Day 8: 2012 MPEG Yellowstone/Grand Teton NP Groupshoot (FINAL BLOG POST)

Elk calf by the Madison River, a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

It was another exciting day in Yellowstone but sadly, it is the final day of this MPEG Groupshoot.

Everyone was on their own today.

Jared and I started out before sunrise (5:15am) with the goal to get to Lamar Valley by 7:00am. We decided to take the Madison-Norris-Canyon to Tower to Lamar route today.

In Norris, we found a coyote hunting and 6 bull elk grazing by the road and one huge bull elk standing in the middle of the road. It was still pretty dark so I didn't take the time to photograph them.

The drive to Lamar was uneventful. We arrived there around 7:00 am. We cruised Lamar a few times and other than a zillion bison and their babies, and some pronghorn nothing super exciting was seen.

During these cruises of Lamar, We visited the Soda Butte picnic area once and found a cinnamon bear grazing but he was too far out so we returned to the SB picnic area again around 9:30am. The Uinta ground squirrels were out with their babies BUT so was the ermine (short tailed weasel) who resides there as well.

Marty and George joined us photographing these critters. The ermine finally came out of his den, and like lightening, he snatched up a Unita squirrel baby and went back into his den in like 3 seconds!

I was chimping my previous images and I missed the 3 second event but Marty and George got like 2-3 frames... Marty got a nice image of the ermine in midair.

The adult squirrels chased him but it was too late. The weasel would poke his head out and several adult Unitas would go after him...

then a mother Unita ground squirrel started (one by one) picking up her babies and carrying them to safety in their nest in her mouth.

I have never heard of or see such an event. It was fascinating to watch and photograph. She worked hard to protect her babies. I have some great images of this behavior.

We had lunch in Gardiner with Marty and Linda at Cowboys.

After lunch , we went back to Lamar but it started to cloud up and rain.

We ran into a "black bear jam" but there was no photo op but several tourists thought there was one. We moved on.

It was raining pretty good by the time we got in Lamar. A few jams but mostly folks with spotting scopes. Another bear jam but again, no photo op.

We were coming back into Lamar after a short trip back to the Soda Butte picnic area and there was another jam... this time a wolf jam!

A grey wolf was up on the ridge but then disappeared.... I asked Jared to drive down around the bend as she might be there..... with my 70-200 in hand, window open, we go around the bend and OMG, there she was, like 30 yards from me and I froze......just froze. I was stunned she was so close.... she wanted to cross the road but cars and people blocked her way so she retreated back up the hill and I quickly got my 500+1.4TC and took several snaps handheld of her on the hillside. She wasn't going to "get away from me". I got 2 good frames of her. This was the closest I have been to a YNP wolf and it was just plain awesome.

After that event, it was raining harder so we went to the Hitching Post pullout and my photog friend, Jim Chagaras radioed my photog friend, Ralph Kerr (we were all on the same channel) and Jim told Ralph a golden eagle just flew over his car and landed on a rock on the hillside.

Time for more action, I asked Jared to drive parallel to the eagle on the rock and I took 6 frames or so of the golden eagle, handheld at ISO 3200. The images turned out pretty well.

All of this happened within 10 minutes. Whew.

We decided to head back to the hotel around 5:30pm and take one last loop around the park.

We photographed two nice bull elk in Hayden Valley; Another bull elk by Yellowstone Lake (though I asked a lady "whats going on'? she said "its a moose!" and I said "great".... and then I look over the edge of the river bank and the "moose" was a bull elk..... I love Yellowstone and all that comes with it.

We then traveled to Madison and found some nice cow elks and some calves by the Madison River. I wanted elk calf pics so I photographed them along with the cow elk. (see blog pic)

We proceeded to the Wild West Pizzeria for the Groupshoot finale dinner at 8:30pm. Everyone had a a great time and has some memories that will last a lifetime.

I asked everyone at dinner "what was your most memorable photographic moment?"

Here are the answers:

Mark P: The Unita ground squirrel mom carrying her babies one by one out of harm's way from the ermine.

Jared P: Schwabacher's back ("like glass") reflecting pond with reflections of the Tetons.

Marty B: The Bull Moose at the east entrance

Linda B: The Swan Lake Flat Grizzly and her two cubs

Dane A (and Shari): The Pine Marten at Hell Roaring.

George L (and Margaret) : The Rainy lake black bear and two cubs

Barb G: The rainbow at the brink of the lower falls.

The 2012 MPEG Yellowstone/Grand Teton NP Groupshoot was very successful with near perfect weather all 8 days (rain just 7 hours out of 8 days!). The timing was right as the Park is getting busier every day with this weekend expecting to see a huge influx of tourists from now until after Labor Day.
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I want to Thank Kim, my wife, for holding the fort down at home alone; Jared for his companionship and driver role at times; My photog friends, Ralph Kerr (from Idaho) and Jim Chagaras (and Debbie) from Indiana for their friendship and the laughs along the way.

Of course, my Thanks to Barb, Dane (Shari), George (Margaret), and Marty and Linda for their appreciation of the opportunity and their kind support and co-operation.

AND a Special Thanks to all of the 100+ readers of this blog during this groupshoot. your kind comments and emails have been most appreciated!

I will offer this Groupshoot again in 2013 (tentative dates June 2-9, 2013) but it will NOT be offered in June 2014 as MPEG will be planning a Groupshoot to Yosemite National Park in May 2014.

If you haven't been to Yellowstone to the Grand Teton National Parks, you must go!

Happy Shooting!

