MONTANA / WYOMING BORDER
Oct/Nov 2019 BACKCOUNTRY ADVENTURE
This past summer I struggled to define a new trip to Alberta, CA so I elected to go back out to Gardiner, MT for a full two weeks starting Oct 26th. I had no expectations defined other then to just get out and enjoy whatever Nature presented me with. My days would start by getting up at 4am local time and out the door by 5am. My main focus was on two areas throughout my stay as to better understand the behavior and movements of the wildlife within those areas.
What was unique about this trip was the weather prior to me arriving. Over the prior two weeks they had some good snow storms and cold which continued throughout my first 10 days. Lucky I was well prepared with all the right gear which enabled me to really enjoy all the different conditions I encountered.
One of the highlights of my trip was the LIVING With WOLVES - Safety, Wolf Behavior, Management, and Stories meeting presented by Bear Creek Council, Gardiner, MT on Monday, Nov 4th. The presenters were, Abby Nelson (Wolf Specialist at Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks), Carter Niemeyer (Author and USFWS Idaho Wolf Recovery Coordinator), and Doug Smith (Head of Yellowstone Wolf Project). Overall, I was very happy I had a chance to attend this well attended meeting. Plus, I have spent so much time here I knew many of the people attending.
I would have to say this was one of my best trips as I enjoy being by myself with nature and finding content and happiness. Here is a summary of my experiences over the full two weeks.
HERE SOME OF THE MANY SPECIAL MOMENTS I CAPTURE ON THIS ADVENTURE
Just in case you are wondering, all my hikes I did totally on my own. I'm a free spirit who loves to explore using my internal compass to guide me as I go. Also, I enjoy the solitude of just myself plunging into Earth's natural frequency of 7.83 Hz. The photographs I took of myself taken with my Nikon D850 on a small tripod using an 8-second timer or my iPhone.
Every morning on this trip I made sure I was out in the field by Astronomical twilight to just gaze at the night sky til it transitioned to Nautical twilight before I moved on. As I scanned the sky, I would see shooting stars or satellites crossing overhead. Several of the mornings I could hear wolves or coyotes in the distance too. This was always a great way to ground myself with planet earth before I started my day. :)
Here is a good example why I like to get out very early especially after some fresh snow. As you can see only one vehicle was ahead of me but as I was not to far behind them this Grizzly had crossed the road just as I was coming around the corner. I only saw it for a brief moment as it headed into the trees.
Here is a close up of the Grizzly back paw as it crossed the road.
As I was driving on the coldest morning of my trip vehicle was showing the temp at -23 deg’s below zero. I love this type of cold!!!
As you can see it was still -20 deg’s below zero at 9:40 am local time!!!
Just SW of Cooke City I took this picture when the temp was -21 deg’s. The track across the creek were from a Female Moose and her calf.
Hiking in the backcountry just enjoying myself.
Cooke City, MT where I stopped a few days to pick up some snacks.
Just 2 miles NE out of Cooke City, MT looking SW into the valley where I was spending time with the various Moose along the valley creek.
On a very snowy morning I was entering Wyoming from Cooke City, MT
I can’t say this enough, I love winter!!! Just down the road from here I decided to park at one of the pullouts and hike back to a creek I wanted to check out. Once back in there, it was so quit except for the 20 yard wide creek. I was looking for more Ermine’s and found one but couldn’t get a good photo of it. :(
I love hiking up to this point every time I visit the area. The temp was around 20 deg’s but the sun was so warm. Looking NW from the Wyoming side into Montana.
I love sitting on this perch over looking this valley with Montana on the left and Wyoming center to the right. As I sat here it started snowing very heavily and with no wind you could hear the snow landing on the pine needles just over my head.
After I sat on the perch I made my way west to check out the west side of this valley.
One day I took a 6 hr hike in steep terrain on a very special cold snowy day!!!
Starting at the trail head I took the long off trail way to hike down to this point This was an amazing day as it was around 12 deg’s as I started with mod to heavy snow falling.
Before moving on to crossing the Yellowstone river As I stoped here for about 30 mins just to take all of this all in (I’ve sat in this spot many times over the years). There was no wind, just the sound of the rapids below until out of now where the wolves started howling in the distance. That was so special as they did this for about 5 mins!!!
