Kicking the Winter Blues

There is one thing to be said for Montana winters... While Mother Nature may throw some really nasty weather at us, she generally doesn't stay angry for long. We have spent the last two weekends stuck in the house, so I was particularly glad to see that better weather was predicted for this weekend. 


Yellowstone has been calling my name ever since the aborted birthday trip (see Deer John), so we decided to give it another go. We got almost to Big Timber before we pulled off the interstate for pictures.



The Crazy Woman Mountains are probably my favorite local mountain range. They rise abruptly from the valley floor with minimal foothills to obscure them. But they are not easy to photograph. It is very difficult to keep a "clean" foreground. We took several exits and side roads before we got the view we wanted. 

Despite being distracted by mountains, then eagles, we were still in Gardiner by mid afternoon. We got our annual pass at the gate and headed for Lamar Valley. We had just enough daylight left when we got there to photograph a trio of big horn rams on the hillside across from the river. 

Saturday morning found us returning to Lamar Valley. A server where we ate breakfast told us that a group of bull moose hang out at Round Prairie (just past Lamar) all winter, and I was also absolutely certain that this was the day that we would find the otters. 

The first photo opportunity of the day was a small bachelor herd of big mulie bucks. Since there was no way to get off the road, we drove to the next pullout and turned around. Dan dropped me off, and to my pleasant surprise, the deer did not bolt. In fact, they seemed rather curious. They even stuck around long enough for Dan to get a few shots when he came back to pick me up. 

When we reached Lamar, there were quite a few people looking down into the river where the otters are said to play. Surely, surely... but no. I had once again just missed them. The moose proved equally elusive, but we consoled ourselves with the pictures we had already gotten. Besides, a trip to Yellowstone is always enjoyable, especially on a nice, sunny winter day. 

I'm sure that Mother Nature has not thrown her last tantrum for this winter, but the break was much appreciated! 

*** Bonus Pics***

Carpe Diem

 Since Dan and I both work 2nd shift jobs, the phrase "off to an early start" is not often heard around our house. But once in a while we get motivated to "seize the day"! 

Yesterday morning, we were on the road by 8:30. The sun was shining and the roads were clear. Our first foray was up the East Rosebud, looking for moose. Nope. We came back out of the valley and cut across to to the West Rosebud. Just before we headed up the West Rosebud, Dan spotted an owl. Unfortunately, the tangle of branches made getting a really good photo impossible. 

This cemetery on Ingersoll Road seems like a nice "final resting place."

The road up to West Rosebud and the trailhead to Mystic Lake was not so clear. In fact, it was mostly snow and ice covered and very slippery! We persevered, however, and ate a quick lunch on the shores of Emerald Lake. Again, though, wildlife was elusive. Coming back down, we paused for a few minutes to aid another driver in pulling his stuck vehicle out of the ditch. 

We had enough daylight for one more valley, so we made our way over to Nye and up past the Stillwater Mine to the Souix Charley Lake trailhead. We still didn't find moose, and the big horn sheep were not in sight, either. 

At least the eagles were cooperative!

We came home through Beehive and along the Stillwater River. We squeezed every last ray of sunlight out of the day before coming home for dinner.

Regal Eagles

This weekend, we drove down to Casper, Wyoming to meet up with some longtime friends. We left home just before lunch, thankful that the roads had cleared from last weekend's snowstorm. We were hardly out of Billings when I spotted an eagle in a ravine along I-90. Dan immediately slowed down and asked if I wanted to go back. After a moment's hesitation, I said yes. We backed up nearly half a mile on the shoulder, but I am so glad we did. The single eagle that I had seen turned out to be part of a whole family! 

It was all the excitement that we had for the day, but that was okay. We had a great visit with our friends, then settled into our motel for the night.

We left fairly early Saturday morning. We didn't really have a concrete plan for the day, just to get home by day's end. It was windy, but sunny and not too cold. (Until we reached Shoshoni anyway. It was freezing there!) The only icy roads that we encountered were in Wind River Canyon. There are obviously some places that just never get direct sunlight! From Thermopolis, we turned toward Cody. We grabbed lunch at Wendy's and decided to go check out the South Fork. We have never driven up that way before. Generally, when we go that direction, we are going to Yellowstone, and the North Fork is the most direct route. 

Boy, have we ever been missing out! We started seeing deer right away, then bald eagles. We even saw a coyote. From the main road, we debated momentarily before taking a gravel side road. I laughingly told Dan that that's where the big bucks had to be, since we were only seeing does and small bucks. Surprisingly enough, I was right! We watched three mulie bucks feeding in a  large meadow. Unfortunately, they were quite a distance from us on clearly-marked private property. We had also lost our sunshine, so really good photos were not forthcoming. (I know, I know... Excuses, excuses!) The pictures that we did get confirmed that these were indeed the biggest bucks that we have yet seen! You can bet that we are already planning a return trip to the South Fork!

*** Bonus Pics***

Between Thermopolis and Meteetsee is a stretch of really cool
rock formations.

We found some cool things on the rocks...

... and among the rocks, too! 

Wild, Windy Wyoming

One disadvantage of winter birthdays and anniversaries (his, mine, and ours) is that the weather is a huge factor in planning celebratory get-aways. Snow canceled my birthday trip to Yellowstone (see Deer John...), so Dan suggested an overnight road trip this weekend to celebrate our anniversary. Despite  a wind that howled for four days straight, the snow stayed away. We got up Friday morning to some very forbidding clouds, but by the time we had the truck loaded, the skies were clearing to a beautiful, bright blue. Within an hour, we were in Wyoming. 

Heart Mountain, a Cody landmark

Our destination for the weekend was Riverton, Wyoming, and to get there, we drove through Wind River Canyon. (If you have never taken this drive, get it on the short list!) The road squeezes between the cliffs and the river on one side, while the railroad tracks parallel the other side. I don't know if we have ever driven all the way through the canyon without stopping to take pictures. While we didn't see the big horn sheep that frequent the canyon, and the ducks were less than cooperative, melting water along the cliffs had created some very interesting ice displays. We spent most of the afternoon in the canyon, and we reached our motel in Riverton just as the moon was rising full and orange and bright. 

Part of the reason that we chose this destination for our weekend was to meet up with a long-lost cousin... literally! Dan had not seen Gary for ten years, and I had never met him. We spent several hours over dinner getting acquainted wth Gary and Vickie and their children. We hit it off so well that they invited us to have breakfast with them at their farm the next day. It's hard to beat fresh eggs and home-grown bacon and sausage! However, knowing that daylight hours are so very limited this time of year, we eventually tore ourselves away. With promises not to let another ten years go by before getting together again, we left our new-found friends and headed north. We ran back through Wind River Canyon before deviating from the route that we came by. We started spotting deer, but nothing to make us stop. When we did finally hit the brakes and grab for cameras, it was thanks again to a deer. This one had not made the road crossing safely, and was now eagle food. 

We stopped for dinner in Greybull, and it was just getting dark as we returned to the truck. As we drove out of town, I noticed a glow over a nearby peak. It took me a moment to realize that it was the rising moon. Sure enough, within a few minutes, half of the glowing orange orb had cleared the horizon. We pulled over, and I tried to capture the beautiful scene. And tried... and tried... SIGH! I guess I still have a lot to learn about nighttime photography! Oh well, that just gives us an excuse to go out again!  

*** Bonus Pics***

Both the road and the railroad tracks
pass through tunnels in the Wind River Canyon.

The dark side of the moon, er... the canyon! ;)

The geese were more photogenic
than the ducks!

Dinner is served!