Dolphin hits the water

It took me 2 trips to acquire all the necessary stickers from various agencies to be able to launch Dolphin for the season.  WY Game and Fish has their program (required for all boats over 10 feet) and GT Park has their own program (required for all park waters).  Yellowstone Park was established before WY was a state, so YNP requires another sticker for their lakes.
    Sunday dawned foggy and gray.  By 10 am the fog was clearing at Jenny Lake; it seemed to take longer at Jackson Lake.  I had forgotten the weekend was a holiday and was surprised by the volume of traffic at Jenny Lake boat ramp. 
    It became an absolutely gorgeous day.  No wind, moderate sun, and the mountains are so close.  Snow has melted in some areas, and persists in shady areas.
The trail around Jenny Lake is snow-covered and muddy.   Cascade Canyon is still closed, altho the trail to Hidden Falls is open.
    Birds included Common Mergansers, another Western Tanager (male), Mountain Chickadees, White breasted Nuthatches, Yellow Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Chipping Sparrows, a Spotted Sandpiper, and Pink-sided Juncos.

 A Bison jam on Antelope Flats Rd included several young calves learning about cars.








a nice Moose eating willow bushes along the Snake River

Believe in Spring

Aspens believe in Spring.  

  









                                              


                                                 Yellow Bells

Steershead

Spring Beauty (white) and Sagebrush Buttercup.

Morning mirror on Jackson Lake.  The ice has melted.











Yesterday morning I drove around to look at the trailheads.  Parking is available, all the trails are under various amounts of snow.  The piers at the Marina are floating now. 2 weeks ago they were high and dry.  Maybe its time to get the bicycle going.

GTNP photos

Swallows are returning.  We heard the report that Bear 610 has emerged from her den with a little cub.  Moose and Elk will soon be dropping their calves. Mornings have been clear and beautiful, by lunch-time the sky is overcast and grey.
     This Moose walked past my window in the dorm and munched on a small bush.  Kayak and Silver truck in the background.

 Along Pacific Creek road are many Willow bushes that are good eating for the Moose.

 Jackson Lake is melting out slowly.  This morning Mt Moran was reflecting in an ice-free area.  From the Lodge I can see a wide strip of clear water in the center of the lake.

It will take a long time for the snow to melt off this sidewalk.  Our dorm is to the right.

Bear !

After dinner my room-mate offered to drive 4 of us, including her, out for an evening of "critter cruising."   We had amazing luck at seeing animals.  Grizzley 760 was digging in the field, and then walked across the road in front of the SUV we were sitting in.  I used alot of zoom on my camera to take these photos.  The evening's list included Barrow's Goldeneyes, Bald Eagles, Common Mergansers, and a Sandhill Crane. Elk herds and 3 Moose were exciting.

 In the few days I have been in the Park, the ice on Oxbow lake has completely melted, and ice on Jackson Lake is showing cracks and edge melting.  Jackson Lake's water level was very far down last Fall when the lake froze.  6 ft snow piles are beginning to shrink.  Snow near the dorms has melted significantly.
     The Lodge opens for guests on Friday.  In another 10 days the Marina will open.  Campground staff are working to clear snow out of each site, and trails to the bathrooms as well.

I found this Pink-sided Junco yesterday.

Tetons arrival

I arrived in Moran on Thursday.  Everyone I have met here at Signal Mt Lodge has been so nice.  The mountains across the lake are spectacular, and snow-covered.  Lakes are still frozen so it will be awhile before I can go out in the kayak.  I was lamenting leaving my snowshoes in the storage unit.  My friend Marianne came up from Dubois (WY) and let me borrow her snowshoes.  !!!
     Birds, so far:  Swans, Common Mergansers, Canada Geese, Dark-eyed Juncos, Pine Siskins, Cassin's Finch, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Robins, and a Barn Swallow.
 Grand Teton and frozen Jackson Lake, below.  Mt Moran above.

photos mid-trip

 The White-tailed Ptarmigan

 Its still winter in central Colorado

On toward Wyoming.

NV to Colorado

From Death Valley I drove across the lower tip of Nevada into Utah on highway 15.  Virgin River canyon is spectacular.  I had one overnight in Utah just before climbing up to the highway 70 traverse of Utah's central mountain range. The following night I spent in Colorado National Monument.  Wow !  Its like Zion Park, in Colorado. There is not one central canyon to look at here.  Many ancient rivers created many intersecting canyons. NPS maintains hiking trails into several of these canyons.  Juniper Titmice, White-throated Swifts and a Virginia's Warbler were the exciting birds. 
     The following day I traveled across the Rocky Mts on highway 70.  All the campgrounds are closed because its still winter up there. I made a brief detour up to Loveland Pass, to see a White-tailed Ptarmigan.  Life Bird !!   I continued to the Highway 25 corridor and was able to leave my skis, snowshoes, and other boxes in my storage unit.
     Moving along highway 14, out of Colorado, I stopped at Pawnee Grasslands to see the McCown's Longspurs in their early morning song-flight. 

    Above photo from an overlook along highway 70, in eastern Utah.  Early European travelers, Native Americans, and the RR all detoured around San Rafael Swell.  Today highway 70 travels thru a huge rock cut blasted out to make room for the modern highway.