Just One More Day - Grand Teton Nat'l Park

After a great night's sleep, I was ready to take on the world!  I had considered heading home today (Thursday) because I felt that I had already had a couple of wonderful days in Yellowstone and got to see a lot of really great things.  I am so glad that I decided to take just one more day in the parks before heading home!

Yellowstone National Park is connected to Grand Teton National Part via the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway.  The 20-something mile road is the connector between the two parks, providing for an opportunity to see deer, elk and moose.  Being bear country, I suppose it is possible to see them as well.

I find the scenery of Grand Teton to be more inspiring than that over at Yellowstone.  There is something about the snow covered mountains reflecting in the lakes or rivers, that is so tranquil.  Finding and viewing wildlife however, has always been hit or miss for me here.  In the past I've spent full days in the park and only saw a deer or two.  Today's visit would provide the cliche, quality over quantity!  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Early morning at the Mud Volcano Overlook

The Canyon Village Campground is about 60 miles from the South Entrance that connects the two parks.  I was up and out of my campsite by 5:30am so I was going to also have a nice roll through Hayden Valley to see who might be out and about at dawn.  My previous drives through the valley on this trip had been disappointing.  The sow with her first year triplets were way off in the distance, far from the park visitors and photographers; a resident moose seen for days hanging out along the Yellowstone River was nowhere to be seen when I've been there looking.  So I didn't have much in the way of expectations on this morning.

As I reached the final pullout along the Hayden Valley heading south, I noticed a couple of cars and several people out looking at something across the river. One person had a spotting scope and another a nice photography set up on a tripod.  When I pulled into the parking lot, I could immediately see what they were watching . . . a large male grizzly bear right at the shoreline of the river.  What I didn't immediately see, was that he had a fresh kill; it looked like a small elk or deer.

With the sun barely up over the horizon, lighting was once again my disadvantage.  It mattered little to me however, as I was thoroughly enjoying watching this bruin protect his meal from a pesky raven.  The bear seemed disinterested in eating while often looking across the river at the growing group of humans watching him.  At one point, he laid down, resting his head on the top of the lump of flesh.

Worth the price of admission, as they say!

After about an hour, I was ready to continue on down the road to Grand Teton.  I was surprised that there was nobody at that entrance collecting entrance fees.  I suppose it was still pretty early in the morning.

I stopped at the Colter Bay Visitor Center to use the bathroom and to get the scoop on where moose and bears had been seen recently.  Some park staff are very helpful when inquiring about wildlife, but on this particular morning it seemed they weren't really interested in being too specific.  I had already read some information on Facebook and was aware of a well known sow with a snowy faced COY (cub of the year) that had been frequently seen this spring around Willow Flats.  When I asked about that area, his only reply was "Yes you may see her out that way."

As I approached Willow Flats, it was clear that people were there also hoping to catch a glimpse of #399 and her cub.  There was a long line of cars parked on the shoulder of the road on both sides . . . for a good quarter mile leading up to a barricaded "no parking" zone that was actively managed by several park rangers and volunteers.  I lucked out as a big pick-up truck was pulling out, as I approached so I was able to park relatively close to where the people were looking for the bears.

At the point where the people were restricted from walking, I took up a conversation with one of the volunteers.  He stated that the sow and cub had been out and about along the road most of the morning, but had recently retreated deep into the sage.  One man shared his photo of the pair just as they were going from one side to the other.  I was starting to feel bummed that I had missed them by about 15 or 20 minutes.

As I took up with another small group of visitors, one guy said that he thought she was still moving through the sage.  And while the bushes were very thick, I noted that the actual depth to the back of the flats wasn't very far . . . maybe a few hundred yards.  My experience with bears in Alaska in such terrain has been that they will keep moving as they feed and that eventually, they will come out the other side.  I mentioned that to this one guy who seemed especially friendly and helpful.  We decided to get in our cars and drive down to the end of the barricade and park down there to see if they pop out on the other side.  It would turn out, we would look like geniuses!!!

I was surprised at how long the "no parking" cones were up along the sage covered flats.  Apparently this sow and her cub were very frequent travelers through this area, and had been seen lingering close to the road as an avoidance strategy to stay out of harm's way from another well known, large boar (male bear).  "Road bears" as they become known, often prefer the presence of humans to help protect themselves, especially if they have cubs.

After driving about a half mile, the orange cones ended.  Just beyond that point was a small open area with limited, patchy sage.  It would be there, that I would park my van in hopes that if she comes through the sage, I would have a clean photo op in the clearing.  My new found friend, pulled down and parked right behind me . . . and behind him, one more person who followed us.  Everyone else who would come to this area would have to park in front of me . . . or down along a side access road another quarter-mile down the road.  In fact, that side road was where a lot of the photogs went to set up with their tripods, etc. in hopes that the bears would make their way further along the Willow Flats.

Wildlife viewing and photography is largely a waiting game . . . one of patience while keeping a keen eye on things happening around you.  Sometimes the presence of ravens above signal a predator with a kill or cache of food.  They are rarely far away from a free meal.

The volunteers working this end of the barricade were very friendly.  One of them, an older gentleman probably in his 70's, got concerned when he saw some of the photogs venturing out into the clearing from the side access road.  He immediately started hoofing it to make them get back to the road.  What we would later realize was that they had seen #399 and the snowy faced cub and was projecting where they'd come out.

With the humans out of the way, almost as if on command, out came the bear family into the clearing on the left, about 100 yards from where we were.  As you can see in the picture above, she was looking in the direction of the photographers . . . probably 200-300 yards from her.  Bears are very watchful, always scanning their environment.  They are seemingly aware of all that are threats to them and especially their cubs.

