MOOSE

It took almost 2 months, but we found our moose...in Grand Tetons.  Just passing through on our way south to Laramie, WY we spotted a moose munching happily in a roadside pond.  As luck would have it a pull off was right beside the pond so we pulled over and grabbed the camera and spotting scope.  Poor Cooper couldn't see the moose...he's still wonders why we watch animals.  He's excited to sniff out his critters.  After a few minutes a female moose came out of the bushes and the two wandered through the water looking for something tasty.

It appeared that the pair were mother and son.  While we were watching we overheard a conversation between a few people.  It seemed that one thought that moose were related to buffalo...not true in case you're wondering.  A moose is the largest member of the deer family.

We watched for a bit then headed back to the road to Laramie.  Along the way we were stopped once more by a bald eagle...hunting road kill.  At least it looked like the eagle was trying to snatch a dead critter off the road.  It wasn't pleased that we stopped to watch.  It flew off to a nearby fence post to wait us out.  It worked because we really needed to keep driving otherwise we would have waited on the eagle.

Nothing else interrupted our drive to Laramie except for a picnic...and nothing interrupted Cooper's nap.

Must be a Coyote Kind of Day

Pronghorn alerted

We headed out early into the Park...skipped breakfast so we could get to Lamar Valley super early to maybe catch a glimpse of a bear or maybe wolves back at the carcasses.   Didn't manage to see those, but we did see something unusual.   We had pulled off to watch a lone pronghorn with our new spotting scope when suddenly a pack of coyotes (8 total) tore down the hillside.  The pronghorn took off away from the pack, but he wasn't the target.  They were on the track of something else.

Leader of the pack

Running

The lead coyote kept his nose on the ground and kept running towards us and the road.  When he got closer he became somewhat concerned about our presence and broke away from his chase.  He changed direction and went along the ridge and eventually crossed the road with his nose still on the ground.  The rest of the pack followed his lead by staying just below the ridge line.  All of them crossed the road and caught up to their leader.  Disappearing up the hillside across from where we had parked.

Tracking

Waiting for the others

We had no idea that coyotes hunted in packs...had only seen them alone.  As the day went on it must have been our day to see coyotes.  Two more were seen by the end of the day.  One was hunting along the roadside until a group of people decided to walk towards him.  The activity changed his behavior and he wandered away.

Mice?

Wide yawn

Hunting

Our last encounter was also off the roadway among a herd of bison.  He was also hunting and actually crossed the road in front of cars and people.  He wandered through the herd searching for mice.  

Still hunting

Another 'Tool'

Young buffalo are born orange

We headed into Bozeman in search of a spotting scope and a few more supplies.  Figured we may as well give the old knees more time to rest before tackling some other monster hike. 

A few days back when we spotted the wolves we decided that our perfect anniversary gift for ourselves would be a spotting scope.  It seems that most people out here have huge scopes which they set up and watch all the critters from the relative safety of the roadway.   We were surprised at the cost of some of these things.  Don't think we need one of those fancy $4000 scopes so we settled on a modest Leupold.  The magnification is pretty good at 15x to 30x although it's a bit tricky to hold steady at the higher magnification.  We also got a cheap tripod since we didn't bring ours with us...excellent to hang our camp light from too.

First rub head

Flip...rub rear

Heading back into Lamar Valley we pulled the new scope out to look for the wolf pack...none to be seen although a crowd had gathered.  Everyone was looking up the hill at something...or probably nothing.  One lady said that they had 'seen a grizzly' on the hillside near the carcasses.  We saw one lonely pronghorn munching on grasses right where she pointed.  Since it appeared that these people were imagining things we left the scene. 

Male Pronghorn

Once we arrived at the bison herd as luck would have it a small group of pronghorn showed up.  The scope was really nice to use...it definitely makes the animals stand out.  You can even see the long eye lashes of the pronghorn and the individual hairs on the buffalo...so cool.  It was great to have the animals appear so much closer.  Now if only we had a camera lens that would do the same...maybe for next year's adventure.

The Day After

Lamar Valley bison

Well after our 10 miler  yesterday we took it easy.  We kind of needed to...at least one of us was walking the proper way down the hill from our tent.  Cooper was 100% feeling great after his day of relaxation at the Farm Spa.   Off we headed to see what animals we could discover wandering around Yellowstone.

From our past visits we know exactly where to head to watch the buffalo....Lamar Valley.  Wide open vistas, a river running through it and lots of bison.  Cooper has been fascinated by these huge animals.  He doesn't quite know what to do, but he loves looking out the window at them.  Surprisingly he has never uttered a sound while watching any of the animals. 

Male pronghorn

Pronghorn

We sat and watched the bison for a bit when we noticed a small herd of pronghorn.  These are our favorites...beautiful animals.  After awhile we were fortunate to see the male chase the female.  These animals are FAST.  The rest of the herd watched as these two tore around every other living creature. 

After a bit things settled back down until suddenly another male was spotted.  These 2 males took off across the valley...the original one chasing the interloper off.  We followed them with the binoculars until we lost them in the dust.   Amazing to watch the male make his way back...panting...only to find that his little pack of females had wandered off up the hill.

Chase is ON

Chase continues

Wolf pack taking a snooze

Since it was getting late we decided to head back to camp to get some dinner...or thought that was what we would be doing.  We met a couple originally from Virginia...now living in Colorado.  They mentioned hearing about a couple of dead buffalo carcasses close to the road which had attracted the attention of wolves and bears.  Guess what we discovered?  On our way back to camp we passed by a pretty sizable group of people watching a pack of wolves snoozing in the late day sunshine.

