Grand Teton National Park April 2026

Last year was an exceptional year for photographing bears. We arrived on April 9th and on our first day in the park spotted bear 610 and her three two-year-old sub adults. They were feeding on a carcass of an elk near the Moran Entrance station. Two days late we drove up to Flag Ranch and Bruno, the dominant male Grizzly bear, was walking alongside the road. As he passed our car, we could see his eye looking at us, but he really didn’t care as he was heading south to Grand Teton National Park. This year we were staying in Jackson, and so it was only a short drive back to Moran. Entering the park, we stopped at all the places we saw grizzly bears, but they were not wanting their photos taken. Day one turned into day two through day nine and we never spotted any bears, (we did see grizzly bear tracks in snow near Coulter Bay. Luckily, there were other things to see. The elk were migrating early, due to the warm weather, so we changed our target from bears to birds. It was a good choice as we added two new birds for our life list.

The first was a very common bird, a song sparrow. It sang and perched in a short tree giving us a great opportunity for a picture. The next was a Red Breasted Nuthatch, identified by merlin’s sound recording, (a bird heard is a bird counted. We spotted numerous Bald Eagles, Ospreys, and took our best picture ever of a male and female Barrows Goldeneye.

They were exhibiting courtship behavior and were oblivious to our presence, (we were walking on the trail at Schwabacher Landing).

On another day we took a picture of a Belted Kingfisher.

As usual Kingfishers are hard to photograph, and this one flew every time I tried to get him in focus. He made the mistake of landing on top of a pine tree about one hundred yards away. I had our 600 mm zoom lens on and I took his picture.

We also saw American White Pelicans, Cormorants, and Great Blue Herons.

I did get a pretty good shot of a Mountain Blue Bird! We also saw a Red-Tailed Hawk in flight, and a Northern Harrier.

One of the birds, common but rarely seen, was a Great Horned Owl,(I have misplaced the picture). We hoped it was a Great Grey but you can clearly see the feathery ears, diagnostic of a Great Horned Owl.

We had to leave the Park to get maintenance done on our car. Now that it has been taken care of we are going to visit a museum in Idaho Falls and then return to Grand Teton National Park. This time it will be for ten more days of bear watching. The migrating elk cows have moved onto their calving places, so the bears can’t be too far behind. Till they calve, the bears will turn into cows and munch on grass and clover. They have over two hundred items on their diet. If you ever see a bear do not feed it! A Fed Bear is a Dead Bear. Once they get a taste of human food they will be captured and relocated. A second offense will result in the bear being euthanized.

Finally, we had to pass through a herd of Buffalo as they crossed the highway. Thats never a pleasant event. Clear skies Ps our friends Gordon and Babs were in New Mexico and a Black bear smelled the M and M’s in their BMW. It then broke into the car and destroyed it.

Yellowstone 2024 Grizzlies and a New Life Bird

Each year we look forward to the Cody, Wyoming Wild West Arts Festival. It’s three days of parades and fun and we set up our booth to sell our Jewelry. We always plan on a few extra days to enjoy the surrounding area by making day trips to Yellowstone National Park. This year was an exceptional year as we spotted a new bird for a life list and encountered three grizzly bears. Our friends Fred and Becky had already made a trip to Yellowstone and had encountered several Harlequin ducks. These ducks are small sea ducks that nest in areas with rapids. They had told us that the ducks were located at Le Hardy Rapids. As we drove through Yellowstone, I spotted the sign for the rapids, and we parked in the lot hoping that the Harlequinn ducks were still there. As we walked down the short trail, we could see them perched and resting on a flat rock! We were both elated to see the beautiful ducks and told other visitors, (they did not seem terribly impressed, definitely not birders).

Continuing our drive, we hoped to see some black bears and perhaps a grizzly. The day before we had encountered a bear jam where a sow and her new coy, (new cub of the year), put on a show. The bear has been given the name Raspberry and her new cub is called Snow. The sow was grazing in open spaces between fallen trees and it was comical watching the cub keeping up with mamma bear. Raspberry didn’t have any problems crossing the log jams, but each fallen tree was an almost insurmountable problem for the little cub. It would pull itself up and then lose its balance as it fell off the fallen timber.

Still, it managed to tag along, and we watched them for forty-five minutes before they disappeared in a cove of fallen timber. The next day we drove back but just missed the pair and so we headed to the Hayden Valley and Lamar Valleys. We didn’t see any bears at Hayden Valley, but it was filled with Buffalo.

Many of the bull bison were dusting themselves in dried wallows to give them some relief from insects. At one spot the bull was very near the road, and it glared at us as we quickly stopped to take its picture.

Forgetting us it rolled over in the dried ground creating a cloud of dust!

What a sight. We decided it was time to go even though we were at least twenty-five yards away, which is the required distance to safely view the huge animals. Passing Canyon Village and Tower Junction we decided to drive up the Lamar Valley looking for bears and wolves. The valley was full of buffalo herds, but we didn’t spot much else. However a coyote posed right next to the road.

