Visiting the AZA Accredited Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Montana

 Previously in the Grand Tetons/Yellowstone series:

Jackson Hole, Grand Tetons Day 1, Jenny Lake Campground, Elk Herd

Beautiful Jenny Lake, Foxes and Bears

Lovely Vistas full of Bison and Horses

Mormon Row, Pronghorn Antelope, and Ravens

Wildlife Art, Yellow-bellied Marmot, Colter Bay, and Ground Squirrels

Colter Bay to South Yellowstone

Black Sand Basin and Bison

More Bison, Old Faithful, Biscuit Basin, and Beginning of Artemisia Trail Hike

Hike to Morning Glory Pool! Plus Bison with Red Dogs, Elk, and Coyotes

I'd like to start by saying that I know zoos and wild animal parks are polarizing and for very good reason.  I honestly have a lot of reservations around keeping wild animals in captivity.  I think a lot of zoos and parks are heinous and should not be allowed to operate.  

On the rare occasion that I visit a facility, I prefer that they are AZA accredited, but I also know that some facilities - such as the Folsom City Zoo and Sanctuary - are not accredited because they rescue animals and don't follow all of the conditions for accreditation such as breeding, trading, and/or selling animals (which I think is actually a very good thing). 

The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center (GWDC) is accredited, but I think it's a bit of a hybrid in that a lot of the animals (all of the grizzlies and raptors) were removed from the wild and deemed unable to be reintroduced for various reasons some of which include injuries to the animal, habitation to humans, etc.  So it's more of a sanctuary. 

I decided to go there for a couple reasons.  1) I really wanted to see bears.  I was blessed to see a sow and her two cubs in Grand Teton but this was the best picture I got.

and 2) after seeing this beauty and her babies, I really wanted to see MORE bears and have a chance to really observe them.  And I was afraid that wasn't going to happen in Yellowstone.

So, since I had to go to West Yellowstone for supplies and cell phone signal, I decided to go ahead and go. I'm glad I did!

I pulled into the parking lot at the center and was intrigued to see a  statue of a painted bison which reminded me of the Hearts in San Francisco sculptures that I love to find when I'm in the City.  I later found out that this bison was part of a West Yellowstone art installation titled Where the Painted Buffalo Roam. 

I saw a few more of the bison statues around town but this was the only picture I got.  After admiring the lovely painted buffalo, I headed into the Discovery Center.

They had eight bears in residence at the time and there was a whiteboard that showed their names and current weight (as of about 10 days prior).

  They also had signs with the bear's name and story.  I had taken a few photos of the bears I saw but didn't keep them which I now regret. The stories were mostly similar: bears (often as cubs) who become habituated to getting food from humans and must be removed from the wild.  Either by euthanasia or by placing them in a facility such as this.  I'm grateful that these innocent bears were not killed. 

The grizzlies are rotated in and out of the main area in pairs throughout the day.  Between each pair, the staff place food and other enrichment for the bears to find. 

I had to make a closeup too. :)

In keeping with its continuing effort to educate the public on living and traveling safely in bear country, the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center cooperates with state and federal agencies in the testing of bear-resistant food and garbage storage containers.

This bear won this one. 

I mostly videotaped the first two bears that I was watching.  One of them was swimming in the trout-stocked pond and having a blast!  I was having a blast watching them.  I must say my whole experience was very peaceful and positive.

Here's a video that I made of my approximately 3 hours spent at the facility.  :)

Back to the bears.  The next photos are of the second pair of grizzlies that I saw.  So beautiful and impressive!  Massive too!

I'm posting two of the same photo again. :)  This time for those who are curious about AI edited photos.  Topaz Photo AI Superfocus to be exact. 

This first one is edited in Topaz Photo AI basic which sharpens and denoises the photo.  I did crop this one in a little closer than the second.  

This one is with Superfocus which is true AI and just a little bit unreal looking to me. 

Anyhoo, mostly I don't use Superfocus. 

It was so fun to watch this guy turning over rocks like a piece of paper to get to the tasty treats underneath. 

While this lovely grizzly foraged, his buddy was having a swim!  Oh, he had so much fun swimming back and forth playing with his big ball.

The swimming bear came halfway out of the water and his wet fur highlighted his muscles!  Impressive!

Next I walked over to the Wolf area.  They were all asleep since it was afternoon (I'm assuming) But they were oh, so beautiful!  Especially this guy who was the easiest to photograph and quite a stunning specimen.

I don't know if that is a real rack of ribs or put there for "decorative" purposes.  

Wolves are also much bigger than I realized.  I can recognize coyotes pretty easy and have seen quite a few in the wild.  But even so I found myself wondering if it was a wolf or coyote when I came across the canines in Yellowstone.

This helpful sign showed the difference in size between the two as well as other differences for identification. 

