Misty’s Chincoteague

We drove the 1 ½ hours to the Virginia end of Assateague Island in hopes of seeing so many more wild ponies. But I was secretly concerned after we spoke with the volunteer at the Visitor’s Center. She told us how Tropical Storm Sandy had trashed the fences and the ponies had run rampant all over the Nature reserve. Well, why not? I thought to myself. I mean aren’t they the whole reason the reserve is here to begin with? As it turns out, the answer is NO. This end of the island is actually dedicated to Sika Deer, the DelMarva Fox Squirrel and a nesting sanctuary for thousands of waterfowl. The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department have secure grazing rights for their ponies and the herd is restricted to one end of the island. Knowing this, I thought with 150 ponies in a restricted area, there should be tons of viewing opportunities. We drove onto the reserve and straight to the trailhead that would lead to the pony viewing platform. The Woodland Trail is a paved easy 1 ½ mile loop through a forest devastated by Sandy’s power. Huge 200 foot tall pines were laid over while others were snapped like toothpicks 25-30 feet from the ground. Once out to the platform, my fears were realized although I hadn’t yet been able to voice them. Before us was hundred of acres of brown cord grass and not a single pony in sight. We waited for about 20 minutes but no ponies appeared. We found ourselves headed back to the shady path but somewhat quieter than we had been before. About 15 minutes further down the path was a trampled pathway through the briars and leading to the edge of the cord grass marsh. Our first impression was one of curiosity and the second was of hope. By the time we had reached the edge of the marshy area, Carl had spotted the first pony, a wildly marked brown and white pinto standing on a pine covered hummock about 100 yards from the edge of the 4 strand barbed wire fencing. We could just barely make out one or two more ponies in the shaded brush and trees. The  natural camouflage was amazingly effective. We worked our way out to the fence and set up the tripod for my camera. All that commotion got the attention of the pinto who decided those strange creatures near the fence were worth investigation so it slowly came out, nibbling here and there on the grass while the whole while keeping an eye on us. Slowly legs shifted on the hummock until we could see several members of the band. In all, there were 7 and we spent about an hour photographing them until they grazed their way out of range of my lens. On our way back to the trail, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and Carl mentioned how glad he was to find some ponies after having traveled that distance. We had planned to take a short trail named Bivalve off the Woodland trail but as we approached the sign for the turn, I froze. There, in front of me, was a very pregnant pony standing on the pavement about 100 feet in front of me. I grabbed a shot or two as she turned down the trail. I looked at Carl with a big smile on my face but he pointed back towards the sign. There on the path were two more very pregnant mares and they, too, turned down the Bivalve Trail. We slowly followed so as not to spook them. The trail was a mere ¼ mile and ended in Tom’s Cove, a tranquil body of water with a narrow beach running along the shore. It wasn’t the water or sand that had drawn the ponies here however. It was the rich new growth of cord grass about a foot tall. I stood almost transfixed by the sheer beauty of them as they chomped on the succulent shoots. We were so close we could easily hear the sucking sounds their hooves made in the mud as they moved from clump to clump. Their teeth ripped off large mouthfuls at a time and you could hear them chewing slowly, relishing every salty bit. I’ve read the ponies drink twice the fresh water domestic horses drink due to their higher than usual salt intake. Carl asked me about the mares being alone without a stallion for “protection”. And while I don’t have an official answer, I mentioned how some animals leave the herd to give birth alone which also includes that protective stallion. I was more curious about why they were on this side of the fencing and then it occurred to me Sandy had knocked down the fences and the Fire Department Cowboys had missed these three. Maybe there were more roaming around the reserve and we should find them! After 50 or so photos taken of the fat trio, I said goodbye and we returned to the parking area to have a bite of lunch. We drove to the beach and looked around for more pony opportunities. There were dozens of people, fishing, sunbathing, playing in the surf and even a couple flying kites but no ponies. I’ve read they save their beach time for the hot summer months where the breezes and cooling waters help to alleviate some of the bug miseries. Lastly we found ourselves at the Marsh Trail which wanders around one side of the Wildlife Loop, a 3 mile walking bike path that is open to vehicles after 3:00. As we were finishing the last ¼ mile of the Marsh Trail, I spotted a lone pony directly across from us with a large body of water separating us. It was just 3:00 and Carl decided to return the borrowed binoculars to the Visitor’s Center before we drove the loop. And as luck would have it, after returning the binoculars and driving the 3 mile Loop very slowly, it put us in a perfect position to get some beautiful shots of the lone pony, a stallion. I have to believe this is the band stallion for the fat trio of mares. At some point in the near future, they will rejoin him with their foals at their side. I wish I could be there for that moment. All together we saw and photographed 11 individuals from the Chincoteague herd. There were differences even though they are the same. These animals have the benefit of human intervention, health care at least once a year and they are also carrying marks, both brands and adhesive numbers attached to help quickly tell them apart from one another. Although I can’t prove it, I believe these animals are a bit larger and have sleeker coats. I do, however, take exception to the foals being taken from their dams at such an early age, some of them being no more than 3 months of age. But what do I know? They have been rounding them up for more than 70 years and will continue to do so. I’m just thrilled I was able to experience these beautiful animals in their natural home while they still exist. I’m going home a happy camper!