Further on we used our binoculars to glass the canyon walls and spotted several mountain goats. They were so far away that you really couldn’t see much, just a white goat shaped object. Reaching the Northeast entrance we passed through Cooke City and then Silver Gate. As we left Siver Gate we saw about twenty people watching something.

The something was the largest Grizzly bear we have seen in quite a while. It was grazing about one hundred yards away and we didn’t get a great image as it was surrounded by bushes. It finally disappeared into the brush and several people decided that they would try to push the bear back into an open area for more pictures. What could go wrong? We decided to leave as we didn’t like their idea. Continuing we turned right and drove the Chief Joesph Highway. At a rest area you can walk out to enjoy the view of a steep and narrow canyon. It had been a great two days with new life birds and a huge grizzly bear. Of course, any trip into Yellowstone is always filled with memories of wildlife and scenic views to calm ones soul. Clear skies

Chief Joesph Highway and driving thru Yellowstone Park

Having arrived at Cody early, we had another extra day, so we decided to take a drive along the Chief Joesph Highway. It would take us to Cooke City, Silver Gate and then into Yellowstone and the Lamar Valley. From there we would head south at Tower Junction. Lastly, we would head south to the Fishing Bridge and turn toward the East Gate, ending at Buffalo Bill State Park.

Having already driven the Chief Joesph highway before, we anticipated the steep grade to Dead Indian Pass, (ten degrees). Stopping at the pass we didn’t expect to be swarmed by chipmunks looking for handouts. At one point a chip monk tried to jump on Renita’s shoe!

With thought of rabies and black death, from fleas, Renita quickly discouraged them. No handouts from us. Wild animals should eat wild food not processed junk food that people eat. The view from the pass was spectacular. A series of steep switchback after switchback finally promised to take us to Cooke City before we turned to Silver Gate and Yellowstone, (the rule is to not ride your brakes, and to use low gear if you are a big rig. I would not recommend Towing anything up or down this pass). As we continued our drive towards the park, Pilot Peak beckoned.

It’s an example of a Matterhorn type mountain formed when three glacial cirques grind back to meet at a point. Along the way we spotted a Coopers Hawk as it caught a chipmunk and flew to a perch carrying its prey. There it dined on fresh meat. The bird did not like us trying to take its picture and our images were not what we had hoped. Entering the Park, we stopped at a traffic jam caused by mountain Goats high above us.

They were so far away that they were simply small white dots. Moving on we came upon a black bear feeding on the grass in an open field. Black bears can be hard to photograph on a sunny day as the shadows can make catching details difficult.

We passed numerous buffalo herds along the way. Many of the turnouts were occupied by bear and wolf watchers who sat in lawn chairs as they waited for an appearance. Almost all had spotting scopes aimed at the distant ridge lines. Last year a massive flood occurred in the Northern part of Yellowstone and in places the road had been reduced to one lane of traffic. In one stretch the Lamar Road had been completely washed away and a landslide had blocked it with a jumbled mess of boulders, mud, and downed trees.

Reaching Slough Creek we took a short gravel road to glass a wolf den but the wolves had already left with their pups, (best time to watch them is in early May and the first part of June as the pack abandons the den when the pups can travel). Crossing one of the most dangerous bridges over the Yellowstone River, (the sides are crumbling). It’s slated to be replaced and work has already started on the new approach but who knows when it will be done, (I try to stay away from politics, but Congress just cut all of the National Parks construction budgets in the latest debt ceiling fight). Reaching Tower Junction, we had just turned towards Tower Falls, Hayden Valley, and the Fishing Bridge, when we ran into two cars stopped and pointing at an animal.

Renita spotted a small black bear and then a large cinnamon black.

A little further she then spotted another yearling cub. We turned around for more photographs and I cursed myself for forgetting our six hundred mm zoom lens. The three bears created a nice traffic jam as they ate grass and clover in along the roadside. I got yelled at by a driver, (saying I was an asshole, but I have been called much worse during my career as a high school teacher), as I stopped so Renita could get the pictures. Four bears in a day!

Rounding a bend four buffalo stood in the ditch alongside the road! We were the first vehicle in line, and they all decided to pass us by walking down the whole road! They were so close that we could have reached out to pet them on either side of our small car, but we know not to pet the fluffy cows! We could see one buffalo’s eyes as it looked at us but luckily decided not to attack our car. It would have made short work of our Subaru Forester. Driving on we climbed over Dunraven Pass, passed Hayden Valley, Sulphur Canyon, and the Mud Volcanoes. Stopping to glass for bears we only spotted more fluffy cows and a few elk. Our next turn was at the Fishing Bridge.

The next stretch was along the northeast shore of Yellowstone Lake, and we again stopped to look for bears. There are several grizzly bears that live along this section of the road, but we never spotted them. Crossing Sylvan Pass, we left Yellowstone Park and finally reached our campsite at Buffalo Bill State Park. It had been a beautiful day with clear skies, great birding, bear watching, and scenic views. We are blessed to live so close to places that are often on other’s bucket lists. Clear skies