Trip to the Tetons - January 15, 2017

Couldn't believe it when I got my new schedule and I had a Sunday off with Don.  And the weather was good!!  We loaded up the truck and we were out the door and headed to Jackson at 8 am.  

We got to Alpine and once again couldn't find a single Mountain Goat.  The only animals I could spot as we headed to Jackson was an Elk above the road and 2 Moose right beside the road.  

There weren't many Big Horn Sheep down low or near the road but this guy more than made up for that!

We were glad we got there when we did before he crossed the road - then we'd have to shoot into the sun!  Great timing!!  Nice of him to pose for us!

We headed out Gros Ventre Road with our lunch (Dairy Queen) and stopped to eat our burgers and watch a Moose across the Gros Ventre River.  When we finished we walked down a ways to see if we could get any good shots of him but we couldn't.  But we did spot 2 more Moose so when we come back we'll stop and check on them again - just in case any of them get closer.  

Today we found 2 Bald Eagles north of Kelly but they weren't as close as they usually are.  We made our usual trip down along the river and turned around at the Gros Ventre River Ranch where we spotted another Bald Eagle.  We'd planned on going further north - like we usually do - but they had the road closed just past the turn for the Teton Science School.  We always take that road anyway - we've seen Moose and this is where we saw the Wolves last year - but today we didn't spot anything.

Until we're headed back to the main road.  Down from the snow bank - and right into the path of our truck - - A Weasel !!!

Don hit the brakes and we went sliding over him and somehow we managed NOT to run the little guy over!!!  THAT would have been horrible!!!  When we got stopped - Don put it in reverse and we backed up to where we tho't he had been and got out.  

We finally spotted him - he was quite a ways out there - and he stopped to check us out.  Lucky for us!!

These guys are sooooo TINY!!!  This is the same kind of Weasel I was seeing out to Market Lake - but then he was brown.  Now that it's Winter he turns white.  

He ran from one bit of sagebrush sticking up thru the snow to another.  Then all of a sudden he was running towards us!!

Trust me - I was NOT ready to get shots of that!!  But then he switched direction and away he went again.  He seemed to stop and think about his next move.

And away he went again.

Yeah - I wasn't ready for that shot either!!  It looked like he wasn't going to be coming back so we loaded up and left him.

One of the Bald Eagles had changed to a different pole so we stopped for him.

 
Then it was over to check on the Moose and one of them has come out where we can see her better.  

That was it for the wildlife - but on top of all that we also got some great shots of the Tetons.  

And to end the day - a nice sunset shot.

Thanks for looking!!

Jackson - January 3, 2017

I had the day off and Don managed to switch his day off so we headed to Jackson and were part way there when my phone rang and I had to tell work - Sorry!  The stars don't align to give us a day off together that often anymore so I'm not going to mess with that!

We hoped to find some Mountain Goats at Alpine and were able to drive slow and check the hillsides real good - and we found - - - Elk!

NOT what we expected!!  Sure - we know there's Elk in the area - just that as many times as we've done this we'd never seen any on that hillside.  Only Mtn Goats!  But not today.  

On to Jackson we go.  The town is always busy.  Lots of traffic.  This little Mule Deer (and one before her) were lucky to make it across all those lanes of traffic in the middle of town!!  Scary!

On to see the Big Horn Sheep!  We were lucky and found a few on either side of the road.

And one of the little ones got a few licks of our tire!

We grabbed some lunch and headed north out of town to check the Gros Ventre for Moose.  We had lots of luck "seeing" them!  Just none of them were close enough for photos.  

But out by Kelly there were some Bison near the road so we stopped to grab some shots. 
 

Sometimes you find an animal when you aren't even looking.  We'd stopped to use the restroom across from the Moose Visitors Center (which is closed) and when we drove forward to turn around - - - there stands a Moose!!

We figured she'd found some salt that they'd spilled and was licking it up off the snow. 
 

Time to head towards home and when we get back to Jackson we find some of the Elk have moved close to the highway near the Visitors Center so we stopped for a few shots of them.  

And that was our day!  One more shot - this was taken looking down part of Moose-Wilson Road.  Lots of snow and the trees hanging full of snow.  So pretty!!