Mark

Day 7: 2012 MPEG Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP Groupshoot

4 Wolves from the Lamar Valley carcass, a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

Another beautiful day in Yellowstone! The skies/clouds here amaze me. They look too perfect.

We started out at 6am with George and his wife following us. We drove to Swan Lake Flat and no Quad Mom and cubs again. On to Mammoth where we had a nice look at the Great Horned Owl adult and owlet in the Visitor's center tree.

Mammoth to Tower was empty. Tower to Lamar, we saw the red fox in the distance heading west... then things changed, we arrived in Lamar Valley to a HUGE "jam", at least 1/4 mile long. I thought this has to be wolves and sure enough....

The Mollie pack (11 wolves involved) took down a bison in the early morning hours in Lamar about 500 yards out from the road where we were standing. (the blog image is not a high quality image but good enough to augment the story). The image shows 4 of the 7 wolves (who were there at the time we arrived) by the edge of the river. The carcass is "north on them" around 4-50 yards. We were told 11 wolves were seen on the carcass earlier.

The Park Service even flew a plane over low the carcass area to assess the situation.

We hung around until 10:45am then Barb joined us at 11:15am (Jared, George, Margaret and me) for the Beartooth Highway excursion. The Beartooth Highway drive is worth doing at least once. You reach a summit of nearly 11,000 feet . We saw marmots, pikas and some beautiful landscapes.

We had a great lunch in Red Lodge, MT together then we traveled the scenic road back to Cody, WY then to the park via Yellowstone's east entrance.

We didn't see much as we went through the Park on the way back to the hotel. The Beartooth Highway trip consumed a total of 6.5 hours but everyone enjoyed it.

The other members who stayed behind reported good days in the Park.

Tomorrow, June 13 is the last day of this Groupshoot. Everyone is on their own to wrap things up...

We are having a Groupshoot finale dinner tomorrow night to celebrate and share stories from this very successful MPEG Groupshoot.

The Day 8 blog post will be the final blog post.

Our last day in the Park will start at 5:00 am.

Let's see what tomorrow brings.....

Day 6: 2012 MPEG Yellowstone/ Grand Teton NP Groupshoot

Uinta Ground Squirrel mom and baby, a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

What a difference a day makes...

We had absolutely beautiful weather today all day and the wildlife was back on the job.

Everyone was on their own today to do things like Old Faithful and to gain their own experience in the park. YNP is very easy to learn your way around. You can't get lost.

Jared and I arrive in Lamar Valley at 5:30am as planned. The wolf watchers were at the first pullout east of the Hitching Post pullout.

As we drove by, Jared spotted something running in the distance heading east. He thought it was a wolf but wasn't 100% sure. It was still low light and I couldn't tell either so we went to the Hitching Post pullout, turned around and came back. We then learned a grey wolf crossed the road right where we just passed 3 minutes before! Major bummer. A YNP bridesmaid again....

I would have had a really good image had I got there at the time of the crossing. According to the wolf watchers, the Lamar Canyon pack was scattered over the Park (not together as a Pack) thus a funky wolf morning.

After recovering from this major disappointment (timing is everything in this place), we cruised Lamar Valley, then went to Tower and found a mousing coyote along the road. I got some nice images of this guy.

We proceeded to a known badgers den (mom and 3 cubs) and a Unita ground squirrel family's home. The badgers had moved east to a new sight. We photographed both the badgers and Unitas with fellow photographer friends, Ralph Kerr and Steve Hinch for about 2 hours then we all had lunch in Gardiner.

After lunch, we went to back to Lamar for about an hour a seeking the golden eagles.I was told they (2 golden eagles) and 1 bald eagle juvi perched in a tree close to the road and posed for several photographers .... but me.... this event occurred about 1 hour earlier. Another near miss.

Back to Tower and found another coyote mousing and then on to Mammoth...we encountered a red fox walking down the road towards us and then he slipped up the hill... with me in pursuit with a camera but he disappeared. I was out foxed by a fox......

After exclaiming, "oh, crap" (well , ok,, not the real words), we proceeded to Gardiner Canyon and found several Big Horn sheep ewes and lambs frolicking on the rocky hill side as an osprey with a fish flew overhead and a juvi bald eagle came out of no where and flew overhead as well about the same time.

We got some nice poses with the ewes and lambs.

We proceeded towards the hotel, stopping at Sheep Eaters Cliff but no marmots or pikas seen.

Marty reported being at Sheep Eaters Cliff earlier today and ran into a grizzly there about 30 yards away.

The others members reported in with good days. Barb came upon a very fresh coyote kill by the road in Hayden Valley. Some coyotes took down a mammal. Some think it was a elk calf but Barb wasn't sure. As she witnessed the coyotes tearing the kill apart, three grizzlies (mom and two yearlings) suddenly came out of the tree line and ran towards the kill thus "at the crowd" (of course, people were too close) and they caused folks to flinched a little bit. Barb had bear spray, as is required for this groupshoot, but she had already retreated to her car.

No rangers were around at the time.

Again, this a classic example why you should have bear spray with you at ALL times. You never know in these parks.

Another unpredictable day in Yellowstone.

We have two days left in this Groupshoot. It's crunch time.

Stay tuned for Day 7!

Day 5: 2012 MPEG Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP Groupshoot

Grizzly crossing the Yellowstone River (1 of 1), a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

Well, we BEARly saw anything today.

It was mostly cloudy today, some snow, some sun and the rain came around 5:00pm.

It was a decent weather day but the wildlife seem to take a day off .

