LivingOurDream

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Back Country Day

Hi All,

As we mentioned previously, our fourth "work" day each week is Back Country, when we hike trails talking to visitors.

Today we hiked the Death Canyon Trail to the Phelps Lake overlook. It was not too long, not too steep, just right ;-).

Great views from the overlook

We saw no megafauna but this wooly caterpillar was beautiful. It will morph into a yellow moth with dark spots.

Driving back from our hike, we stopped to help with several bear jams. The black bears are really wolfing down the berries along the road.

At one jam, the park superintendent, Mary Gibson-Scott drove by, stopping to say "Hi" and "Thank You for working so hard" . We told her we had the best job in the park!

Love,

Sandy & Carl

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Hi All,

Not too many photos or emails recently. We have been working nine, occasionally ten hour days as the bears are eating berries along the road, causing snarled traffic and some people getting too close.

We are still loving it but it is tiring at times.

As fall approaches, mornings are crisp and fog settles into the valley along the mountains.

After the cooler theft, we put up warning signs and talked to every picnicker we encountered, advising them to keep coolers in cars or bear proof boxes throughout the area. Imagine our surprise when we found this cooler right under the warning sign! We found the family nearby and they put it away

Here's a product we never saw in Lowell!

Many of the bears along the road are close. How about OVER the road. This bear climbed a stout black hawthorn bush and occasionally leaned out over the street. Fortunately, traffic was light and visitors got great views as they drove under the bear.

Bears are not all we see. This mule deer fawn walked within 20 feet of us at Jenny Lake campground.

Love,

Sandy & Carl

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Cooler Thief!

Hi All,

We previously mentioned the black bear sow with a cub that had been stealing food from campers and picnickers. We recently got these photos documenting the theft of a cooler.

Imagine sitting in a chair along the lake when suddenly you realize a bear is standing next to you. That was the experience of a woman sitting at String Lake about 20 seconds before she took this picture. You can see how far into the lake she jumped.

Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, she left her cooler behind. The sow ripped open the cooler, found some cantaloupe and fed it to her cub.

Getting human food is very bad behavior and often results in trapping and relocation of the bear or worse.

We were all relieved a few days ago, when this bear and cub were seen eating berries about eight miles south of the picnic area. Hopefully, she will stay away from campers and picnickers.

Love,

Sandy & Carl

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Thursday, September 5, 2013

End of a Wonderful Year

Hi All,

Last night marked the start of the Jewish New Year. We attended Rosh Hashanah services in Jackson and it was the first time we were ever delayed on the way to services by a bison jam. About 100 animals wandered back and forth across the road.

The Jackson Hole Jewish Community held services on the Episcopal Church, a magnificent log structure.

As we looked back on the last few days of year 5773, we recalled

Moose walking past our motorhome

Grizzly bears eating berries near the road ( Thank you Elliot for this great photo)

and another beautiful hike around Phelps Lake for a look into Death Canyon

Shana Tova to our Jewish friends and family.

Love,

Sandy & Carl

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Idaho Expedition & More

Hi All,

The plan for today was to drive across Teton Pass and explore eastern Idaho.

Our trip was delayed when we found the moose cow and twins near our motorhome.

What a Day!

Hi All,

After soaking in the scenery yesterday, today we decided to focus on wildlife. This worked out very well since the smoke from Idaho wildfires severely limited visibility.

In this otherwise unremarkable image of Elliot photographing pronghorn, notice that the mountains are almost invisible due to the smoke.

In the morning we toured both the Craig Thomas VC and the Rockefeller Preserve. We then went in search of animals. During the course of the day we saw bison, pronghorn, cow moose with twin calves, a bull moose with a huge rack, a black bear and a fleeting look at a cow elk. Carl didn't get any good wildlife photos but watch Sandy's Facebook page.

We also managed to buy some jewelry in town and Roberta and Elliot posed under one of Jackson's famous elk antler arches.