Bob and I have been to several parks tracking down wildlife. And thankfully, as many of you may know, animals aren't difficult to locate in most national parks. Bob enjoys, every bit as much as I do, spending days out in the wild, observing for hours on end the routines of these incredible animals. So, when I decide it's time to get out of the studio, he's the first person I call.
Now, on to the trip!
Bob and I packed up his full-size GMC truck, to the hilt I might add, and headed out for a 12 hour drive to the GYE from Glenvil, NE. Most of this trek is extraordinarily boring — at least the scenery is. Three quarters of the drive is nothing but flat, and I mean FLAT, countryside. The expression, "There are more antelope in Wyoming than people", must be true. We saw hundreds of them along the way.
Bob and I arrived in Jackson, WY around 7pm. We located a hotel, ate dinner and then hit the sack, prepped with a bit of local knowledge the hotel desk clerk was kind enough to provide us on where we might find moose in the morning. Moose was the main species I wanted to photograph... and moose we would find.
The next morning, Bob and I were out by 5:30 am. We made our way into the Park (Grand Tetons) at Moose Junction and headed up Wilson road to the area we were informed moose had recently been spotted. It took less than five minutes of peering into the willows through the dark that we located moose. Three of them. A bull, cow and her calf. Neither Bob nor I had ever seen moose in the wild. Our eyes lit up and we immediately pulled off the road and planned a route around the moose to get better shots. After trudging through freezing, marshy earth, our plan failed. The moose were obscured from the other side as well. By now, others had spotted them, so we decided to high-tail it back up to the road and see if there were spots where we could photograph the moose unimpeded. We found a spot and spent the next several hours firing off shots and observing these three giants.
I must say, Teton National Park is one of the most spectacular places I have ever been. We didn't see the mountain range on the evening we arrived as the light had faded. But when the sun came up the next morning, Bob and I were awestruck by the soaring mountains that rise over the Jackson Hole landscape. Absolutely breathtaking.
The next few days we spent in the Tetons, photographing both moose and elk. We kept a running total of the number of moose we observed each day. The tally by the time we headed up to Yellowstone had reached 30+ individual moose. As for the weather in the Tetons, Bob and I had prepared for the worst, but we were graced with the absolute best. The sky was nearly always clear and the temperatures were in the 70s during the day. Perfect.
On to Yellowstone.
Yellowstone is a very different place from the Tetons. Amazing given their close proximity to one another. The evidence of the 1988 fires was disturbing. We drove through the park on the western side, all the way to Mammoth Hot Springs the first day. It seemed, while viewing from the road, there was seldom a place not burned along the way. I can't say it wasn't beautiful though. New growth has fully taken root and the mountains and hillsides are blanketed with new trees. From a distance, it almost appears to be a well kept lawn. But of course the growth in some places is probably 12 feet high.
I can't say we had the same luck locating wildlife in Yellowstone that we had in the Tetons. I wanted to get some shots of bighorn rams, but the warm temperatures kept them high in the mountains. We were only able to locate and photograph a herd of ewes... oh bummer :) Bear was another species I really wanted to photograph and we did manage to find a black bear. Bob and I spent a good 20 minutes getting shots of him before he meandered deep into the brush and out of sight. As for elk, they're everywhere, and I took advantage of it, both with camera and sketchbook.
All told, I came away with nearly 30 rolls of film (well, the digital equivalent). I have photographs of moose, elk, bear, bighorn, coyote, antelope, mule deer and trumpeter swans. It was a highly successful trip and one that is sure to inspire many, many paintings.
I hope you enjoyed the first entry into my trip journal. I realize it was a bit long, but I had a lot to tell you.
Dustin