The grizzly sow and cubs were not at SL Flats this morning so we went to Mammoth and had some breakfast. After breakfast, we went down to Gardiner, the back over to Tower/Roosevelt. We saw a black bear and a tan variant of a black bear but they were too far away- well over 200+ yards heading back into the woods.

We got some mule deer, pronghorn, bison/bison calf images. We missed a wolf photo op by 20 minutes (of course).

We did get to photograph the black bear sow and her 2 cubs in the Rainy Lake area. I got some decent images before the rangers showed up and moved everyone WAY back, well beyond the 100 yard limit.

We had lunch (Jared and I) in Cooke City then came back west through Lamar Valley and scouted the Tower/Roosevelt again and the Rainy Lake area. The sow and cubs were back but out of sight in the woods. This caused a massive traffic jam but a ranger was there to keep things moving.

We are still seeking the red fox around the Yellowstone picnic area.We missed him by 5 minutes today.

It was starting to rain and we decided to do Lamar Valley one more time as the rain was increasing. As we approached the bridge over the Yellowstone River, we saw a jam and then saw this huge grizzly walking down the middle of the road then veered off to the sidewalk.

Jared took this pic (see the blog pic) from the car window with the Canon 7D/ 70-200mm (we have a lap camera just for these occasions as wildlife here pops up unexpectedly).

Note theTouron (tourist moron) following the bear. Maybe 50-60 feet behind him!

Now, if that bear changes his mind and decides to turn around and go back over the bridge heading east and he feels threatened by the touron, the touron has no options...he has no chance to avoid serious injury or death from a POed grizzly.

Note he has no bear spray visible. It should be on his belt for easy access. I am confident he had none as most don't carry bear spray here but should, but thats another discussion.

The others haven't touched base with me yet so I don't know how well they did today. I am eager to hear.

The plan in the morning is to be in Lamar Valley by 5:30am in search of some decent wolf images.... then move over to Hayden Valley, and points south and west after lunch.

Not a bad day considering the weather. The weather tomorrow (Monday) is expected to be sunny. In fact, sunny for the remaining days of the groupshoot!

Stay Tuned for Day 6!

Don't change the channel!

Day 4: 2012 MPEG Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP Groupshoot

Golden Eagle (Yellowstone National Park), a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

Where do I begin?

First, the weather was BEAUTIFUL all day, sun, etc. despite the forecast of cloudy and rain all day. Sunday's forecast is what today was supposed to be.... so who knows.. we just go out and shoot.

We started out at 5:40am for Swan Lake Flats in hopes of finding Quad Grizz Mom there and her 2 cubs. We arrived at 6:35 am and found not only quad mom and her cubs but 75-100 other photographers! It was a zoo.

The bears were rooting for roots to eat and moved closer to us. I backed off to my car as they were 40-50 yards away. About that time a ranger showed up and instructed everyone to get into their cars.

The bears moved closer and ended up in the pull out with the cars! One cub scratched his back on a sign pole and then placed her front paws on the hood of a car looking at the photographer inside.... at which time the ranger blew a whistle which caused the bears to disperse 50-75 yards away.

Grizz mom rooted as the cubs wrestled with each other over a stick they found. I was using a full frame camera and got full frame bears, they were that close. The two cubs playing was a joy to see. A heavy fog developed quickly which made photography impossible but the fog eventually lifted for clear images again.

The bears eventually crossed the road and fled to the woods around 8:30am, so we had about two hours with them! Great stuff!

We moved on to Mammoth then to Tower/Roosevelt. Not much. We went on to Lamar and found two black wolves wondering around Specimen Ridge area. We followed them as they came upon a bison herd. Before they every got close the whole herd was looking in the wolves' direction. The adult bison surrounded the bison calves (the calves being inside the circle) as 3 bull bison stood together, walking towards and looking at the wolves as if to say, "come on, we are ready to fight"...

The wolves did the math and figured 2 against these guys wouldn't work well so the slithered off north and out of sight.

This was really amazing to witness. Except for National Geographic films, I have never seen this before live. Really special to see.

We moved on to Lamar and saw a grey wolf cross the road ahead of us and up the hill with a zillion people watching.

Lamar Valley has a TON of bison and calves this year. Lamar is THE place for action. It seems always something going on there.

We left there and went to Canyon for lunch then over to Hayden Valley (no action), Fishing Bridge then all the day to east entrance and back. We had sun,wind, rain, snow and sleet on that trip! We saw a cow moose but she was back in the woods. We did find two bull elk in velvet by Mary Bay. No action alone Mary or Sledge Bay.

The MPEGers following us departed for the hotel but Jared and I decided to make another Lamar Valley run. We had a black bear jam and a big horn sheep jam along the way.

We got to the Hitching Post pull out about 2 hrs before sunset and I was speaking to some other photographer's there (with my 500 mm lens in my hand as I was about to set up) when another golden eagle (see blog pic) come flying around the same area as the day before . With about 1-2 seconds to react, I took 10 images, handheld and hoped for the best. 3 out of 10 images were decent. It was over in a blink of an eye.

I was told today that there is a pair of golden eagles nesting in the rock cliffs by the pullout (we saw both yesterday soaring) and I guess this is one of the pair. I like the image but i want more! We plan to spend a lot of time in Lamar Valley Sunday and Monday early for more golden eagle and wolf photo ops.

Dane reported photographing a black bear and a pronghorn mom give birth to two fawns.
George found a nice osprey nest. Marty and Linda to some grizzly and black bear sow and cub images on Saturday.

Jared and I got into the hotel at 10:10pm after a LONG day in the Park.

Let's see what Day 5 brings......

Day 3: 2012 MPEG Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP Groupshoot

Flower Child (Black Bear in Yellowstone), a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

What a day!

