Todd Klein's Blog, page 369

Group Howl

Sept. 25: We were both up early this morning, on a mission to see wildlife in the Lamar Valley, about an hour's drive east of Mammoth Hot Springs, where we're staying. We were on our way by 7:30 just as sunrise was hitting the western mountain tops. On our way we stopped to see a Black Bear near the road eating huckleberries, but it was too dark to get a picture of him.

I did get a nice picture of this Mule Deer buck crossing the road, the second we've seen on the trip.

Lamar Valley is known as one of the best places in the park to see large mammals, and it didn't disappoint.

Herds of bison were spread across the grassy valley. Some were crossing the Lamar River…

…and a few young males were sparring on the other side, doing the snorting and scratching the front hooves in the dirt thing, then pretending to butt heads, but not with much conviction.

The mammals Ellen most wanted to see were Wolves, and when we saw this gathering of watchers beside the road near the old Buffalo Station (where Bison were reintroduced to the park in the early twentieth century), we correctly surmised that wolves were nearby. Actually, just barely visible on a ridgetop with our binoculars, a little easier to see with scopes, which the Wolf Watchers kindly let us see through. This was the Lamar Valley Pack, and they live around that ridge, so crowds of hopeful watchers do too. Not great looks, way too far for photographs, but at least we saw them. And we got to hear them all howl together, too, a wonderful sound.

We also saw two more Black Bears, this being the best shot I got of one again eating huckleberries, and a distant Grizzly Bear, a fairly rare sighting. There were also hawks and other birds to watch.

Heading back west and then south to Tower Falls, we found some female and young Bighorn Sheep near the road, thus completing our large mammal quest for the trip, having already seen Coyotes, plenty of Elk and a few Moose. The feline mammals like Mountain Lion are almost never seen.

Tower Falls is impressive, with erosion-carved towers of stone around it, but the lighting for pictures wasn't so good.

Nearby this calcite cliff indicates thermal activity, though it's minor and subtle.

We also liked these cliffs showing strata of old lava flows, the column-like sections.

After having lunch there we came back to Mammoth Hot Springs to visit the Lower Terrace thermal features we'd not seen yesterday. Now, both the park information and the guide book we bought about Yellowstone paint a somewhat deceptive picture of these features, using phrases like, "always changing." In fact, large areas of the once vital hot springs and white terraced pools are now dry, crumbling away, and being recaptured by grass and shrubs. Liberty Cap, above, is the first thing you see of the Lower Terrace, and it's a good example, an ancient geyser cap, long silent.

On the east side is Palette Spring, still active and interesting to see, but many of the other Lower Terrace features are dry.

Here's Ellen studying the trail map on another blazing hot day here. "It's a dry heat," she says sarcastically, "but it will still kill you." Must have been 90 degrees in the sun.

In one shady part of the boardwalk path I finally got a picture of a Magpie. Not a great one as his head was in shadow, but you can see how handsome they are.

And in a place where the once-white terraces were caving in, a Raven had found a perch.

If you ever come to Mammoth Hot Springs, here's what I'd advise. Drive to the Liberty Cap, walk the short trail to Palette Spring, then skip the rest of the Lower Terrace. Drive to the Upper Terrace, park and walk to Canary Spring, the most active and prettiest of the terraced springs. Walk the trail to the highest point, the Overlook. Then drive the rest of the Upper Terrace, stopping at the Orange Spring Mound. The rest is not worth your time, in my opinion. Perhaps things are different in the spring, when the weather is wetter, I don't know, but in the fall that's how things are. Generally the thermal features around Old Faithful are the best in the park.

Back in town, though, the Elk Rut show was still on. Not as crazy as yesterday, with the alpha male, above, in charge of the main herd of females, and just a pretender hovering on the sidelines trying to steal a few. We listened to one of the park rangers talk about the elk and their mating season for about an hour while watching the show and listening to this bull bugling, and learned a lot. In all, the elk alone are a great reason to visit here this time of year. Oh, and the food at the hotel restaurant was the best we've had in the park.

