We took a trip to Lovell, Wyoming and visited the Bighorn Canyon. We entered via the southern end of the canyon, as there are several different ways to get there. You may wonder how did it get its name or what makes this place so popular. Most likely, the biggest attraction is fishing on the Bighorn River which attracts alot of fishermen. If you are a horse lover, it is the home of a herd of wild horses.

Although all of these are factors, the canyon most likely got its name from the Bighorn Sheep. This is a family of bighorns that were on top of one of the peaks during our visit.

Of course, we came to see the wild horses, and soon after we entered the canyon, this small herd of horses entered the highway we were on.  They got close to the car and we took lots of pictures of them. However, if you are thinking of wild horses, this tells the story best.

 During this trip, we saw a couple more of the wild horses in this setting. There were actually 2 horses initially and after we had taken several pictures, a black stallion appeared on the scene. He was in a clump of bushes to the right of this horse. This was one of our favorite photo's as it captured the wild horse as well as the landscape of the canyon.

 We could leave the canyon without showing you a picture of some of the rock formations. Supposedly, the entire canyon was the bottom of a lake, most likely millions of years ago and many of these formations were a result of the water and ultimately the erosion from the water.

 We had to add this photo as it most likely represents the picture that most people have in their minds when they think of wild horses in the mountains. Look carefully and you will see a 4th horse in the lower left corner of the picture.

 and how about a close up of one of the horses. It was the zoom lens that made this possible. After you have visited the Bighorn Canyon, and even this picture, you wonder how the horses survive. There is a lot of ground with no grass, there are plenty of rocks, sage brush and other non-appetizing growth. But, somehow they survive.

 Finally, we leave you with a picture of the rocks on top of one of the ridges. There were lots of scenic views, this just being one of them.

We have plans to return to the blog with other photos we took during this trip. Some of which were taken at a horse show at the foothills of the Bighorn Canyon.

Another Great Day in Yellowstone National Park

As you can see by the first photograph, there was snow in the mountains in Yellowstone. It was also cold. The lower elevations showed just a trace of snow but the upper elevations had plenty of snow. We were hopeful we would spot some bears before we left but they must have been testing their winter habitat or were there til spring.

Before we even entered the park outside of Gardiner we spotted the first male elk. He and one we found in Mammoth Hot Springs appeared to be either enjoying the sun, were tired from perhaps breeding activity, were resting for more vigorous activity, or were just plain lazy. This one was obvious asleep and it was early in the morning.

We traveled east to Cooke City where the town had already prepared for the snow and winter. A number of the shops were closed but there was not enough snow to attract the snow mobilers. We returned thru Mammoth to see this guy had joined the girls in the city. He like the first one was in a very relaxed position. Could it be that these 2 guys lost the battle for breeding rights and are waiting for next year.

Oh yes, the big horn sheep were in the hills between Gardiner and Mammoth Hot Springs. This gentleman was sporting quite a herd of ladies. He could have claimed, "king of the hill", based on his position in the landscape.Did we see any bison? You know you can count on that. I wanted to comment on the bison, but not this one. As we were heading west past the Tower Falls junction we happened upon a herd of bison on the road. What made this spectacular was the fact that we had our 2 great danes on their second trip with us to Yellowstone and they were enthralled with the bison. These 2 young danes were out of control and I didn't dare open the window to the car or step outside. Although it would have been a great photograph to see how the herd had traffic backed up on both sides but safety was our first concern, so you'll just have to imagine the image.Were there any canines? On a previous trip through the park this year we had the opportunity to see 5 of the young wolves that are now resident in the Lamar Valley. We are always hopeful that we'll see them again. However the first sighting of canines was this young coyote that drifted across the road in front of us.and then it happened on our return from Cooke City. In the Lamar Valley there were a number of cars and people with spotting scopes looking to the south. I was hopeful that it might be a bear so I stopped and asked what they were looking at. They said, it was the Lamar wolves on a carcass. I looked through their scopes and could barely see the wolves as they were so far away. Similar to what I have done in the past, I said to my wife, "let's go, we're not going to get close enough to take a good photograph". These people have been here for several hours and the wolves are not near as close as they were earlier in the year.

