Interesting weather event. 

Lastly, I didn't spend much time in town except for the night before flying out, but I don't think anyone visiting Jackson has left without snapping a photo of its famed elk antler arches at the corners of the main town square.  

Now for the animal shots. I took many more but even the quality on these chosen ones isn't so great for the most part. I was hiking without a tripod. I make it a point not to ever carry a flash and to use natural lighting. Combine those two facts with the fact that most wildlife likes to become active at dawn or dusk - low light situations - and the resulting slower capture speed resulted in a number of less-than-crystal-clear images. That was the case when I encountered this male moose after rounding a bend in the trail. He was eating, and seemed uninterested or concerned with me. I didn't see a mom and calf around, so figured I didn't have to back from him. But, because of the low light, I kept getting blurry photos of him - moving his head up and down while eating, etc. I decided to try one more time for a photo, but thought I'd try to make a moose sound to get his attention (meaning he'd stand still for a moment while I captured his image). Well, I don't know what sounds moose make. So, I mooooo-ed. God only knows what he thought about that sound, but the tactic worked for capturing the image, without "real" disruption or disturbance to the animal. Other than hearing that awful moooo sound. 

This shot may be a bit hard to see. I was walking along in the willow flats (tracking a storm, in the Weather photos), and heard a hoof stomp the ground, once. When I looked to my left, I saw an odd elk sentry. They were all lined up in a row, just watching me. It felt somewhat military. 

This is a marmot - they're everywhere in the park. They are one of the few animals that don't move down out of the mountains in the winter. Instead, they hibernate deep under cracks and openings in the rocks away from predators, and slow their breathing and heart rate down to 4 beats per minute. This marmot is typically marked in his coloring.
 

....and here's a black marmot. I'd never seen one before, but on this trip, probably encountered 6 of them. Or the same one 6 times! 

Trailside chipmunk. 

I encountered these geese, about 5 of them, about 2,000 feet above all the lakes in the Tetons. I'm not sure what about those little puddles attracted them, but they were very quiet in their approach to the water holes.  

I was also glad to run into a few buffalo. I've often seen them before, but learned this time of year they like to wander on the other side of the hill along Mormon Row. Except this one, that was wandering, alone, in the park. I have to admit I've never seen a lone buffalo, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, so I kept some distance. 

This is an adult elk, just having a rest streamside. 

Here is a Pheasant (I believe), playing camouflage. Actually, it was walking right on the trail, and I literally had to shoo it off of the path to get it into what looked like a more natural setting for its kind!

Coming Soon.......Wyoming Update

I've enjoyed another fantastic Wyoming trip recently.......the worst day in the mountains still beats the best day (yet) in the office, so the come-down is pretty hard this evening, especially since I've been up since 4 and taken 3 flights and driven 2 hours to get home. Still beats driving there and back, though. So, I've got almost 400 photos to pour through - I won't post all of them, but have decided on some initial categorization: Mountain Scenery, Animals, Other Scenery, and Drive-By Shootings. The latter category I do with a small digital handheld camera, and just like the name suggests, shoot photos while driving. I've become addicted to this activity since first acquiring that camera.

Some initial stats:

• Miles driven: 132 (you don't have to go far in Jackson to get away from it all).
• Frustrating crowds encountered: 1 (in airport)
• New Friends made: 6
• Interesting International Travelers encountered, all from places I've been able to visit: 4
• Authors met when unknowingly buying their book: 1
• New books bought: 8
• Personal Mishaps: 1 (thought I tore my knee but it turns out I have a tendonitis problem, which resulted in my buying some new Leki trekking poles (pronounced CANES)
• Music most listened to while hiking (occasionally): John Denver
• Campout nights: 4
• Hotel nights: 4 (when I arrived it stormed a bit; and one before my dawn departure, for the sake of a shower)
• Trout illegally caught and eaten: 2
• Salads made from plants pulled fresh from the earth (with guidance from a new book): 3
• Animals spotted: mink, chimpmunks, squirrels, buffalo, wolf, marmots, birds, elk, coyote, moose, bear scat and lion prints.
• Miles trekked: averaged 10 per day (bad weather not a non-hiking factor)
• Total elevation gain trekked: 14,000 feet (cumulative). What goes up must come down - hence the knee problem.
• Cold days: 2
• States visited: Michigan (DTW airport); Minnesota (a first! layover at Minneapolis), Montana (layover in Billings) Idaho (had breakfast there on day one and hiked into Alaska Basin on last day)
  
• Burning hot days that roasted my skin despite spf 45: 3 (and it didn't even hit 80)
• Extreme activity attempted: 1 (paragliding - jumping off of Cody Bowl in a tandem hookup with a professional jumper). Total unassisted flight time: just under 30 minutes.
• Number of times mistaken for a local (asked for directions, trail information, recommendations): 4
• New Ideas: A few; not as many on this trip; very zen, very quiet-minded hiking. A new goal though: if it doesn't get me into the mountains, don't do it (or question thoroughly)
• Number of times I thought about work: 0.

This weekend I did a little gardening work outside. One addition - well, two, actually - are the Red Velvet Trailing Verbena along the front steps. Each of the buds is a clump of tons of small flowers. They're not really fragrant but they add such a visual punch to the front of the house. I'm starting to plan some work for the back yard now, considering some undulating landscaping along the path of the sidewalk so I don't have to continue mowing around the landscape lights. And so it doesn't look so much like a runway. But, today, my neighbor, Julia, helped spread some mulch and water some plants. Most days I can find her lazing on the front porch swing. In the "out of the mouths of babes" category, she told me today that if I "ever find a husband and make babies", she would love to babysit for me when I go to work. She's looking forward to July when my neice Casey and nephew Kyle visit, both of whom are slightly younger. Is it just me, or is her comfort level on that swing as though she owns the place!?!?

I opted for a few cheapie indoor plants to dress up the bathroom, since I'm hesitant to hang anything on the walls and hose up the wallpaper job. These little guys are all supposed to be low-medium light happy, so I'll have to see which does best before creating a real border. This is the brightness of the bathroom with no lights on and the blinds closed, so if I open them a bit for when I'm at work, I'm hoping that would provide ample light. 

I planted a few Pentas along the back deck and moved some of the daffodils here from the front yard. Of course after I packed everything in and watered it, I took a break and went inside to learn that there is a frost warning for tonight. These plants may not make it, but I hope they will - they've got little star shaped clusteres of flowers and I've got them well covered with mulch, with help from Julia.