Saturday, June 29, 2013

Photo Shoot

Hi All,

This morning we visited two of the most photogenic spots in Grand Teton National Park.

First stop was Schwabacher's Landing along a quiet side channel of the Snake River. 


The reflections in the nearly still water were beautiful.

Sandy gave her new camera a real workout here. In addition to scenes like this, she got some great wildlife shots soon to be on her Facebook page.

On the way home we stopped on Mormon Row to photograph the barn from a different vantage point.

Right after that we got the scope out to watch a pair of very young antelope calves. There was too much heat distortion for a picture.

As long as the scope was out, Carl took this shot of the very top of Grand Teton at 13,770 feet.
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, June 26, 2013

Back Country Day

Hi All,

We were originally concerned about the requirement to work four days a week. However, one of those days is a " Back Country" day when we hike the park trails, interacting with visitors and promoting bear awareness. Since that's what we do on some of our days off, it has turned out not to be a problem.

This morning as we drove to the trailhead, the low clouds and high clouds split giving us nice mountain views with bison in the foreground.

We were delayed for a few minutes because some of the bison decided it was a good time to stand in the road.

Our hike took us to the north end of String Lake past views like this.

In the evening, a brief shower gave way to sunshine and this almost double rainbow.
We are still in the mode of wondering why they don't make us pay them to do this!

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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Monday, June 24, 2013

Life in the Wildlife Brigade

Hi All,

The last few days were pretty quiet with no major moose or bear jams.

We did have visitors in our site again. The two sibling one year old moose wandered into our site, checked out the plant on the table and then, we thought, licked the table cloth. In the morning we found this! Guess he took a bite.


More clear skies today. This panorama was taken from the Cathedral Group Turnout

Just when we thought the day would end quietly, we came upon several cars parked blocking the road. After getting traffic flowing, we found the cause. This beautiful bull moose was feeding near the stream.

Finally, the moose wandered off and we headed home an hour late. Good thing we get double time after eight hours ;-).

Not so fast! Two miles from the campground we had to wait for about 50 bison to cross on front of us.
Another wonderful day on the Wildlife Brigade.

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, June 21, 2013

Moose & Solstice

Hi All,

Shortly after breakfast we noticed about a dozen photographers behind our coach. It was a photo seminar led by a local Jackson, WY professional and they had found "our" moose. A young male and female, probably siblings from last year were browsing in the willows 50 yards behind our site.

After an otherwise quiet day, we drove to Coulter Bay for a Summer Solstice potluck with the other wildlife brigade volunteers.

Here Carol Schoner tells the story of the WY woman who celebrated the solstice in the 1920's by throwing red dirt in the fire. We did the same. It's a fun group of people.


On the way home we watched the sun set behind the Teton Range. It was after 9PM and the sun still shone through Cascade Canyon. This is, after all, the longest day of the year!
As we pulled into our campsite we found a cow moose and calf feeding next to our motorhome. It was wonderful to see but we think this might be the same cow we previously photographed with two calves :-(.

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, June 19, 2013

"Busy Work Week"

Hi All,

Our four work days went by quickly. Sunday we spent the morning at a "Bear Jam" where a female black bear and two cubs were up in a tree near the road. No pictures but we did get to watch the cubs nursing between keeping the traffic flowing and keeping people from getting too close.

Monday we spent four hours with this beautiful bull moose, feeding right next to the road. After we got the traffic moving, the moose wandered across the meadow within 50 yards of the Visitor Center on the way to the river.


Tuesday was more moose jams and campground patrols looking for items that might attract bears. We had dinner with Jim & Marilyn, enjoying the great onion soup Kim made.

Wednesday was our "Back Country" day when we hike along the trails promoting bear awareness and answering general visitor questions. This week we hiked around Jenny Lake with a stop at Hidden Falls. It was a total of about seven miles but we were sustained by views like this

and this.

This fresh pile of bear scat right in the middle of trail reminded us to stay alert
We knew bears were in the area but we didn't see any.

Life is good, 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, June 16, 2013

More Scenery than Wildlife

Hi All,

We spent the day touring the park with Jim & Marilyn Rosenthal, friends from NH who are now full time RVers. We found moose, bison and antelope but not too many or too close.

Along Mormons Row we found that some barns have not fared as well but are still photogenic.


From the top of Signal Mountain we had this great view of the Tetons and Jackson Lake.

In the evening we went to the Jackson Hole Rodeo. 
Another fun day.

