A Day filled with Moose

We had heard that the grizzly bear Miracle, (not an official name), had appeared and so we headed back to Grand Teton National Park. We weren’t sure of the right spot to sit and wait but as an Ecotour bus showed up and waited, we figured we were probably in the area. After having lunch, we waited for several more hours with no luck. We needed to return home as we were driving to Montana for Mother’s Day. It is always a great day when we are in a National Park and this day turned out to be exceptional one as we saw and photographed four moose in three different spots, (often it is difficult to see any moose as they are hiding from bears and wolves).

The first Moose was a bull that was feeding of willows near Willow Flats, (Imagine that). It was a Mature Bull, and you can see in the photos that its antlers were beginning to grow. The willow trees produce a chemical from which aspirin was discovered, so besides being a food source, the trees also act as a pharmacy especially for cow moose that have given birth to their new calves, (not sure if you should call them foals).

We also had spotted a smaller moose in the same general area, and a little further down the road a very pregnant moose was sitting on a snowbank, along with a two-year-old calf.

Our day’s total was five moose, which is really great! It was a moosey day! In case you are wondering the park service recommends you stay at least twenty five yards from Moose, Elk, and Buffalo. This is the minimum distance for safety and two often we see people getting to close. Later that day we saw people trying to get close for pictures of a bull elk growing a nice set of antlers. Thwy pushed the bull into the willows and lucky for them did not enter the thick growth.

Clear skies

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.

Our first Black Bear of 2024, at Grand Teton National Park

We had just arrived at Grand Teton National Park, and almost immediately we encountered a bear jam. Seems 399 and her cub Spirit had put on quite a show but as we arrived but most of the people were picking up their tripods and cameras. That’s never a good sign.

Still, we drove further and did see people pointing at a grizzly bear, or at least the top of its back. The bear was heading in the direction where we had seen her last year and so we drove further and parked. Now you never know where a bear will go but we were so certain that we spent four hours in one spot. Others started to leave when Renita heard the scanner in the car next to us say that a black bear had appeared alongside a road.

Heading there, we saw the bear jam and a small black bear grazing alongside the road. We watched as the bear resembled a lawn mower. It was sweeping its head back and forth eating grass,(not everyone realizes that bears are omnivores and will eat almost anything). After seeing the black bear, it was the first of the season for us,we decided to head to another spot hoping to see a moose. On the way there we passed an elk nicknamed Hollywood. He has that name because the bull elk feeds in the same spot right along the highway. He spends the whole summer there as his antlers grow and so is perhaps one of the most photographed park’s elk.

No moose was there but there were some yellow warblers and a yellow rumped warbler . Numerous tree swallows were feeding along with a common golden eye, a blue winged teal and of course several mallards. It was a good day at the park! Our first of the year black bear and 399. Maybe next time will be better. Clear skies

Day 3 A Great Day with Grizzly 610 and her Subadults

Day 3 we drove to the usual spot and a crowd had already gathered. ^10 and her triplet subadults were coming down the mountain, The bears were already closer than we had ever been to them and now they were heading for the mass of people.

As they reached the stand of trees at the bottom 610 turned and her family followed her. Many people jumped into their cars and drove further south. I walked fast along the road being careful to stay outside the white line, (the ditch), and moved to the other side so I could watch the traffic as it approached. Renita stayed where she was with her camera, so we would cover two possible crossings. The bears kept moving parallel to the road and I called her to bring the car down as they were getting closer. I called her and by the time she arrived the bears had passed my spot and so we drove to a large meadow.

Parking, we waited and hoped it wouldn’t be long before they appeared. At one spot they huddled together. An elk carcass was there, or should I say a skeleton and one of the subadults was picking it up and chewing on a spinal column. Talk about a chew toy! This went on for a while and 610 started to move again.

Two of the subadults got in a fight. They would wrestle and then move and wrestle and move further. The sow started to walk directly toward us, and the third one joined her. She kept walking but the third heard the two fighting and turned towards its siblings and joined them. Meanwhile the sow got closer to us and as she neared the one-hundred-yard distance the Bear Management leader yelled that we should all get in our cars.

About then she turned around and saw that her triplets were not with her and so she turned back and rejoined them.By that time, we had arrived at the Pacific Creek Road.

Many of the cars and trucks had turned down it to head them off. Driving past them we couldn’t find a place to park as the ditch was very narrow, (you must park outside the white line). We moved further down to where a lot parking area was and waited for the bears. Some of the cars drove past us and a bear management team member stopped and told us the four grizzlies had crossed the road. Driving back, we saw they had crossed at a spot where we had parked and so we took pictures of their tracks.

Next we headed towards the dam but before we got there we saw vehicles parked and so we pulled over. There were two sets of grizzly tracks that had crossed the road the night before. The tracks were from 399 and her yearling called Spirit. You can see the difference in size.

They had appeared the evening before and escorted by the bear team crossed the road and river before continuing. They left the park boundaries and walked all the way to Wilson. We decided to call it a day and so returned to Jackson. Clear skies The next day we returned to the park. We did not see bears but just past the Lodge turnoff a wolf ran across the road. I could not get a picture, but later we were able to take pictures of the tracks. And yes we know the differenc ebetweena wolf an da coyote. It is only the second time we have seen a wolf in Grand Teton National Park and it made our day!

My hand is the same size as the track.

Another day of sharing our love of Grand Teton National Park with Friends

It’s been ten days since I last wrote a blog entry. My excuse is that it has been a busy time with bear watching with friends, selling at a new show, and looking to purchase a park model, and hiking to the Periodic Springs. One of our dear friends Betty, who lives in Iowa, has been wintering at our rv park in Texas. There we have met her family including two of her daughters, Melanie and Alana. This spring Melanie mentioned to us that she was planning on taking a trip to Glacier and Grand Teton National Parks. Renita and I love to have visitors and told her to call us and set up a time to meet at the park headquarters in Moose Wyoming.

