Thursday, July 24, 2014

Again, I thought we were up early enough to get out for the morning light, but I was wrong.  It was too late to get to Schwabacher Road in Grand Teton National Park.  I opted instead for a catch basin where a Ranger had said there were many moose.  It was just a mile down Moose/Wilson Road behind the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center.  There was only one other car there, but no signs of moose.

We hiked a pathway along the water and stood quietly for 10 to 15 minutes at each spot before moving on.  We heard some wild sounds that I think might have been turkeys (certainly not sure).  We saw a blue heron doing some early morning fishing and we caught a fleeting glimpse of the backsides of quickly retreating elk in a far off meadow, but no moose sightings.

The early sun casts a pink glow across the slough.

After an hour and a half, hunger was starting to become more important than seeing a big, old, ugly moose anyway, so we headed back to the coach.  While Joani started breakfast, I took Sam out for his morning walk.  Not more than a half dozen sites from our coach was a big cow moose and her calf.

I had finally learned to always have a camera with me, so I was able to snap a few pictures.  Sam had no idea what we were doing since he could not see over the brush.  If he had, he might have barked and frightened them away.  A small crowd gathered and the moose seemed oblivious to the paparazzi.

After 20 minutes, or so, Sam and I headed home.  I asked Joani if she wanted to try and see them and we headed back out.  They had only wandered maybe 50 yards from where I had last seen them and we were able to get some very nice shots (from a respectable distance, of course).

The moose just casually meandered amongst the campsites munching on leaves and grasses.  At one point, a guy was backing out of his tent and I asked if the moose woke him up.  He turned to me with a sleepy, half awake look and said "what?".  I pointed to the moose six feet on the other side of his small tent and he jumped a little and then quietly called to his wife to take a look out of the window.  I bet that was a morning they will not soon forget!

The Motorcycle Mini-Mate Camper, seen behind the moose, is adorable!

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

I thought I rousted us early, but upon reaching Mormon Row we found ten other cars along the road.  The field was littered with tripods and photographers.  We were probably only there 5 minutes before the light broke and shutters started snapping.

The picture below may have captured my favorite lighting, but it was difficult to pick just one from the hundreds we took.

The sun is just hitting the mountains, but wasn't high enough to hit the barn yet.

I jogged down to the other set of barns (what was I thinking - too early to jog).

The proverbial early bird...

David's panorama captured all of the barns just as the sun brought them to life.

John Moulton replaced his log home with this pink stucco frame house, Circa 1910.

On the way back home, we stopped to look for moose along the Gros Ventre river.  While I was looking at the river, Joani turned to see the buffalo coming over the hill behind us.  I really liked the way they were silhouetted against the sky.

Cowbirds share a symbiotic relationship with the bison.  After my Google research, I now know cowbirds are the "mafia" of the avian world!

Later, we headed into Jackson and spent time visiting galleries around the square.  There was a lot of unique and beautiful art.  Pretty much all of our wall space is already covered, so we didn't find it necessary to make any purchases.

Eye-catching!  Carved Acrylic (that's new to me) by Robert Walker entitled Mothership 2.0, 2014. It can be yours for only $12,000.


Now this spoke to me!  The over $400 price tag didn't.  What do you think Katie, could we reproduce this?

About an hour of browsing the Jackson galleries was enough for me, although we had only seen maybe six of twenty-six listed in the Jackson Gallery guide.  

A little later, we met up with the Reimers and Osmundsons at the Snow King Resort where they had a blast on the Alpine Slides. 

Just to be clear, the look on Emerson's face is pure joy (Branon's too)!

It's hard to say who is winning, Erica or Jamie and Maryn.  It looks like a tie!

Slow down Chad, no passing allowed!

Harrison, you go speed racer!!!

I think Keith feels the need for speed!

Maryn looks like a happy camper.

The alpine slides put everyone in the mood for "Home Made" ice cream on the square.  It didn't come close to the home made ice cream from Sweet Treats in Jewell, Iowa, but it still hit the spot.

What a fun day!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

After consulting "Grand Teton National Park Photographer's Map and Guide", I thought we should scout out a few of the locations, since each would require an early morning start (probably before sunrise).

While heading out of the campground, we were caught in a buffalo jam - one of the largest herds we have seen in the Tetons

His newly sprouted horns are adorable!

The closest site I wanted to check out was named Mormon Row. There were a lot of old farm buildings situated with the Tetons in the background.  We will be back in the early morning hours to see if we can capture the image we have seen so many times before.

The back lit barns lack depth and magic in the high noon sun,...

...but the Tetons are looking so much better without the smoke haze of a few days ago.

The second location we scouted was along the Snake River at the end of Schwabacher Road.  After parking, there was a trail maybe a quarter mile long.  In the dark we will have to be very careful not to step into any of the ground squirrel holes.  They are sometimes a foot in diameter and a foot deep!

