Welcome to June 2022!

If you returned to the May 2022 Daily Journal to see the additional photos and comments, you should already know that Darla and I put our house up for sale, found a buyer, signed the necessary contracts and are removing our “stuff” from the house we’ve lived in for around 29 years. After the closing date of June 28, the current “plan” is to move to the front range of Colorado.

This site has been active since August of 2013. This may be the last of the Daily Journals, but who knows? The site costs me around $200 per month to keep it online and protected against hackers. Recently Paul Gore, long time friend and photographer, offered to pay the costs through the end of 2022. That should give me time to let the dust settle after the move and explore all options.

I’ll be extremely busy throughout June, but will try to add a few photos and comments off and on. Cheers! Mike Jackson 

June 30, 2022 – Thursday

We are in Colorado now! We drove by the house today and liked what we saw. Tomorrow, we get to inspect the house with the inspector.

Sprague Lake Sunrise: I got up EARLY today to accompany my friend into Rocky Mountain National Park. We were treated to a nice sunrise.

Sprague Lake Sunrise:

RMNP Bull Moose: Taken at Sprague Lake.

RMNP Bull Moose:

RMNP Bull Moose:

RMNP Bull Moose: Only a few minutes after this early morning shot, the Moose moved out of the lake and disappeared into the forest.

June 28, 2022 – Tuesday

We did it! We sold the house, then headed south! Right now, I am posting from a motel in Laramie, WY. Tomorrow, we will get to look at a house in Loveland.

The photos below were taken yesterday, but I didn’t have time to post them.

Pronghorn Buck: Taken at the Kelly Hay Fields…at first light.

Pronghorn Doe & Fawn: Pronghorns are on of the last of the larger mammals to start dropping their babies. This one was spotted near Mormon Row, but I saw several others.

Pronghorn Doe: This doe probably had a fawn nearby…spotted at Lupine Meadows.

Sparring Bison: Taken at Elk Ranch Flats.

Cascades: Taken with a telephoto lens from Lupine Meadows.

Wildflowers:  Mule’s Ears are now filling in where the Arrowleaf Balsom Root left off. These were taken along Antelope Flats Road.

June 26, 2022 – Sunday

Crunch Time! We signed our half of the contract to sell our home on the 24th. Without complications, the buyers should pay on the 28th and we sale will be final.

Today, I sold all of my remaining Nikon gear to the “Honoring Our Veterans” program. Hopefully, they can put it to good use in their photography programs.

Wildlife Notes

I haven’t been able to be out in the park lately, but I got a couple of reports. Bruno, 610 and cubs, and 925’s cubs have been seen at various times over the past few days. I’ve also heard of a couple of baby pronghorns.

I plan on being in the Park tomorrow and will try to post a couple of photos and updates.

June 21, 2022 – Tuesday

Covid-19 Risk Dropped: Masks not required in Park buildings.

Sorry for the lack of posts, photos and updates! We are in a race to get things out of the house and ready for the closing next Monday.

Local News and Updates

• Today is the first day of Summer…the longest day of the year.
• Yellowstone is trying to reopen the southern portion, allowing vehicles with even numbered tags go in on even number calendar days and odd numbered tags on odd days. The vanity or custom tags are considered odd.
• Yellowstone is spend a lot of emergency money to try to get the northern section reopened as soon as possible.
• Town is busy. Gasoline is around $5.09 at several of the stations, and quite a bit more along the north end of town.

June 17, 2022 – Thursday

Covid-19 Risk HIGH in Teton County: Masks Required inside GTNP buildings again.

Great Horned Owl: I had to make a payment south of town, so I took and camera with me. There are tons of Arrowleaf Balsom Root wildflowers along the highway. It took some searching, but I managed to find a Great Horned Owl.

Blondie with NO Cubs

A few weeks ago, the Grizzly Sow locally known as Blondie appeared in the northern portion of GTNP. She was escorting 3 small cubs around the Leeks Marina area. Over the past couple of days, people are seeing her without the cubs and fear she lost all three.

Yellowstone’s Displaced Tourists

Town seems extra busy right now. Part of that might be an influx of some of the 10,000 tourists that were pushed out of Yellowstone. The JH News and Guide reported that YS officials are  hoping to reopen parts of the southern portion of the Park at some point, but the northern sections may be closed the rest of the year and possibly long into the future.

Gasoline Now Tops $5 per Gallon

Several of the lower priced stations I passed today show $5.09 per gallon for unleaded regular. A friend let me know stations around Jackson Lake Lodge were $5.97 per gallon.

