Archive for the ‘bear’ Category

Bandelier National Monument

Friday, April 1st, 2011

Enjoyed visiting Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos, New Mexico. There are an amazing number of holes in the rock cliffs all over the area. The area peaked in the 1400′s. The ancestral Pueblo people then moved close to the Rio Grande River, which is nearby.

Enjoyed staying in the campground at Bandelier. There were only a few people there, although the Visitor Center parking lot was full of visitors every day. The ponderosa pines in the campground made me of think of Idaho and Montana campgrounds. It is closed from November to February because of snow.

Bandelier is composed of 33,750 acres, but has only 3 miles of public roads. There are 70 miles of trails. The ones by the Visitor Center follow a stream and are easy to walk. You can follow one trail along the creek down to where it meets the Rio Grande River.

Two days in a row I walked along a trail along the creek that goes to the last official dwelling exhibit. Beyond this point, the trail takes you into the National Wilderness Preservation System. There were quite a few backpackers hiking into the area.

Both days on my walks along the creek saw a female black bear with two cubs. The first day, a ranger had chased them up a tree. He said the female has been coming to the area for 3 years because of the water and plant food sources. The second day, the ranger didn’t even bother to come. He had said they don’t pose a danger and would rather climb a tree than confront humans.

Above, an Abert‘s or tassel-eared squirrel. Have wanted to see one of these guys for a number of years.

Above, a vewpoint in the town of White Rock, a suburb of Los Alamos a little northeast of Bandelier. It is looking towards Sante Fe and the town of Española. The Rio Grande River runs down the center of the picture, but is hidden behind a hill. Saw both kayakers on the river and backpackers hiking into the area.

The city of Santa Fe is so beautiful. They don’t allow advertising billboards. You just see the official highway system signs along the highway. There must also be an ordinance on what colors can be used to paint homes and businesses. They are all an adobe color with just differences in the amount of yellow, red, and white paint added. So they don’t all look alike, yet blend really well together.

Below, Valles Caldera National Preserve that is just west of Bandlier. It was a private ranch until the year 2000. The owner’s sold the entire surface estate of 95,000 acres and seven-eighths of the geothermal mineral estate to the federal government.

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West Glacier

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

Spent the last four days in West Glacier. July is the prime month for Glacier National Park and the crowds have definitely arrived. It is easier to get to, so I imagine it is always more crowded than the St. Mary area. The Apgar campground is in a wooded area and next to a lake. Lots of people here are into boating and rafting (on the rivers).

Ironically, the first day I was here I drove back 30 miles on I-2 to Goat Lick Overlook. Mountain goats gather here to lick the mineral rich rocks. They have made narrow trails on the hills all around the area. If you Google Goat Lick Overlook, the number one item is a pdf document that tells all about it. A special overpass was even built for the goats, so they would not have to cross the highway.

While watching some goats at the overpass, this goat ran out of the bushes past me. Later I saw it rolling in the dirt, maybe trying to get rid of it’s winter coat.

The next thing on my agenda was to drive up the west side of Going-to-the-Sun Road to Logan Pass. It is one of the most scary drives I’ve taken in my truck, without my trailer. It should be a one lane road. Driving in a vehicle smaller than a full-sized pick-up truck would help as well. I just wanted to drive it once, so I could stop where I wanted. Next time I’ll take the free shuttle the park offers.

Above: the Weeping Wall.

There were both mountain goats and big horned sheep in the parking lot at Logan Pass.

In the campground at Apgar finally found out which bird it is with the distinctive song you often hear in the woods: a Swainson’s thrush. It has a “Song flute-like, spiraling upward”.

The campground has a nice paved bike/hike path that goes to West Glacier. You are not supposed to hike alone at Glacier because of bears. I road my bike on their beautiful bike path and, what do you know, I came across a bear (below). It just briefly glanced at me, being intent on looking for food. It was the color of a grizzly, but believe it was a black bear. All the bears I’ve seen at Glacier have seemed very healthy.

I had taken a point and shoot camera, so I wouldn’t have to take the larger DSLR. Have to learn how to use the darn thing.

They say that the glaciers in Glacier National Park will be gone in 10 to 20 years. The warmer weather they now have has brought more beetle damage to their trees, as evidenced by the many dead trees you see. Also, alpine areas that goats and other animals depend on, is expected to disappear.

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Glacier National Park

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

Have been in the St. Mary area of Glacier National Park for almost two weeks (without hookups). It is really incredible, lots of waterfalls and wildflowers. Coming at the end of June this year, it seemed less crowded than last year. Part of this is due to roadwork on Going-to-the-Sun Road, where access over Logan Pass is closed at 9 p.m. There was very little traffic on the road at 7 p.m.. There is still snow at Logan Pass. People were using their skiing gear on my first visit there. The snow is melting fast though, creating waterfalls everywhere

The first two photos above were taken on the way to Logan Pass. The third one is from Many Glacier. It’s the first time I’ve visited that area. Wish I could stay at the campground there, but my rv is too long. The bottom picture is the Two Medicine area. You can see the variety of weather I had.