Update from yesterday's blog: (Dane said my waterfowl was indeed a grebe, a western grebe! It's a very handsome bird)

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We started off with a beautiful sunrise at Oxbow Bend. Hands down, the best sunrise I have ever had there! Everyone was happy.

We proceeded to stop by Jackson Lake dam, then went over to String Lake. Three of us hiked the trail about 1/2 mile and we came upon 2 mule deer and then face to face with a cow elk on the trail. She looked at us, we looked at her and she veered off the trail. We did have our bear spray out (of course) as we walked the trail as it is bear country. Coming upon the cow elk on the trail by surprise (as we turned a corner) made our hearts skip a beat or two or three. Dane found some marmots there as well.

We drove back to Signal Mountain for breakfast. Everyone was very eager to get to Yellowstone.

(Our two days in the Grand Tetons went very well. Everyone was pleased with the time spent there.)

We proceeded north to Yellowstone after breakfast. I took the members (who have never been to YNP) on a tour to make them familiar with the different areas of YNP.

We drove to the West Thumb area then to the Fishing Bridge then to Hayden Valley then to Norris, then to Mammoth to Tower/Roosevelt then Lamar Valley then to West Yellowstone via Dunraven Pass (Canyon to Norris to Madison) to our hotel.

In this trip we saw: a bear with 2 cubs at a distance, a mountain goat close (but no parking) , a black bear having a dandelion salad (see photo above) bison, lots of baby bison, elk, coyotes, pronghorn, 3 golden eagles soaring above us (one flew within 30 yards, of us across the road, 20 feet above the ground and we just stood there and watched it dumbfounded, we had no cameras set up as we had just arrived and exited our cars. I will really perturbed (mild word) at the missed photo op.

We were told we missed a fairly "close to the road" wolf kill by a few hours (they took down a pronghorn fawn) and nothing was left by the time we got there- a Yellowstone bridesmaid again!

It started to rain so we headed to our hotel to check in at 7:30 pm. Everyone was pretty tired and was looking forward to a good dinner and a bed.

There is a cold front coming in YNP for the weekend (Saturday/Sunday) with snow/rain 40-50% the whole weekend and cloudy. Good waterfall "picture taking " days.

Monday-Wednesday look great weather wise.

Jared and I will be leaving at 5:30am for Swan Lake Flats in search of the Grizz sow and her two cubs. Some members will follow us, the rest are on their own.

Despite the forecast, ANY DAY in Yellowstone is a GOOD DAY!

Stay tuned for Day 4.

Day 2: 2012 MPEG Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP Groupshoot

Osprey Landing at the nest, a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

I honestly don't know if I could have planned a more perfect morning..... luck is good.

We left the hotel at 4:30am and made our way to Mormon Row for sunrise. Besides us, there were 6 or so other photographers there. We are all positioned in the sage brush across from the classic Moulton barn beside the pink house.

The sky is clear, the mountains are crystal clear and the stage is set for spectacular sunrise!

The light starts hitting the peaks and the shutters go off... I noticed a small herd of bison making its way down the row of barns and I jokingly said, "hey guys, come down here, we need you in the picture"....well, (like Dr. Dolittle) they did... they kept moving north and walking right into our picture as the light peaked.Unreal! We were all stunned as what are the chances? The bison in the picture was icing on the cake! Wait until you see these images.

then we scoot quickly to Schwabacher's landing for some nice reflections, then scouted the snake river overlook but the trees have grown so much, it obscures the nice S curve of the snake river.

We then stopped by Elk Ranch Flats and photographed the Teton horses in great light with the Tetons as the background. Breathtaking!

We then had a nice breakfast at Signal Mountain lodge, then drove over to the Chapel of the Transfiguration for some shooting. On the way, a cow moose and calf caused a jam, but they were in shadows and harsh light with everyone agreeing no photo op (but cool to see the calf) .

After stopping at the visitors center in Moose Junction, some members wanted to do some shopping etc. Jared and I drove around and found no wildlife worth snapping. We did stop by the Moran Junction osprey nest and some action occurred as we pulled up to the nest but light was very harsh so we left.

We went back to hotel to catch up email, rest some and started back out at 6:00pm.

I asked Jared to drop by the osprey's nest again just to see, by chance , if anything was going on. We pulled up and an adult was perched in a tree by the road and another osprey in the nest. I believe they have chicks but I didn't see them.

I photographed the adult in the tree..... and then it flew off, I watched him go south and told Jared to watch him (thinking he might circle back to the nest) as my view was blocked by trees. Jared said, "here he comes back".... I had to pick him up visually through the trees and just laid the AF point over where I thought he might land and lowered "the hammer"as he arrived..... I could only focus on him at the "last second when he came out of the trees. (see image in this post). It was over in 1-2 seconds.

We then moved north, no bears, few elk, stopped at Jackson Lake above Coulter Bay and snapped a red eyed (I believe a grebe) waterfowl but don't quote me.

We moved south back to Oxbow Bend for sunset (I wanted to do Lighttrac to prepare for sunrise in the morning there.)

After sunset, we headed back to the hotel and got in around 10:30 pm.

Tomorrow, another 4 am wake up call and sunrise at Oxbow Bend, then Jenny lake, String lake, and whatever else pops up... after lunch we will be heading to Yellowstone National Park for the rest of the groupshoot!

You gotta love these Parks..... It just makes you smile being here....

Day 1: 2012 MPEG Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP Groupshoot

Welcome to Jackson, WY, a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

Well, we made it!

