Days 3-5, Wolves and Bears Oh My!

Been without a broadband signal the last few days.  No signal at all at Mammoth. Barely one here at Canyon. I'll try and summarize a few very busy days here and get some pictures up.

I drove from Old Faithful clockwise along the loop road, towards Madison. I took a brief side trip along the west entrance road. Was hoping the eagles would still be nesting but they're done, the nest is empty.

I saw my first bear between Norris and Mammoth. A cinnomen colored black bear was eating grass on the opposite bank of a river. When I got there the bear jam was just starting, so I was able to get off the road and set up the 500mm.

Black Bear

 Mammoth was nice but very congested. I'd guess there were more people than at Old Faithful. The cabins were adorable though... many were singles, unlike most of the other areas where cabins are duplexes. Each cabin had a small porch and two chairs.

Mammoth Hot Springs Cabin

It turned out to be a good few days for bears. I saw a grizzly sow and two cubs twice at Swan Lake Flats. In Lamar Valley, I actually got to see two courting (and mating) grizzlies and a wolf. At Floating Lake there's a Sandhill Crane nesting, some folks had seen her mate a few times but no luck for me.

This morning I got up at 5am and headed to Artist Point to shoot the lower falls. I managed to get a nice set of shots in very good light.

Anyway, a picture rundown of the last few days:

Lamar Valley Wolf

Mating Grizzly Bears

Grizzly Foreplay

Violet-Green Swallow

Undine Falls

Grizzlies and Wolf

More Grizzly Foreplay

Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces

Grizzly Sow and Cubs

Grizzly Sow and Cubs

Bison Calf Playing

Elk Calf

Days One and Two

Two days into my trip and it's been pretty good shooting so far. Weather today was a bit wet, I was shooting bison and getting drizzled on... and of course having forgotten to fashion some sort of rain cover for the rented 500mm, my rain jacket was over the lens and not me. Thankfully it didn't rain too hard and my fleece just got a bit damp.

The plane ride to Jackson yesterday was pretty uneventful... The scenery at Jackson airport on landing was spectacular. The drive to Yellowstone was pretty uneventful. I stopped at a few overlooks and at Oxbow Bend. I wasn't thinking that I'd get much with early afternoon light, but I think the shot actually came out really nice with a dramatic sort of light. Hopefully the conditions will be right at sunrise one of the mornings I'm in the Tetons to get a nice shot with Mt Moran reflecting in Oxbow Bend.

Mt Moran from Oxbow Bend

I made a pit stop at Colter Bay and got some groceries. I was hoping to get a disposible grill or a cheap charcoal grill... nada. I haven't found one in Yellowstone either. Right now I think if I want to grill anything I'm going to need to find a picnic area with some fire grates.

The south entrance road had a startling amount of snow. The road itself was clear but in some places there were six foot walls on each side of the road. There wasn't any place to turnout (they were probably all blocked by snow), or I would have tried to get a shot of it.

Didn't stop too many places along the way from the South Entrance to Old Faithful. I did stop at Lewis Falls, which is just roaring with water, but the midday sun was horrendous and I didn't get a single shot I liked. I need to try and get back there again under better conditions.

I did get a few shots of some bull bison grazing near a creek somewhere between West Thumb and Old Faithful.

 

Once I checked in at Old Faithful, I walked down to the cafeteria to get dinner. Lots of people were gathered around the geyser... so I figured it was going to go off soon. I got some shots of it steaming and shooting a few small plumes. I was too hungry to wait for it, so I gave up. On the plus side I had a good view when it finally went off.

Old Faithful Steaming

Today I had planned to drive around and walk the various geyser basins, but I only got to two of them before the rain started. I decided just to drive the lower loop road instead. Between Old Faithful and Madison there was a bison herd grazing, with babies running about and playing. It was drizzling but I got quite a few nice shots.

All that playing would make anyone hungry

Most of my shots from driving the rest of the loop still need to be post processed. I did swing along the North Rim Drive at Canyon and got a few shots of the lower falls. A fellow on one of the overlooks had a huge lens... my guess is the Canon 600mm f4 or the Canon 800 f5.6. He was shooting a Osprey nest that I probably would have never seen. When I'm in Canyon again in a few days I'll have to haul the big lens down and see if I can get a good shot or two.

I got back around 4pm just as it started to rain again. I took a break in my cabin, and by 6pm it was blue skies. I figured I'd grab a bite to eat and drive towards Madison looking for some wildlife. By the time I left the cafeteria the sky was black-gray again. Nature likes to mess with us here.

I headed towards Madison and got caught in a huge bison jam. A whole herd was on and around the road. At one point as the herd moved by I had bison on both sides of my car less than 3 feet away... they make interesting noises, being in the middle of a herd of bison is quite loud, who knew?

300mm, uncropped. Taken from my car as she passed by.

Once I got past the bison, I stopped at a pull out at Whiskey Flats. There were yellow-headed blackbirds down there singing. With the 500mm and 1.4TC, I was able to get some decent shots of one of them.

Nothing too much of interest was seen, another herd of bison down by Fountain Flats, but they were pretty far off. I took a few shots of Nez Pierce Creek before heading back.

On the way back, I spotted something moving and was able to pull over. It was a nice looking Coyote.

Tomorrow I leave Old Faithful and head up to Mammoth. Looking forward to the rest of the week!

First Post: 11 Days till my Trip

Howdy anyone looking,

This blog will be where I document my trip to Yellowstone June 11-June 19. I'm hoping I'll be able to get an internet connection to do daily updates and photos.

This will be my first trip alone and my first trip back to Yellowstone in about 10 years.