After The Storm - Part 2

After a freezing cold and short walk down by the lake that morning, we all three went for a drive further out the South Fork later that same morning.

We didn't go far.

Maybe 20 miles.

But it was................stunningly gorgeous..................

The snow is all gone now, and we are currently embedded in a weather pattern dominated by blue skies and temps in the 40s and 50s.

40s?  50s?  A week before Christmas?

As crazy warm as it has been over the past week (and is forecasted to be all THIS week) I wish for more snow.

There is plenty in the park, in the forest, in the mountains.

Just none here.

But on this day (a couple of days after Thanksgiving) it was freezing cold and the world was beautifully white.

Not just the world.

The world in which we lived.

The world where we had finally decided to stop being gypsies and the world we had finally decided to call home.

On the south fork of the Shoshone River, just outside of Cody Wyoming.......................

I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again......................Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In wonderland & Through The Looking Glass

After The Storm - Part 1

 Almost two weeks ago it snowed heavily.

All night and then part of the day.

It was windy and cold and the snow drifts accumulated along the walls of the house and the metal storage building and piled up on the stairs leading up to the front door.

It was a cold day.

Raw and damp and ominous.

By the next morning the storm had passed and the sky was endlessly blue.

After an entire day of cabin fever I was eager to wander outside.

And so was my puppy...............

The morning was clear and very cold, and the world was beautiful.

Everything was covered in a pure white blanket of untouched snow, the sky was completely blue and the lake was calling to me.

After brushing six inches of snow off the Suburban and spending a few extra minutes warming the engine and the inside, I gathered up my hysterical dog and ventured out into the white world......................

Instead of pulling off the road and driving down the dirt double track leading directly to the lake, I pulled the Suburban over to the side of the road at the top of the small hill, not wanting to risk getting the vehicle stuck in the snow.

After releasing Kory from the bondage of the back seat I looked around me for a few moments, enjoying the beauty of my surroundings and internally debating which way to wander.

The wind was cold......................

 The mountains were beautifully pristine.

The lake was so cold and so oxygen-filled that it looked almost black................

 Kory had already headed along the dike and after a few moments of internal debate I decided to follow in the footsteps of my dog.

Yes.............staying high was probably a good idea on this day.

Looking back the way I had come, with Carter Mountain in the background....................

 My enthusiastic, very-happy puppy running back towards me, with Cedar and Rattlesnake Mountains in the background......................

 By the time I realized just how cold it really was, how strong the freezing cold wind really was, and how freezing cold I was getting really quickly, my dog had happily skipped her way off the dike and down the rock wall.

I stopped walking for a few minutes, pulled my wool hat down lower on my head, stuffed my hands deeper into coat pockets, and watched my dog.

Kory was five years older now then when we first got her.

She was now somewhere around 9 or 10 years old.

She couldn't run as far or as long as she used to, but God she was still fast.

I watched as she easily clamored down to the "beach" and watched as she happily sprinted across the snow covered open land.

So smooth and so effortless and so absolutely joyous while in motion.

I already knew that she was headed for the trees at the edge of the open land.

I wasn't sure what the draw was to her, but this is always where she ended up.

I watched her until she disappeared into the trees...................

 Looking further down the South Fork...................

 My puppy was gone.

Lost in the trees as she always is when she is free to roam....................

 It was absolutely freezing.

Too cold to be outside and after waiting for Kory to reappear for a few minutes I decided that it was time to head back to the vehicle.

Suddenly I was very glad that I had taken a few extra minutes to warm the vehicle really well before we left the house.

The Suburban would still be welcoming and warm.

I picked up the pace, suddenly realizing that this walk was a done deal.

This astonishingly beautiful place was just too cold on this day for both woman or beast.

Speaking of which.....................I turned to scan the horizon.

With satisfaction I watched Kory climb easily back up to the dike.

I turned back to the Suburban and kept walking.

She'd catch up................

 Five minutes later we were both back in the Suburban and I cranked the heat onto high, shivering involuntarily.

The walk had been brief but that was OK.

We had both enjoyed brief solitude.  

Brief freedom.  

Brief winter beauty.

A couple of hours later LC, Kory and I would go for a long drive further out the South Fork............................

It is a spur that one feels at this season more than at any other. How nimbly you step forth! The woods roar, the waters shine, and the hills look invitingly near. You do not miss the flowers and the songsters, or wish the trees or fields any different, or heavens any nearer. Every object pleases.... the straight light-gray trunks of the trees... how curious they look, and as if surprised in undress....................John Burroughs, "Winter Sunshine"

Claw Marks On The Tree

I took these pictures a few weeks ago.