With 3 hours of sleep, Jared and I left CLE at 6:45am on a Southwest flight to Chicago where we met 3 other GS attendees and then flew to Salt Lake City. Another 2 attendees were on another flight and caught up with us later.

The flight into SLC was bumpy at times and the landing was not perfect ,so to speak. Let me put it this way, I am glad my camera bodies/lenses where with me!

We rented our cars and headed out to Jackson, WY. The weather was picture perfect on the drive over. We stopped for lunch and then rolled on to Jackson, WY. We left SLC at 11:30am and arrived at the Jackson hotel at 5:31pm. MST.

We drove on up to Mormon Row and eventually met up there for the first time.

I went over the Thursday sunrise plan at this site . The weather looks good. Sunny with 5% clouds but we will see, you never know here in the mountains.

I received a text from a photographer friend who is in Yellowstone now and he said he was told of a coyote's den near Mormon Row! Sound familiar? I saw no evidence of a coyote's den. I look around more tomorrow.

There was a coyote hunting ih the field by the log cabin but it eventually moved south. there were several bison and red doggies (bison babies) around the area.

then we went to Schwabacher's Landing and found the front pond flooding thus no reflection (typically of spring) but did find the back pond to be in good shape for a nice reflection image.

then we went to Oxbow Bend (beautiful as ever), then Jackson Lake dam, then Willow Flats and Jackson Lake lodge.

Grizzly sow 399 and her cubs have been frequenting the Oxbow Bend area, in fact so frequent there are electronic signs up ("caution: sow and cubs in the area", etc but no sign of them when we were there. Maybe tomorrow.

We then drove back to the hotel of much needed rest. We are all exhausted.

It's showtime tomorrow! 4:00am wake up call, depart at 4:30am and be at the site at 5:00am for civil twilight at 5:10am and sunrise.

No matter how many times you visit here, the majestic peaks of the Grand Tetons take your breath away!

There is something seriously wrong if one can't appreciate this place........

It's just "purdy"!

Day 7 (final blog post) - YNP/GNTP- 2011 Fall Trip

7x6 bull elk in Yellowstone's first fall snow., a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

First, A big thanks to all of you following this blog. I have appreciated your emails and FB messages. Today was our final day in Yellowstone. Because of the snow storm system, we decided to travel to Idaho Falls tonight and leave from here in the morning for the Salt Lake City airport to avoid any potential travel delays associated with the storm. We will be home by midnight Friday night.


We slept in a little and got into the Park around 8:30am today. It was cloudy, rainy with snow expected after 2:00 pm. Yellowstone National Park is expected to get 6-10 inches of snow. Several roads were closed by the rangers by 3:00 pm. Several cars slid off the road over by Old Faithful.  It's amazing how different parts of the park vary dramatically with snowfall. When it snows at 7,000+ feet, it snows!


We traveled through Madison (the bull elk and his harem were there) but didn't stop. We moved on through Norris (really foggy), on to Hayden Valley, no rain there but cloudy, several wolf watchers there with spotting scopes. Two wolves of the Canyon Pack were running around too far out for photos but saw these beauties through a scope. From Hayden, over Dunraven. Dunraven was VERY rainy, foggy,  at some point, visibility was 50 feet! This was an "exciting" drive. Kim drove it and did well. No wildlife seen in Dunraven or Tower. On to Lamar, cloudy and rainy as well but YNP is gorgeous this time of year with red, gold, and orange grasses. Just beautiful. We stopped at the "carcass" but the carcass was nowhere to be found. We were told two grizzlies were on it yesterday and at one point, 7 members of the Pack came in together and drove the grizzlies off of the carcass. We were told (also) that it was Monday evening when the Pack chased and drove the elk cow into the Lamar River (shallow area), and the elk cow fought them off as long as she could until tiring. Several people stayed around until 8:30pm Monday and the wolves had not made the kill yet but did so during the night sometime. The carcass image I posted Tuesday was taken after 1pm Tuesday so that means the carcass was picked clean in 17 hours or less!


While we were at the carcass today, someone yelled "grizzly!"and there was a young grizz at the top of the hill behind us. We watched him travel east to west for a few minutes then he disappeared.... which means Kim (finally) saw her first grizzly bear! A bald eagle landed in a tree by the Lamar River and reared it's head back calling upon landing. It made me smile.


From Lamar, over to Mammoth, more rain and no wildlife spotted. Had a quick lunch in Mammoth, on to Norris, then on to Madison.  I snapped a few landscapes along the way. I spotted a bald eagle sitting in a tree across the Madison River. Perhaps the same one who eluded me yesterday? I was determined to get this one (see pic below). We stopped (we were the only car parked) but we started an "eagle jam". I snuck across the street to get a better view. I snapped several images and then this guy pulls up, gets out of his car and slams his door shut loudly and the eagle flew off. Some people just don't get it. 


It was beginning to snow heavily now and I found the 7x6 bull elk and his harem and got some "snow images" (see pic above). I have a zillion images to go through just of this bull elk! We left YNP around 5:30pm and arrived in Idaho Falls at 7:45pm.  The snow was really falling and the road through the Targhee National Forest was untouched and treacherous. It was 35 miles per hour for a long ways until the roads improved.

Dan and Bonnie went on their own today. They are in YNP one more day.  It was a pleasure having Dan and  Bonnie in the Park at the same time. They had a great time. It was their first YNP/GTNP visit.

This trip is now sadly over.

Kim had a great time, seeing far more wolves than I thought we would see. We were lucky having a carcass (It's simply the circle of life in YNP.)

 This will be one birthday present, Kim won't soon forget.