They also had a sign that documented all the wolf and grizzly sightings in Yellowstone for the past couple weeks. 

Are these crows?  Or ravens?  I thought they were ravens but now I'm not so sure.  lol They're gorgeous no matter which they are.  There were sooooo many of them all over the place.  I love them.

Back to my photogenic, lovely wolf friend.  Those eyes!  That fur!  That cute face!

If not friend then why friend shaped?  Such an apt question.

A couple closeups for you.  I took these from inside the observation building through a window just so ya know.  His paws were massive!

These two were laying much further away against a back fence.  I was outside this time and using a 300mm zoom lens.

This is also through the inside window but he was laying much further out in the field.  There's a little distortion and/or chromatic aberration in the hindquarters I think. 

They're all so tired and sleepy.  Don't blame them!  Me too a lot of the time.

After spending quite a bit of time watching the bears and wolves, I also walked around to see the rescue raptors (turkey vulture, hawk, falcon, bald eagles) which you can see a little bit of in my video above. 

And of course the adorable little Uinta Ground Squirrels in their colony!  I interacted with a couple of these guys in Grand Tetons where one "lived" in my camp site and liked to pop up to see what I was doing.  Totally adorbs.  Here's a few pictures of the GWDC's resident enchanting fellows.

A little drinky and then a cooling sploot! Cute Sploot!

And finally, a closeup of the sweetie. 

And with that, it was time to gather my provisions and get some dinner.  

But first, I had to make a long phone call to my daughter after our vet left me a message regarding my cat that I "had brought in"!  Ummm, what?  THAT was a shock to me 844 miles away and now worried that something terrible had happened at home. 

Luckily the cat was fine and daughter was fine.  She had taken him in as a precaution because he was acting a bit weird.  Little did we know that was our first symptom of hypothyroidism that would be his last illness.  But he had a couple more years in him. (Love you Chavy!  Miss you!)

So went to the store and then to a restaurant to pick up my delicious food -- some of which I spilled in my car and then had a panic attack about because BEARS.  See my last post for the full story. 

I would like to say the night was uneventful, but of course it wasn't! The weather forecast said it might rain.  But that was a little understated.

It poured!  And the thunder and lightning were the worst I've ever experienced!

I was kind of loving it, although a bit nervous.  I definitely wasn't prepared and my tent was not the foul-weather type.  I did sleep, but woke up at about 3:00 a.m. feeling like I was swimming.  The entire floor of my tent had about an inch of water on it and the walls and ceiling were dripping.  lol!

Most of my stuff was in the car so I jumped up quick and grabbed my sleeping bag and pillow (which thankfully were pretty dry).  I ran to the car and hopped into the driver seat!  Oh. My. Goodness!  I was right across from the bathroom so I ran over there to dry off and get warm (lovely heated bathrooms!).

Then I got back into the driver's seat, wrapped my sleeping bag around me and went right back to sleep in my huckleberry-scented car.  It was magical. 

See you next post when we visit Fountain Paint Pots and Grand Prismatic!

xoxo

Nikon D600 28-300mm lens

Google Pixel 4 for Video

Morman Row - The Most Photographed Barn in the World - And Well It Should Be!! Grand Tetons National Park

Mormon Row!  Amazing!  Awesome abandoned, historic structures set against the most beautiful backdrop one can imagine.  It's a photographer's dream!  For very good reason.  

But as usual, click the links below to see the rest of our amazing adventure!

The Beginning

Grand Tetons - Elks, Cranes, and Amazing Vistas

Tetons - Jenny Lake, Foxes, and Grizzly Bears

Jackson Hole - Bison, Horses, and Gorgeous Views

And now, back to Mormon Row.  To read more about the area, click HERE for the National Park Service article and HERE for the Wikipedia page.

This beautiful area is just off of Antelope Flats road and well worth a stop even if you aren't a photographer or barn lover. 

And there's more than just one barn.  There was a whole settlement here from the 1890s.  This is the Thomas Murphy Barn.

On the day I was there, they were working on the "Pink House" and I later saw a video (which I can't find now) of it being moved. Apparently, they began preservation work on June 16th per this article in the Gillette News Record.  Since I didn't get a shot of the work and house, here is one in the article:

Photo credit:  Ryan Dorgan News & Guide

But the shots of the other settlement buildings I got made me pretty happy. :)

I'm not sure of if this house has a name or known affiliation. 

This next shot is the John Moulton Barn beside the Pink House.  I took this from a ways down the road and had to photoshop out the cab of a Semi that was sitting there to work on the Pink House which is one reason the "emphasis" of the photo is on the tree, but I still like it. 

This is one of my absolute favorite shots.  This was on the far side of the settlement and there was no one over there while I was there.  Most everyone was around the Pink House and the famous Moulton Barn.  

I walked through the field full of bison paddies and twisted and crouched to get a lower, weirder, perspective.  Then I desaturated a bit.  I love it.