We counted 6...gray, brown, and 4 black.  It was while watching the wolves that we decided that we really needed to get a spotting scope.  The binoculars are pretty good, but we wanted something a bit better.  Sunday morning we headed to Bozeman in search of a spotting scope...perfect thing for our anniversary.

The last thing we spotted was a motorcycle dude and his best bud...in the side car.   Wonder if Cooper would ride as calmly as this guy did?

Dude and his pal

What a Hike...or How to Kill Your Knees at 3000 Feet

Pine Creek Lake

We dropped off Cooper for a day at a Farm Doggie Spa…aka Dog Sitter and headed to Pine Creek Lake Trailhead in the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness area in Gallatin National Forest.  On the recommendation of TH this particular hike was penciled in as a ‘must do’ although our original idea was to actually do the hike with TH.  That did not happened…we did the hike before he had even arrived in Bozeman.  The weather played a role, but then we could get someone to watch Cooper for the day so we jumped the gun a tad. Sorry TH…although as it turned out he may have been grateful not to have gone on this “little hike.”

Yep a holster of bear spray is on the right hip

Thimble berry everywhere...no bears

 The hike is a 5 mile up (plus 5 miles back down)…a 3200 feet change in elevation on a steep and rocky trail…we were warned many times about the steepness.  That should have been a clue that maybe it was going to be a tough one.  We were also warned about bears, to carry bear spray and if the thimble berries were ripe to yell LOUD while passing through the bushes.  It seems that these berries are HIGHLY sought prize by the local bear community.   Thankfully most were not ripe enough, but they were tall and thick which gave us a heavy dose of adrenalin walking through them.  Bear spray remained in the holster…ready for the next bear hike.

Ripe thimble berries

Pine Creek Falls

The first mile to a waterfall was mostly flat and we caught up to a couple of guys and their dogs…they soon passed us on the next section that was pretty steep while leaving the waterfall behind.  The trail continued up over the next 4 miles crossing the stream a couple more times.  Along the way were alpine meadows with a number of flowers still in bloom and numerous small waterfalls. 

The destination...top of the falls...jeez

Heading back down

The trail did get pretty rocky which was one of the reasons Coop didn’t make the trip.  We had been told about some difficult rock scrambles, but we only noticed a very rocky trail that was well marked so maybe that’s what was meant by rock scramble.  We did see a rock slide area that we thought was the scramble thankfully the trail was already in place up the mountainside as a series of switchbacks otherwise desertions would have occurred.  No way could one safely manage an uphill trek through that rock slide...at least not us.

Pine Creek Lake

It took us 4 ½ hours to make it to Pine Creek Lake at the top…didn’t feel too bad either.  Took a 30 minute break by the upper falls and headed back down.  The first mile or two went pretty quick then trouble reared its ugly head…the knees decided that too much straight down wasn’t to their liking.  It ended up taking 4 hours to make the return trip back to the car.  There were a few moments that crawling seemed like a good idea.  The good news was after a day all is well once again.

Wild flowers at the top

 After a few calculations it had been determined that this trail over its 4 mile 3000 foot gain in elevation works out to be about a 14.2% grade.  That’s STEEP…we now know what our limit is for future hikes.  A ten miler that has a grade over 14% is on the ‘do not attempt’ list.  

As a side note Cooper enjoyed his day at the spa...reports are that he played with a few dogs, went on a car ride to retrieve kids from vollyball practice and even went to help them run their irrigation system.  He was less than helpful in picking beans.   Cooper was in much better shape than we were...Wendy didn't work him hard enough evidently.

View of Paradise Valley below

Absaroka Mountains

Missing Clear, Sunny Skies

Our view from the road in ID

We miss the Sierra's...the clear air especially.  Since leaving California we've run into some of the worst air quality of the summer.  The Salt Lake City area was so smoggy you could not see either the Wasatch Range or the Temple.  Today we bailed on the Idaho area for even worse air quality.  Too many wild fires burning which filled the entire Snake River Valley with hazy smoky air.  It didn't seem to be a good idea to camp in the Sawtooth Range so we headed toward Bozeman, Montana.

Montana

The weather was cloudy, windy and chilly when we hit Bozeman, but it is supposed to clear out by tomorrow.  The plan is to head out and camp for a week in one of Yellowstone's Campgrounds.  We hope to be enjoying huckleberry ice cream cones sometime tomorrow.

Deserted

The Golden Spike...Which isn't There

Transcontinental Locos Meet

Today we dropped by the Golden Spike National Historical Site in Promontory, UT.  Surprisingly there were a number of people visiting the site.  It is out in the middle of nowhere...although it is close to ATK (aerospace producer of rocket fuel) which is a helpful location when you can blow up the surrounding mountain side.

The rails join...imagine gold spike

Central Pacific rail bed

Unfortunately the site does not have the original locomotives or even the actual rail system.  The originals engines were scraped for a $1000 each early in the 1900's.  Those on display were reproduced in the 1970's...beautifully done, but it didn't feel right.   The rails were taken up during 1942 and reused for the war effort.  A shame that no one thought to preserve the originals.  Even the gold spike is no where close...it's at Stanford University.

Central Pacific Cut through hillside

We spent a couple of hours looking at the engines and walking along the old rail grades for both the Union and Central Pacific Railroads.  An interesting day before heading off to Twin Falls, ID.

ATK

ATK bunker

We're thinking of heading up to some camping in Montana tomorrow...providing the rain moves out during the morning and the fires aren't where we are heading.  Idaho is so smokey we're not sticking around here.

Cooper in his usual state of excitement