Well, we started off with a REALLY rocky start yesterday. We were supposed to fly out to Salt Lake City last night at 5:30 PM. The only problem is that apparantly our airline 'lost our tickets' even though I had an on-line reservation number and they had our names and itinery in the computer. I have never heard of THAT happening. We were also told that we can't get a flight (with our miles) until Monday..

Much of yesterday was spent canceling hotels and car rentals. I can say that all of the vendors we were dealing with are wonderful and that we wound up not having to pay for our change in stays except one - which is a small business in Jackson, and I gave them our blessing to charge us as we were supposed to stay there today.

We also are getting a chance to see some relatives for longer than normal, so all is not lost. We are missing a day in the Tetons and a day in the park though, which is sad. I had never stayed in Lake before and was really looking forward to it.

BTW, for those interested in lenses. We now have added the 500 8 mirror lens to our collection as well. First impressions...well, it is too early to say yet. I will say that it is AMAZINGLY light and pretty sharp for 140 dollars. :)

-JM

BTW, I got a PM from Johnny CB. I am hopeful that we will all get to meet in the Tetons on our way up to Mammoth.

My wife is telling me that we should just get off of our butts and drive....very very fast. :)

-JM

July 19th.

We traveled from Salt Lake City to Mammoth National Park, starting at about 10 AM EST. We went the 'long' route, following I89 instead of taking 215 (which is much faster). We went through several national forests - something that I have not done in years.

We drove through Caribou, Bridger, Cache, Targhee and Bridger National Forests. While it was still obviously only the briefest view of the forests, it was beautiful and much more pleasant to drive than on a major interstate highway.

We decided to drive up through Jackson and the Tetons into Mammoth instead of going up through the West Enterance. We were also hoping to run into JohnnyCB, whom we have been in contact with as our trips are coinciding. Unfortunately, we crossed paths and were unable to meet.

We wound up in Mammoth at around 8 PM EST. There was a group of bull elk about 10 miles south of Mammoth Hotsprings. They had huge racks but were out in the distance. Unfortunately, the weather was significantly cloudy and I did not get the sunset that I want (I have been looking for a particular sunset in Mammoth).

-JM

My wife and I woke up and left Mammoth at about 6:15 AM. Sunrise had been about 45 minutes earlier and light was coming in from a very pleasing angle. The great thing about getting up early is that there are virtually no other people in the park who are moving.

Wildlife was quite abundant. Within 5 miles of Mammoth (going towards the Tower Junction and the East Enterance)we saw several female elk and again four very large bachelors...with some having six points. The light was poor to doing anything but shoot silhouettes (photos to come).

At 13.6 miles from Mammoth, and about 1.8 miles from the Tower Ranger Station, there was a baby black bear moving up the side of the landscape. He was not in a great place to photograph and we were anxious that Momma was not to far away and did not want to push our luck.

After leaving Tower Junction and moving towards the East Enterance, we had the opportunity to see a group of Prong-horn Antelope. It was the closest I ever had the opportunity to get...the photographs were REALLY good (photos to come). FYI, we past that area several times over the next few days and a small heard of antelope were regularly there. In 10 years of trips to Yellowstone, this was the largest number of prong-horn Antelope that I have ever seen.

Continuing East towards Montana, we saw a massive heard of buffalo...all before 8 AM.

At 10:30 AM, near the Calcite Springs Overlook, we saw two dears and fawns. The conditions were very bright...and the photographic day was starting to wind down until the evening. We spent much of the day scouting areas for the next day and shooting landscapes when possible.

Some interesting photographic spots in the NE area of the park:

(1) The road between Tower Falls and the Chittenden Road has SPECTACULAR wildflowers. Many people are not going down the road either because the Dunraven Pass is closed. This is unfortunate, as the Dunraven Pass is regularly a great place to view and photograph wildlife.

(2) Slough Creek has some beautiful spots. There were some beautiful prong-horn antelope. We were also told there were some wolves in the area...though they were so far away that a spotting scope was necessary to view them.

It turns out that the Druid pack has been pushed out of Lamaar Valley. They are now called the "Agate" group and are now found near Cache Creek. The new dominant group in the area is called the Slough (pronounced 'Slew') Creek. Peek viewing hours are in the mornings between 5 AM and 8:30 AM and after 6 PM.

We left Mammoth, after two nights, at 6 AM on the 20th. The Mammoth Hotel was more than adequate in its accomodations - though they are a bit spartan. Our goal was to wind up at Old Faithful Ski Lodge, where we were staying on the 20th.

We saw lots of wildlife straight away. Upon leaving Mammoth (again towards the East Enterance as we were trying to see wolves at Slough Creek), we saw a beautiful coyote with a collar on its neck. We also saw our first Marmut as well by the Hell Roaring Trail towards Tower Junction. Apparantly, they are all over the place. I am more observant about some things, I guess. :)

The Slough Creek effort was in vain. We spent more than a couple of hours watching the area. We DID see a wolf, but it was so far away that it was not photographable. We headed towards West Yellowstone as it became very clear that sunblock alone does not do it alone. So, I picked up a fisherman's hat as I just cannot picture myself, a city boy, in a cowboy hat.

About 1.5 miles before the Madison Junction from Mammoth, we spotted a large bull elk. He was a healthy size with 6 points. I only was able to get a few shots of him (shot coming)..

We then did Hayden Valley - where there were lots of buffalo scattered throughout. We were lucky enough to capture some of the herd crossing the river (picture coming). We also stopped at the Mud Pots - where I did some test work with the 500 F8 mirror lens that I had purchased for the trip. I had very inconsistent results with the mirror lens, some of them excellent, some not. I will publish my results later after I have had a chance to view them on my CRT at home. I don't always trust the LCD.