When stopped near Logan Pass waiting to drive through a one lane road where work was being done, saw the sheep in the top picture. On another visit the sheep in the bottom picture was in the Logan Pass parking lot. He was licking the pavement. Perhaps salt was there from snow removal. There were people all around him taking pictures and he was oblivious to them. It was just when some people let their two dogs out of their car that he looked up.

Sharp-tailed grouse

On one drive down Going-to-the-Sun Road passed people watching a black bear. Went back the next evening thinking it would probably return, and it did. This time park rangers were also on hand. The ranger above was going to shoot it with a rubber bullet and aim a firecracker over it’s head to scare it away, but I think the bear got away that night. I didn’t go back the next night.

A white tailed deer was grazing while keeping an eye on the bear. The bear eventually gave a half-hearted lunge towards the deer and it took off.

The large variety of wildflowers at the park is amazing. There are a mix of prairie and alpine flowers. Bear grass (beargrass?) is shown below in an area hit by fire in the past.

Wikipedia:

X. tenax is an important part of the fire ecology of regions where it is native. It has rhizomes which survive fire that clears dead and dying plant matter from the surface of the ground. The plant thrives with periodic burns and is often the first plant to sprout in a scorched area.

Posted in bear, deer, goats, grouse, National, St. Mary | No Comments »

Yellowstone National Park

Monday, August 17th, 2009

Stayed at the Mammoth Hot Springs Campground in Yellowstone for 5 days. Got there around 11:30 a.m. and got a good spot. It filled up shortly thereafter. Yellowstone was really crowded. Read where attendance was breaking records. Saw license plates from all over the U.S., as well as lots of foreign tourists. Right after I got settled I drove towards the Canyon Village area. Driving anywhere in the middle of the afternoon is a mistake. The road from Mammoth through the Tower-Roosevelt area and Canyon Village is narrow and uneven and to drive it when it is really congested is bad. People are sightseeing and cross over the double yellow lines a lot. After this experience, just went out early in the morning.

Top picture: The upper Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces. The clouds provided good lighting.

Second picture: There are lots of waterfalls in Yellowstone. I just visited the Lower Falls in the Canyon Village area. First took a trail down to the right side of the falls in the picture. From there I could see stairs going down the side of a mountain on the other side of the falls.

Third picture: Stairs on Uncle Tom’s Trail that you go down to view the Lower Falls at a good angle. They are really steep stairs. Someone has posted a video of the stairs on YouTube.

The Canyon Village area would be a good place to stay. There are paved trails along the rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. You are also close to Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley that are supposed to have lots of wildlife.

Top picture: What you are warned not to do, get close to wildlife…especially a grizzly bear! Park authorities had not arrived here yet. They use a lot of manpower to keep people at a certain distance from animals. In Mammoth Hot Springs the elk know they are protected and go where they want. At least one park employee follows them and puts out yellow cones that people are not supposed to cross. Passed one young black bear eating grass by the road. Across from him a park ranger in full dress uniform (hat and gloves) was waving to keep traffic going. Would love to have gotten a picture of him and the bear, but there was no place to stop.

The bull on the left appeared to be the head bull. He went around checking on a small herd by a pond and grunted the whole time. You could not really see the details of his face because of the fur, just heard continuous grunting.

The tail end of a coyote near Canyon Village.

Birds seen near my campsite. A red-breasted nuthatch (top) and a Clark’s nutcracker. There was a small flock of the Clark’s nutcrackers. They are the first ones I’ve ever seen.

Getting here: From Glacier National Park went back to Fort Benton, near Great Falls, to wait out a rain storm. From there, drove through Helena, and stayed one night at a free campground in the Canyon Ferry area. Then stayed two days at the Missouri Headwaters State Park where three rivers join to form the Missouri River. It is a good birding spot. Both at Fort Benton and the State Park, saw lots of cedar waxwings, gray catbirds, and osprey. One time I thought a cat was in a marsh, only to find it was a catbird. That’s the only time one has fooled me.

Cedar waxwing fledgling in Fort Benton. Note the orange tail feathers instead of the yellow that an adult has.

A chickadee on a bulrush at Missouri Headwaters State Park.

Heard sandhill cranes both at Missouri Headwaters State Park and Yellowstone, but never saw them.

Below: Campsite at Mammoth Hot Springs. Rain threatened several times, but only got a few sprinkles. Was sad to leave Yellowstone, but I’ll be back.

Posted in Airstream, bear, bison, cedar waxwing, chickadee, Clark's nutcracker, coyote, National, nuthatch, Yellowstone | Comments Off