Pay Attention To The Signs

In our travels, we’ve had the privilege of seeing quite a variety of wildlife, some we knew where to look while others came as a complete surprise. It’s part of driving human made roads through their homes. They appear when and where they choose or if they choose. I’ve made a list of all the warning signage we’ve encountered and it’s direct bearing on the viewing of the animal in question: Deer-no, Moose- not even close, Free Ranging Livestock- didn’t see so much as one cow, Horses- they were supposed to be wild but belonged to someone. The halter and bell was a dead giveaway, Bison- no where near the cautionary sign, Mountain Goats- don’t believe they exist, Big Horn Sheep- the herd was relocated, Elk- don’t they have a lodge somewhere?, Caribou- it isn’t time for their migration, Badger ( or wolverine ) - kept looking but no luck. Okay, so I’m a bit cynical and this is sort of a spoof because I know none of those animals can read. They don’t know they are expected to cross between those signs. Over the past 10 weeks, we have seen moose, elk, caribou, deer, bison, horses, stone sheep and a lynx but there wasn’t a sign for that one anyway. These are just the land animals. There are no signs in the ocean warning of “Whale Crossing, next 10 nautical miles. And, with fairness all the way around we also didn’t see any “Falling Rock”, “Rock Slide”, “Avalanche Area”, “Fog”, “Flash Flood Area” or “Snow Removal Equipment May Be Moving Towards You In Your Lane”. That one I would have waited for! The point I'm trying to make is be safe out there, enjoy the scenery and be alert for wildlife wherever you drive. And when you see something spectacular, think about your impact on the situation. Wildlife should be allowed to be wild.

Day 54- Ready, Set, Go!!!!

Even I realize I’m sounding like a broken record, here, but it was still raining when we got up this morning. So, if life hands you lemons, well, you try to do something with them. You haven’t got any sugar in the house and it’s definitely not lemonade weather. Still, there was a plus, at least for me. I got to see what actually happens when we bring in the slide out room and it’s been raining for two days. There is a squeegee gasket all the way around plus an awning to keep most of the rain of the roof so I thought everything would be great. And it mostly was. However, when you bring an outside room inside, well there is a certain amount of water that comes with it no matter how good that squeegee is. A quick breakfast and a well practiced pack up saw us off in good time and as we passed by the site of Old Valdez, wiped out by the earthquake and Tsunami of 1964, I caught site of the grain silos in town. Captain Stan, on the boat, told us the town built these gorgeous silos and a bridge to get to them with anticipation of shipping Alaskan grown grain out of the port. Here’s where the story has one of those good / bad things going on. The good news is all of the grains grown in Alaska stay in Alaska and the bad, well, Valdez has this eyesore on their horizon that sits pretty much empty all the time and the townspeople are reminded everyday of the cost the entire facility, bridge included, has set them back. The trip through Keystone Canyon and up over Thompson Pass was not the sunlit and photographic experience I’d hoped. In fact the weather was worse today than it was on Friday when we came in. So, no great photos of the Bridal Veil and Horsetail Falls. I also could truly get a feel of how majestic the scenery was around us. We would get small glimpses as clouds and fog rolled in and out, but it was just a tease. I could imagine how very beautiful the Chugach range was, though. As the road continued on to Tok, we passed this “gas station” where I saw absolutely no sign of any pumps whatsoever. There was a satellite dish and the driveway was not blocked with debris like so many other places we’ve seen that just dried up or withered away. Still, it’s been a while since it was in operation. How do I know ? When was the last time gas was $1.45 9/10 per gallon? Sometime before noon, we came upon a 12 mile stretch of road construction complete with two flag people holding traffic up while 3 state workers literally leaned on shovels and brooms. Carl and I got a chuckle over this for a couple of miles and we were still laughing when a pickup truck coming towards and by us threw up a rock and hit our windshield. We’ll be looking for a glass replacement shop when we get to Washington state. Right in my line of sight are not one but two craters with spider webs. Eventually they will work their way into full blown cracks. Carl wished he’d packed the super glue. That might have helped to hold the little devil together a bit longer. Most of the mileage driven today was a repeat from earlier but we did have new territory from Glenallen to Tok and I declared that today would be the day I’d find that bull moose. At the time, I had no way of knowing this stretch of road would contain the best moose habitat we’ve driven through. And all I saw was one cow very far off from the road. I am beginning to think there are no big bulls in the state of Alaska. And now, we’re back in the Yukon for the rest of today and part of tomorrow. While I was trying to convince Ms Moose to come closer, I looked up at the mountains to see a fresh snow fall happening which reminds me, on last night’s local news broadcast, they mentioned Denali National Park had a substantial snowfall this weekend. I told you the signs were all there for an early and harsh winter. This photographer has to fess up with something. Today, we drove past an airplane in one of those pull outs they put every so often so you can get off the road and let faster traffic go by. Why is this noteworthy, you ask? Because we were in the middle of no where and there was no runway. This plane landed on the road about mile 101 and taxied to this paved pullout. There was a pickup truck there and it appeared to us as we drove by, they were working on either the tire or the strut. And I didn’t think to take a picture. Camera on the front seat right beside me and we continued on our trip. I’d say his landing was definitely “off airport” and I suspect that’s how he’ll be taking off again. These bush pilots are an amazing and hardy bunch with nerves of steel. They will and do put down almost anywhere from a gravel airstrip or sand bar in the middle of a river. For a boring day, it was pretty exciting.

