Friday, August 30, 2013

A Tour with Roberta & Elliot

Hi All,

Roberta & Elliot are visiting for a week from Massachusetts. Today we toured the north end of the park

Here's the view from Oxbow Bend


Here are the Schultzs at Willow Flats

The view from Jackson Lake Lodge always amazes 

Here the water from Jackson Dam flows into the Snake River

Unfortunately, this leaves Coulter Bay high and dry

Interesting clouds enhance our view from Signal Mountain

On the way back we had great views of a grizzly bear along the road. 

We ended the day with this view from the deck at Heart Six Ranch where Roberta & Elliot are staying
Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

A Fabulous, Busy Week

Hi All,

Our four work days this week were full of bears, moose and more. The bear and cub returned to the picnic area and we followed her as she checked out all the spots where people might leave food. One of the other wildlife brigadiers said she was "cooler shopping". She finally swam across the lake with her cub.

Later as we patrolled Jenny Lake campground we didn't find bear but we did find this young mule deer.


Sandy found a great surprise for dinner. Live lobster are $16 a pound here. They cook some and freeze them for about the same price. However, the day we were shopping, they must have made too many. The lobsters were. " buy one-get two free!". So, for $16 we got three. They were good, not great but we are in Wyoming not Maine.

After a long day patrolling, we returned to find this bill moose near our motorhome.

Today we headed out for a hike and found grizzly 399 on a hillside near the campground. Very exciting but 3/4 of a mile away. 

Further up the road we stopped to soak in the mountain view.

On to Jenny Lake where we took the shuttle boat across the lake to hike to Hidden Falls and beyond.

Here's the cascade below the falls.
When we came back across the lake we found the bear and her cub swimming across the lake and followed her onto the campground. All the food was well stored and the bears did not find anything to eat so they headed north.

It had been a long day so we eagerly returned to the campground for a relaxing evening. However, our moose friend had other ideas and we spent an hour following him through the campground, keeping people from getting too close.

What a life!

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
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Sunday, August 25, 2013

Back to School

Hi All,

The boys are back to home schooling, supplemented by computer classes, monthly dances and a prom, science classes at the zoo, tennis(Wyatt), robotics(Garrett) and Boy Scouts 

PS: The glasses are fake . . . Because chicks dig'em ;-)



Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Saturday, August 24, 2013

Another Fun Day

Hi All,

Today we hiked around String Lake again, hoping to see our problem bear and cub. Signs have been posted along this trail to warn people and get more sighting reports.

We had a delightful four mile hike but never spotted the bear.

In the evening we went to Jackson to see a performance of Up With People, a touring company of 100 very talented young people from about 20 countries who sing and dance.

It was a great show.

Then it was back to the campground to get ready for our four days of "work".

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Bears Everywhere

Hi All,

Our last four days of "work" were dominated by watching and looking for bears. We spent over 20 hours watching black bears along Moose Wilson Rd, keeping people from getting too close and keeping the traffic flowing. It was tiring though exciting. 

On Tuesday,  a black bear sow with a cub stole a cooler that was next to a woman sitting on the shore of String Lake. We believe this was the same bear that got food from campers earlier in the week. The whole wildlife brigade combed the developed areas looking for this bear, hoping to scare it away before it gets hooked on human food (which would likely be a death sentence).

In addition to all the black bear activity, the Grand Teton celebrity grizzly bear, #399, was seen south of us on the National Elk Refuge.

Here's a photo taken by a refuge volunteer.

Bear 399 is 17 years old and this is her third set of triplets! Check out the claws on this grizzly.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Monday, August 19, 2013

Bears on Moose-Wilson Rd

Hi All,

We have spent most of the last two days working at bear jams along Moose-Wilson Rd.

The same young black bear has been feeding on berries along the road, usually within sight of visitors. Every hour or two (s)he crosses the road to get a drink in the pond and swim to cool off.

The bear swims for about ten minutes

and then walks back across the road to eat more berries. This is a rare sight with no oncoming traffic though there were about a dozen cars backed up behind us.

The berries are growing thick along the roadside so we expect to spend lots of time here. People are very enthusiastic and generally cooperative so it has been fun.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
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Sunday, August 11, 2013

Anniversary Bear

Hi All,

It is hard to believe we have been married 45 years. To celebrate we were back on duty today and managed a bear jam along a very narrow, winding road with few safe parking places.

Shortly after we arrived, this small brown colored black bear walked across the road for a drink and swim in the beaver pond. 

After a short swim to cool off it was back into the berry bushes on the hillside to keep fattening up for winter. The bear was soon out of sight and the bear jam petered out.

We grabbed a quick lunch and soon we were back in almost the same spot. The bear was hard to see though it was probably the same one seen earlier. Mostly we saw shaking branches as the bear stripped berries off. This time the crowd had a lot of patience and hung around hoping for a good view.

