The trip there and back

Montana, North-Western Wyoming, Northern Portion of Yellowstone, Tips, Travel Comments Off
Jan 212010

Many might be curious the path we took during our trip. What your seeing here is the trip back we took from Northern Yellowstone. Per recommendation of our friend and naturalist Jared we went one valley over to Norris and headed south to Jackson (in case your curious Yellowstone is closed except for the northern portion in winter due to large snowfall.) On the way up we took the Gallatin highway which has a reputation for being a bit more dangerous and windy (curvy.) It definitely is, but we’re glad we took it going up in the day light. A beautiful drive with wildlife also right along the road. The trip backward was a tough one. We were awake at 1am and out the door officially after double and triple checking at 2:30am. Most of the drive was in total darkness. Playing music loudly and listening to the comedy channel on our satellite radio to help us stay awake. The nicest thing was being treated to the sunrise as we drove through the Teton pass. Made the hair pin turns and huge inclines/descents worth it all. The scariest thing I think about the drive was balancing the 70mph speed limit with mule deer literally on the edge of the road in pure darkness with just your headlights.

The screen shot above was taken from the Gisteq Phototrackr software. I did small review of devices here touching on which are for what. With the Gisteq device we just turn it on and forget it. Battery life is rated around 14hrs with 1 AA of constant tracking or so and it was perfect. I love using it for routes personally and if I want to sync my point and shoot images I can.

When it comes to prepping for the trip I always use my number one tool in planning. The Internet. I will often plan the route on google maps and play with the  different options. Not only that, but also looking to see what is along the route. Whether it be special locations, fuel, food, scenic spots or hotel locations. I load them into my stand alone GPS with any POI’s (point of interest) from www.poi-factory.com and I’m ready to go. Without a GPS my trips definitely wouldn’t be possible. It sees in the dark for one :-) Also when planning for our trip a great tool is to find out where to eat. Many don’t factor this into their trips, but you are looking at a decent bill on top of your regular travel expenses. A website that doubles as a great food research tool is www.tripadvisor.com It has both hotel reviews and restaurant reviews. If you have a smartphone I would recommend an application on your phone that can look up places based on your physical location. One of the last ways to save more money on food expenses is making sure you might have a microwave available. Might seem lazy, but you must agree microwave food has vastly improved over the years. We didn’t have one at our first location, but our hotel in Gardiner, MT had one. Thanks to it we had one hot pocket each for breakfast at the steep price of 2.56$. Can’t beat that am I right?

When in Jackson our options for food, lodging, and services is much much larger then in Gardiner. All the more important to look ahead. Especially in off-season you will find far less places open. Just like our trips to cape-cod. Even though it may be warm if it isn’t late spring or early fall many places close up shop. The beauty of Jackson Hole is that many places remain open thanks to the ski and snowboard crowd. If I had a number one recommendation of where to stay in Jackson it would be the Wyoming Inn. It has been our hotel three times in a row for good reason. The fantastic rooms, included breakfast, warm fresh cookies daily, soup through out the day, and the best hostess Debbie. She has been there all three times and it’s like visiting family every time we come back. Plus they are renovating for bigger and better accommodations.

If you are travelling in the off season remember to prepare for weather. Location permitting of course. Having simple things like an ice scrapper, kitty litter, and a shovel are simple things that can go a long way. You don’t want to be stuck on ice helpless in a remote location. Understanding the elements can also help. Like driving at a reduced speed, or knowing it will take longer to stop in hazardous conditions. Just because your care is AWD doesn’t mean squat when it comes to stopping. Also if you rent a car and it has AWD in the winter season chances are they will have all-season tires; not snow tires. All the more reason to be more cautious. In many locations of the National Elk Refuge, Grand Teton National Park, or Yellowstone the road edge isn’t visible. The roadside sticks are just a guide to show you where the road follows. The worst part is the fall off is sharp. So if you don’t take it seriously it may be a long time before your getting back out. Or even worse someone gets hurt. It may sound corny, but it is all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

So when it comes to prep work make sure you do yours right. If all goes as planned you may be able to nab images like this:

Posted by Jarred at 3:27 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

Leaving Jackson Hole, WY

North-Western Wyoming, Photography Comments Off
Jan 122010

The first part of our trip is over and now we look forward to the second part; Gardiner, MT. We will be exploring Northern Yellowstone in hope of finding all sorts of wildlife and if we’re lucky; wolves. In celebration of leaving we decided to capture a few images from the Town Square. The town of Jackson beautifully sets it up for Christmas and leaves it throughout the winter season.