Day 52- On Prince William Sound

I don’t think I’m going to give an account of today’s 9 hour tour on Prince William Sound. The company offered pickup service from our RV Park so we took them up on their offer. The weather should have been partly cloudy and I think I figured out the part that was cloudy, about 99% of the trip. We sailed with a family owned company, Stan Stephens Tours who also boasts employees who are full time residents of the area. And it was Stan himself who had control of our boat today, the Valdez Spirit. The cruise covered about 140 miles and took us to Meares Glacier plus gave us a pretty good idea of what the Sound and the surrounding area is all about. Captain Stan gave us some geological history of the area as well as historical, including the 1964 earthquake that literally wiped out the town of Valdez, causing it to be rebuilt on another location and the 1989 oil spill from the Exxon Valdez. Even now, after all the clean up and the years, a really fierce storm will stir things up and oil can be found on shore. We heard about some of the mineral mining history, stories of prospectors, people who lost their livelihood or their lives at the whim of nature or man. It gave me a new and unexpected appreciation of how much damage, then and now, was done by these Good Friday events. We saw some really cool wildlife but others were missing like my favorites, orcas and dolphins. The cruise served us an adequate lunch of Chicken Alfredo on rice with vegetables and a crusty bread with Oreo cookies for dessert. This lunch, unlike the one we had on the tour in Seward, was brought to our table, seemed more organized and the cost of the meal was already figured into the price of the tour. They served complimentary coffee and tea all day and I had three cups of tea which meant several trips to the head. We also had our choice of a cup of Clam Chowder or Minestrone Soup ( Carl had the Clam and I had the Minestrone ) a few hours later which hit the spot after hours of really damp and cold weather out on deck. I thought I would miss the fact there wasn’t a ranger on board but Captain Stan gave us enough information as well as nautical bearings from time to time. We could follow our progress with the flyers one of the crew members handed out before we left the dock. It gave us an overview of the area, our route of travel, some information about the area and on the back was a pictorial of wildlife, both bird and mammal, we might expect to see. The crew was helpful and the tour showed us the overall beauty of the area and the Sound in particular. I would recommend them to anyone coming this way. Oh, and we were returned to the dock on time. It began raining as we entered the harbor and has continued ever since. The true plus to the day was when we got home and found our Crock Pot Roast Beef ready to eat.

Day 48- Our Trip To Wolverine Creek

I woke up nervous. I’ve never been in a plane this small before and no matter what I told myself; flying is safe, you love flying, the company has a great safety record, there’s nothing to it, and the best one of all was- you want to do this well it just didn’t work. I ate a quiet breakfast, took my second IBS pill and still had to dash to the facility 4 times before we checked in for our flight at 8:00AM I know I sound like a broken record on this trip when I tell you the skies were heavy, gray and low but not only were they all of that but they were dumping rain in large amounts. I was very depressed about the whole trip. I know gray day pictures are uninteresting to me and everyone else. Well, I’ll just have to make the best of it because Talon Air doesn’t offer “rain checks”. I know that was bad, wasn’t it? Our guide, Rusty met us and we waited for another party of two to appear. Finally, at the last bell, two women appeared and announced their names. We were off. When we booked our flights last week, we were the only ones on the 8:30 flight. Now, there are two planes each carrying 8 passengers and two guides plus pilots. The company offers us all rain jackets and hip boots. I look outside at the more than drizzle that’s falling. Then I look at the way we’re dressed, in layers, synthetic fabrics and a light water resistant shell. Both Carl and I accept the offer of better protection than we had. The flight took off from a looking glass smooth lake and we were airborne in no time. What a wonderful feeling and no more butterflies for me once I climbed the ladder to get into the plane. The flight over was about 25 minutes and our landing in Redoubt Bay off the Cook Inlet was equally smooth. We looked around at our new surroundings and saw a small fleet of flat bottom aluminum boats. The guides left the plane and each went to grab a boat. Carl marveled at the how the “ground” was moving up and down as they walked. Rusty told us later it’s what is referred to as floating bog. There is no getting around it, no matter how much rain gear we have, we are going to get wet. The cushions on the boat have been out all night and assuming you sit down on a relatively dry spot, no one can fish or take pictures for 6 hours without standing up and then your dry spot isn’t anymore. I made up my mind right off, my behind, and the rest of me for that matter would be wet and very soon. I grabbed the rain poncho from our day bag and wrapped my camera up in it, a small opening for my fingers, the view finder and the lens just sticking out. One of the ladies, Teresa had been out on this same trip a couple of weeks ago but she brought her friend, Mary, with her this time. AS we pulled into the mouth of Wolverine Creek, we could see a young Black Bear grabbing salmon from the mere trickle of water coming down the streambed. We watched the bear for a few minutes and then noticed a small Brown Bear swimming across the mouth of the little cove our boat was in. Off we went to catch up with the bear who was headed towards shore and, as Rusty told us, to the Salmon at Wolverine Creek. Sure enough, by the time we got back into our place, there was the Brown Bear grabbing salmon and retreating a few yards away to eat. In fact, I thought the Black Bear would leave when the Brown Bear got there but they stayed, fished side by side and didn’t get in each other’s way. I took as many shots as I could, not realizing I had too slow a shutter speed for the amount of lens I was using. Most of my bear shots are blurs. Mary caught the first fish and she was really excited. Both bears eventually drifted off and we didn’t see another bear for the rest of the day. I didn’t have much to do except watch the others fish at that point. Before the day was over all three of the people with fishing licenses had their limit, I was officially drenched from my waist to my toes and poor Mary was so cold, wet and miserable, her lips were white and she didn’t even have enough energy to shiver. I finally had to tell Rusty I needed to find a tree to water. It had been hours since I had had anything to drink but man did I have to go. My back teeth were floating. I kept hoping one of the other ladies might need to go and say something. Maybe they had a Depends on because they never did use the bushes but Carl joined me on shore as “bear patrol” while what he was really doing was using a different tree. Once this exercise was over, we went back to watching others fish and looking longingly at the creek with hopes of spotting another bear. Mary wasn’t getting any warmer so Rusty headed the boat over to another little cove where we could enjoy Fisher Falls, a pretty little double drop waterfall about 40 feet high. It was just enough to get Mary’s mind off how cold and wet she was until the plane arrived. It was a very quiet 25 minute plane ride back with everyone drenched and drained. I felt bad for the pilot who kept having to wipe the fog off his windscreen because there was so much moisture in the cabin. Once I got the hip boots off, at the office, I realized they must have had holes in them or a split seam because I could pour water out of each of them but strangely, I wasn’t cold while we were out there. I did have fun, in spite of the ruined photos and I will know better next time, that’s for sure. And yes, there will be a next time but not on this trip. That’s one more flying conveyance off my list. Haven’t been in a glider yet.