Tomorrow we take a long drive south back to Jackson, probably making a few stops along the way. More then.

Elks in Town

Sept. 24: Today we left the Old Faithful area and drove north, stopping at several more thermal feature areas. The first was Fountain Geyser Basin, and this small geyser is there, but is not the much larger Fountain, which was quiet.

Another famous feature here is the Fountain Paint Pots, a simmering mud geyser the bloops and pops pale gray and light pink mud. Entertaining, if not so photogenic.

Further north we stopped at Norris Geyser Basin, where this Porcelain Pool seemed to glow with an inner light from the silica dissolved in it.

Another of the microbiotic mats that caught my eye there.

This the the Black Growler Steam Vent, one of my favorite names of the Yellowstone thermal features.

Further north we stopped alongside the road because we were clued to some wildlife in the area in the usual way: other cars stopped, and people pointing cameras. We had to ask what was there, these Coyotes were so hard to see, except when they leapt up in the air. I think they were hunting mice or voles. How many Coyotes can you see?

Okay, it's just one, the best shot I could get.

We stopped for our box lunches at a roadside picnic area where we walked out in this field on a trail probably made by bison and other game.

This raven and his mate were ready for any scraps we might leave, along with some Gray Jays.

From the high plateau of central Yellowstone we descended into Mammoth Hot Springs valley, about 1500 feet lower at the bottom. On the way down we stopped at the Upper Terrace Drive to see some of the thermal features there.

All are found on and around a huge hill of white silica deposits that descend several hundred feet toward the valley in oddly beautiful terraces. This is near the top of the main terrace at Canary Spring. Looks like snow, doesn't it?

Closer, some parts look even more like ice and snow, but are powdery, flaky calcium deposited in layers over uncounted years. Some are crumbling, as you can see.

At the Orange Spring Mound you can see the process in miniature, this pile of silicates stands on a forested hilltop, and is about 15 feet high. We'll see the Lower Terrace features tomorrow…

…but now were looking forward to checking in to our cabin at the Mammoth Hot Springs hotel, seen from atop the Main Terrace.

It's a smaller cabin than the one in Moose, really more of a motel room and no kitchen, but it does have some interesting features. When we opened the door after putting our bags inside, this young Bull Elk was just next door. The park rangers soon came and shooed him away…

…but as you can see, it's a much larger problem. Apparently the female elk like the lush lawns in town, and live here all year. Now it's the beginning of Elk mating season, so the bulls have arrived to create havoc, draw crowds, and create problems for the rangers. While we had dinner in the hotel restaurant by a window, it was quite a show, with several Bull Elk each trying to herd their own group of females away from town and into the hills. The cows weren't very cooperative. Then a few Bison joined the party, and the rangers really had their hands full. We made it back to our cabin, having to detour around a group of elk, since the males can be quite cranky and dangerous this time of year. We felt sorry for the rangers, who must not get much sleep this time of year, just like the bull elks. More tomorrow.

Spouting Off

Sept. 23: Out early as usual in front of the Old Faithful Inn, which looked lovely in the dawn sunrise light…

…as did this beautifully restored touring car from the 1920s, once again giving visitors a road trip and tour in comfort.

These Brewers Blackbirds are the common small scavengers around the buildings, but they're surprisingly hard to photograph, as they never stop moving. Finally got this male and female pair sunning in a dead tree.

Today we rented bikes, adding another mode of transportation to our trip. The plan was to stay in the Old Faithful area and try to see as many erupting geysers as possible, while also visiting some thermal features we'd missed earlier. This is possible because four of the geysers other than Old Faithful are reasonably predictable, within an hour or two, and each morning at the Visitor Center they list the forecasted times of eruption. We didn't know how many we'd catch, but it was a fun goal.