Every time we visit YNP/GTNP, the trip goes so fast. We really don't want to leave....

We love this place.

Thanks again for following!

Mark

YNP Madison River bald eagle- Oct. 6, 2011

Madison River bald eagle, a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

This one didn't get away from me!

Day 6: YNP/GTNP - 2011 Fall Trip

behind Signal Mountain Lodge, a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

Today was a bad weather day and tomorrow is worse (based on prediction). 1-2 inches of snow expected Friday but we are heading to the airport Friday morning. I hate rain in YNP. It puts me in a bad mood.

Based on the forecast, we went south to the Tetons today. Left West Yellowstone around 7:30am and arrived at Oxbow Bend around 9:30am. The weather was better than YNP. It rained heavy then some sun, lots of clouds then cloudy most of the day.

On the way down, I snapped a few YNP scenics. Except for a few bison and a couple of mule deer does, the wildlife seems to have vanished. Maybe they sense the big weather changes and snow coming?  We went looking for moose and we found a cow moose bedded down in tall grass. No photo op, IMHO but a zillion people were there shooting away. Grabbed a few images of the Chapel of the Transfig. I wanted to find Kim a bear and we found a cinnamon bear but he/she was back in the brush eating berries and Kim only had a 3 second glimpse of him/her. (Noteworthy in that, a significant amount of leaves have come down since our October 1 visit. We lucked out with a great day in GTNP on October 1.)

After finding essentially zero wildlife, we had a nice lunch at Signal Mountain Lodge. I snapped this image (see pic above) from the back of the restaurant. Not a bad view while eating, huh? The clouds obscured the mountains which was a bummer but that was what the day was like.

We headed back to YNP (snapping a few scenics like Lewis Falls.) by 2:00 pm. We stopped at the Old Faithful General Store, and then headed up to Norris and saw no wildlife except for a couple of bison. It was raining pretty hard by now and we decided to head back to the hotel BEFORE dark! In all my 5 trips to YNP, this was the worse weather day and least productive wildlife viewing wise. It was frustrating. I never even used my 500mm at all today.... and to top it all off, as we were headed to the hotel, I spotted a mature bald eagle in the top of a tree by the Madison River all hunkered down in the wind and heavy rain.  I thought this would make a great "bad weather" wildlife image... so we found the road to get down to the eagle. Kim was driving. I asked Kim to pull up across from him (he was across the river) and my thought was to photograph him out the backseat window with the 500 + 1.4 TC. So Kim stops the car, I quietly get out of the front seat , get in the back seat, scramble for my 500, trying to manage it to be handheld, and just as I was about to open the window... Kim said those dreaded words: "nevermind, he flew off"...... I was less than pleased. I would have made a sailor blush with my reaction.

I thought , of course, he flew off at the last second. It was consistent with the day. Sucky. then more bad news, as we arrived in cell service, my Apple iPhone received a text message, stating that Apple founder, Steve Jobs had died.


R.I.P. Steve, you literally have changed the World. My condolences to his family and the World.


We had dinner with Dan and Bonnie. They were in the Tetons today too but we didn't know it until we had dinner with them. They were going to check out the Beartooth Highway today but decided against it with the impending bad weather.


Our last day in YNP is tomorrow, Thursday, October 6. The weather looks bad all day.

Somehow, I need to find a way to end this trip with a bang!

Stay Tuned for  Day 7, the final trip blog post.

Day 5: YNP/GTNP - 2011 Fall Trip

Grey wolf on carcass, a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

We started at 7:00 am but the weather forecast looked gloomy. It was very cloudy at 7am and we figured it would be a high ISO day but it turned out to be a good weather day overall. After a McDonald's breakfast, we headed into the park and quickly came upon a 7x6 bull elk and his harem. We got some beautiful images of this elk and his girls. We discovered an osprey's nest by the Madison River occupied by two osprey.

We then proceeded towards Mammoth with the intent to check out the Blacktail Plateau 6 mile drive. No wildlife found but a few nice landscapes. We moved on to Tower area. I suggested we drive Lamar and see if anything is happenin'.  We saw tons of bison along the route to Lamar. As we entered Lamar Valley, a coyote popped up from the roadside and crossed the road in front of me, I got a nice image of him from the car with the 70-200.

Things looked quiet... until we turned the bend and I radioed Dan and said," we have a big jam" up ahead. We stopped and asked "what ya got"? and it was one word, WOLVES!. We parked, and set up and didnt realize at first that the Lamar Canyon pack took down an elk cow Monday night (the night before) and the carcass was 200 yrds (rough guess) or so from the road. I used my 1DM4, 500 + 2X TC with a 30% crop on the image posted above. We spent around 3 hours with the wolves skipping lunch. There were 4 wolves present total but only one at a time on the carcass. Also present, a ton of ravens (of course), several magpies, at least 2 coyotes hanging around waiting for their turn, and we had 4 bald eagles around, with two landing and picking at the carcass. The wolves kept chasing all these "visitors off", so they were busy all the time. It was great to watch all the action. Just really cool. It's amazing how "picked clean" the carcass was in such a short period of time. We were hoping a grizzly would show up but no grizz while we were there. We endured 3 rain episodes during this time. We had no plans to leave. Rain be damned.

After this highlight of the day, we split up. Kim and I went over to Hayden and did a few landscapes, went out to Sedge Bay and no significant wildlife noted. We headed back to the hotel and stopped by Madison again and spent a few minutes with the elk and his harem again.

We had a pizza with Dan and Bonnie for dinner.