We watched a momma duck training her chicks.  As she kept going back and forth across the water, the babies would get distracted or confused and fall out of formation.  Then they had to paddle like mad to catch up again.

The picture below is another one I have seen so many times before. All we need is the early morning light and maybe a moose just on the other side of the water.

It would also be nice with no wind for a mirror effect, as long as we're dreaming.

Monday, July 21, 2014

There was a little rain overnight which meant we awoke to a much clearer morning.  The Tetons were beautifully crisp.  

We went into the Jackson post office to see if our forwarded mail was in yet (it was not) and had a quick bite of lunch while in Jackson.

Erica called and we planned to meet.  They were staying in a very nice place, Hotel Terra in Teton Village.  We found Chad and Erica, Cameron, Harrison, Maryn and Emerson and Keith and Kathy - all on the commons.  The kids were excited to see Sam - he was excited for all of the attention. Branon, Jamie and Macey were back at their condo.

The kids were ready to climb all over the Aerial Adventure Course, but some clouds drifted overhead and it started raining. Climbing will have to wait.  Some ice cream helped to distract them until later. 

We feel so fortunate to be able to connect with family while on the road.  Nicest bunch of people you'd ever want to meet!!!

We made plans to meet later for dinner at the Bar J Chuckwagon Supper and Western Music Show.  It turned out to be quite an experience!  They serve between 500 and 700 people each night (in less than 20 minutes).  The cowboys made the point (several times) that they work seven days a week for the entire summer.

We really enjoyed the great food and a very entertaining show!  Doing it with family was icing on the cake!

Branon treated everyone to a carriage ride around the ranch while we were waiting for dinner - Thank you, Branon and Jamie!

After the ride, the kids all wanted to thank Ernie, the horse, with a pat on his side.

Chad and Keith made some new friends when Chad noticed a passerby's hat and said "Go Hawkeyes".  The couple was from Iowa and during the conversation, discovered they had mutual acquaintances.  What a small world!

The food was served up "chuckwagon style" and there was plenty.  To my great shame, I actually went back for seconds.

After eating, the cowboys put on a great show.  There were a lot of familiar cowboy tunes interspersed with some good wholesome humor, lasting until well after dark.

Great musicians, great voices and funny to boot! 

Sunday, July 20, 2014

It was a beautiful day to simply sit outside reading.  Of course, Sam was outside with us, but his mind was not on reading!  There was a healthy population of ground squirrels and chipmunks roaming the underbrush and they brazenly scampered right beneath our feet. Whenever one would stop to assess the situation, Sam would pounce. Fortunately, his leash was never long enough for him to connect.  I suspect there were a few times the varmints were just a bit worried, but they always seemed to return to taunt him some more. 

Sam can not take his eyes off of his nemesis, the tiny ground squirrel (upper left corner).

While walking Sam early one morning, I saw a cow moose grazing right in the campground.  I didn't have a camera with me, so I guess that one really didn't count.  We were determined to see some moose, so I thought we should try to find a good location for early morning viewing before it got dark.  The Gros Ventre river runs right along the campground and along the road into the campground.  I had spotted a parking area used by fishermen and wanted to see if it would be a good place to watch for moose in the morning.  

As we approached the pull-out, we noticed a half dozen cars were stopped and people were all along the river bank.  Sure enough, there were moose sightings!  We quickly parked and jumped out to find two bull moose on the other side of the river, maybe 50 yards away.  The light had faded so much that we were unable to capture any really good shots, but they were certainly better than what we had so far (none).  Just before we were ready to call it quits, we noticed a third bull moose had joined the other two for dinner.

It's late afternoon and a bit too dark to capture good pictures.

Finally, I saw my first moose, actually three were feeding together.

Now that I have seen a moose, my goal is to manage a better than decent picture of one.

These big boys would look better in morning light.  It's David's job to make that happen!

We will be back some morning to see if we can get better pictures, but for now we feel good that we have finally seen all of the big wildlife the parks have to offer (as far as we know).

Saturday, July 19, 2014

It was still pretty smoky in the mountains, but we ventured out for an early afternoon drive.  We covered a lot of the same area we had visited a year ago (only three days), but it was still good to re-acquaint ourselves with the area.  In the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center we bought a photographers guide that showed precisely where the iconic photos of the park could be found along with additional information like time of day and suggested camera settings.  Can't wait to study it and see if we can capture some better pictures!

A view point along the Jenny Lake drive provides a nice view up Cascade Canyon, but the harsh midday sun and the smoke kept the pictures from capturing the real beauty of the park.

Of course, the midday sun and temperatures in the low 80's meant there was virtually no wildlife viewing, unless you want to count ground squirrels and chipmunks.