Author: Aaron

Lyrics from “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell ~ 1970.

Joni’s words seem to ring true lately. I spent quite a bit of time with the black bears along the Moose-Wilson road this year. There have been more in the area than some years. For maybe a week, photography was great. As of last Tuesday afternoon, we are prohibited from seeing and photographing them. They are not gone, but the opportunity has been severely thwarted. The Park Service probably made a good call on it. And, it might reopen soon? Who knows? The Moose-Wilson Road and Black Bears – My Experiences

The challenge, and focus of this post, is to acknowledge “what you’ve got” while it is happening and get out and photograph it while it is there.

There are always yearly trends and cycles. Leaves turn color and drop in the fall. Snow falls and remains on the valley floor around Thanksgiving. Bison rut in August. Many babies are born in early June. Grass turns green and deciduous trees add new leaves in May (or so).

But there are always little gems that fit between the common phases. Many are short lived and often don’t repeat.

Three or four young Great Gray Owls appeared along the Spring Gulch Road at about the same time the Government Shutdown closed the Parks. It was good…really good… for a week or so. The owls eventually moved off the roads and one of them was hit by a vehicle. They haven’t been back. Great Gray Owls of Fall

A few years ago, a family of foxes showed up only a few feet off a main road in downtown Jackson. It was great, and it lasted a couple of weeks. She hasn’t been back. Red Fox: A Spring Vixen

River Otters have been seen in some years along Flat Creek near the Visitor’s Center. But, not every year.

Beavers can dam an area, creating a new pond that kills a beautiful stand of trees. The same pond might create spectacular reflections and habitat for numerous animals. Yin Yang.

Beavers of Schwabacher Landing

Forest Fires can change a landscape within only hours. The historic Pfeiffer Homestead, On Antelope Flats Road, burned to the ground during a prairie fire.

Time, decay, and the elements are constantly wearing down man made structures. The Luther Taylor cabin (the Shane Cabin) is now classified as a “ruins” site, and if I understand it correctly, will be allowed to fall down. The Shane Cabins: Authentic Homestead in Grand Teton National Park

Al Pounian took this wonderful shot around 1964. While the barn is sill there, all of the other outbuildings and fencing are totally gone. Some of the fencing and corrals at the John Moulton Barn have been repaired or replaced in recent years. The “Missing” GTNP Farming and Ranching Photos:

Some wildlife related opportunities have a weather twist to them. Swans migrate through Jackson Hole in mid-November and December. In some years, Flat Creek freezes solid and we miss many of our chances to photograph them taking off and landing. In 2014, a pair of Trumpeter Swans paraded their little cygnets in front of viewers most of the summer. We looked forward to them again this year, but none of their babies survived. Trumpeter Swans: AFamily of Swans Along Flat Creek in the Summer of 2014

Some species of animals are on the decline. One year, I found a herd of moose scattered in the sagebrush east of Blacktail Butte. I counted 28 antlered moose, plus plenty of cows and a few bulls that had already dropped their antlers. I haven’t seen those kinds of numbers since. Moose were much more common around Oxbow Bend than now. People saw moose in Yellowstone regularly in the early years, but many never see one on a trip through the park now. See: Montana, Wyoming investigate plummeting moose populations

Other times, a governmental agency closes an area we’ve always used. We took it for granted. Sometimes, areas are closed to vehicles because of abuse or overuse, but either way, the vehicle access is gone. People can still hike in. There are several roads up the Gros Ventre that come to mind along with roads back to the Snake River in the South Park Feed Grounds. I have an old fishing guide book here somewhere that mentioned a good fishing spot called “First Creek”. It’s somewhere near the far north end of the Jackson Lake Dam, but that area is completely closed all human activity. I never got to fish it and never will! The photo above was taken at the top of the trail at Jenny Lake. The last time I was there, the trail was still closed, and it has been closed for at least a year. A piece of asphalt broke off, creating a potential hazard.

Kelly Warm Springs: In 1927, the natural dam created by the Gros Ventre Slide gave way and flooded much of Kelly. “But, for uncertain reasons, Mud Springs (today’s Kelly Warm Springs) began producing more water after the Kelly flood. Settlers cut the Mormon Row Ditch to the springs and began irrigating dry lands.” See: Mormon Row Irrigation and the Kelly Warm Springs: Sometime starting in the 1940s, people began putting tropical fish into the warm pond and many of them flourished. Currently, there is a plan to poison the entire pond and ditch to rid it of the tropical fish. For many years, families and kids have gone there with buckets and nets, making a sport out of catching them. For better or worse, things will not be the same there soon.