It was cold, and although we had had snowfall a few times by now, it had not stayed.

One of the things we look forward to throughout fall is heading out the North Fork.

By this time the tourists have all gone home.

The East Gate of the park is closed.

And the animals have begun to move down from the mountains, to take up residence in the "low lands" of the North Fork for the winter.

Every few weeks we head out there to monitor the wild life.

To determine how many bison and elk and big horn sheep have moved down, and how close we really are to winter proper.

On this particular Sunday we drove into town early, as we so often do on Sundays, and ate brunch at the historic Irma Hotel.

Again........the tourists are long gone..........and at this time of year we relish in the "just us chickens" - the locals - that are left behind to hibernate for the winter in this now-quiet town.

After a delicious all-you-can-eat brunch we headed west.

Through the canyon between Cedar Mountain and Rattlesnake Mountain.

Through the tunnels leading to Buffalo Bill Dam.

Past the dam and past Buffalo Bill Reservoir.

Through the tiny mountain-surrounded community of Wapiti.

Until eventually arriving at the Shoshone National Forest that would take us all the way to the East Gate of Yellowstone National Park if we wanted to drive that far.

Before we made it to the forest we looked to our right and were excited to see a herd of a couple of hundred elk.

They were standing in the middle of a huge pasture - a common place to see them.

And they were surrounded by the rugged mountains that we have come to love so much.

LC pulled off the highway and I climbed out of the Suburban to snap some quick pictures.

Another vehicle pulled off the highway at the same time - another local couple doing the same thing that we were doing.

Monitoring the wild life in the area now that the tourists were gone, the weather had turned, and we had the highway and the world to ourselves.....................

Ten miles further down the highway we pulled off again.

This herd was smaller, more watchful, and grouped tighter together.

As I snapped pictures LC and I looked around for signs of what may have spooked them.

We saw nothing.

It was an overcast and very cool day, and the mist sat low in the canyons between mountains.

The leaves on the hardwood trees were still bright yellow, but would be gone soon enough.

And even though there were plenty of wolves and bears in the area, on this day we could see none.

But something had scared these beautiful animals and they watched us closely even though we were a long way from the herd................

30 minutes later we were deeply in the forest.

We had pulled off the highway and driven a short ways down a gravel double track trail that paralleled the Shoshone River.

This was a favorite pull off of ours, and many times we have walked along the trail, walked along the river, enjoyed the sight of the pine-tree-filled mountains that surround it. 

It is a beautiful place and we were there at a beautiful time of year in mid fall...................

As I was standing above LC and Kory snapping random pictures of our surroundings, I saw LC studying a tree.

He looked up at the tree.

He looked up at me.

What??

He wordlessly pointed high on the tree, I turned to look at what he was pointing at, and was stunned...................

There were large claw marks on the tree.

One set high, one set much lower down, and one more set close to the base of the trunk of the tree.

I studied them for a moment and then turned to look back at LC.

Wordlessly we both looked at each other and then looked around us.

They were without a doubt bear claw marks.

Recently made.

High enough on the tree to have been made by a grizz..................

We had been to this very same place more times that we could count over the years and over the three times that Cody had drawn us back.

We had enjoyed the lushness of this place in summer.

The starkness of this place in fall.

The beauty of this place when it was covered in snow and ice in the winter.

We had taken pictures last winter of a herd of big horn sheep that was plodding through deep snow right at the turnoff to this place.

We had driven around a lone bison that was standing in the middle of the trail - normally a gravel trail but at that time covered in snow.

We had walked through the trees following the river and walked up the trail to the highway while I snapped picture after picture of this wonderful place.

And never once had we seen such clear evidence of a grizzly bear as those claw marks on the tree.

I climbed over the rocks and down to meet Kory and LC at the river..............

Looking back at The Beast and the tree with the claw marks..................

Claw marks above and below LCs extended arm................

As we did every time we visited this place, we wandered by the water for a few minutes and then climbed back up to the trail, intending to walk and take pictures.

We wandered up trail about 20 feet and then wordlessly turned to look at each other.

The trees and bushes were thick.

Beautifully yellow in mid fall.

On both sides of us was thick undergrowth, thick brush.........perfect cover.

For a cantankerous bear that was trying to eat as much as possible before going into hibernation.

There was no getting around it...............we were creeped out.

And so we headed back to the Suburban...................

We drove just a little further before turning around and heading back to Cody.

There would be no all-day and epic adventure.

But we saw beautiful on a mid fall Sunday...................

Fall, temperatures, fall, fall! Let the weather mellow and the year fall into peacefulness.......................Terri Guillemets