Road Trip 2016: Grand Teton & Antelope Island

September 30, 2016

Friday was a driving day.  We needed to get from Grand Teton National Park to Salt Lake City to set us up for an easy drive on Saturday to Canyonlands and Arches.  Still, I had a planned stop to make at Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake and a quick stop at Moose before leaving Grand Teton to try to see a moose.

Rocky Mountain Elk -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

The morning was foggy.  The mountain range was completely slammed.  The elk were out and could be heard in all directions, though.  A few were even visible.

Mule Deer -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

We didn't end up going to Moose to look for a moose.  We didn't have to go that far.  We saw not one but two moose next to the entrance booths about a quarter of a mile away from the junction to Moose.  It was foggy and a little dark but that didn't stop me from taking a ton of photographs.  None of them turned out great, but who cares?  I saw a couple of moose and I didn't even have to go to Moose to see the moose.

Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

I tried a number of post-processing tricks to try to make the photos suck less.  None really worked.  The photos I tend to like the best put an emphasis on the morning fog, but they tend to leave something to be desired as far as the moose are concerned.  The first moose I saw was a lady moose in a meadow.  She stood around for a while then moved into some trees.

Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Based on the size and shape of his antlers, I'm guessing it was an adolescent male moose that emerged from the trees.  He tried to put a move on the lady moose but she was having none of it.  Poor little dude.

Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Moose -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

After watching the moose until they disappeared into the trees, we headed to the Bunnery in Jackson where I picked up some coffee and a spinach and cheese croissant.  If you're ever in Jackson and you like a good breakfast, this is the place to go.

Somewhere on Some Road in Idaho

American Bison -- Antelope Island State Park, UT

Fast forward four hundred miles or so and we were on Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake in Utah.  The island gets its name from the pronghorn that inhabit the island.  A herd of bison also live on the island.

American Bison -- Antelope Island State Park, UT

American Bison -- Antelope Island State Park, UT

American Bison -- Antelope Island State Park, UT

Pronghorn -- Antelope Island State Park, UT

Pronghorn -- Antelope Island State Park, UT

Pronghorn -- Antelope Island State Park, UT

American Avocet -- Antelope Island State Park, UT

I'd originally planned on camping at Antelope Island, but at this point we'd been camping for four cold, occasionally wet nights, so I was ready for a regular room and a shower.  I also wanted to see Salt Lake City and perhaps take a crack at photographing the Mormon Temple there.  I figured if they light that one up the way they do the temple in Oakland it would make for some nice photos.

Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City, UT

Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City, UT

I'm not sure if dogs are allowed in the Temple Square or not.  I didn't ask.  Pongo and I took some looks from a couple of Mormon Mafia types, but they didn't say anything.

Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City, UT

I'm not religious.  I don't have any respect for religion.  I saw power, money and control in these walls.  The placement of the Zions' Bank building right next door to the Temple Square seemed neither ironic nor by happenstance.

The temple is a beautiful building, especially when lit up at night.  One good thing religions seem to do is construct buildings that are works of art.  This particular building is a bit blocky, but I enjoyed looking at it and taking these pictures.

Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City, UT

Soundtrack:

• Band of Horses -- Everything All the Time
• Queen -- Greatest Hits
• LCD Soundsystem -- This Is Happening
• Robin Williams -- Live 2002 [2]
• Hank Williams -- Greatest Hits
• The Jam -- The Sound of the Jam

Road Trip 2016: Grand Teton National Park

September 28, 2016

Pongo and I spent Wednesday touring Grand Teton National Park.  After a day and a half of driving I wanted to keep things low-key and give Pongo a chance to walk around, especially since the next couple of days would have us likely spending a lot of time in the car.

Grand Teton National Park, WY

I don't know if I'll ever tire of photographing the Teton mountain range.  These mountains never seem to give the same look twice.

Grand Teton National Park, WY

This early morning shoot was a lot of fun.  Not only did we see the sunrise light up the mountains, we were surrounded by elk.  We couldn't see most of them but we could hear them bugling.  I can't imagine many better ways to start a day.

Rocky Mountain Elk -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

I've never seen elk in the Grand Teton park before.  This was my third visit, the other two trips were in July.  I suppose the elk were all up in Yellowstone in the summer.  They move down into the elk refuge near Jackson for the winter, I suppose these elk were making their way down.  They weren't visible during the day, but at dawn and dusk they were easily seen in the lowland areas of the park.