The arches that theese two images include are composed of fallen antlers from the National Elk Refuge. An annual auction at about 8$ a pound brings in money for the refuge and the boy scouts. It is split 80/20 toward the refuge. Last year it brought in 80,000$ toward maintenance costs.

This reflection in the image above caught the corner of my eye as we were walking the town square. It really captured the ambiance of the town at night.

In the center of the town square there was a war memorial and it was beautifully lit. Unfortunately I didn’t have my flash on me to the Wyoming cowboy atop the monument is very hard to see (OK almost fully beautifully lit.)

The lights on some of the restaurants at night are classically lit in those brilliant neon lights. I could spend hours walking the town photographing all the different locations.

Posted by Jarred at 12:03 am Tagged with:

We have arrived!

North-Western Wyoming, Photography 2 Responses »
Jan 082010

It’s been a crazy day and a half here in Jackson Hole, WY. The vibes weren’t with us at first, but we stuck through it. I wasn’t sure how to start this entry. So, hmmm… How about with this:

This here is one amazing sight if I must say so myself. Let me add as to why besides the obvious. This here is the Grand Teton Range with one of the few if sole herds of Bison that hang out here in Jackson Hole. There were at least 65 head here that you can’t fully see. The real funny part? I was ready to make a U-turn and Dina goes, “Jarred! What are you doing?” I respond “what?” She says “you don’t see that.” And “See what?” I say. She says “Oh, I don’t know…that huge herd of Bison over there!”

I mean holy crap it was embarrassing I missed that, but I admit it (to the world apparently.) Dina has an amazing spotting ability for animals. It was just uncanny. We must have spent 2 hours with this herd. You didn’t want to let it go! I mean seriously you never see something like this and it was just us and them in front of one of the biggest American beauties that is all of ours; the Grand Teton Range.

Plus to top it off since it was so freaking cold (-22F) the snow was sticking and frosting to their faces in the most beautiful fashion. That several hundred pound head is actually a shovel to dig up the sage brush for their meal!

Pulling out of town there is a great flock of seven or so trumpeter swans that hang out at flat creek. This is so awesome as last year they stayed in small ponds much further off and infrequently I might add. Trumpeter swans are still a threatened species and it’s great to capture them digitally.

Driving away from the bison we went back to check out this huge bull moose that was hunkering down for the day. Can’t blame the guy. It really was brutal. Although he didn’t get up to show off his rack and he was backlit I wanted to give you guys a glimpse. Truly a superior set of genetics that I hope stays in the gene pool for future generations to come.

Thanks to Dina’s key eyes (again) we caught glimpse of this female Northern Harrier perched atop a tree just over the hill. I threw it in silver efex pro and ran it through a wet rocks filter. I really like what it did with the tree.

A great spot we checked out was Kelly Warm Springs. It is in the town of Kelly (go figure I know.) The spring is heated from below the Earth making the frost and hoar frost formation on the vegetation just spectacular. Believe it or not there is a plant somewhere under there.

Pronghorn! Freaking pronghorn! I have never seen them in Jackson, Wyoming before. They were supposed to be long gone by now, but due to the lower snow fall they seem in no rush to leave. There was a herd of at least 40 just grazing along Gros Ventre Road. Just spectacular.

Last, but sure as heck not least there were three mule deer bucks just along route 191 close to town. I have lots of doe’s in my files, but never females. They were highly cooperative and a blast to photograph alongside the road as cars and trucks would wiz right by my back.

I don’t know how to describe this day in greater detail. It’s something that just must be experienced in this great town. I shot over 1700 Images at probably close to 32gb in storage space in one day! Screw the quantity it is the quality of this place. Once the Grand Teton range catches your eye, or the massive Bison lift their heads in your direction you just know in your heart your home.

P.s. I was obligated to mention and give credit to Dina for saving my ass and finding lots of wildlife all along the roads; haha. Just kidding, but without her it wouldn’t be the same. In my defense though I spotted the pronghorn. :-p

P.s.s. I am posting and writing this at the base of the Teton Range at Moose Junction and tethered to my Motorola Droid to bring this to you folks. We are sitting in the car as the thermometer reads -22 (I don’t think it goes any lower) hoping to shoot a star trail. You can see the Milky Way that it’s so dark. J

P.s.s. If you have Google Sky Map on your Droid USE IT! It shows you constellations, planets, and stars in real time! And say you aren’t sure where the constellation is right? Just click search type it in and it will direct you where to go! I mean holy crap technology has come a long way. Good Great night all!

Posted by Jarred at 3:19 am Tagged with: , , , , ,
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