The Tetons and Beyond

Views, Vistas and Weather

2008-07-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

Yellowstone park is definitely not lacking in incredible views, and we saw plenty. I thought I would share some of my favorites with you.

Here you can really see just how much standing dead there is still, from the fires I mentioned in an earlier post:

The weather was especially gorgeous on the first day, which is when I snapped this one:

We got a bit of rain on the second day, but only for about an hour and it was just enough to cool us off. I took this one as the rain clouds were coming in:

There WAS a blue heron on the other side of this little pond, but he flew off before I was able to snap a picture, the bugger. It's still beautiful on it's own, though:

If you look closely at this one, you can see what we think are either big horn sheep or pronghorn (antelope) up on the hillside:

Finally, I took this one near where we camped because it looks like a road I could be happy living on for the rest of my life:

Next time, I will share some pictures of some of the gorgeous wild flowers we saw along the way!

Chelle B.

Where the Buffalo Roam

2008-06-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

Yellowstone park is famous for its buffalo (bison) herd, as you may know, and for good reason!

They are pretty incredible animals and I am always excited to see them whenever I visit the park. In fact, they are typically the first species of wildlife that I have the pleasure of seeing because there are usually so many of them.

Scenes like this are very common:

Unfortunately, the buffalo herd in the park this year is nearly half of what it was last year, due to a very bad winter and sadly, due also to a record number of legal cullings.

If you aren't familiar with the situation with the government sanctioned cullings due to the threat of brucellosis, here is an excerpt and a link to a recent article from CNN.com about the situation:

More than 700 of the iconic animals starved or otherwise died on the mountainsides during an unusually harsh winter, and more than 1,600 were shot by hunters or sent to slaughterhouses in a disease-control effort, according to National Park Service figures.
As a result, the park estimates its bison herd has dropped from 4,700 in November to about 2,300 today, prompting the government to halt the culling program early.
Government officials say the slaughter prevents the spread of the disease brucellosis from the Yellowstone bison to cattle on land near the park. Brucellosis can cause miscarriages, infertility and reduced milk production in domestic cattle.

Fortunately, the ones that did survive appeared to be very healthy, and there were many babies in the various herds that we saw:

Something that never ceases to amaze me, every time I visit Yellowstone, is the complete ignorance many of the tourists show toward these animals, despite the best efforts of the park rangers to give adequate warning as to how dangerous they are.

Buffalo are extremely dangerous, despite their seemingly docile nature. In fact, according to Wikipedia, they have been responsible for many more deaths than most people probably realize:

Between 1978 and 1992, over four times as many people in Yellowstone National Park were killed or injured by bison as by bears (12 by bears, 56 by bison). Bison also have the unexpected ability, given the animal's size and body structure, to leap over a standard barbed-wire fence.

Each time I go, I see people who are putting themselves in harm's way in one way or another, whether it is to get a better picture of a buffalo or just to get close enough to one to touch it.

One year, we watched in absolute horror as a man put what appeared to be a 4 or 5 year old girl up on the back of one and snapped a picture of her!! Luckily a park ranger also witnessed this and stepped in to deal with the situation.

I am always impressed by the quiet majesty of these magnificent creatures, and I felt very lucky to have gotten some really nice photos of this one in particular:

Chelle B.

Highlights from Yellowstone Park

2008-06-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

Last week, we spent 3 days camping and hiking up in Yellowstone Park. :)

The weather was gorgeous, and I took over 160 incredibly nice photos while we were there!! I wasn't sure where to start as far as posting them here, so I am organizing them into several posts which will go up over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, I thought that I would give a preview with some highlights of the trip, using some of my favorite pictures that I took. I hope you enjoy, and please do come back over the next few weeks as I add more posts with more details from my awesome trip to Yellowstone!

For starters, of course a trip to Yellowstone means seeing many buffalo, and the ones we saw were very healthy, like this big boy:

I'll be doing a post just on the buffalo of Yellowstone soon, so stay tuned!!

These trees really caught my eye. You can see where the buffalo (and perhaps moose and elk?) rub on them:

I'll also be doing a post with some great photos of the trees and mountains. :)

One of my favorite places in the park is Yellowstone Lake, it is absolutely beautiful:

So are the numerous waterfalls:

A post on the lovely water features of Yellowstone is sure to come as well, including some from the Fishing Bridge, where there were quite a few pelicans gathered:

I also took some great pictures and video of the various mineral pools and geysers (including Old Faithful, of course!!), which also deserve their own post:

But the best treat of all was seeing this big, beautiful grizzly bear, he was about 150 yards away and we followed him for over an hour:

Needless to say, he deserves an entire post dedicated to him, as well.