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, June 14, 2013

Camera Test

Hi All,

Sandy's new camera for photographing wildlife is a Fujifilm HS50 EXR. The big appeal is a 42x zoom lens equivalent to 24-1,000 mm.

We spent today driving around looking for things to photograph (not too hard here). Two miles down the road we stopped at a Gros Ventre River overlook and found five moose. Sandy took 1,000 pictures, one for each mm on her new lens ;-). Check Sandy's Facebook page for her images.

Carl shot this bull moose image with his phone, through binoculars.


From there we drove to Mormon's Row, a former Mormon settlement with several wonderfully photogenic barns.

This is the most famous Moulton barn which will be 100 years old in July.



Next we drove down Antelope Flats Road and found a herd of bison crossing the road, including this mother and calf.

On the evening we drove to the AMK Ranch, a U of Wyoming/Park Service research facility. Along with Walt & Betty, we had a BBQ dinner and an interesting presentation about elk migration and the effects of nutrition and predators.

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, June 12, 2013

Six Moose Day

Hi All,

We spent the morning at a meeting where we met lots of people in the Resource Management Division and heard some interesting presentations.

In the afternoon we were back on patrol and immediately had a "Moose Jam" on the bridge near park headquarters. Two hours later the moose wandered deep into the willows and we went back to the coach. 

After supper we hiked along the Gros Ventre River where a cow moose walked across the trail about 20' in front of us.


We then drove along the river until we saw several cars parked, a sure sign of wildlife. To our amazement, there were three bull moose resting along the river. These two sat in the grass.

Soon another one wandered in. This guy continued to eat the young willow shoots.

The river was about 20 feet below us so we had great views.

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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On Our Own

Hi All,

Our training is complete and Tuesday we patrolled on our own. It was a pretty quiet day so we drove to some of the off the beaten track spots.

Here's a nice place to hike in spite of the name


Here's a spot along the Snake River

The only wildlife action we dealt with was a bison "jam" when these guys got close to the road and stopped traffic.
This place is awesome!

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, June 6, 2013

Moose in Campground

Hi All,

We spotted the cow moose in a vacant campsite and parked about 100' away. She got closer and closer and then the twins came out from the thick brush.




Before we realized it, they were about 20' away as you can see from the car window frame and the calves nursing.

This was the view from our table at Signal Mountain Lodge
A great day

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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Two Hike Day

Hi All,

We celebrated Sandy's birthday with two short hikes. In the morning we hiked about 2.5 miles along the wetlands near Moose-Wilson Road. We had great views and lots of birds.

The lupine are beginning to bloom.


These cylindrical dirt formations are the winter work of pocket gophers. To avoid predators and harsh weather, they dig tunnels in the snow. Later, when they need to expand their underground burrows, they pack the dirt into the snow tunnels. When the snow melts, these dirt formations appear everywhere.

After lunch we hiked along a dirt road to an abandoned dude ranch overlooking the Snake River. We were treated to more mountain & wildflower views

and some neat old buildings. Notice the cloud formation in the upper right. Kind of spooky. We didn't notice it until we were reviewing the photos.
Dinner at Signal Mountain Lodge capped off a wonderful day.

On the way back to the coach we spotted the cow moose with twins. Those pictures will be in another email.

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, June 5, 2013

On the Job

Hi All,

We spent our first two hours managing a moose jam on a narrow road with few places to pull off. Carl managed the traffic while Sandy ensured visitors didn't get too close and answered questions. It was really great fun, with enthusiastic and cooperative visitors excited to see this beautiful bull moose.

One woman exclaimed,"This is the highlight of our trip" and a German visitor was enthralled, this was the first moose he had ever seen.

The jam ended when the moose wandered into the brush to escape the mid day sun.

We then went to the Rockefeller Preserve and hiked to Phellps Lake. Along the way we talked to visitors about wildlife, bear safety and wildflowers. 

Lake Creek tumbles over this lovely cascade.


Once at the lake, we ate lunch with this view

and this view!

This is one of the flowers we were unsure about. Later research determined it is a "sticky geranium".

It was a wonderful day. We realize that it will be more hectic later in the season buy so far we would pay the Park Service to let us do this!

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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Tuesday, June 4, 2013

On the Job Training

Hi All,

Even before we got out of the coach, we had a great wildlife sighting.

A moose cow came through the campground with her two young calves.


We spent the day cruising the park with our supervisor, Kate Wilmot, looking for wildlife and careless campers who might attract bears.

At a late afternoon "Moose Jam" we saw this view of Grand Teton looking like a volcano.
Still having a great time.

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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