It was another cool, breezy, sunny, glorious day, and our first stop was Grand Geyser, predicted to erupt between 8:15-10:15. We got there around 9 AM, and the geyser was beginning to show signs of activity.

We sat on the benches along with lots of other tourists for about ten minutes…

…and off it went in massive, explosive cascades of steam and water about 100 feet high. These geysers up close are a lot like the kind of fireworks that sit on the ground and send up waves of sparkly fire, only with water and not as loud, though there is a pretty loud low rumble and higher pitched water-spraying sound.

Here's a close-up. The eruption went on for ten minutes, and everyone enjoyed it.

Next we biked to Morning Glory Pool, one we'd missed earlier. It's a beauty, but has lost most of the blue color at the center it once had because of objects thrown into it by stupid and lawbreaking visitors.

Looking into the depths.

On a small bridge over the Firehole River we saw these three Common Mergansers fishing in the river, alternately sticking their heads into the clear water looking for food. We didn't see them catch any, though.

We walked a short way from there to Riverside Geyser, the next on our list, scheduled to erupt between 11:30 AM and 12:30 PM. We thought this would be a good place to stay and eat our box lunches ordered the night before (we learned from our mistake!) It was a great way to spend a relaxing 40 minutes beside the river…

…and the geyser erupted around 12:10 and continued with an impressive show for twenty minutes, spraying tons of water into the river!

We next walked a bit further to Daisy Geyser, next on the list. A few minutes after we got there, it obligingly erupted, giving a satisfying but fairly short display of about five minutes. This one shoots at an angle.

We thought that would be it, as the other predictable one, Castle, had no forecast today. We decided to bike a trail through the woods along the river, seeing a few new springs, geysers and pools, like this blue one.

The trail came out at Biscuit Basin, where we'd driven the first day, so we visited those thermal features again. I didn't take many new pictures, but do like this close view of some of the microbial colors and structures.

We biked down the main road to Black Sand Basin and revisited those features, too. Some Bison were still there drawing crowds. Then we walked and rode over a hill back to the Old Faithful area. Ellen almost ran over this small Garter Snake, but it seemed unconcerned.

We were heading for home, very tired and sore, not being used to biking, and the hotel was invitingly in sight when we got to Castle Geyser, and realized there was quite a crowd there. The sighting sign now said it was predicted to erupt between 3:20 and 5:20, and it was then 4 PM.

We couldn't resist the temptation, and parked our bikes, took off our backpacks, and waited for the eruption. It was a pretty long wait.

Finally at 4:46 Castle began erupting, and we couldn't believe the size and length of the show. This is an ancient geyser, but it still has lots of power, sending tons of water into the air to great heights, and it went on and on!

To cap the show, a rainbow began to form in the mist around the base of the eruption to the delight of the crowd. After half an hour the water sprays lessened, and the geyser entered its steam phase, still powerful and impressive. We had to get the bikes back, so we don't know how long the entire eruption lasted, but the Geyser Gazer on duty there called it a "major eruption."

To end our day we caught an eruption by Old Faithful, making it a five geyser day, plus one we saw erupt from a distance, we're not sure which. Pretty amazing and great fun. We're tired but happy, and tomorrow will move on to more northern parts of Yellowstone.

In a Canyon

Sept. 22: Out in the grounds of Old Faithful Inn this morning at dawn, I looked down the valley and saw a massive plume of steam coming from one of the geysers about half a mile away. It looked like Castle Geyser was erupting! I debated whether it was worth walking that far, as by then it would probably have stopped.

I did, and still caught the tail end of the eruption.  A few dedicated geyser watchers, known here as Geyser Gazers, were on hand to record the details for science, and I heard another large one had erupted about a half hour earlier before I was out.

But we were planning to drive north today to see new things, and that's what we did, stopping first at Midway Geyser basin, known for the large Excelsior Geyser, which blew up and formed this deep crater in the late nineteenth century.