 And this is it.  

The most photographed barn 'in the world' (I do not attest to the veracity of this statement). And this is the shot most similar to everyone else's shots.  Although there are some amazing shots out there during the different seasons, with bison, etc.  But this is the basic shot and angle. 

And then there's this take.  Shot from the other end of the road, through the trees.  I love it. 

And here's a meta shot of what the experience is really like!

Earlier, there were as many as 15 people outlining the barn with even more trying to get some distance shots from further away. Good luck with that!

Just down the road, I was lucky enough to see a couple of lovely Pronghorn Antelope!

My last shot for the day...of course one final view of the Moulton Barn - this time shot from even further away.  

And that does it for my visit to Mormon Row!  In the next post we'll return to Jackson and visit the National Museum of Wildlife Art!

xoxo

Nikon D600 and D7200

Travelogue: Marin Headlands San Francisco Bay Area 10/2016

I am so excited about this post!  

In my last post, I showed you how I accidentally visited a pod of pelicans.

Today we're going to visit one of the most magnificent and interesting places in California - the Marin Headlands.  Home of the Golden Gate as well as many varieties of wildlife and rugged nature, including Redwoods, today we'll focus on the views from Hawk Hill and some of the intricate network of military bunkers used to protect this important port in days gone past. 

I tried to get down here before the sun rose as I wanted to try my hand at capturing the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge at sunrise.  As it happens, I got here about 20 minutes after sunrise, but it still made for amazing photos!  I love the black and white rendition above; it's one of my absolute photos of the day!

And the ones in color aren't too shabby either!

After the sun was above the City, I turned to my secondary occupation.  Pokemon Go.  Well, that and exploring some of the bunkers.  I didn't actually stop by one of the main bunkers, Battery Spencer, because I wanted to try to locate some of the "hidden" ones that supposedly dot the hills. 

This one wasn't exactly hidden as you can see.  It's right off the road. 

So cool looking!  I had to try to get an "artsy" shot of the rings leading up the side.  I wonder what they were used for?

In search of the hidden, I climbed up the hill to the top of the ridge.  It was slippery!

But at the very top, I found immediate gratification!

A rusty air vent led down into the bunker below, while at the upper right of the photo above, you can see the top of a camouflaged bunker peaking out.

Here's a closer look.

Meanwhile, my vantage point of the road had changed quite a bit.  

The fog was leaving it's dewy wake on copious spiderwebs in the underbrush. They were all over the place, and I'm thankful for the fog to show me where NOT to step!

As I continued my way up the ridge, I found more signs of the hidden bunkers that were buried beneath me.  Such as this even better hidden air vent. 

And another entrance on the back of the ridge.  This one showed some signs of partying in graffiti and beer cans. 

This is the view over to Hawk's Hill.  You can see one of the main tunnels in the distance.  More on that later. 

The fog seemed on a quest of it's own, slithering over the curves of the road and settling on top of the hills in search of something before fading away.  

I half climbed and half slid my way back down to the road and then hiked up the hill to the parking lot where I had left my car.  

This is Installation 129, an unfinished battery on Hawk Hill.  Hawk Hill is so named because it is a perfect spot to watch the fall migration of raptors due to the thermals in the area.  I was there too early and didn't see any on this day.  But that's okay because there were plenty of other things to see.

I headed through the tunnel eager to see what was on the other side.  I knew I would be able to look across at the ridge where I had been hiking and was curious if I could distinguish the spot with the hidden bunker entrance.

This is the tunnel that was visible in my previous picture!

I put a little pink star just under the hidden entrance.  Otherwise, you could barely see it!  I really wonder what is under this ridge that I hiked along.  The road is on the other side and maybe the entire thing has a hidden world underneath it, now closed forever. 

On this side, the buildings are really quite interesting and a little bit creepy!  

In this next tunnel, there were some dark and dank rooms you could enter.  I walked in but quickly left because I was scared!  I need to take a flashlight next time. 

And on the other side was a huge circular room that probably used to hold a gun or radar or something equally exciting.  But now all was just graffiti and silence.

Turning around was a path that looked as if it led off the cliff thanks to the fog.

I stood there and looked down into the fog and could hear the ocean crashing below.  I glanced to my left and saw the equally mysterious and mesmerizing Sutro Tower.  The rail encouraged me to walk that way and off into oblivion.

I pulled myself from the fog's spell and turned to the light, which had another path that led to the batteries atop the installation. 

This path held people and ravens (crows?) to show that I had made the right choice.  

 Such an amazing blend of history and nature!

  With views that just couldn't be beat! 

And ravens (crows??).

I think this one is definitely a raven!  

"Nevermore!"

Next post, we head for a black-sand beach with an amazing earth bridge and lagoon. TTFN!

xoxo

Nikon D3300