The weather is progressively getting colder with a real good possibility of significant snow on Thursday. We are hoping for below freezing temps the next two days. The worse the weather, the more wildlife out and about. Plus we want that elk bugling with some nice breath in the frosty air!

So far, it has been a terrific trip. I still need to find Kim a bear. The bears are few and far between here now.  "They are around" but nothing like the Spring (of course).

Two more days to go.  Stay tuned for Day 6.

Day 4: YNP/GNTP - 2011 Fall Trip

Bison Jam in Lamar Valley, a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

Another YNP day in the books.  What a day it was!

We started out (again) in Lamar Valley looking for the Lamar Canyon wolf pack. I really wanted Kim to see them so we left earlier this morning hoping for better luck.... and lucky we were!

We found the "YNP wolfers" at the pullout east of the Hitching Post pull out. And within minutes, of arriving, the pack (I counted 6, others say all 11 of the pack were there) was clearly visible to the naked eye and moving west towards the Hitching Post pullout so we all jumped in our cars and head there.

The wolves arrived at that area as predicted, played around for a while, went up the Cache Valley trail and disappeared. Kim and I traveled west of Lamar as Dan and his wife stayed in Lamar. Kim and I checked out the Slough Creek area and found some pronghorn and bison. We headed back east to Lamar and got into a 3 mile long bison jam. Bison jams are a slow go. See bison jam pic above. Note the beautiful fall colors of the grasses in Lamar (actually all over Yellowstone). In the pic, this is the car in front of us.

Dan and Bonnie stayed in YNP as I took Kim on the a tour of very scenic Beartooth Highway, (on the way there just east of Cooke City, a red fox shows up and is walking down the road towards us, I stopped the car and snapped a few pics of him on the road), we had a great lunch in Red Lodge, MT and then drove to Cody, WY, then to the YNP east entrance, then over to Hayden Valley. Lots of drive time but the Beartooth highway was breathtaking! This is a must see, IMHO. The drive to Cody from Red Lodge showcases beautiful country as well!

On the way into YNP, Kim and I got into ANOTHER bison jam in the Fishing Bridge area. Thats two for the day! Geez.

Kim and I went on to Hayden Valley, snapped a few landscapes, no wolves sighted, some mule deer does, and a bald eagle perched on a tree stump. We then drove to West Yellowstone (Madison) and found Dan there snapping pics of a beautiful bull elk and his harem! Gary D. from Facebook found us in Madison and we all chatted for awhile. We decided to have dinner together at my hotel tonight.

Overall, another great day in Yellowstone.  A big weather system moving in by Thursday, maybe a foot of snow at 7, 000 feet or higher.

Stay tuned for Day 5.  This trip is going fast as they all do!

Day 3: YNP/GTNP - 2011 Fall Trip

bear print on car, a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.


Day 3 and another long day. The weather forecast was 80% chance of rain and it never rained a drop, with cloudy to sunny all day!


We left for Lamar Valley at 7:00am. We arrived in Lamar around 7:35am and (of course) we were told we "just missed " the wolf pack. Dang! (hint: not the word I used). We quickly found a pronghorn buck and 3 females grazing near the road. We photographed them of sometime. Suddenly, the buck took off full speed about 200 yrds west and we wondered why then we saw the coyote it saw... the buck ran at the coyote, stopped about 10 yrds short of him, stared at him, the coyote got the hint, and left the area by crossing the road to the hills. A couple of  other stunning coyotes (beautiful winter coats) showed up and got some nice images of these guys.  Dan stayed with the pronghorn while Kim and I went through Lamar Valley and checked out Slough Creek and found a huge bison herd within yards of us. Got some great frame filling images of these guys. Dan and Bonnie joined us there. 


We moved on over to Mammoth, found several elk cow and a few bucks lounging in the yards in Mammoth. We went to Gardiner, had a very nice lunch and took pictures of the north entrance arch. We proceeded down to Norris area, and photographed Gibbon Falls. We stopped at Sheepeaters Cliff and got some nice images of a few birds and some "least chipmunks". We moved on to Hayden Valley and found a ton of people at the Grizzly overlook.... and sure enough, the Canyon wolf pack was running around about 3/4 mile out in Hayden Valley. With binocs, a spotting scope  or a long lens, you could easily watch them. The alpha female is beautiful. We saw a total of 5 wolves. Kim got to see her wolves but we are hoping for a better day in the morning at Lamar Valley. It is always exciting to watch the wolves.

The day slipped away from us and we headed back to Cooke City for dinner. We are headed to West Yellowstone tomorrow for the next 3 nights.

When we got back in Cooke City for dinner, we parked by the restaurant and a guy, standing near our car (where we parked) remarked to us about a "bear paw print" on our car door! I said, "huh?" and he said,  "look here"!  and sure enough there's a small bear paw print. (see pic above). It looks like a young black bear print. Apparently, the bear made it rounds to the cars in the parking lot as Dan's car had paw prints too! We HAD food in the car but moved it inside for that vary purpose- not to entice the bears. Apparently the smell of food being there lingered on the car. Bears have an amazing sense of smell, for good reason, as their survival depends on a great nose...

Another day in unpredictable Yellowstone.

What will tomorrow bring?

Stay Tuned for Day 4.

Day 2: YNP/GNTP - 2011 Fall Trip

Oxbow Bend Civil Twilight, a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

Up at 4:45am, Down at 11:30pm. It was a full day today as it always is here in these Parks. Alot to see and precious little time to see it. We only have 10- 11 hours per day of decent light.