Nearby was this beautiful Turquoise Pool. Whoever named a lot of these features had gem stones on the brain.

Today I learned how lucky I had been yesterday for the steady brisk wind, because it blew much of the "steam" (actually water vapor) off the volcanic features so I could get good pictures of them. This is what many of them looked like today, including the highly photogenic Grand Prismatic Spring here, which we could barely see at all.

Further north on the Firehole Lake Road this small geyser was spouting almost continuously, though not very high.

This spring is called Arrowhead Spring I think, sure looks like one.

White Dome Geyser has one of the largest piles of extruded material, and like most, erupts only occasionally and unpredictably. Here's how it looked when we were close.

As we walked away it started to erupt, at least a little, even forming a small rainbow near the bottom of the vapor and hot water coming forth.

A bit further north, these mineral streams at Ojo Caliente Spring caught my eye.

Every vacation we make at least one planning blunder, and today it was not bringing lunch with us. I thought we'd find somewhere in this area to get food, but there was nothing but a lousy vending machine, and when I tried to get some pretzels from it, the bag got stuck. We should have ordered and brought what Yogi Bear would call a "pick-a-nick baskit." This forced a change of plans which actually turned out fine. We drove further than we planned to Canyon Village for lunch, then visited The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, which I had planned for later in the trip. It worked out better because now we can skip this area later, leaving more time for others.

Right in the center of the park is this amazing canyon carved by the Yellowstone River through yellow stone cliffs that give the park its name.

This is looking east, the opposite part of the canyon.

These shots are all from Artist Point, I think the most famous view, and one we loved.

We took each others' pictures here. Ellen looks great, I seem worried, but in fact was having a fine time.

Clouds were rolling in, showers had been predicted, but we wanted to see the Lower Falls closer, so walked down the path and many steel steps of Uncle Tom's Trail to this viewpoint.

It's twice the height of Niagara, and impressive, as most large waterfalls are. This is looking down into the misty riverbed.

I also liked this detail at the top of the falls, where you can see through the clear water some.

Going back up the steps was not so easy, but we did better than on our first hike, perhaps because we're used to the 8000 foot elevation now. It showered on us a little, but it felt good.

We stopped at a few other viewpoints near the road. Inspiration Point is spoken of highly, but I didn't feel very inspired by it, perhaps because the clouds were now heavy, darkening the colors. I did like this one view.

A longish drive back to Old Faithful Inn, but a great day. We're staying in the Old Faithful area again tomorrow. More then.

Steam Art

Sept. 21: I was up early, as usual, and out for a walk. I headed for the Old Faithful geyser first, to see if there was anything going on there. The geyser was dormant, but pretty in the predawn light, and others there said it was likely to erupt in about ten minutes.

Half an hour later on this freezing cold morning (literally) it finally began to show signs of life, now just lit by the rising sun.

And a few minutes after that Old Faithful erupted in full sunlit glory! We've seen it three times today, and are going out to see it again tonight by moonlight. It's the best show in town. Every 90 minutes or so, and the eruption lasts about five minutes.

Here's Old Faithful Inn, where we're staying, the end facing the geyser. It's a huge place with a massive lobby open to about five stories, all made with native logs. An amazing place.

The rest of today we spent walking around the geyser and hot spring areas near Old Faithful, and there are dozens of them. It's a photographer's paradise, with amazing colors created by a mix of minerals and microorganisms.

I can't even remember all the names of the ones in these pictures, which is a fraction of what I took. This is one of several blue springs.

A yellow flow of hot water, actually it's yellow microorganisms below clear water.

A green and yellow spring.

A close look at the mix of colors.

There are plenty of geysers, but most erupt only occasionally and unpredictably. They just steam or bubble a bit.

While we were in the area we saw Grand Geyser erupt from a distance. It's the largest one here, you can compare the small figures at the bottom for size. We'd waited a while near it earlier, as it was predicted to erupt that morning, but moved on before it happened.