Anyway, I hope this whetted your appetite for more, so please check back here at Tetons and Beyond over the next few weeks for more in-depth coverage of our trip!!

I know you will enjoy!! ;)

Chelle B.

Off to the rodeo in Tetonia

2008-05-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

As in many places around the country, rodeo is a proud tradition that is still thriving here in Idaho. We hadn't been to one in a few years, so when our neighbor invited us to come and watch her compete in the local high school rodeo circuit up in Tetonia, we were more than happy to go!

Hmm... before I go further, I guess I should stop here to offer a fair and kindly warning to anyone visiting my blog ~ if you are easily offended by American traditions such as rodeos or hunting, you may want to skip some portions of this and future posts! ;)

With that said, Tetonia isn't far from where we live and as you can see, it is an absolutely beautiful place with incredible views of the Grand Tetons:

When we got to the rodeo grounds, our neighbors had saved us the best spot in the whole place, all the way in the back, so we had a bit of privacy as well as some pretty great views out of our camper windows from all sides.

I'm not sure which is my favorite view; the rodeo horses to the west...

Or the Tetons to the east...

Either way, it was a VERY nice spot to camp in and I'd love to go back once the trees fill in.

Before we walked over to watch the rodeo action, I took a few minutes to take some photos of nearby scenery, including this cute little dry creek bed:

And something I personally always love to see, a rusty old piece of farm equipment:

To my surprise, some fellow campers and rodeo participants nearby us had one of my all time favorite wild animals as a pet, and I got to spend time playing with him, which was awesome:

He was such a character!!

We came up later in the day, so we didn't make it in time to watch every event, but the good thing was that we didn't miss our favorite ones which included:

Bronc riding...

Barrel racing (of course we rooted for our favorite barrel racer, who did quite well I might add!)...

And my personal favorite, bull riding!! Unfortunately the pictures I took were a bit blurry due to the fast action of the bulls, but I was lucky enough to get the best ride of the night on video to share with you:

After the rodeo, we lit a campfire and a lot of the cowgirls and cowboys made their way over in our direction, and we stayed up well past midnight just enjoying the company and conversation.

Overall, it was a really good time and we are so lucky to have such great friends and neighbors to spend time with!!

Needless to say, I could SERIOUSLY get addicted to waking up to this view every morning:

Chelle B.

Happy Mother's Day To Me!!

2008-05-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

Well it is officially spring here, and everything is in bloom and best of all, everywhere you look, there are babies of all kinds in all the fields!!

Of course, just as things are getting beautiful, I get the flu but I am finally feeling better so this week we are planning on heading out for a few days of camping and I promise I will get some pictures of the beautiful spring wildflowers, and hopefully a few shots of some wildlife, too!

Until then, I thought I would show off the newest not-so-wild life addition to my own backyard. :)

After visiting a good friend of ours and fawning over their mares and foals last year in Montana, I made an innocent comment about how nice it would be to have a baby in OUR field, and finally, last week my hubby decided to surprise me with the news that we could buy our own mare and foal.

We chose these two:

Believe me, I have never been so surprised in my life, as he has always expressed doubt about all the work involved with raising a young horse!

Lucky for me that he changed his mind, though. :)

The momma, Missy, is a 10 year old APHA (American Paint Horse Association) registered mare, and is well broke and just as sweet as can be.

We named the colt Hobo, and as you can imagine, it was love at first sight when I saw him:

He is actually very well behaved for as young as he is, but of course his original owner handled him from birth which helps a lot so he already let's us halter him and play with his feet.

We spend as much time as we can right now interacting with him to make sure we curb any bad habits that might arise and get him used to all the handling he will get once he is full grown.

Right now, 90% of our time is spent just sitting in the field, watching him do this:

Not that we mind watching him sleep, because whatever he is doing makes us all go "awwww!" right now hehe.

He comes from such great bloodlines and I can't wait to see how he turns out after he is grown and trained, but until then I am eating up every minute that I can while he is still little:

Yep, I am definitely in love!!

This was the best present I've ever gotten.

:)

Chelle B.

On the Hillside in Arco, Idaho

2008-04-16T22:54:00.000-07:00

On our way out to the Craters of the Moon, we drove through a little town called Arco.

Here is a little factoid about Arco from Wikipedia:

Arco was the first community in the world ever to be lit by electricity generated by nuclear power. This occurred on July 17, 1955. The reactor was established in 1949 as the "National Reactor Testing Station" (NRTS)and is now the Idaho National Laboratory.

There really isn't much there, it is a pretty isolated and, like many small towns across America, it looks to be barely hanging on with little prospect of future progress, but something about it really caught my eye!

