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

Road Trip 2016: The Long Haul

September 26, 2016

Pongo and I got back this afternoon from twelve days on the road.  We hit a bunch of state and national parks and ate a lot of bad camping food (sorry, Pongo).  I'm not a good cook.  The first day was all driving.  I'd been planning on taking four days to get to Grand Teton National Park, but the weather forecast indicated we'd be wasting a couple of days of good weather and would be camping in the rain for three nights.  So, we made that drive in a day and a half instead.  My plans were very loose for this trip, which generally worked to our advantage.

Somewhere on I-80 in Nevada

We camped at Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho for the first night of the trip.  I don't think I have ever seen a clearer night sky.  The Milky Way was easily visible with the naked eye.

Not much else to say, this first day was all about the long drive toward Wyoming, I took very few pictures.

Don't worry, the trip gets better from here.

Soundtrack:

• case/lang/viers -- case/lang/viers
• Muse -- Absolution
• Woody Allen -- The Night Club Years 1964-68 [1]
• Lambert, Hendricks & Ross -- Sing a Song of Basie
• Depeche Mode -- Black Celebration
• Bob Dylan -- Biograph [3]
• Death Cab for Cutie -- Transatlanticism
• The Police -- Message in a Box [2]

Point Reyes National Seashore

September 13, 2016

California Quail

My favorite hike of the year is the early fall trek through the elk reserve to Tomales Point at Point Reyes.  The elk are in rut and, unlike in a zoo, there are no fences.  The elk are in their natural environment (basically).  It can be an amazing experience when the cards line up right.  This hike has become an annual rite for me.

Black-tailed Deer -- Point Reyes National Reserve, CA

I started at the visitor's station.  I don't usually stop there, but I need some stickers for my new computer.  I got a nice little sticker and a magnet for my car.

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

It was a bright, sunny day in the Bay Area but foggy and cold out on the Point.  That's not unusual.  In fact, that's part of the charm of Point Reyes.  It always seems to be foggy and cold.  My kind of weather.  The fog burned off, for the most part, but it stayed mostly cloudy and dark for the day.

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

On the way out to the pond (roughly three miles) I was afraid I was going to get skunked.  I had seen a couple of groups of elk from a distance, but nothing up close.  I've never been skunked on this hike before, but counting on the pond to fill my photo card had me nervous.  At this time of year, it's normal for a group of bachelors to hang out at the pond.  In the tule elk world, if you're a bull elk you're either a winner or a loser.  There's not much in between.  You're either Fonzie or Potsie, there's nothing in between.

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

Pictures don't do these animals justice.  I love stopping here at the pond and watching these animals.  They are hopped up on testosterone (or whatever it is that drives the male elk urges) but there is always an amazing peace that fills this little valley.  Maybe I'm just imagining it, but it feels real, year after year.  God bless these hairy, horny creatures.

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

Black-tailed Deer -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

Overall, I saw eight separate harems of elk.  I've never seen that many.  I suspect they'll break up into smaller groups over the next few weeks, but I could be wrong.

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

Tule Elk -- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

Soundtrack:

• Wilco -- Schmilco

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge

September 18, 2016

I'm back.  I've been having some computer trouble over the last couple of months and have been a bit lazy about clearing it up.  It's all good, now.  Hopefully I can catch up with my blogger friends and get back into a groove.

Sandhill Crane -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Pongo

Actually, I'm only back briefly.  I'll be hitting the road with my pal Pongo for a couple of weeks.  He loves road trips.  He's been all over the West.  Yosemite.  Big Sur.  The Grand Canyon.  Sequoia National Park.  Crater Lake.  Lava Beds.  Pinnacles.  I think his favorite spots are the wildlife refuges we visit in California's Central Valley.  He likes to hang out the window and watch the animals.  I like travelling with him.

Sandhill Crane -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

The first of the winter birds have arrived at the refuge.  When I say the first, I'm talking about probably the first sole flying flock of birds of the year at San Luis.  We saw a solitary group of roughly twenty sandhill cranes on the auto tour.  Some of the ponds have started to fill in, but it will probably be a couple of months before the refuge takes its winter form.

Sandhill Crane -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

My main goal was to get some shots of the tule elk.  It was too hot on Sunday, though.  Most of the herd was either lying low in the grass or under the trees in the middle of elk compound.  I saw one group a few hundred yards from the fence.  They were too far away for good photos, unfortunately.  We saw a few rabbits, which is what Pongo really likes to see.  We saw a lot more rabbits on our last trip to San Luis.  There were traps out along the auto route, so I guess the refuge folks have been working on reducing their numbers.  That seems to have had an impact on the number of raptors at the refuge.  I saw only a handful of hawks and harriers.  This is generally a great place to see raptors even during these quiet months of summer and early fall.

Sandhill Crane -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

I'm backed up on posts.  I'll try to get one or two more out before hitting the road.

Sandhill Crane -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Soundtrack:

• case/lang/viers -- case/lang/viers
• Ian McCulloch -- Candleland

Monterey Bay

August 13, 2016

Things are looking up.  It's August.  Autumn is just around the corner.  With that comes birds and the rut and colder, more interesting weather.  The summer doldrums are almost over.

Pelagic Red Crab -- Monterey, CA

Pelagic Red Crab

My son and I went on a whale watching tour on Saturday.  He'd never been out on the open ocean.  This was my third excursion.  My first time was salmon fishing with my grandfather and brother out of Newport, OR.  It was a disaster.  My brother and I both got sick.  We weren't all that into fishing, anyway.  I'm sure we were a big disappointment to my grandfather, and it's something I regret to this day.  I'm still not into fishing, but today I love being out on a boat in the ocean.  I've taken been on two whale watching cruises in the last year, both times the tours were almost cancelled because of rough waters.  I wish I could share this with him.  I'm not sure Grandpa would see the point of looking at animals in the ocean he couldn't catch and eat, but I suspect on some level we'd be able to connect.

Common Murre -- Monterey, CA

Before getting to the boat, we spotted a lot of little red crabs swimming and resting under water on the rocks that line the harbor.  I had never seen these before.  We couldn't figure out if they were crabs or prawns or something else altogether.  I looked them up when I got home.  They are called pelagic red crab, but they're actually related to lobsters.  They're not usually found in Monterey because the water is normally too cold.  They're considered a sign of El Niño.

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

Humpback Whale

Those are my two favorite whale photos from Saturday.  That's the same whale, the shots were taken a few seconds apart.  I was zoomed in too close on that first one but I like the look of it.  That second one is easily the best whale photo I've ever taken.  The whale raise his/her tail very high and then went straight down with the tail actually falling over backwards in the descent as see in this little picture to the right.

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

We had a number of good looks at whales on Saturday.  I didn't get any shots of the first few, I was frankly caught gawking.  These pictures don't convey the majesty these animals hold in their natural settings.  Get out there and see them for yourself

Monterey Bay, CA

 I'll be honest, my twenty-five year old son enjoyed the whales, but it was the sea lions he liked the best.  Millenials.

Pacific Grove, CA

Monterey, CA

Monterey, CA

Monterey, CA

Soundtrack:

• Ryan Adams -- Love Is Hell