After walking all morning we drove to a few other geyser sites a bit further away, along the Firehole River, above.

Jewel Geyser (I think) erupts often, but not to much height.

Punchbowl Spring is a cool shape. Those two are in Biscuit Basin.

In the Black Sand Basin Ellen enjoys the warm, moist vapor coming off one of the springs. It did feel good mixed with the cool air.

Emerald Pool, where sulphur yellow tints the blue water…

…and where we found Bison again, who also enjoy the hot springs, especially in winter, when they melt the snow around the area, exposing grass for the Bison to eat.

Opalescent Pool, surrounded by what looks like snow, but is calcium sprayed around the pool by some kind of eruption.

Back by the cars, in fact on one, this Raven was also enjoying himself, talking to his reflection in several shiny car parts.

Late afternoon, after watching Old Faithful erupt, we went through the exhibits at the new Visitor Center, just opened this year. It's artfully designed and full of good information.

Then we relaxed a while in the Lodge, another large hotel newer than the Inn, where huge windows look right out on Old Faithful. Yup, we watched it again before having dinner there.

The back side of Old Faithful Inn, showing the rooftop balcony that used to be a viewing platform for the geyser, but is no longer open. Love that little door and stairway to it. And someone must go up there to manage the flags, which you can see from all around the valley.

Inside, I took a few photos of the lobby. It's quite dark, all made of pine logs stained dark brown. This is the central fireplace.

And a small part of the open interior from the third balcony looking up to the Crow's Nest, but you can't climb there now, the upper stairs were made unsafe by earthquake damage.

That's it, no pictures from our moonlight geyser watch in a few minutes, it'll be too dark. More tomorrow.

Like an Eagle

Sept. 20: Today we moved on from Grand Teton to Yellowstone National Park, where we'll spend about six days. Ellen and I went out together for an early morning walk.

It was colder and windier, with some clouds, and the sun on the mountains was even more spectacular than yesterday.

We hate to leave our log cabin, which has views like this just nearby and has been so comfortable, but so it must be.

Ellen wanted to stop here on our way north, the Chapel of the Transfiguration. It's most noted feature is the picture window behind the altar framing the Teton peaks, but I couldn't get a photo of that without special lighting.

We took a side loop past Jenny Lake again, where it was now very windy, with whitecaps on the water. Glad our boat trip there wasn't today! This view on the road in was a good one. Sorry about all the mountain pics, but they're hard to resist.

Finally out of Grand Teton and into the larger Yellowstone, we spotted another of those crowds of stopped cars and photographers that usually mean wildlife nearby…

…but this time it was for a particularly beautiful scene of fall colors with lake and mountains in the background.

Once on the lower scenic loop of Yellowstone we drove east to Yellowstone Lake for lunch, then north to Hayden Valley, where there are lots of bison!

Some were obligingly close to the road, too.

Not far away we stopped to see the first of many of Yellowstone's famous volcanic water features. Here's the Mud Volcano, which has stopped erupting and is now more of a mud stew.

The Churning Cauldron is more active and entertaining. We'll see lots more of this sort of thing.

As we headed back to our car, we found some Bison were passing through it! One looked like he might head up the boardwalk we were on, but he changed his mind. We were glad!

At another place we stopped, I spotted this Golden Eagle, which is nearly in adult plumage, but still has a few white juvenile feathers.

In late afternoon we arrived at Old Faithful Inn, where we'll be staying the next four nights. We were just in time to see the famous geyser spout, as it does with such regularity, but I didn't have camera in hand, so that will have to wait. After a fine dinner we walked a bit more, and I took this twilight shot of some of the steaming features we'll see tomorrow. More then.

Moose Moose

Sept. 19: I was out early for a walk on our second day in Grand Teton National Park catching the first sunlight on the peaks.

