Wildlife Haven

We rode through green valleys starting at 7500 ft. north of Current Creek Reservoir,

ascending to 9500 ft. at Low Pass Road. 

This moose was knee deep in a beaver pond when we startled her.  We were startled, too, as she splashed out of the water to get away from the strange centaur-like invaders. 

She may have had a calf hidden in the aspens, because she ran to the trees and stood firm, staring at us until we were out of sight.  We were several hundred yards away, but a mama moose is no one to mess with.  We watched for any sign of aggression.  If she had charged, we would have made a speedy retreat.

We've seen sandhill cranes in this area several times.  Finally, we had a photo op.

A hairy woodpecker and his mate whistled and squawked at us.  They must have had a nest nearby, and all their noise was an attempt to scare us away.  Eventually, it worked. 
We saw lots of elk and deer.  Steve rode right past a deer fawn curled up in the brush.  It was tiny, probably only a few days old.  He would have taken a photo, but Daisy saw the fawn, too, so his efforts went toward containing Daisy so the fawn could safely escape. 

Can you see the pile of sticks in the bottom center of the photo?  That's a beaver dam, about 8 feet of engineering work at its deepest point.   

We rode up to check it out.  The beaver seemed to be gone and no longer maintaining the dam, but big pool of water remained, providing Daisy with a refreshing swim.

Teton Grandeur

Last Saturday, we packed up and headed for Yellowstone National Park.  On the way, we drove through Jackson Hole. 

The majesty of the jagged Teton range tend to make a camera bug become buggier than usual.

The view over a sparkling Jackson Lake deserved another photo session.
At the northern end of the Grand Teton National Park, we came to our first animal-related traffic jam.  People don't seem to mind traffic jams of this kind.  Mostly, they just park and get out their binoculars, spotter scopes, and cameras, often hugely expensive models with foot-long lenses attached.

This time we had a moose jam.  Two bull moose were chilling in a pond, paying no attention whatsoever to the avid tourists.

Bull moose are usually tolerant creatures, but still, don't you think these tourists were pushing their luck?

Moose On the Loose

Bear Trap Fork is another hike in Big Cottonwood Canyon, in the Wasatch Range. 

Since we had the Munchkin with us, some arranging was necessary to get the little darling settled just right:

Much of the hike was in a canyon protected from the wind, and largely shaded by aspen and spruce. 

The trail was steep, but beautiful enough to take our breath away even when we weren't  climbing. A variety of flowers were still in bloom the last week of August:

Here's the view from the pass, looking down into Desolation Lake in Mill Creek Canyon:

On the way down, Steve and I were marching merrily ahead when Tess and Tim hollered, "Stop!" "Back!"  "Look out!" 

We stopped.  A moose was in the woods, only about 30 feet away from us.  We backed up slowly.  Sure enough, it was a mama moose with a calf, the very situation that can be dangerous.  Here's mama, looking displeased:

We took the photo from a distance, and made a big loop to avoid upsetting her any more.  The calf had moved off into the brush.

Disaster averted, we congratulated ourselves on yet another "successful" (i.e., everyone survived) hike.