanans go when the temperature outside reaches 100 degrees? To the mountains, of course!

Actually, that was not our plan when we left the house yesterday afternoon. We started in Boyd, turning off onto a gravel road. We were looking for "critters", but apparently it was too hot for them as well. All that we photographed was an old house. 

When we came down into Bridger, we turned toward Red Lodge, planning to traverse more back roads. About that time, it occurred to me that it would be much, much cooler at 10,000 feet! Dan agreed, so we circled back for gas and milkshakes. (Did I mention that it was really hot outside?) 

Back on the road, we drove through Belfry to the Chief Joseph Highway. We stopped once to photograph the red cliffs and the green grass, then stopped again at the top of Dead Indian Pass. I grabbed my camera to go find the ubiquitous (and photogenic) chipmunks, but instead, I found bumblebees - lots and lots of bumblebees! Big ones, little ones, colorful ones, and nearly black-and-white ones were all busily working the flowers against the railing. 

Eventually, I tore myself away from the bees. Rather than continuing on over the pass, we turned around and instead chose to explore a side road. It only went about three and a half miles before it dead-ended, but it was a really enjoyable ride. We never did find "critters" other than cows, but I did have fun trying to capture the row upon row of mountain peaks. Somewhere along the way, it struck me that yes, it IS cooler in the mountains, in more ways than one!

***Bonus Pics***

In amongst all the bees,
this grey hairstreak landed for just a second
directly in front of me. 

The only four-legged critter
that we photographed all day. 

Now We Know

When we moved to Montana more than twenty years ago, we immediately fell in love with the mountains. One of our first day-trips was over the Beartooth Highway, and it is still one of our favorite drives. 

Since we had things to get done on Friday, we were limited to Saturday for an outing. I suggested hiking, but I readily agreed when Dan suggested the highway instead. 

We got off to an early start and began our ascent in the bright morning sunshine. Our goal was to explore some side roads. We quickly found out that most of them don't go very far. But hey, at least now we know! By noon, we were debating about where to go from there. 

The annual pass for Yellowstone once again made our decision for us, and our next stop was at Trout Lake. There was some excitement in the parking lot, as  a grizzly had been spotted. We began our hike nonetheless, albeit with heightened awareness. (Unfortunately, we never did see the bear.) 

We started out at Buck Lake and then moved on to Trout Lake. I was so excited to see a family of ducks swimming near the shore. For once, they actually swam closer, and I spent quite some time happily taking pictures. 

Dan spotted what looked like a petraglyph high up on the cliffs above Buck Lake!

There are frequently red-wing blackbirds hanging out at Buck Lake.
Perhaps that cloud of insects has something to do with it?

This little bird apparently prefers damselflies!

Duck, duck, goose! 

Eventually, we continued around the rest of the lake, across Lamar Valley, and into Mammoth. We decided to try the Lighthouse Restaurant in Corwin Springs, a very good decision indeed! We've been missing out! But again, now we know! 

With the sun setting in the rear-view mirror, we concluded another adventure in God's beautiful creation. 

*** Bonus Pics***

Hey! There was a duckling there just half a second ago! 

A Picture's Worth...

Sometimes I feel like my blog is a bit repetitive in content:

"We came, we saw, we rode, we hiked, we camped."

Maybe this time, I'll just let the pictures speak their own 1,000 words.

Mostly, anyway! ;)

Rocky Mountain Parnassian
(Yes, I had to look it up.) 

Not the best bee picture, but I loved the color in the flowers.

Mythical monsters of the mountains. 

We have heard that there are nice bucks up here,
but this was the first time we have ever seen them. 

Talk about a symmetrical rack. Beautiful! 

Hmmm... time to head back.
Too late...
we got rained, then hailed, on. 

After dinner, the thunder and lightning drew us back outside. 

Without rain, we were able to set up the cameras
and get our first good lightning shots. 

Saturday morning, the sun was back and we returned to the top of the mountain.

The marmots were eager to come out and play with us. 

Peek-a-boo is one of their favorite games. 

They are also fond of Hide and Seek. 

"Honey, I'm home!" "About time... you're late!" 

I hope you enjoyed the change of pace. I would love your feedback on this post or any other of the posts.