Quick photo of me before I start to head up to the ridge above left of my head which is hidden by the snow. I could have not done this hike without having the micro spikes over my Crispi boots!
Here is a photo just as I crossed over the suspension bridge which goes over the Yellowstone river looking NE. The sounds of the rapids is amazing!!!
Looking SW from the bridge you can see the green waters flowing through the small rapids. Just to give you some perspective where I took this picture, the picture below was taken from the ridge just at the top right of this picture. As the Raven flies its 2.18 miles away.
Here is what the suspension bridge looks like from that ridge (the perch below). I took this with my Nikkor f/4 600mm lens on my last day.
Sitting on my favorite perch looking towards where the Suspension Bridge is and the valley I’ve hiked many times on the Montana side and Wyoming side.
Kahtoola Micro Spikes for hiking in tough conditions
These are awesome boots for hiking in steep terrain and with the micro spikes I had complete confidence. They have 200g of insulation. Even when it was below zero as long as I kept moving they kept my feet warm.
If not for these micro spikes I would have never been able to hike in steep areas like this.
These are NEOS Overshoes Navigator 5 Stabilicer that I used on very cold days. They are awesome, they just slip right over my Crispi boots. Even when it was -20 to -35 deg’s below zero my feet never were cold.
Wildlife Experiences
Took this picture of a Moose bedded down as the sunrise was just adding the right colors to the valley SW of Cooke City, MT. Several mornings I went to see if I could get the right lighting but with no luck. On my last day I was treated with luck to have both the Moose with the colors of the sunrise!
My first day out I was blessed with this big bull moose grazing for several hours with another one.
He ended up coming pretty close to me at one point as he headed north of where I was standing. After he left I went and hiked up on a ridge just behind me. When I was scoping out the area I noticed through my binoculars fresh tracks up there but couldn’t make them out. Once I got up there I found two sets of wolf tracks and where they had bedded down the night before. Who knows, maybe they were watching me earlier and I never knew it.
A few days later I was able to capture these two bulls showing off their strengths.
Here they are having a conversation about who is the strongest.
One of my favorite photos as this Moose decides he has had enough and moves on to connect with a female just north of here.
In another area not to far from where the bulls were I found a Cow Moose and her calf feeding in a small creek. They were originally bedded down just inside the tree line. I sat here waiting for them to move over 4 hours. Mom was always on alert as there were wolves around and when the wind would change direction she always perked up.
Here is the Cow Moose just before she crosses the larger creek
Calf crossing the creek right behind mom. To get this shot I took a chance they would come this way by their movements and noticing other tracks from the past days.
Hiking in a totally different area (one of my favorite areas) I came across 5 bull Elk. Since I only my Nikkor f/4 600 mm lens with (I did have a 35mm lens too) I could only fit these three into this frame. At no point were they disturbed by my presence.
After hanging out with them for over an hour the bull bedded down in the photo above got up and wondered over in my direction. He was more interested in sounds coming from my right which later turned out to be about 50 females joining the 5 bulls.
I have a secret, I can telepathic communicate with wildlife. After I told him a joke he started laughing!!!!
My biggest surprise of this trip. I always keep telling myself expect the unexpected!. Here is a great example of that. Out of nowhere this Ermine (weasel family) jumped onto this log as I was next to the creek where the Cow Moose and Calf were. I was so lucky to get this photo as I only had seconds to get this. Then I spent the next 30 mins trying to get a better photo which is below this one.
After the big surprise I did my best to try and keep up with this fast moving Ermine. I was again lucky to get this photo. Trust me, I tried to my best to get more but it never stayed in one position for more than a few seconds.
Another split second shot as the Ermine was running back and forth, stoped, and stood up.
On another day, again out of nowhere this Ermine came running along this fallen tree. I was so lucky to get this photo even though there was a lot of artifacts in the way.
On my first day this Fox was all over the area hunting. As I was about to move on she came towards and before I know it she was right next to me. Lucky to get this photo as once she was by me I lost sight of her over the ridge.
Finally, I did my best to capture a Fox hunting many different days and either it was the lighting issues, or grass in the way but I was very pleased with this photo.