Shrinking budgets can affect what we are seeing. The photogenic old buck rail fences across from Triangle X ranch showed up in many people’s portfolios, in magazines, and paintings. They have been replaced with less attractive barbed wire fences. Over the years we’ve lived here, many of the iconic old fences have been removed. Wild West in Jackson Hole: Cowboys, Wranglers and Horses

Get it While the Gettin’ is Good!

I could probably come up with another dozen or so examples, but you should get the idea. For the most part, the loss of the photographic opportunities are out of our control. Some are still available, but are slipping away fast. A few opportunities will be gone soon and future bloggers will be reminiscing about them. Occasionally, we get special windows of time to photograph bears, otters, owls, or newborn animals. Those times to a photographer are similar to a powder day to a skier or snowboarder or a Green Drake hatch to a fisherman. You have to “get it while the gettin’ is good!

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The Moose-Wilson Road and Logistics

Moose, Deer, Beavers, Great Gray owls, Great Blue Herons, Sandhill Cranes, Weasels, Pine Martens, and no telling how many other species of animals share the unique, picturesque zone running south out of the Moose Visitors Center area towards Teton Village. In the late summer and early fall, Black Bears and Grizzlies show up to feast on the Black Hawthorn Berries.

The Moose-Wilson Road is narrow throughout and winding for most of it. There are numerous blind curves and hills. There are precious few legitimate pull-outs for tourists and photographers. A two mile section of the road (a mile either direction of Lake Creek) is signed at each end advising tourists not to park along the roadway. Access to that area is normally limited to tourists parking in one of the 50 spaces at the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve with trail access to Phelps Lake and Lake Creek. Several miles of the south end of the road is gravel and often rough. The Granite Canyon trail head is located at the south end and the Death Canyon trail head is at the end of a spur near the middle. Moose-Wilson road is normally open in the winter to the road up to the Death Canyon trail head. Vehicles with trailers and large mobile homes are prohibited on the road. Click Here to see a satellite view of the road.

The Moose-Wilson Road has been under study for years. A new (and final?) plan is due out at any time. Only park officials seem to know the direction they will go for the road. You can read a lot more about the road plans at JH New & Guide: Moose-Wilson Road use dissected

Even with all of limitations, the Moose-Wilson road is heavily traveled. Much of the road is limited to 25 miles per hour—and that is really way too fast for some of the hilly and winding areas. Many area residents use the road as a thoroughfare to and from the airport or areas north. They are not park visitors and often display no patience for drivers, animals, or people on foot or bikes. Even without bear activity, the road is dangerous. Throw in the fall Black Bears, and the issues compound. A single Black Bear can snarl traffic in both directions for long periods of time. Rangers and Wildlife Management personnel are usually required to break up the jams, with people stopping and leaving their vehicles either half on or fully on the roadway.

Faux Bear Jams can happen anytime someone pulls over to take photos of the aspen trunks or landscapes. Within minutes, 20 cars can be stopped and 30 people traipsing out to take shots beside you until they learn of the actual subjects. A real “bear jam” can develop in a matter of a few minutes. I am always amazed! There’s no one at first, then 40 vehicles and then a hundred.

Teton Park Regulations require people to stay back 100 yards from a black bear or grizzly. Some GTNP visitors enter the road through a gate near Teton Village. They are required to pay Park Fees during normal hours. If so, they are handed a map and newsletter with the animal viewing rules. Tourists entering from Moose never go through an entrance station and are never supplied with park information and rules.

As recently as yesterday, I was telling a man we were supposed to be back at 100 yards in Grand Teton National Park. He proceeded to tell me we weren’t in GTNP…we were “in the National Forest and not controlled by GTNP rules”. Let’s just say he was certain he was right and I was certain he wasn’t. Nothing I could say would convince him otherwise. I suggested looking at a Park map and I suggested that he drive a few miles south,  go out the gate and then reenter to see what the signs say. He walked off grumbling to himself, still sure he was right. After living here close to 30 years, I was certain I was right. Still am! I’d like to be a fly on the wall when he looks at a map to see he was wrong. I add this information to this page to illustrate how that section of the Park is so poorly signed and how a few signs letting people know the distance viewing rules could at least help fix a glaring problem. FYI, the Bridger-Teton National Forest DOES have Grizzly Bear Viewing Distance Regulations.

Most of the “photographers” I know have a healthy respect for the bears. When left unattended, most stay back and get their shots using their telephoto lenses—purchased specifically for the scenario. Not so for many of tourists! When left unattended, some get much too close. That grouping lacks the “healthy respect” for the wild animals. They don’t like it when the area photographers finally speak up and ask them to back up. Sometimes, it can get down right ugly.