Day 46- Two Lakes Trail

The hard drive on my new laptop is about 240 GB of memory. The last time I checked, I had filled about half of it so I’ve begun burning my images to DVD. It’s a good back up system in case something happens to my laptop as we travel, too. Now, you might think I should just back off from taking as many photos. That thought never crossed my mind. That’s why I brought 39 blank DVDs with me. Earlier today, I watched the RED SOX play the white sox. The game started at 10:00 here in Seward. That is so cool, I still get a kick out of it. It took us a while to find the Two Lakes Trail after we had lunch. The trail head was behind a technical school building with no signage to direct us. The first lake and a nice picnic area was within sight of where we parked the truck. The easily laid out pathway led us around the second little pond as well as a rather marshy depression. The forest on either side of the trail was thick with vegetation, mosses, bushy ferns, skunk cabbage and lots of other mid level browse. The canopy was made up of several types of spruces with some smaller deciduous trees mixed in. We not only heard but saw numerous red squirrels although we would have known they were in the area anyway because of the huge piles of cones collected at the bases of many of the trees. They’ve been gathered as a winter cache. The squirrels with gather thousands of cones, hauling them underground so they can be found when the snows come. We even saw evidence of where millions of seeds had been eaten as they worked. A ranger in Denali described it as “ if it looks as if a Spruce tree exploded” which is exactly what it looked like. Those ranger talks are starting to pay off. We actually knew what we were looking at. Those squirrels were the only wildlife we saw during the 2 mile round trip although we found quite a few clear impressions of moose hoof prints in the mud and lots of scat in and along side of the trail. I have to confess I am not an expert on scat but if I were asked, I’d have to say I saw lots of dog and even some horse manure. The trail was perfectly adapted to be ridden with horses with the possible exception of low limbs in one section. Even though the day was overcast, I mentioned the other path, the Tonsina Point trail and Carl said okay. Unfortunately, we still couldn’t find where it began. We found ourselves on the beach near Lowell Point watching about a dozen people salmon fishing in the low surf. We splurged and had some really great ice cream downtown across from the Major Marine office and then we fueled up for our trip to Soldotna tomorrow. Supper was fresh salmon caught on Carl’s trip yesterday. He didn’t catch it but when no one claimed it, he decided to give it a good home. I hope we’ll have plenty of our own caught on Tuesday.

Sights of Kenai Fjord National Park

Day 22- In Glacier

This morning was cold! I don’t know why. We’re at altitude and the mountains still have deep snow and glaciers on them. I had left every window in the camper open because it was unbearably hot last night so Carl jumped out of bed to get half of the windows while I grabbed the other half. Then it was back to sleep for a couple more hours. Carl didn’t want to run the generator at 8:00AM because our neighbors from VT have small children and they weren’t up yet. Instead of making coffee with the Keurig, I boiled water, in a pan on the gas stove, for tea. Breakfast was pancakes, banana for me and blueberry for Carl. I made a few blog notes and then Carl decided we should pack up to move to our reserved site for the next two nights. He can’t do anything about calling AAA until we are settled. Our luck was a little better today because the people on site A5 had checked out by 10:00 so we could move right in. The Rangers have been very helpful and notified the West Glacier gate there would be a wrecker coming. Carl set the generator up for me before he left. Now, he and the truck have gone off for who knows how long. He took his cell phone so he could keep me updated. I’ve made a slow cooker lasagna and at the stroke of 12:00 I cranked the generator over. The lasagna takes three hours but I can only have electricity for two. I may push it for an extra 15 minutes and then the residual heat should finish it off nicely. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. I also took the time to vacuum the carpet in the bedroom area and under the dining room table. I don’t know what I was thinking, but even taking our shoes off at the door, it had gotten really bad in only three weeks. Can’t imagine how it would look after ten. Before we left Helena, we had purchased a convertible stick model by Eureka that you can attach a handle to for larger jobs. I wasn’t expecting much for $35.00 but I‘m happy to say it did an okay job. When my two hours of “civilization” ends, I’ll take a walk with my camera and see what I can find.

