Saturday, June 10, 2006

Trail shot - Death Canyon Posted by Picasa
This old barn is widely photographed - there are several posters and prints of this building with the Tetons looming in the background, in all seasons.
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This is a detail of the corner of the old barn.  Posted by Picasa
Great view those early Mormon settlers chose for homesteading. Posted by Picasa
Interesting weather event. Posted by Picasa
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.  Posted by Picasa
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. Posted by Picasa
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. Posted by Picasa
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.
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....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! Posted by Picasa
Trailside chipmunk. Posted by Picasa
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.  Posted by Picasa
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. Posted by Picasa
This is an adult elk, just having a rest streamside. Posted by Picasa

Monday, June 05, 2006

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! Posted by Picasa