Up on the steep hills that loom over the town, you can't help but notice that there are dozens of numbers painted in white.

It really made me smile when I got close enough and realized what they were. Each graduating class since 1920 had climbed the hill and put their mark on it.

We even found a sign describing it:

As you can see, I don't think a single class missed out on leaving their 'mark':

Maybe it is the nostalgic side of me, but I just love thinking about all of the generations of people who contributed to that hillside.

I bet it is even better to look at when all that brown turns to green.

;)

Chelle B.

Craters of the Moon

2008-04-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

So last week, we took a drive out to Craters of the Moon national monument, hoping to get some good shots of the lava fields.

Just to give a little history on this area, I found this at Wikipedia:

The Craters of the Moon Lava Field spreads across 618 square miles (1,601 km²) and is the largest mostly Holocene-aged basaltic lava field in the lower 48 U.S. states. The Monument and Preserve contain more than 25 volcanic cones including outstanding examples of spatter cones. Sixty distinct lava flows form the Craters of the Moon Lava Field ranging in age from 15,000 to just 2,000 years old. The Kings Bowl and Wapi lava fields, both about 2,200 years old, are part of the National Preserve.

The drive from Idaho Falls to there is very interesting, not because there is a lot to see, really, but to get there we have to pass by the Idaho National Laboratory.

If you aren't familiar with this facility, here is a little information about it that may surprise you:

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is an 890-square-mile (2,300-km²) complex located in the Idaho desert between the town of Arco and the city of Idaho Falls.

On January 3, 1961, the first and only fatal nuclear reactor accident in the United States occurred at the NRTS. An experimental reactor called SL-1 (Stationary Low-Power Plant Number 1) was destroyed when a problem control rod was removed incorrectly leading to core meltdown and explosion. All three military personnel working in the reactor were killed. Due to the extensive radioactive isotope contamination, all three had to be buried in lead coffins. The events are the subject of a book published in 2003, Idaho Falls: The untold story of America's first nuclear accident.

I don't think most people are aware that the INL exists, let alone that it was the site of the first and only fatal nuclear accident in the USA!

Anyway, we'll be touring the facility later this spring, so I'll do a whole post about that, as well.

There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground as we passed the INL and reached Craters of the Moon, and the snow actually contrasted really nicely with the coal black color of the lava flows:

Now I had assumed that the small mountain in this picture was an extinct volcano, but I was wrong! It is actually one of several lava hills that were pushed up during one of the many flows that took place.

For a while, the sun was out and it was really beautiful, you can really see just how blackened it is there:

Once the clouds took the sunlight away, it took on a more ominous feeling:

Once the snow has fully melted, I will go back and do an update on this post to show the difference between now and then.

Hopefully that won't be too much longer! I can honestly say that I'd be happy to never see snow ever again at this point.

At least not until around Christmas. :)

More sunsets...

2008-04-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

I was playing around with the settings of my camera the other day, and took a few more shots from my back deck of the beautiful sunsets we have here:

This week I'll be posting some pictures of a hike we took over the weekend at Craters of the Moon state park, another area of the same lava fields that are at Hell's Half Acre.

There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground, but it is a very interesting place, nonetheless!!

Hopefully I'll have the post ready by Tuesday or Wednesday. :)

Chelle B.

A hike to Hell's Half Acre

2008-03-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

Not too far from where I live, is Hell's Half Acre. It is a lava field that is really remarkable, as it just starts abruptly and ends just as abruptly.

A little information about it from The Global Volcanism Program:

Hell's Half Acre lava field, the easternmost of the young basaltic lava fields of the Snake River Plain, covers an area of about 400 sq km SW of Idaho Falls and is the 2nd largest of the Snake River Plain. Basaltic lavas forming the broad, low shield volcano are dominantly pahoehoe flows that were erupted from a 3-km-long, NW-SE trending vent system at the NW part of the field during a brief eruptive episode about 5200 years ago.

I took a drive out to the trail, hoping to get some decent shots of it but the icy wind had kicked up that day, making it difficult to really enjoy the hike.

Here, you can see there are two trails, one short (blue) and one long (red):

Guess which one I ended up taking? ;)

Here, you can see that the sage LOVES to grow among the lava rocks:

The lava itself is an odd mix of black, brown and red, with lovely moss and lichens growing on it:

On the way back to the warm car, I took this shot, because I thought it was just lovely how the foothills in the distance were framed by the trees:

I will be returning for the long version of this hike when it is warm, and the wind isn't blowing so hard!!

I just really love the geology of this area, knowing that I live on top of the world's largest volcano is a bit exciting.