Day 18- Last Day in Yellowstone

I know we shouldn’t have but since we were staying 32 miles from the east gate, we got up very early today and “flew” to the park. Once at the East Gate, we continued to Fishing Bridge and then headed towards Old Faithful. This is the last loop through the park we hadn’t explored. Our first stop of the morning was at West Thumb Geyser Basin and it was just barely 8:00 on a crisp and promising morning. The thermal pools along Yellowstone Lake were steaming like crazy, making some of the photography a bit more challenging. We were part way through the ½ mile boardwalk when I stopped and looked to my left. There coming out of the wooded area was a young cow elk. She came slowly to the edge of the lake and took a deep drink, pausing every so often to look about. After a couple of minutes of taking her photo, I noticed several more young cow elk coming out of the very same group of trees. We kept hoping a bull would follow or another cow with a calf but we were disappointed on this count. In all, there were seven females wandering around, nibbling on the lichen and mineral rich bits of grass that grew in the area. It appears they live there or nearby all the time because of the multiple signs insisting the elk are not to be fed or approached because they are wild and dangerous. The signs say nothing about stationary visitors and elk who approach them. Two of the ladies climbed up on the boardwalk and crossed among a large group of Japanese tourists. That was truly exciting. I think “Watch out, here comes a big animal” translates in any language. About an hour later we found ourselves approaching Old Faithful who, it seems, has become a little less reliable in the past few years. Scientists don’t know if it’s because of changes in the water table or if the hotspot under Yellowstone has shifted just enough. It doesn’t matter because I’d made up my mind that we were sitting on that bench until she blew. We saw the geyser erupting as we pulled into the parking lot so we knew our wait could be anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 ½ hours. I am asked by another photographer what I plan to shoot the event with so, in the process, we struck up a conversation with her family that lasted the entire time we are there. One hour and 40 minutes after we sat down, the mound in front of us started to bubble and before we knew it, the full blown eruption is going off. There’s nothing in the foreground to judge but we estimate the height of the water at about 100 feet and it lasted about 5 minutes. It was great. After souvenirs, back in the truck, we decided to head on to Grand Prismatic Spring by way of Firehole Geyser. There was an enormous traffic jam at Grand Prismatic Spring so we continued on to find a nice place for lunch. I asked Carl to drive down Fountain Flats Road to the end. There, along the Firehole River, we just happened to find a small herd of bison cows with calves fairly close so we grabbed the tripod, camera and cable release and walked to a small clump of downed deadwood. We’re close enough to pull them in with my lens but not so close that we are violating any laws. I’m shooting away when Carl says something about the bull coming up behind us. I turned to look and there, between the river’s edge and our clump of trees is the largest most perfect Bison bull I’ve seen on this trip. I’m aware he’s way closer than we should be and the wind is sort of blowing in his face so he may be getting our scent. He started walking with an exaggerated stiff leg sort of walk and his tail was arched up as if he were going to leave a pile of scat but he didn’t. Then he started slowly wagging his head back and forth and grunting, followed by a display known as the Flemin response, which allows the scent on the wind to roll over this organ in his mouth. You’ve probably seen other animals roll their upper lip and make a strange face. That’s it! He passes us and I breath a sigh of relief. He’s caught wind of the cows up ahead and is definitely not the least bit interested in us. He stopped mid way between the cows and where we were, pawed at the ground, urinated in the dust pit and then lowered himself into the dust. He rolled and got good and coated and then headed off to his ladies. One by one, he approached the cows, sniffed at their rear end to check if they have come into season or maybe to find out if another bull has been messing with his ladies. This is where we spend our lunch time. It was a most exhilarating hour. Our last stop was finally to fight our way into a still congested Grand Prismatic Spring, a pool 200 feet across displaying more colored algae and bacteria than any other pool in the park. It dumps hundreds of steaming hot water into the Firehole River every minute. Oh and while we were watching the bison at Fountain Flats, we noticed a number of fly fishermen trying their hand at the fish in the river where we also noticed an osprey who at first hovered over the river and then swooped down to grab fish out of the very same river.