Rocky Mountain Elk -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Grand Teton National Park, WY

After the photo session we went back to the campsite for breakfast.  On the way we saw a group of photographers so I pulled over to see what they were shooting.  There was a bull elk in the trees.  I took a few shots from the road but then noticed that some folks were moving in behind the elk.  He was basically being trapped by the trees and the photographers.  It was not a good scene so I left.

Rocky Mountain Elk -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

After breakfast, we went to Moose in search of a moose.  We actually saw one but only for a few seconds.  It was an even worse scene than what we'd encountered with the elk.  A few photographers were shooting a moose in the woods.  A couple of guys with iPhones decided they needed to get cloer so they went crashing into the woods for their selfies.  Of course, the moose didn't like that and quickly moved deeper into the woods.  I didn't get a chance at a photo.  That was a frustrating experience on a few levels.  I wouldn't mind seeing wildlife photography with cell phones being banned in our parks.

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Beaver Lodge -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Pongo and I took a couple of dirt road hikes in the afternoon.  They were basically uneventful although Pongo seemed to enjoy them.  We took a rest in the afternoon at the campground where we saw three mule deer and a marten.  We also saw three dusky grouse in our campsite in the morning.

Mule Deer -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Mule Deer -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

We had one last uncomfortable wildlife encounter late in the day.  A pronghorn was standing by the side of the road right next to some parked cars.  People were too close although the pronghorn didn't seem to mind.

Pronghorn -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Soundtrack:

• Interpol -- Turn on the Bright Lights

Road Trip 2016: Craters of the Moon & Grand Teton

September 27, 2016

Pongo and I woke up at dawn on Tuesday morning.  We'd already adjusted to camping time, it seems.  I made some coffee and gave Pongo his breakfast, then we set out for a quick tour of Craters of the Moon before heading East to Grand Teton National Park.

Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID

Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID

Craters of the Moon gets its name from the large lava field that it encompasses.  From atop the highest point one can see the lava field extends to the horizon.  Today we might know that the surface of the moon doesn't quite look like this, but one hundred years ago this must have seemed like a pretty reasonable thing.

Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID

Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID

There's nothing all that unusual about this particular lava field apart from its size.  Eastern Oregon and Southern Idaho are littered with these things.  It's the size of this one that is impressive.

Pretty cool first stop.

Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID

Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID

After our brief tour of Craters of the Moon, Pongo and I drove East to Grand Teton National Park.  We got there early in the afternoon and found a camping site at the Signal Mountain campground for the next three nights.  I set up the tent and we took a much-needed rest.

Grand Teton National Park, WY

As we entered the park, the ranger at the entry point gave us some great advice. He told us that dogs are limited to going basically anyplace a car can go..  That includes unpaved roads.  He said I could walk him on any of the unpaved roads and we'd probably not see anyone else.  While not quite true--we usually saw two or three cars on each of our hikes on these dirt roads--it basically held up in spirit.  After our afternoon nap, we set out for our first adventure on the shadow of the Teton range.

Grand Teton National Park, WY

This first dirt road hike was our most eventful.  As we rounded a clump of trees we spotted a small group of pronghorn directly ahead of us.  Pronghorn seem to be the unofficial greeters of Wyoming's wildlife.  They've been the first mammal I've seen on every trip I've made to the state.  They seem to be common, like black-tailed deer in Northern California, but I'm always excited to see them.

Pronghorn -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

The pronghorn kept their distance but they didn't run away.  We were able to spend twenty minutes or so watching them.  It was just me, Pongo and the pronghorn.  Fantastic.

Pronghorn -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Pronghorn -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Pronghorn -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Pronghorn -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

I should point out I use a 100-400mm zoom lens for my animal shots, and the close up shots are generally cropped.  I'm able to keep a safe, respectful distance.  I saw a lot of craziness with people and their cell phones on this trip.  I'll address a couple of specific scenarios in upcoming blog entries.  Please, if you want to shoot wildlife, get a camera with a good zoom.  You don't need to spend a lot of money, my old camera had a 40x zoom and it cost $350.  It took great photos.

Pronghorn -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Pronghorn -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Pronghorn -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Pronghorn -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

After our pronghorn hike, Pongo and I drove around a bit then settled in at our campsite before the sun set.  All in all, it was a pretty good start to the Wyoming part of our adventure.

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Soundtrack:

• Bob Mould -- Bob Mould
• The Police -- Message in a Box [4]
• Left of the Dial [4]
• Count Basie & Sarah Vaughan -- Count Basie / Sarah Vaughan
• Count Basie & Tony Bennett -- Strike up the Band