They told us that they had seen elk, antelope, deer, and a mountain goat but had not seen any bears or moose. The pressure was on! Renita and I talked it over and decided to take them to Sawmill Pond. The men rode in one vehicle and the women in another so Renita and I could regale them with our stories, mostly true. One of our favorite places,it was was not very far away, and as we neared the spot we saw cars, pickups, a large crowd of people and the parks wildlife management group. A bear jam in progress! Finding a place to park we joined the throng and had several people point out the black bear. It was under a tree, behind bushes, and difficult to see.

As usual I had the camera on autofocus. The bear was basically a black smudge in the dense brush. IT started to move, and I got one shot as it walked across an opening. Of course, the autofocus took a great picture of a branch and a blurry picture of the bear. Before I could change to manual focus the bear was gone from sight. Our favorite trail was still closed and so we continued along the road looking for more bears. While we didn’t see any bears, we did spot a cow moose feeding in a small pond.

In the first picture taken with a 75-600 mm lens you can see the bugs, (little specks), that are bothering her.

The second picture was taken by Melanie with her cell phone and the third by Renita with her 75-300 mm lens.

From there we drove the Teton Park Road without any success. Still we pointed out the places we had seen grizzly and black bears, and the rockslide on the mountain. Other points of interest were the Potholes where ice was buried during the last glaciation. It had melted during the last five hundred years, and settled forming depressions, which filled with trees, (not the same as sinkholes which form above cave systems) These depressions are places where the elk calve and are frequented by grizzly bears in search of an easy meal. From there we headed to Coulter Bay for lunch before driving past the dump road, Pilgrim Creek and one of our favorite trailheads, No bears, moose. elk were posing for pictures and so we next stopped at the location of Cattlemen’s Bridge, (long since gone).

Looking down the Snake River we could see American white pelicans, double crested cormorants, and common mergansers. All the birds were resting after feasting on fish. They must have a fishy breath as they tend to hang together!

A mature bald eagle perched on a tree but did not provide us with a clear shot! From there we drove to the Oxbow and then returned to where we had started. No bears were visible, and we took a last ride down the narrow road. The men’s car took the lead and soon after we had passed a spot the women had to stop to let a bear cross the road.

It ignored them and started to feed on the berry laden bushes. It was so close they had to keep their windows up! The bear was so close that the best picture was taken by Melanie with her cell phone. Driving further they spotted a moose, and a bull elk. We never got a good pic of the elk and when we turned around to see the bear, we only saw moving bushes. A Bear management person told me to roll up my window. The bear must have been in the ditch but none of us could see it. Our last meeting was at the Sawmill Pond, where a moose had appeared for more pictures. Our last wildlife enbcounter was of a herd of cow elk on the ridgeline and ended our great day in the park!

Everyone had seen black bears, and moose so now our friends had checked most of their animal boxes. They had not seen any grizzly bears, but we later learned there were two feeding alongside the Towgotee Pass Highway. Perhaps next time! Thanks for the visit, we love sharing our knowledge of Grand Teton National Park! Clear skies

Friends: A day In Grand Teton National Park with Joe, Peggy, Kim, and Tom

We love having visitors and we were blessed to have Kim, Tom, Joe, and Peggy meet with us for a day in Grand Teton National Park. The original plan was to meet for lunch and then hike an easy trail. Plans changed, however, when the forecast was for rain. They had just arrived from Montana and a strenuous hike with their son Kyle and his fiancé Rose. Leading the hike was our son-in-law Eric and our daughter Jen who played the part of trail boss in keeping the group intact. They all did have bear spray as the berries were ripe and the bears were in hyperphagia, (it’s when they feed for twenty hours a day fattening up for hibernation). Arriving a little early we put our name on the reservation list at Noras Fish Creek Inn, if you go there have the breakfast menu, it’s the best! Not long after, they arrived and during breakfast, we discussed the weather forecast. Our plan for a hike went south with the rain so we changed the itinerary into a guided tour of some of our favorite places. Kim and Tom have been to the park quite a few times and so it was more of a, “Let’s look for bear 399 and cub”, at some of 399’s favorite areas.

Our first stop was at the Jackson Lake Dam, and we took the short hike down to the water. As we looked at the dam and Jackson Lake, an immature bald eagle wheeled overhead.Tom and Joe closely watched the mergansers as the birds’ chased minnows in the roaring water.

All four of them gathered for a group photo. The women also smiled for their photo, in order from the left are Peggy, Kim, and Renita.

Having separated into two cars Renita and I discussed the Potholes, Willow Flats, the Grand View Trail and Pilgrim Creek. Later we met a bear watcher who said 399 and her cub had been at Pilgrim Creek that morning, but we never saw her, (there’s definitely an element of luck when bear searching). Driving to our last stop, at the Sawmill Pond, we pointed out the huge rockfall which had changed the Tetons Skyline.

Just to the south of the Grand Teton you can see what is left of the mountain top. It looks like a hand with the middle finger extended to greet any visitors from outer space.

Driving past the Chapel of the Scared Heart,

a bull elk in velvet tried to take a nap as people got way to close!

Arriving at the pond, the cow moose and her calf, that had been there the day before, were gone. Everything is so green, unusual for August. The berries are almost ready for the bears to start gorging on them, so it won’t be long till its bear time. Some of the trees are turning yellow and there is talk of an early winter. Not spotting any bears, the day ended at the Sawmill Pond. We separated there with the usual hugs and farewells and our favorite traveler’s goodbye by saying, “We will see you down the Road”. It had been a great day and so much fun to be with them. Clear skies and safe travels

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