We had hardly started down the road when guess what walked out on the road in front of us. We followed it until I could get out of the car and start taking pictures. Yes, it was the closest that I had been to a Lamar wolf since I found Casanova, #302, in a very similar situation almost 4 years ago. This is my favorite image of those that I captured.

When I got home and started reviewing the images from our trip, I realized that this wolf had been with the others feasting on the carcass when we passed through that area 2 hours before. It must have gotten it's fill and perhaps was heading back to the hillside to feed the younger wolves.

I hope we don't have to wait another 4 years to get this close to another wolf.

Yellowstone, January 2011

Marty and I needed a break, so off to Chico Hot Springs and 2 days in Yellowstone. Chico was wonderful as usual and Yellowstone was wintery, snowy, and no wolves close enough for a photograph as we drove from the Northwest entrance to Cooke City and back. The yield of photographs that made it to the blog was about 3%. What you are about to see does represent each of the species that we saw.

We saw coyotes from the minute we entered the park until we left. Not an abundance but they were there. If we had experienced more sun and less snow we would most likely have seen more. We followed this one across a large area in the Lamar Valley when it decided to take a rest.

Every where you looked there were bison. If you need a photograph of a bison, let me know, name the pose, and we'll have it on it's way to you. This was our favorite. Unlike many we saw who were exhausted from digging thru the snow for something to eat, this one seemed to know where it was going - it had been digging in the snow evidenced by the snow on it's body.

This fox did find the sun on the top of a large rock and was enjoying the sun and perhaps a rest from having to travel through very deep snow.

This bighorn ram was with several of his buddies near the Soda Butte. He raised his head out of the snow long enough for me to take this photograph, then back to work.

The elk population in Yellowstone is at it's lowest for a number of years. The wolves that were re-introduced have been the major factor in causing this decline in the numbers. When we first saw this gentleman he was eating twigs, not a hearty meal. When we returned he was resting. Not sure if it was because of the chore digesting the twigs or the effort it took to get his belly full. He was one of the few elk we saw. Nice rack.

I've saved this photograph for last. After seeing the impact of the winter on Yellowstone, the last place you would have expected to see ducks swimming in the river was here. I got some pictures while sitting in the car, I didn't seem to be bothering them. We saw at least 15 of them while we were stopped. Then I decided to get out of the car for some close ups. They voted not to stay, however, I did get this one on the move before they were all gone.

We'll probably return in the next 6 to 8 weeks. By that time we may get to see a few of the bears who have had enough hibernation.

Another day in the Lamar Valley

There is never a lack of bison in the Lamar Valley, it's just deciding if you have enough pictures of them or if there is a unique image that you haven't captured. We were near Soda Butte and Marty was walking our 2 great dane dogs when I spotted this guy across the valley on the ridge foraging in the snow. I took several shots and was pleased with the results when I got home. This is good enough that it can now be found in art gallery's.
Not far down the road were more bison, this time they were close to the road so I decided to get a close up of one of the guys.
This time of the year, the Big Horn sheep come out of the mountains primarily to find food. I typically find them in the area around Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner, but on this day we were 30 miles east and here was a big brute on the side of the hill attempting to feed himself.
The wolves were only in range of spotting scopes. In addition, Rich McIntyre, one of the wolf specialists in Yellowstone had put up signs asking tourists not to stop in an area where the wolves cross the road. This is typically done to not inhibit the movement of the wolves from their feeding area to their dens in the hills to the north of Lamar. But there were some smaller 4 legged canines in the area. This one I tracked for several miles. . . . . .
and finally, I found another coyote, this time I went for a close up.
One more round of photographs from this trip will appear soon.

That's an unusual rock on the crest of the ridge

Driving through the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park, I spotted something on the crest of a ridge. My first impression was it was a rock, an unusual rock to say the least, but a closer examination with my binoculars, was it was alive and moving. This is a close up of the same image.
This guy and several of his buddies were working the crest, not much to eat but within the next month there should be some morsels of grass appearing.