Yellowstone's Natural Bounty

Day 17- The Mammoth Hot Springs Loop

We got up even earlier today because the first 100 miles was a repeat of yesterday, road travel that is but not the animal sightings. Today we were really lucky to find several more bison bulls close to the truck but still no cows with calves nearby, just off in the distance. But the luck or skill came when I spotted what I thought was a cow moose. We parked the truck, walked up the road a few hundred feet and it was the n I discovered the white target surrounding her tail. It was a cow elk. We watched her for several minutes, just long enough to cause our own “Elk Jam”. It didn’t help the cause much because half the distance from the road to the elk was a huge Bison bull taking a dirt bath. By the time I lost track of the cow elk in the thick conifer brush, there were more than enough cars on both sides of the road and Carl and I took our leave. We found another beautiful spot for our lunch looking at the deep blue waters of Phantom Lake with no one else around. I can tell you that doesn’t happen very often on a Saturday in Yellowstone, never mind that it’s a holiday weekend. I had two places I wanted to visit in the park, one was grand Prismatic Spring and the other was The Terraces. Today, we found and walked into Jupiter’s Terrace, a gorgeous series of flat calm pools that trickle mineral rich waters over their edge. Each drop has created a different depth of shelf and the minerals determine the color. This structure must have been forming for hundreds of years. In another part of the Terrace is Minerva’s Terrace which some people think is even lovelier than Jupiter’s. I chose to find a place for lunch instead of hiking down to see Minerva’s. After lunch we headed off and before we’d gone too long, we came upon a “Bear Jam” and this time I mean Bear. Some distance from the road was a black bear sow and two very small cubs, maybe no more than 4 months old. Carl got the tripod and we stood with probably 50 other people and took pictures until the congestion in the road was just too much. The bear was moving away with each mouthful of grass she ripped off so that was my cue. Without my super lens, I couldn’t bring them near enough. I hope this doesn’t backfire on me when I get to Alaska. We left the park by way of the same gate we entered, considering ourselves to have had a great second day. Tomorrow is our last day in the park. We’ll spend the 4th of July doing laundry, taking showers and preparing for our departure on the 5th. We’ll finish off the 4th with The Cody Stamped. Carl got us tickets for the evening’s rodeo.

Day 16- Yellowstone from East gate to Northeast gate

Our arrival in the park was a bittersweet experience. We drove through mile after mile of scorched standing wood from the 1988 wild fires. Over 40% of the park was burned but as I’ve said, this is nature’s way of resetting the balance. It burns the dead or dying undergrowth that has been left to accumulate, clears the way for fresh shoots to thrive in newly created holes in the canopy and in some cases, fire is even required to open cones allowing the seeds to be broadcast by squirrels, birds and bears. There were several places we didn’t stop today because we will travel the first part of the trip a couple of times on our way to other parts of the park. We did stop at Mud Volcano, Artist Point, Le Hardys Rapids, Hayden Valley and the Lamar Valley. It took hours but our loop went out the Northeast Gate, through Cooke City, up through the Dead Indian Pass and back to Cody. I’m pretty pleased with the amount of wildlife we saw today. There were dozens of lone bulls enjoying the thick green grass and brilliant sunshine. Some were even taking advantage of the occasional snow drifts liberally sprinkled about the park. We didn’t find the cows and calves until we reached the Lamar Valley. There were hundreds grazing there and I found myself wondering what the scene would have been like 150 years ago when the valley would have been a seething dark mass of bison with little room to observe individuals. Our chance sighting of the black bear was a plus although I would have loved to stop and get a clear photo. The presence of the ranger is, of course, a deterrent. How do they get there so quickly? It’s like the bear calls in and says” Hey, I’m heading over to Chittendon Road. Want to get together?” I always enjoy seeing deer wherever I go. We don’t have Mule Deer in NH so it was interesting to see how really large their ears are. Pronghorns ( not antelope ) are new to us. Even though the females have horns, you can easily tell who’s in charge. And finally, I couldn’t believe our luck when we came around this corner and there in the field were a mating pair of coyotes. How do I know they were a mating pair? Think about that for a minute. Carl let me out of the truck to sit on the side of the road while he parked further down the road. And you can always tell when you’ve been too long at a spot by the number of vehicles parked on side of the road and in some cases in the road like it happened today in front of us. I actually thought mean bad things about two guys, one who pulled up, in the road, between me and the Bison bull, the other grabbed a tripod, a telephoto lens such as you see at a ball game and then walked within 100 feet of the same bull. I mean really. Did he want to count his eyelashes?

Day 11- Randall, MN to Sioux Falls, SD

Our departure time of 10:00 was met although as much as I want to see this beautiful country, it was hard saying goodbye to my friend and her family. It’s been 5 years since we last saw them. Who knows how long it will be until we see them again. I am continually amazed at the farms and fields we drive by today. When I think of Minnesota, I think of thick forests, lots of wild animals and 10,000 lakes. We were amazed by the miles of corn and other crops mixed in with countless herds of cattle, sheep and horses. The county roads we drove took us past a most unusual church with a silo attached and in the stubble of last years corn fields we observed some tall reddish brown birds with I think are cranes, what kind I’ll have to figure out later. We came near to Walnut Grove, homestead of Laura Ingalls. I guess I should have investigated our route a little more closely. It might have been interesting to see what the town has done to honor her. About 20 miles from the MN-SD border we came upon the most amazing site. As far as the eye could see, in both directions, were huge wind powered generators harnessing the constant and sometimes quite strong breezes that cruise through the open plains. Although the route we traveled today was long, it certainly wasn’t boring. Gas prices today were at 3.39 a gallon. Our home for the evening is the Wal-Mart in Sioux Falls. We obliged them by purchasing the weeks groceries, thereby paying for camping fee for the night and then some. Smart fellows, those CEOs who allow RV parking.

