False spring or Climate Change?

Wow, its’ in the 50′s and 60′s for days now…in early March.  ’Spring’ is the time we should begin getting our wet snows that deliver our moisture for the year.   Early and/or rapid spring run-off from the high country spells flooding and erosion.  All the grizzly bear signs warn ‘Grizzly bear season April-October.  Take [...]

Otters (video footage), connectivity, and Bison

Today I went back to Abbott’s Lagoon to do some tracking on my own.  I arrived late, around 11, and by then at least a dozen people, kids and adults, had tracked around the dunes.  Being vacation week, there were more people than usual during the weekday.  But I managed to find a lot of [...]

What do Americans find Sacred? Bighorn Sheep, the Winds and Selenium

The Light in High Places. Wow, this is a great book by Joe Hutto.  I love the Wind River Mountains so I took this book from the library with that in mind.  But I was surprised how beautiful and poetic Huttos’ prose is.  Although a trained biologist, Hutto is a fantastic writer who expresses his feelings [...]

More elk calves and a lesson in Life and Death

“…that feeling in your stomach of “I don’t want this to be happening.” You try to escape it in some way, but if somehow you could stay present and touch the rawness of the experience, you can really learn something.”  Pema Chodron Yesterday, this morning, and today were all one large event, the event that [...]

Grizzlies and elk calves

Its unusual to see  the Cody backcountry herd grazing every morning and night this time of year.  Usually, by now, they’re headed over the passes to calve in the Lamar. But the snows in the high country are still too deep and the melt hasn’t even begun. I’ve been watching this small herd from my [...]

More Mountain Goats of the Clark’s Fork Canyon

I took a leisurely hike the other day with a friend.  I wanted to return to a circle of rocks overlooking the Clark’s Fork Canyon and the river below.  The rocks were piled on a boulder precipice, a strange place for them.  They were large, obviously put together by people, big enough for one person [...]

Ancient Buffalos in Sunlight

I’ve walked this drainage at least fifty times.  Its right next to my property, filled with old dying and dead aspens and young conifers. The forest service plans to cut, clear, and burn here within the next few years to encourage new aspen growth.  Its a narrow cut of a ravine, right next to the [...]

Moose, wolves, and a false spring

Yesterday was another glorious early spring day.  Some friends came up and we took a drive north towards Crandall and beyond, as far as the road is plowed.  The lonely 11 or so miles between Pilot Creek, a parking pull-out for snowmobilers, and the NE entrance to the Park won’t be open for another 5 [...]

Moose, snow and wind

The weather has been difficult.  We had an unusual cold snap for several days, down minus 17 at night and around 0 during the day; and now that its warming its blowing snow day and night.  The blowing snow is hard for me.  I hate that wind, and every day, sometimes twice, I have to [...]

A brilliant and frigid day

Its -14 degrees tonight at only 7 pm.  Today it was a clear beautiful day and the mercury never got above -1 degrees F.  I got bundled up and went out for a ski, but my new skis have a big problem with their bindings.  I tried for 20 minutes and never got my shoes [...]