The little snowy faced cub was equally interested in all that was around them.  It was seen looking around in all directions and frequently getting up on its hind legs to get a better view.  They continued to walk left to right in the grassy clearing and then made a turn towards the road.  At this point the ranger/volunteer told everyone "IN YOUR CARS . . . NOW!"  Everyone hustled to the safety of their vehicles.  In these national parks, the standard safety distance is 100 yards from bears and they were coming well within that range at a pretty good pace.

My heart raced as I hustled (no running!) to my car.  I only had about 10 or 15 yards to my van, so I knew I was still in a safe zone from them.  I was just excited that they were coming in our direction!  Once in my car, I rolled down the window and continued to take photos as they approached the road.

Here they are, as they came up directly across from me . . . literally the width of a two lane road from where I sat parked snapping away with my camera.  This image is straight off the camera . . . no cropping necessary.  In fact, they were almost too close for me to use my 70-300mm telephoto lens.  What would happen next, had my heart skip a beat!  They crossed the road directly across from me, exiting the road directly behind my vehicle.  As they passed, I think she may have decided to take a rub as the van began to gently rock back and forth.  It only lasted a couple of seconds so maybe she just brushed up on my rear bumper?  But it was awesome.

Once to safety on the other side of the road, she continued about foraging and looking for stuff to eat.  I took dozens of photos of the pair and will forever cherish this experience.  This is why I enjoy the US National Parks . . . this is why I take the time to patiently wait in hopes of witnessing wildlife in their natural habitat.  What an amazing experience!

The rest of my morning and early afternoon seemed anti-climatic.  I had heard during the bear jam viewing that there were several moose seen down around the boat dock at the southern end of Jenny Lake.  By the time I got down there (about high noon), they were nowhere to be found.  With a 1pm boat tour and all the tourists gathering in the area, had there been any moose around, they no doubt headed inland and out of view.

I had also heard that there was a nice viewing location down Pilgrim Road.  Back in 2012 it was the marshy area at the end of Pilgrim Road that I had seen two large bull moose so it was my intent to make the drive down there to see what I might.  Unfortunately, as I headed north back towards Yellowstone, I could see in the distance a large gathering of cars and people.  I parked and walked down to the turnoff.  As I was walking down, most people were disbursing and coming back up from the area.  I asked someone what had been happening and he reported there was a male grizzly bear in the clearing, but that he had headed down the road.  That would explain the large "Do Not Enter" sign across the barricaded road.  Oh well . . . opportunity missed . . . and I was OK with that too.

Having been off the grid for a couple of days, and ready for a hot meal I decided to splurge for lunch at the Jackson Lake Lodge.  My timing was impeccable since they had only just opened for the season the day before.  I had a delightful prime rib sandwich (think high end "french dip") with potato salad.  I used the lodge's WiFi to check email at work and to send a couple of text messages home.

Stormy weather to the north

My drive back to camp was uneventful other than the strong thunderstorms that had rolled in.  By the time I got to Bay Bridge and the Fishing Bridge Junction in Yellowstone it was raining and hailing.  The ice was pea sized, making it feel like I was driving over marbles.  The road was treacherous for about two miles, but then cleared up.

With the thunderstorms I thought I should use the time to take a shower and go to the Canyon Village General Store for ice.  In the village, there were all sorts of emergency vehicles including fire trucks and ambulances.  My heart sank, thinking that something bad had happened to someone.  Turned out, just a false alarm that required that they evacuate the general store and cafe until they could determine there was no fire or emergency.  I was able to get in to buy my nightly bag of ice about an hour later.

Unfortunately, the rain continued, often very heavy.  It was about 5:00pm and it was really too early to go back to camp and turn in for the night.  I considered going to the Canyon Visitor Center and taking in the exhibits and short film, but then remembered a play from the "Alaska vacation  playbook" . . . if you don't like the weather where you are, just drive over the mountain and find it better there.  So that was what I did.

The Canyon Village area is just south of the Dunraven Pass over Mt. Washburn.  Given the amount of snow still up on the pass, it was pretty clear that they are affected by different weather patterns so I headed off in that direction.  Besides, maybe I would have a better opportunity to see and photograph the black bears around Tower Junction . . . or if I kept on towards Lamar Valley . . . I would see the wolves again.  Unfortunately, neither of those things happened . . . but I did have a nice drive just the same.

In Lamar Valley, the large herd of bison that I had observed with the wolves two nights prior, were now about a mile closer towards Roosevelt Lodge and right at the road. In fact, they were on either side of the road and often in the road.  I thought about #399 and her cub and wondered if the herd came up to the road to protect their young?  Do the wolves avoid human traffic too, which would make being around us safer?

I found a turnout that provided me with a nice vantage point to view the bison.  The little "red dogs" as the calves are known, were adorable.  It was rather windy that evening and when the wind gusted, they would scamper off, kicking up their hooves.  I noticed that several of the adult bison were jousting.  I had seen that behavior before, but never by the females.  It seemed weird to me.  It thrilled me to see the little red dogs imitating their moms, as they play jousted too.  TOO CUTE!

As night fell over the valley, it was time for me to put a wrap on my Yellowstone adventure.  I reflected as I drove the 30-45 minutes back to camp, thinking about how great this last minute add-on to my original long Memorial Day weekend trip was.

I then remembered some of the negative things that had happened . . . the annoying tourists doing annoying touristy things (like selfies with the wildlife).  The crowds at all of the major attractions and at nearly every wildlife sighting.  I wondered if it was this bad already and it wasn't even the summer tourist season yet, what will it be like when I'm back in mid August?

But then I checked back into my own reality; my own happy place and reminded myself . . . it will be AWESOME!

Back to camp and in bed by 9:00pm.  Today was a 295 mile adventure.