My Experiences with the Bears

To be honest, I can only take so much of the roadside bear watching at any one time. Over the years, I’ve stayed away from it on purpose. Don’t get me wrong, I love photographing the Black Bears! However, to get the shots, I have to go there and deal with the tight quarters, limited parking, and distance issues. As with any subject, some days are better than others. It might take dozens of bear jams to get just a few clean shots. Sometimes, I don’t take a single image.

During “berry season”, I feel magnetically pulled to the Moose-Wilson Road—if nothing more than to just to check it out. It is equally difficult to want to leave the area if there is sufficient activity. I have a blog entry to write every day, you know! When I am at home in front of the computer, I am thinking about all of the opportunities I am (or could be) missing. Bears can be active at about any time of the day, and that fact can torment any dedicated photographer if they aren’t there. Conversely, when I am there and nothing seems to be happening, I am thinking about all of the things I need to be doing. It’s a no win situation at best.

The Rangers, the Volunteers, and the Rules

I wrote The 100 Yard Rule(s) not long after the Park Service implemented their current animal viewing distance rules:

GTNP COMPENDIUM UPDATE:

The compendium states, “The following activities are prohibited:

a)   Willfully approaching, remaining, viewing, or engaging in any activity within 100 yards of bears or wolves, or within 25 yards of any other wildlife including nesting birds; or within any distance that disturbs, displaces or otherwise interferes with the free unimpeded movement of wildlife, or creates or contributes to a potentially hazardous condition or situation.

b)   Failure to remove one’s self to prescribed distances during inadvertent, accidental, casual or surprise encounters with wildlife.

c)   Failure to comply as directed by NPS staff (employees, volunteers, or agents) engaged in administering wildlife management operations or managing wildlife viewing opportunities.”

From a “letter of the law” aspect, my original post was probably dead-on. I was worried about getting a citation if I got out of my vehicle with a bear closer than 100 yards, while tourists were walking up to what I considered was way too close. A hundred yards is the distance from one goal line to the other goal line on a football field. That’s a long ways! If taken literally, it would be illegal to drive down the Moose-Wilson Road at almost any time during berry season because there would almost always be at least one bear somewhere within 20 yards of the road. You can’t approach a bear within 100 yards—even while still in your vehicle! Read the rules!

The road needs to be open. Visitors need/want to be able to drive down it and see the wildlife along it. People need to give them a reasonable amount of room to feed go about their fall bear business. No one wants to see a bear get hit by a speeding vehicle and no one wants to see a bear get put down because of any kind of human confrontation.

Grand Teton National Park has a unique group of volunteers that each work several days a week for free. They are part of the Wildlife Management Program, sometimes called the Bear Brigade. At least from my observations, it’s a tough, thankless job. They save the government a lot of money and they help ensure the safety of the animals, plus help break up the many bear jams. We are required to follow their orders, even if we don’t agree with them. Most are fair, but firm. The Law Enforcement Officers (LE) carry the badges, guns, bullet proof vests, and ticket books. They assist the volunteers and back them up if needed.

Enforcement of the 100 yard rule along the Moose-Wilson Road has been spotty, based on my relatively limited experience this year. The 100 yard rule seems to be a “tool” to help control the crowds when needed. Your experience may vary and they may have a staff meeting and go back to strict enforcement someday. I’d hate to see that happen, of course.

Earlier, I mentioned the two mile no parking zone of the Moose-Wilson Road. The Park Service put up a single sign at the north end for southbound visitors and one at the south end for northbound visitors, but neither have signs indicating when it okay to start parking along the roadway again. There are no other signs in between and really no way of knowing how far you’ve traveled. A few more signs would help if they didn’t want people parking along the road in that section. Over the past 10 days or so, I haven’t seen nor heard of anyone being asked to move on while a bear is visible.

Comments on Standing Along the Moose-Wilson Road

Here are a few things you might want to consider:

• Park completely off the road! If any part of the wheels are on the asphalt road surface, you will eventually be asked to move the vehicle.
• Of course, don’t park on the road and leave it.
• Authorities prefer people not stand ON the road, including tripod legs. Some areas make that impossible.
• Be patient while driving. Allow some extra time in your schedule for delays and jams. Drive defensively.
• If you have a pickup style vehicle, you can’t have an exposed cooler. It must be stored inside the cab.
• Don’t carry around food outside the cab of the vehicle, and of course, never feed any bear.
• Dogs must be kept inside the vehicles when around the bears
• Carry Bear Spray when out of the vehicle.
• Follow the orders of the Wildlife Management volunteer and Rangers.
• Make sure not to step, or set up, in front of another photographer.