June 15, 2022 – Wednesday

Moose-Wilson Road construction delayed
Road opens to vehicle traffic beginning Thursday, June 16

Construction of the Moose-Wilson Road in Grand Teton National Park is delayed due to supply chain, staffing shortages and an overwhelmed construction industry locally. The southern portion of the road will open to vehicle traffic Thursday, June 16 at 7 a.m., and will remain open until Monday, July 11 at 7 a.m., when construction is anticipated to resume. Up to 30-minute delays are expected the week of July 5 while equipment is mobilized into the area.

When the Moose-Wilson Road opens

• Parking along the southern portion of the road is prohibited. This includes parking at trailheads as well as horse trailer parking along the road.
• The Granite Canyon Trailhead will remain closed to all access. Winter access will be available from December 2022 to March 2023. Access to the Granite Canyon trail system, including the Valley Trail, is available from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Grand Teton is working in partnership with the Resort and Teton Village Association.

When construction of the Moose-Wilson Road resumes

• From July 11 to Labor Day, the southern portion of the Moose-Wilson Road from Granite Canyon Entrance to the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve will be closed, except on weekends (7 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Monday) and federal holidays. Parking along the road is prohibited. The southern portion of the road will be closed entirely after Labor Day.
• The northern section of the road will remain accessible. Access to the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve and Death Canyon Trailhead will be available from the north, from Moose, Wyoming, during construction.

June 13, 2022 – Monday

Covid-19 Risk HIGH in Teton County: Masks Required inside GTNP buildings again.

Western Tanager: It rained here last night and was raining off and on all morning. I cleaned up some of the clutter around the house, following our seventh garage sale. I set up my camera and tripod with an umbrella and took some photos of the remaining Western Tanagers.

Western Tanager: I permanently disassembled my bird blind a couple of weeks ago, but the Tanagers seem tolerant enough of me to let me get a few shots. As you can see, the backdrop has been changing towards spring time green.

Western Tanager:

Western Tanager:

Western Tanager: This morning, I counted around nine males and a few female Western Tanagers. They are usually gone by this time of the month.

Western Tanager: These were all shot with a Sony A1 and a Sony 200-600mm lens mounted to a tripod. Shutter speeds were either 1/400th second or 1/250th second at either F/7.1 or F/6.3. With thick soggy skies, there isn’t a lot of light!

June 12, 2022 – Sunday

It took a while to get Lightroom back up and happy, so I ended up going to bed at around midnight last night. I came back to the computer off and on all morning to go through the photos from yesterday afternoon.

Pronghorn Buck: I had nice light yesterday which helped bring out the spring colors. This buck was in the zones north of Kelly.

Pronghorn Buck: This buck was resting in a cluster of Low Larkspur. He got up to join his little group that had grazed off from him.

Summer Bull Moose: You can see the swollen Gros Ventre River behind this nice looking bull. I don’t believe he is either Shoshone or Hoback.

Jackson Peak: Clouds were covering about the top third of the Tetons so I didn’t take a shot that direction. Looking south, I snapped this photo of Jackson Peak.

Long-billed Curlews

Long-billed Curlew: Normally, when I get a lot of nice shots of a single subject, I would have made a Feature Post.  But, as you might expect, this is not a normal year or time! I haven’t been able to post as much as I would like, so I’ll just pile a bunch of Curlew shots on this page. In this photo, you can easily tell how they got their name.

Long-billed Curlew: Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been able to get a few shots of these birds on the ground, but yesterday, they put on a good aerial show for me.

Long-billed Curlew:

Long-billed Curlew:

Long-billed Curlew: The Sony A1 does a remarkable job of tracking the eyes of an approaching bird.

Long-billed Curlew:

Long-billed Curlew:

Long-billed Curlew:

Long-billed Curlew: 

Long-billed Curlew:

Arrowleaf Balsom Root

I should mention that the Arrowleaf Balsom Root wildflowers are going off everywhere in the southern half of the park I covered yesterday. I don’t know of their status farther north. I was thinking about going back out early this morning for the flowers and sunrise, but it was overcast and gloomy. Now’s the time! You can also find bouquets of Purple Lupine near the highway bridge as it passes over the Gros Ventre River.

Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl: A friend let me know about a GHO this afternoon. I drove over and managed to be there when the Robins finally succeeded to push it out of an aspen tree.

Great Horned Owl: Owls can be difficult to see in the summer because of the thick leaves. Robins and Ravens don’t like an owl in their tree, so it helps to pay attention if you hear a ruckus

Great Horned Owl: A Sharp-shinned Hawk helped me find the Owl in a cottonwood tree.

June 11, 2022 – Saturday

Sorry for lack of posts, but we have been busy!  I bought a second Sony A1 and it arrived on Tuesday. I copied my settings from my original A1 and loaded them into the new one. That saved me a lot of time and I know both cameras have the same go to settings. Unfortunately, today was the first time I had a chance to actually take an y photos with it.