We started out with a fantastic sunrise at Oxbow Bend. The place was crowded. The parking lot was full. A school bus of several photography students showed up... it seems like "everybody and their brother"was there. The Fall colors in the Tetons are peak and very near peak at Oxbow. Dan and I even climbed the hill across the street (remember this place is 7,000 feet above sea level) so it was a nice treadmill type of workout to get there. We got some terrific images from Oxbow. The posted pic is from my Canon P&S. The place was simply beautiful this morning. After Oxbow, we went Cattlemans bridge, Jackson Lake Dam, Schwabachers Landing (great reflections) then to Mormon Row.

We were told of some Moose over at Gros Ventre Campground. We went there and found nothing.We drove down the road and found a "jam" and the folks were watching a huge bull moose and a cow
down a small hill by a stream bed.


The cow was feeding on some leaves. the bull resting. The light was awfully harsh but we stayed anyway. Dan wanted to get a better shot of the cow so he went down into the stream bed, maybe 30 yds from the cow. The cow "pushed him away" telling Dan he was too close so Dan backed off. The bull gets up and walks toward the cow. The bull apparently sees Dan and decided to bluff charge him (gets within 6-7 feet according to Dan) sending him a message.... I was down in the stream but decided to go back up the hill...about the time I get up the hill, a hear some branches breaking (the bull crashing through the brush) a lady who was down there with Dan comes flying up the hill WITHOUT her camera and tripod! The next thing I see is Dan flying up the hill too! A little startled (eerr shaken up). Folks, this was a huge bull moose.  Let's just say Dan vamoosed it out of there.  ;-) He is ok but the bum knee is sore.


We had lunch, then drove to Yellowstone photographed Moose Falls (yes, no kidding, Moose Falls) ...West Thumb, Fishing Bridge, Hayden Valley, Dunraven, Tower and Lamar Valley. We had a wily coyote decide to walk down the middle of the road in front of our car and Dan and Bonnie experienced their first bison jam in Lamar Valley. Bison all around us. You could touch them if you put your hands out the window (which I didnt...)

We are staying in Cooke City the next two days... the town with ZERO cell service.

6:15am wake up call. Hope to find some wolves at sunrise in Lamar Valley.

Stay Tuned for Day 3.

DAY 1: YNP/GTNP - 2011 Fall Trip

DAY 1: Yellowstone/Grand Teton NP- 2011 Fall Trip (Quarter moon over the Tetons), a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

Kim and I flew from Cleveland to Baltimore then Baltimore to Salt Lake City. Dan Behm and his wife, Bonnie were on the same flight. The flight out was on time and flawless. Great landing in Salt Lake by the pilot. Nice and smooth.

We picked up our bags, got our rental cars and started the 5+ hr scenic drive to Jackson, WY.

The day was sunny, hardly a cloud in the sky. Beautiful. After some lunch, we resumed our journey.

Once we got to Idaho Falls, we split up. Kim and I continued on to Jackson. Dan and Bonnie got a few groceries and arrived about 45 minutes behind us.

The ride through Swan Valley, ID was very pretty with some great fall colors. Yellow aspens were the dominate color. The ride through the Targhee National Forest and the Teton Pass was beautiful was well. Once we started descending into Jackson Hole, the fall colors were really vibrant. We saw a moose upon entering Jackson Hole. Didn't stop for pics. We decided to spend the rest of the light we had (we got in JH around 6:55pm, Sunset was 7:06 pm.) driving through the park. We saw a male pronghorn, bison (of course) and a wildlfire at the Albright Turnout. (see pic below). We proceeded up the main park route and folks, the fall color now is spectacular! We hit it spot on! By the time we got to Oxbow Bend, it was too dark but looks like great color as far as my eyes could tell. There were several cars still in the OB parking out. We drove by Oxbow and saw a "jam" on the road to Jackson Lake. It was "dark" now BUT we knew why everyone was there as there were several bull elks bugling in the grasslands right by the road. We could see one bull's silhouette and he was a BIG guy!  It was a stereo experience of elk bugling. The rut is on! Kim's first elk bugling experience.

There was a beautiful quarter moon above the Teton range. See pic above. Again, this was a P&S pic with flash going off of course. (ahemmmmm, I know) but again, you get the idea.

We then drove back to Jackson Hole, has some dinner, and checked in hotel. We will be spending up to 2:00 pm in the GTNP Saturday, October 1 trying to see as much as possible as the weather is expected to change here (Jackson) to rain for the next few days. After our visit here, we are headed north to Yellowstone!

We have a 4:45 am MST wake up call. Headed out for sunrise at Oxbow and go from there.

Stay tuned for Day 2.

Albright Turnout wildlife

Albright Turnout wildlife, a photo by Mark/MPEG (Midwest Photography Enthusiasts Group) on Flickr.

Please excuse the IQ. This was a P&S image out the car window, in low light at 55 mph but you get the idea!

The Countdown is on!

The countdown is on for my Fall Yellowstone/GTNP birthday trip for Kim. 48 hours to go!

Kim is looking forward too seeing her first bear and/or wolf in the wild!

Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Parks in the Fall!

I am returning to 'heaven on earth" September 30-October 7, 2011 with my wife, Kim. This trip was planned as a surprise birthday gift for her. She loves wolves so the big objective this trip is wolves!

I am home! plus a couple of Yellowstone wildlife notes.

(1) The coyote pups were not seen all day Saturday, June 18, 2011. That pretty much confirms the parents have moved them to another den. We were very luck to get the photos we did on Wednesday, June 15.

(2) The Madison Eagles: I have learned that the female was killed over the winter, thus the reason for no eaglets this year. The male has paired up with another female, thus there will be (likely) a new family in the spring of 2012.

Mark