Photography Comments for Bears

Here are a few things you might want to consider:

• First, buy a long lens! It will reduce the urge to get close. Both Sigma and Tamron sell affordable 150-600mm lenses. Nikon is coming out with a new 200-500mm lens around the middle of September.
• Black Bears photograph better on cloudy days. The black ones are tougher than the cinnamon colored bears.
• Black Bears don’t move fast too often. Shutter speed might not be as important as some subjects, but keep in mind the “one over” rule. 600mm=1/600th second, 400mm=1/400th second, 200mm=1/200th second and so forth. This varies some based on whether people are using a tripod or have a lens with some sort of vibration reduction.
• The bears are often behind a few stray branches, leaves, or blades of grass that can cause problems with the multi-point focusing options. I get my best results on a feeding bear when using single point focus. I put the focus point on the bear’s eye and lock it with the shutter button pressed half way down, use the AF Lock on the back of the camera, toggle the focus point to the Bear’s eye, or set my camera to “back button focus”. I’ve found the 9 or 21 point focus (and I suspect the Group Area focus feature on some of the newer Nikons) will grab a branch in front of them. When they are walking, I just have to take my chances, shoot a lot and hope for a clean image. Here’s a YouTube tutorial if you are not familiar with the feature: Back Button Focus : Steve Perry on YouTube.
• Black Bears are often active very early and very late, and of course, during the day! Early and late mean balancing shutter speed, aperture, and ISO to tolerable levels. Often, high ISO shots are required, so better cameras are helpful. During the bright sun periods of the day, leaves will be “glossy” and the bear’s dark fur will make photography tougher. RAW captures and some healthy post processing can help. Once the light gets too bright, I tend to stop shooting, but if the action is good, I take the photos and deal with them later.
• Beware of “buck fever”. That’s a common hunting term in which an otherwise law abiding person loses most of their senses during the heat of the chase (or hunt).  They will do some  stupid things they wouldn’t normally do. That could include you, me, and any of the hundreds of people trying to get a photo or a good view of a bear. Given time to think about it, some people might not get that close, leave their car on the road with the door open, or forget they have a cooler full of food exposed.

Images on this page were all shot with a Tamron 150-600mm lens with either a Nikon D4 or Nikon D810 body. Most were shot at 600mm and most have some cropping.

Many of the photos on this page were taken with a Wildlife Management volunteer or Ranger nearby.

Late evening shots like the one above require the bear to be fairly still, with the aperture wide open, and with a very high ISO setting. I could soften the grain in the background, but I’d probably opt to use a different photo if someone was interested in a Black Bear image.

Typically, bears eat the low berries first, then begin climbing into the Hawthorn trees to reach new zones. You have to be persistent and lucky to get some of the shots.

Road Closures

As I am ready to submit this post, the Moose-Wilson Road is closed due to bear activity. It has been closed on numerous occasions over the past few years, but those closures were due specifically to Grizzly Bear activity in the area. Grizzly Bear closures are normally left in place for at least 72 hours past the last sighting. Grizzlies could feed on the berries for a week or longer before leaving. Other Grizzlies can take their place, so when one appears, no one could possibly predict how long the roadway might be closed.

As a tour permit holder, I just received this notice:

Moose-Wilson Road Temporarily Closed to Protect Bears

“MOOSE, WY — Grand Teton National Park managers have initiated a temporary closure of the Moose-Wilson Road from the Murie Ranch Road Junction to the Granite Canyon Trailhead to protect numerous black bears that are feeding on hawthorn berries along the road. Managers will monitor the situation continuously and will re-open the road when conditions allow. Park visitors should call 307.739.3682 or visit www.nps.gov/grte and click on the “alerts” tab for updated information.” (Sept. 9, 2015)

This notice does not include information about Grizzlies, so there is a possibility the road could open again sooner than following a Grizzly Bear closure?

There are plenty of Black Hawthorn berries along the roadway this year. I hear some of the berry crops, like Huckleberries and Choke Cherries were much less than normal this year. I haven’t heard much about the White Bark Pine cones. Whatever the case, the Moose-Wilson Road corridor is attracting a lot of Black Bears, stretching park resources to its limits. Throw in the fact that Yellowstone and Grand Teton National parks are experiencing record numbers, and it’s easy to understand how the area and workers are under stress.

With the closure of the Moose-Wilson Road, you might want to look over this page: Outside the Park: Alternative Places to Visit, Hike, Fish, and Photograph. It might give you a few options for places in the region worth visiting. The Moose-Wilson Road is an important artery in GTNP, and it includes access to the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve. While it’s closed, there are many additional areas of the Park you can visit. This site is loaded with tips and suggestions. Check out:  Best of the Tetons : Start Here!

Please, if you like this post, share it by clicking on any of the Social Media icons below. If you are not already a subscriber to Best of the Tetons, now would be a great time! MJ

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