Friday, June 24, 2016

Yellowstone National Park

Hi All,

Today we went on a 12 hour, 250 mile "expedition" to Yellowstone.

After a quick map stop at Grant Village Visitor Center we stopped at the Bridge Bay Area and hiked to Natural Bridge. The arch is over 50 feet high. For scale, check out the hiker under the arch.

At the Mud Volcano site we breathed in the sulphur fumes from the Dragons Mouth.

Next was Artist Point. Always a special spot in spite of the hundreds of people sharing the view.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is deep and colorful.
Along the way we saw several big bull elk and bison but no bear.

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 20, 2016

Dark Day at Grand Teton

Hi All,

Three animals were hit and killed by cars in the last 24 hours, one pronghorn and two bears. The loss of any of these animals tears at our hearts but one loss was especially painful.

You have probably read our comments about grizzly bear 399, perhaps the most photographed bear in the country. She came out of her den in April with one white faced cub. A local photographer named Bernie provided this photo.

At about 9:30 last night the cub was hit by a car. Not only is the park devastated but the news spread fast. By mid day today there was a Washington Post piece about the bears online.

Please drive carefully, especially at night.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Saturday, June 18, 2016

Showing Off "Our" Park

Hi All,

Two couples we know from the Shalom Roamers group are visiting Grand Teton and we were eager to show them around. We started with a wonderful Shabbat dinner. Dave & Myra are next to Carl. Geoff is behind the camera and Ellen is next to Sandy.

First stop on our tour was Mormon Row and the "pink house".

At Schwabacher's Landing we saw  the usual glorious mountain vistas. Geoff was here at 6 AM for even better light and almost still water.

Lots of critters around; this ground squirrel dove into his burrow as we approached but was too curious to stay inside.

Large numbers of this beautiful Melissa Blue butterfly had recently hatched. This photo is a screen shot from our iPhone Butterfly app.

Geoff got this shot of a huge Barrow's goldeneye family. We counted 23 ducklings.

At the Snake River Overlook we got this image.

 In 1942, Ansel Adams did much better from the same spot!

Tomorrow our friends move on to Yellowstone and we go back to "work"😃.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Madam Secretary

Hi,

Pretty quiet on our three patrol days this week. Just two Grizzlies (mom and cub), two black bears and assorted moose, elk and pronghorn. Many of our "jams" we're people hoping the bears would come back. It was a little weird to roll up on 25 cars parked along the road with no animals in sight. 

We worked a couple of 7am to 3 pm shifts this week. Getting out at 7 was hard but getting home at 3 was really nice.

Lots of clouds this week, offering peek-a-boo views of the mountain peaks.

This morning we got to hear Interior Secretary Sally Jewell address the Grand Teton staff. Very impressive woman. Great passion for the resources and the vision to be collaborative rather than confrontational when dealing with difficult issues.

People typically expect cabinet secretaries to dress formally but Sally was dressed for the hike she was going on right after her remarks.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Saturday, June 11, 2016

White Grass Ranch

Hi All,

Opened in 1919, this dude ranch was the third in Jackson Hole. Long out of business, this 14 building historic complex is being restored. 

The main building just got a new, hand crafted porch railing.


Several of the cabins have beautiful fieldstone chimneys. 
It's a neat place and we got to spend about an hour chatting with the caretaker and his wife about the history of the ranch and the efforts to restore it.

Carl's favorite recent APOD image is this Hubble infrared photo of the Horsehead nebula in Orion.
As for the Wildlife Brigade, activity has been spotty with some shifts busy with grizzly bears and others quiet. In the last two days we have had bison and moose wandering through our campground. 

Love,

Sandy & Carl 
Living & Traveling in our Motorhome
Volunteering across America
617-435-8502
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Friday, June 3, 2016

Nice Day for a Hike

Hi All,

While in town Thursday doing errands we spotted this beat up log cabin sporting a Direct TV antenna. Quite a contrast.


First stop today was Schwabachers Landing, one of the most photogenic spots in the park.
We saw numerous interesting birds including Barrow's goldeneye, widgeon, cinnamon teal and green-tailed towhee.

It was too early in the day to see beaver but there are several dams and lodges in the area.

After a picnic lunch we hiked the road to 4 Lazy F Ranch. Clouds had developed over the mountains but the arrowleaf balsaroot was blooming

and unlike previous years there was no construction equipment parked near the barn to clutter the pictures.
Another nice 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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Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Still an Amazing Place

Hi All,

After our morning orientation session we got a PO box.

PO Box 96

Moose, WY 83012

if you need to send us "snail mail".

We then went exploring down Moose-Wilson Road. 

They really have clear skies here!

We found a minor moose jam as this young cow was feeding near the road.
We stopped at Dornan's for gas. Where else can you pump gas and soak in this kind of scenery?
Still, some folks need to "embellish" even this place of incredible natural beauty.
Today is our first full day of patrolling. Lots of recent grizzly bear activity so it should be interesting.

Love,

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