Do you have a volcano close by where you live?

Chelle B.

Way down upon the windy river...

2008-03-29T04:26:00.000-07:00

The Snake River is aptly named, as it looks like a snake as it winds it's way around this part of Idaho.

We aren't far at all from its banks, in fact, it is where I plan to ride my horse quite often and of course it is where we fish for Rainbow, Brown and Cutthroat trout. Some of the best trout in the world live in it's waters.

Here are just a few facts rom the article about it on Wikipedia:

The river's length is 1,040 miles (1,674 km), its watershed drains 108,000 square miles (280,000 km²), and the average discharge at its mouth is 56,900 cubic feet per second (1,610 m³/s). The river flows from its source in Yellowstone National Park through a series of mountain ranges, canyons, and plains.

There are some great pictures and a lot more information there in that article, but my recommendation is to come see it in person, and if you do, bring your fly rod and give me a call!

I'll show you all the best spots to fish. ;)

Anyway, here are just a few pictures I took last night on my little walk, keep in mind that the wind was icy cold so my teeth were chattering and my hands were a bit shaky the entire time!!

The first two are just the scenery along the way:

For some reason, I just love the stone roadway they put in where the boats are launched:

As you can see, we are finally seeing all that snow melt!! A week or so ago, this roadway was completely covered. It gives me hope!

Oh, and just as I got to the river's edge, I noticed this lovely creature hovering high above me:

Unfortunately, he flew off as soon as I noticed him, so I couldn't get many good shots of him! :(

I did get a lovely shot of the sun, though:

So after all this, when I finally got over to the shoreline where I could begin taking pictures of the river itself, I was soooooo cold and my ears were beginning to ache from the wind, so I decided I'd save the good views of the water for another, warmer, day.

Sorry to tease, but hopefully this will leave you wanting more. :)

By the way, can you identify what the bird is in the photo that I took? Do they live near you?

Of course, I know what it is, and thankfully he qualified me for this week's Saturday Photo Hunt!! ;)

Chelle B.

A short drive, a lot of snow!

2008-03-27T15:16:00.000-07:00

Don't tell him, but recently, while hubby was at work, the kids and I drove a few miles towards Jackson Hole, Wyoming and took a few pictures along the way just to get out of the house.

Our place isn't far at all from the border, on the Idaho side:

Being the nice guy that he is, my hubby worries about me driving the roads during winter or early spring. The last time we drove together, we saw 2 roll-over accidents that were less than 5 miles apart!

Luckily, the highway was clear from snow and ice for the most part and the weather was really nice, as you can see.

Here is a picture of Palisade's Reservoir, which is along the way:

It is very large and so very beautiful in the summertime!!

Just to give you an idea of how large this man made lake actually is, here is a description of it taken from Jacksonholenet.com :

Palisades Reservoir, on the upper Snake River, was developed by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1957. The Reservoir is formed by Palisades Dam, which is a major feature on the Palisades Project. Recreation on this 25 square mile (16,100 acre) reservoir, with 70 miles of limited access shoreline, is administered by the Caribou-Targhee National Forest.

Once the snow is gone, I'll be adventuring more at the dam and reservoir.

Just before we reached the reservoir, we spotted some elk that were standing so still at first they looked like archery targets. They were quite a ways out in a pasture, but as you can see, the snow was simply too high to attempt getting closer.

It made me realize that I need a camera with much better zoom capability, though:

On the way back, my son snapped this one of the moon peaking over a hill:

Too bad the phone lines are in the way, otherwise it is a nice photo, I think.

Next time, I'll share some pictures I took of the Snake River, right near my house. There is still a bit of snow left in places down here, but not nearly as much as there was up the road toward Jackson Hole!!

Do you have snow where you live?

Chelle B.

A room with a view...

2008-03-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

Well my new blog is still a work in progress, I will be adding a new header soon and a few items to the side bar, but I think I like the simplicity of the design because I want the posts to be the main focus here.

I am sooo anxious to post some photos, so I thought to kick things off I would show you a couple of pictures that I took recently from my house.

This first one is the view of the sunrise out of the picture window upstairs:

It is hard to make out, but the tips of the Grand Tetons are back there just beyond those foothills. On a perfectly clear day they are a lot easier to see.

Here is a photo of the sunset from that same day, taken from off of my back deck:

The way my house is built, I can sit in my living room or dining room and see in both of these directions, because the windows upstairs face either due east or due west, which is quite nice.

I suppose having these views does make it a bit easier to endure the long winters and I am rather proud of these two photos, since I am very much a novice photographer.

Do you have a view of the sunrise or sunset from your place?

Chelle B.