We next made our way towards the Sylvan Pass from Hayden Valley. The Sylvan Pass area is under construction - which is a pity as some of the best wildlife is normally found there. I saw no grizzly's this year - which is a bit sad to me. However, I DID get some more great wildflower shots in the area.

The last wildlife we photographed was in the Lake Area. I thought I had nailed some beautiful shots of some mule deer. I was a bit disappointed when I saw them on my LCD as they were softer than they appeared in my LCD display (photos coming).

The night we arrived at Old Faithful Snow Lodge in time for sunset. We had hoped to get photogaphs of Old Faithful blowing, but unfortunately, the sky did not cooperate. We stayed in a cabin at Old Faithful Snow Lodge. At first, the accomodations appeared great. However, there were some problems with a pack of squirrels (or something) that had made the roof their home making sleep a bit difficult. However, ultimately, it was fine. Squirrels need a place to stay too, and we were so exhausted that we crashed to the sweet sound of pitter pattering without much difficulty.

I've really enjoyed reading this, James. I hope it's ok to post in your blog.. if not, you can remove it.

Sounds like you were a stones throw from our hometown!

Did you travel through Soda Springs then? We usually take that route. It's always so colorful in the Fall. We are taking some bridals portraits in Cache National Forest this weekend. There is a waterfall and some nice scenery there for sure!

Speaking of bridals, I told my daughter that works there in Yellowstone that when she gets married (no plans to, but I've already got the idea in my head. LOL) that we will have to go to Yellowstone to the Lake Lodge and take her bridals there. Beautiful old building with a lake view!?! Can't beat that!

Looking forward to more posts here.

Hi Sheebs,

I am not sure if I was in Soda Springs or not, but I COULD have been. BTW, when your daughter gets married, give me a call. :) We did not stop in on her though we were at Yellowstone. I figured it just MIGHT freak her out to have my wife and I popping in on someone we did not know.

Anyway, I am glad to have you (or anyone) post in my weblog. The goal was more to show what we are doing and where we are going.

More will come tonight when I have time to process my notes. We are starting the drive back to Salt Lake later.

-JM

We woke up late at Old Faithful Snow Lodge this morning (around 8 AM). We had breakfast as it was very cloudy still and the light was not great.

As the light improved, we started photographing the geyser basin at Old Faithful. The light was not great and we stopped once it got too bright. We decided to go out and scout wildlife. It was a poor day for the wildlife that day. For whatever reason, people seemed especially belligerant towards the other animals.

At 12:30 PM, the highlight of my day occurred. We napped. The sun was high and we had just gotten off near the firehole river. When we awoke, there must have been 50 people simming in the waters there. Nice idea for the next trip.

At about 1:50 PM, 3 miles past Madison Junction (toward Canyon), we saw a group of 10 female elk and 2 relative newborns crossing the River. A little down the road, we saw two bull elk. We sat and watched them for about two hours. The audiences around the elk were a bit irritating and it was hard to do any decent photography with all of the people harassing the elk. We were located across the river from them, away from the rest of the folks who were watching/clapping at the elk. Eventually, they got bored and left. The elk then got up and I got some nice shots (coming).

At 5 PM, we encountered a cow elk and her baby. We sat with them for about 1/2 hour undisturbed until Momma went out to get some food in the creek. There were close to 50 people who then surrounded momma and baby. We melted into the background and got a ranger to help the cow with her baby. She was obviously feeling backed into a corner.

Last, at about 7:30, we sat with two other bulls, which we had initially thought were the same bachelors we saw earlier in the day. They had nicer racks though (pictures coming). Several tourists walked right up to the elk to take their pictures with their 35-105 mm digicams.

I have NEVER seen behavior this borish towards the other animals in the park. For the most part, I was pleasantly surprised at how well everyone did considering how packed the park is. Today was just rough. It helped create a lot of stressed animals and I think that it makes photographing the wildlife more difficult. We DID get some nice shots though.

At 8:30 PM, the light in the Hayden Valley (on our way to Grant Village) was spectacular. The grasses all had a beautiful orange green. There were allegedly two grizzly's in the back, but they were so far out that one needed to resort to spotting scopes to see them.

That evening during the sunset, a powerful lightning storm occurred. I have some hand held shots of lightning crossing the river. Nothing really impressive as we were in a hurry to get to Grand Lodge. However, there WAS a double rainbow (well, one and a quarter, anyway) that we took at ISO 1600. Came out much better than I expected. It was a wild experience.

BTW, for folks who are interested, Grant Village Lodge is pretty nice. The restaurant was quite good - the best we had in the park. The next best was in Mammoth. Old Faithful was a disappointment on all counts.

The next day, we would go to Jackson (and my first internet connection in 4 days).

Sounds like a great trip so far. I am leaving on 20 August for a 3 month tour of the National Parks. I just ordered a 10-22mm for my 20d. I am getting really restless. We have no plans. Just an Atlas and a National Parks pass. It should be really fun. I bought a 1972 Ford Sportsmobile van RV. It looks really great and drives like a dream. I can not wait to see your photos. Rustin

Hey Rustin,

The 10-22 Lens is absolutely spectacular. I had a few quibbles with it, but over-all, it has it where it counts. I found myself using the 10-22 a whole lot and my 16-35 F2.8 L a whole lot less. I am writing up a small user review as we speak. I hope that it will be ready to go up in the next week.

-JM