Waiting On Summer

Graduation has come and gone, the lupines are going to seed and my calendar says it's the middle of June. SO, why doesn't the weather act like it? Today, we were set up at the Sugar Hill Lupine Festival Open Air Market and I had a sweatshirt on. People who know me are probably picking their collective jaws off the floor after reading this but it was downright cool. The sun made only fleeting appearances most of the day and there was a constant breeze. On the plus side, it didn't rain and any day we can get the tent down and back into the truck dry is a good one. I had a couple of after thoughts about our vacation. First and foremost, it wasn't long enough. They never are. Secondly, I forgot to mention how we were privileged to experience a "pack howl" while at the Shy Wolf Sanctuary in Naples, FL. It started with a tentative attempt from Mark, our guide but was soon picked up by a couple of nearby wolves and before we knew it, most of the animals had their noses pointed skyward. It was electrifying and the hairs literally stood up on my arms and the back of my neck. And, like so many other wonderful experiences, it was over much too quickly. Now, back in New Hampshire, it's been tough to find inspiration for my camera although this little fox was sort of intriguing. For the most part,I approve of people feeding wild animals during the lean winter months but this guy has a regular route he travels, along the road, mind you, from the Appalachian Mountain Club ( who should know better ) at the top of Crawford Notch to Fabyan's Station with a stop at the Zealand campground in there as well. We were told this by a guy, in a vehicle, on the side of the road who was tossing bits of food to him as we spoke. Sadly, this kind of reinforcing behavior can only lead to the beautiful red fox ending up as road kill. We'll be in Sugar Hill on Saturday and Sunday, the 19th and 20th. Come visit and we can talk "pictures".

Captain Barry And The Manatees

We finally had a beautiful day, the last one here before we head to the Port of Miami to board the Norwegian Sky. A call was placed to Captain Barry’s who guarantee manatee sightings or you don’t pay for the trip. Now, that is pretty good because most whale watches that you participate in don’t offer a similar guarantee. Of course, sightings are not the same as actually seeing manatees. Manatees are mammals, breathing air as we do so they must come to the surface every three to five minutes to breathe. The rest of their time is spent submerged near the bottom grazing on sea grasses or snoozing. SO, to see manatees, you must be patient, watch for noses at the surface or see a “footprint”, the disturbed water where there tail fluke was. In fact, we saw the shapes of more than a dozen manatees swimming along beneath the surface. I managed to catch a shot of a couple of noses but after having had the experience of actually snorkeling with these gentle giants in King’s Bay a few years ago, I was less than amazed with the whole trip. What was entertaining was the Osprey nest and youngster who, we’re told, just a day or two ago was testing his wings to strengthen them. Our guide, Captain George, says that once the young leave the nest, they never return. We also saw a few alligators and as it turns out, they are unusually aggressive this time of year because it’s mating season. The excitement was provided for us by two guys who had been out fishing and were cleaning their catch when we returned to the dock. The guts were tossed into the canal and caused a frenzy among the Jack fish. The water roiled as if Piranha were devouring some hapless creature. A good day for the fishermen means a good day for the Jack and everyone is happy. On our way back to the resort, we swung into the little community of Goodland for munch at a place called the Little Bar Restaurant. The food was good, the service was amiable and the bill didn’t send us into monetary shock. Filled to our max, we saw a young Osprey in the nest along the road. The only thing to put a damper on this day was I had to do laundry and pack, again. If you'd like a pleasant 1 1/2 hour tour of the waterways leading out to the Gulf, you can check out Captain Barry at http://www.see-manatees.com

Gone Fishing

We’re having one of “those” days. It’s getting towards the end of our fun time and each of us are a bit cranky. Carl has gone down to the hot tub and I have been performing a few domestic engineering challenges otherwise known as housework. Yes, even on vacation at a time share, there are dishes and clothes to be done as well as clutter to be picked up or straightened . The weather is sultry with little or no breeze which just adds to the tension in the air. I’m no expert but it’s almost like there’s something brewing off the coast. Our sky from the first floor balcony is gray, the same color as the gulf water and I can so only a few people walking the beach. Yesterday, I mentioned to Carl that today would be his day to decide what we were going to do and he just shrugged his shoulders. We still have tomorrow to try to visit those manatees. I wouldn’t feel comfortable chancing it today. So, after lunch, we hopped into the car and went out towards the Everglades. We stopped at 10,000 Islands State Park and walked into the observatory tower overlooking the wetlands. On the way back we saw our first wild alligator of the trip. It only took 5 days but I must confess we really hadn’t been looking that hard. We were most of the way back to the resort when we came upon this Osprey perched on top of a utility pole. I didn’t see it then but when I came back to the unit and plugged my media card in, I was able to see that Mr. Osprey had just grabbed a fish before we came upon him ( or her ).