After about two hours of no good sightings, we were all surprised when a different bear walked in from the opposite direction. This one was much bigger with different coloration and a yellow ear tag.

This bear quickly walked out of sight and we got to keep our anniversary dinner date.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
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Friday, August 9, 2013

Sunset Moose Watching

Hi All,

We spent a quiet morning followed by a  nice three mile hike from Lupine Meadows.

After dinner we drove to the Gros Ventre overlook to look for moose. We were not disappointed.

This beautiful bull was feeding along the river.


The moose was not the only beautiful sight from the overlook.

and behind us the setting sun back lit the Tetons.
What a life.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
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Typical Thursday

Hi All,

It was a typical Thursday with laundry, lunch in Jackson, Internet and shopping.

We experienced some delays getting the laundry ready!



Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Lots of Animals

Hi All,

We had a fabulous day today and we saw a diversity of animals.

It started when Sandy spotted this magnificent bull moose behind our coach. He was backlit so the photo is poor but you can still appreciate the size of this guy.

Once on patrol, we saw two short tailed weasels along the road; far too brief to photograph. Up at String Lake, a visitor told us a bear had swum past her kayak. We spotted the bear across the lake and another visitor insisted it was a 600 pound grizzly bear. Not likely but we try not to deflate folks who want to go home with a good vacation story. As we hiked back to the truck, a small snake crossed the trail in front of us.

Back in "Moose Alley" (Moose-Wilson Rd), we found the cow moose in the pond again. Traffic was light and it was a short lived moose jam.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Monday, August 5, 2013

A Busy Moose Day

Hi All,

This morning we had a moose jam that had an interesting twist. This female moose who usually spends her time in the pond walked up to and across the road. We had to stop traffic in both directions as she munched on the bushes along the road.


We kept the visitors a safe distance away until she was well off the road .
In the afternoon she was back in the pond but she stayed away from the road.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
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Sunday, August 4, 2013

Bears & Boeings

Hi All,

We spent much of today following a black bear in the Jenny Lake area. When the bear walked into the campground, we alerted the campground staff and "hazed" the bear out of the campground.

Fortunately, this bear ignored people and went on his way,


Grand Teton might be the only National Park with an airport as a result of the 1950 compromise that created today's park.

Here is a Boeing 757 on final approach to Jackson Hole Airport at sunset.
Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
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Quiet Day

Hi All,

We slept late, had brunch and spent time on the Internet at the campground office. After lunch we sat out in the sun reading. By supper we had yet to leave the campground.

After dinner we went looking for wildlife.  Two miles from the campground we came to a big crowd (56 people) looking into the river at this beautiful bull moose.


Other than a red fox crossing 50 yards ahead of our car, we saw no more wildlife.

Driving back to the campground we caught this great sunset along Mormon Row.
Tomorrow it's back to "work"

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Thursday, August 1, 2013

Shopping & Panthers

Hi All,

The early day was a typical Thursday with laundry, shopping, Internet and for Carl, a haircut.

In the evening we went to another wildlife research presentation with Betty & Walt. This week's topic was Mountain Lions and it was fascinating. New technology has allowed accurate, real time tracking of collared animals. This was followed up by placing video cameras at locations the lions frequent.

The resulting video footage was amazing and it revealed behaviors never before seen and contrary to most beliefs based on indirect study.

Some of the behaviors reminded us of Ginger!

On the way home, we stopped at Jenny Lake Overlook and found this great view.

The silence was wonderful as we had this normally busy spot to ourselves.

Further south, we found several elk herds including one group of bulls. We capped the day with a sighting of two bull moose along the Gros Ventre River.

Another great day.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Busy Day

Hi All,

Our "back country day" was short on hiking and long on moose sitting. Even though we are not officially on patrol, we try to help out when we hear about a jam.

Shortly after leaving the campground we came upon this herd of bison crossing the ridge.

Soon after, as we approached the VC in Moose, a jam developed on the bridge, Larry, the other South District brigader had just arrived on scene so we stopped to help out for a half hour.

Once the moose walked out of sight, we went on our hike along Jenny Lake. Several bears had been reported in the area. Although we didn't see any, we were close. Several visitors showed us photos of a light colored black bear along the road including one photo of the bear standing against a car.

On the way back to the car we got caught in a thunderstorm with some hail. Our jackets kept the tops dry but our pants got soaked.

On the way back, we crossed the bridge and found a huge crowd so we stopped again. Larry had been there for over three hours so we send him home and worked the jam for over an hour. The warm sun quickly dried our rain soaked pants.

Big crowds on the bridge


because of this guy, no, not the little blonde boy!

In the evening we found this beautiful sun shafting above the mountains.
Another wonderful week.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone 
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