It was quite cold, but refreshing, and the view was breathtaking. A bit later I saw a bull moose and four females, but too far away for a picture.

Our morning adventure today was a float rafting trip down ten miles of the Snake River through the park. Here the raft is being put in the water by the guide and his assistant. It holds twelve passengers with the guide steering from the center, but we only had ten this time.

Ellen and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The air soon warmed to comfortable temperatures, the scenery was magnificent, and the river ride fun. No whitewater, but the water is shallow this time of year, and there were rocks and trees to steer around, which our guide did well.

Along the banks Cottonwood trees were brilliant gold, along with a few Aspens, against the dark pines and firs.

The mountains framed by the river in a view made famous, we were told, by photographer Ansel Adams.

There weren't a lot of birds around, but we drifted under several Bald Eagles…

…and saw Ravens sitting on the shore or flying overhead. There were also Common Mergansers in the water, an Osprey overhead, and a few others.

Our guide, Reed Finlay, pointed these out, and told us lots about the natural and human history of the river, all while steering us out of trouble.

Here's a Beaver lodge with a tree right above it recently felled.

We didn't see any Beavers, they come out in late afternoon or evening and work at night, but did see lots of their handiwork.

We were sorry to reach the end of this three hour floating tour, and would highly recommend it.

Back on land in the town of Moose, we were alerted to close wildlife by a gathering of cars and people with cameras. A short walk brought us to close views of this Bull Moose, probably the same one I'd seen earlier, placidly lying in the bushes chewing his cud. There are indeed Moose in Moose!

In the afternoon we drove about an hour north to Two Oceans Lake, hoping to see more birds and wildlife in this remote area. We saw some, but the afternoon sun was burning hot, and we didn't walk far. It's unseasonably warm here, and I'd brought mostly warm clothes expecting it to be cooler. While in the shade it was perhaps 75 degrees, in the sun it had to be at least 85.

Another good place for wildlife is Oxbow Bend, where the main road runs beside a section of the Snake River. Again you can see smoke from that fire. "Proscribed Burn, Do Not Report," signs in the area say.

In addition to another Moose there were a family of five Otters we enjoyed as they played on the bank and then swam upstream past us, but not close enough for a good picture. You'll have to take my word for it that this is three of them.

We stopped for dinner at a lakeside restaurant, and I took this picture afterwards as the scun descended.

We took a brief walk and Ellen heard a soft tapping in a tree beside the path. We looked up to find a Red-Naped Sapsucker just above our heads, tapping away, and he seemed to be listening into the hole he made as well. This is a new species for us, always a happy event.

As we headed home in the twilight we once again saw that collection of pulled-over cars and photographers that signals wildlife near the road. We stopped and saw a small herd of Elk quite close; it was a huge bull with massive antlers and his harem, which he was guarding carefully, periodically bugling his ownership, and being answered by a distant reply. It's Elk mating season, so there might have been a fight in the offing, but we left without seeing it. Too dark for pictures. Got home quite late and went gratefully to bed.

Where the Buffalo Roam

I'm back…well, almost. Sitting in flight delay in Dallas at the moment, but hopefully home today from an off-the-grid vacation in Wyoming. If you're checking this blog for comics topics, you'll have to wait another week or so, I'm afraid. I'm going to do a travelogue on our trip starting today and continuing for the following eight days. If you're not interested, check back after that when regular posts will resume. Here's the first entry:

Sept. 18: Ellen and I are on vacation in Wyoming...

Blogging Break

Starting now. Back soon. Talk amongst yourselves…

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERN CORPS 47

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

Billed as a Blackest Night epilogue, but part of the Brightest Day beginnings, this issue straddles the two events, but you can ignore most of that and enjoy reading it for itself. This is my kind of Green Lantern story, one that focuses on characters and relationships, not only between Corps members, but between the Corps and the Guardians. In the aftermath and cleanup from the Blackest Night mess, we see some of our favorites trying to pick up not only the physical d...