A Day To Remember

Today, I was kissed by a wolf named Tien. We visited the Shy Wolf Sanctuary in Naples. The owners rescue as many pure wolves and wolf dog crosses as they have room for. They spend weeks, months and sometimes years undoing the harm, both physical and psychological, to these magnificent creatures. Most of the time, they succeed and the animal can be adopted by people who wish to provide the right kind of loving and care. Sometimes, the animal cannot be returned to a state of grace and will live out it’s entire remaining life in their loving and capable hands. Our guide, Mark, one of the many volunteers who care for the animals, took us from enclosure to enclosure and explained about each of the animals. The sanctuary marks each enclosure with a grading system, level one through four, which tells the volunteers who may enter or who should be wary. For instance, some of the enclosures, level one, are completely off limits to visitors and most of the staff because the animal inside may be dangerous. Some of the wolves have been abused by men and this information is noted on the doors as well. We were allowed to enter most of the Level Four enclosures with our guide after we filled out a liability waiver. We were warned to remove hats, earrings, handbags and other items because some of the animals have developed attachments to these items and delight in snatching them from unsuspecting visitors. One of the wolf dogs has even been known to nip people on the backsides as they leave his enclosure. It doesn’t matter how much “wolf” is in the animal for each of them carry their own baggage. In fact, the animal to be most cautious around was more dog than wolf. The sanctuary does not charge an admission fee and is completely dependant on donations. There is good news for the Sanctuary. The owners have recently purchased a much larger piece of land and, in time, will be able to not only increase the number of rescued animals but will also be able to provide even more room for these beautiful creatures to roam than they have now. If you find yourself on the gulf coast of Florida, I urge you to give them a call. Please check out their website for more information about the work they do and the animals which also includes 4 panthers, a couple of arctic foxes, a half dozen prairie dogs and a handful of tortoises. Here’s the link http://www.shywolfsanctuary.com

I Have Been SOOOOO Bad

I was just signing up for this new service called ArtSpider which will go on line later this fall and the application asked for a blog site. It was at that moment that I realized I haven't done any blogging since April. I've thought about it a couple of times but when I gave it a bit more thought, I didn't really have anything positive to say. Maybe that's the point! My photography is a part of me and with the economy the way it's been, in a downward spiral, I've also found myself in a downward spiral. My husband, Carl would call it depression. Since he's not medically certified, I'll disagree with him.

Here's what I'd call it: When I'm "UP", I'll grab my camera, hop into the truck and drive around, stopping when I see something interesting. I'll travel back roads where I have no idea where they'll come out or how I'll even find them another time. This has always served me well in the past. Some days I get great results while others not so much. Now, in the "DOWN" times with higher gas prices, I don't feel I should spend the money to drive nowhere for no purpose to accomplish nothing. During "UP" times, my work would be selling well, shows would have hordes of people stopping by to chat and business cards would be flying off the table. Last week, a "DOWN" time, I handed out just 4 cards, sold half of what I'd sold the previous year and had just 2 conversations with passersby about my work. Most walkers shoved their hands deeper into their pockets and continued their aimless stroll past my tent. I won't continue on. I only meant to point out why I haven't felt much like blogging lately. I think it will get better. I think during the next few months, the "Christmas" season, people will be more likely to buy and then their will be nothing.

One last thing and then I'll get off my soap box. We've had a lot of construction in Whitefield and that has shaken up the wildlife. I managed to capture the image of a beautiful bear in Twin Mountain who was becoming a regular visitor until they mowed the field he was grazing in. That was a bummer. My bull moose is still in hiding. I'm getting the feeling he'll be growing that rack for another year and I didn't get my kayak so there are still no Loon photos in my inventory. Don't even get me started about the hummingbirds. I'll just have to wait until next year for that one, too......

A Wildlife Parade

I'd forgotten how much wonder nature holds for those who either have become distant to it's charms or hardened by the rigors of living away from "civilization". Case In Point. As some of you may know, we put an addition on the side of our house last year for my mom to live in. For the past 25 years or so, she's been living in an urban setting. Now she lives in the middle of 15 acres of woodland at the end of a 1/4 mile private dirt road, virtually in the pucker brush. Over the past week or so, she has been treated morning and night to a never ending and truly fascinating parade of wildlife. It started one evening with a pair of yearling does. Our variety is white tailed deer. The very next evening it was the fattest porcupine I've ever had the pleasure of viewing. The following day it was a partridge strutting his stuff to attract a mate. The next day we were visited in the middle of the day by a young buck who decided to nibble on my husband's day lilies shoots that are above the ground by a good 4 inches. Yesterday, early in the morning, we had the pleasure of watching a 2-3 year old doe grazing on the lawn for a while and she returned that evening as well. During the winter, we had a beautiful red fox visit to feed on some cracked corn we'd put out for just that purpose. Now, she's wondering what's next. I've pointed out that there is a real possibility for both moose and bear to wander out of the woods. She says she doesn't mind anything but she doesn't want to turn the corner of our house when she's out walking and run into a skunk. She's game for anything else.

Some days I found it hard to choose just one image to show how beautifully diverse Vancouver isand was. We came up a rather large flock of Tundra and Trumpet swans feeding in a flooded field about a hundred miles from where we stayed. It was a particular treat for me because I've only ever seen domesticated swans at parks and zoos.