I did a Kelly loop and found a few Long-billed Curlews, some pronghorns, and a bull Moose. A few of the Curlew shots were in flight, and some with them coming straight at me. The Pronghorns were in all of the normal places. The bull Moose (in velvet) was along the Gros Ventre River.

On Friday, I moved my Mac from my upstairs office to the large bathroom area. It has hardwood floors. The new buyers want us to clean and shampoo the carpet throughout the house, which prompted the move to the downstairs area. Apparently, I didn’t shut down Lightroom properly when I turned off the Mac a few days ago. The message says the software is testing the integrity of the catalog, it might take a few minutes, but with a catalog hovering at around 75,000 images, it is taking a long time. I’ve been waiting, but I need to get to bed. Hopefully, the catalog will be completed and Lightroom will be ready to go in the morning. I am anxious to see the photos, too!

June 6, 2022 – Monday

Arrowleaf Balsom Leaf Wildflowers: These wildflowers are some of the first of the large wildflowers to appear each year. I took this photo on the hillside at the edge of Wilson, but I see lots of plants valley wide that are about to bloom. There are some Purple Lupine clusters near the bridge over the Gros Ventre, and I see some Low Larkspur here and there. Columbines should also be about to bloom in the wet, protected ravines.

June 5, 2022 – Sunday

Good News for the Site!

I have mentioned lately that I was uncertain of the future of Best of the Tetons web site and daily journals. Yesterday, I received a call from long time friend and photographer, Paul Gore, who is sending a check to cover the monthly costs of the site until December. That will give me time to settle into my new reality when we leave Jackson at the end of the month. No matter how all of the loose ends play out, readers will know they still have access to the existing pages until at least the end of 2022. Thanks to Paul Gore! Oh yes, Paul and I met any years ago while being hassled by a Ranger near Old Faithful. Neither of us got a ticket, but they ran our driver’s licenses and put us both “in the record”.

Best of the Rest of the Tetons!

Lately, I have been thinking about doing a new Feature Post called “Best of the Rest of the Tetons”. That comes on the heels of several instances where I came home with a sour taste after spending time “inside” the Park. By that, I mean after going into GTNP’s entrance stations at either Moose or Moran, or if coming into GTNP after leaving Yellowstone. While I am writing this paragraph, it occurs to me that I should also include the first 18 miles of the road across Togwotee Pass where there are numerous No Stopping, No Standing signs.  If I were to write the post, it would have photos of the cars parked all the way out to the main road at Jenny Lake, and I would include all the cones along the road into String Lake. I would show a huge bear jam and all of the cones in the photos. That would be easy since almost all bear jams are large and many of the interior roads are closed if there is a “bear in the area”. Everyone is forced into a smaller area. I’d also show all of the cones and barricades in what used to be parking areas in that portion of the Park. No doubt, I’d include a photo of all of the vehicles packed in every space along the trailheads at Lupine Meadows and Taggart Lake.

The “interior” of GTNP is no doubt already “under stress” again this year. That shows if you watch and listen to the Rangers and Volunteers. Many are already acting as though they wished everyone would go home and never come back. I watched a Wildlife Management volunteer scold a driver for having a half inch of one of his his tires on the white line. My observation was followed with the acknowledgement that it is not “what you say, but how you say it” that results in either a favorable or unfavorable experience. I watched the staff haze Blondie and her three cubs when I didn’t think they needed to do it. Several of my clients are making the same observations and at least two of them have told me they will be going to Yellowstone on their next visits.

I write this rather long winded entry today to suggest you “can” have a favorable GTNP experience if you stay outside of the interior of the Park. First, it’s free and you don’t need to pay for a pass. Second, the rangers on the outside of the Park seem to be much more easy going.  Of course, you can’t speed or do anything obviously wrong. Schwabacher Landing and the Mormon Row barns can get a little busy in the morning, but nothing like a bear jam inside the park. Even with high gas prices, GTNP is already quite busy for this early in the season, so check out some of the less stressful sections of GTNP this time!

Pronghorns: I needed to get back home this morning so I only did a quick “Kelly loop”, which is “outside of the interior” of the park as I wrote about above. One of this group of three Pronghorns had a serious limp. The other two were keeping it company. If you’ve ever walked around in the pastures, you would notice how many large badger holes are are. I am always amazed that a large number of the large mammals don’t have broken legs.

Meadowlark: Happy Meadowlarks can often be seen atop one of the many fence posts still along Mormon Row road. Although less likely to sit for a shot, you might also see Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, Swainson’s Hawks, and American Kestrels.

Long-billed Curlew: I managed to get several shots of the Curlews in flight this morning, but none yet of them flying straight at me as I did about this time last year.

Long-billed Curlew:

Bull Elk: Taken along Antelope Flats Road. Notice the aspen leaves…they are filling in fast in most areas of the Park.

June 2, 2022 – Thursday

Bull Elk: Taken along the highway before first light.

Schwabacher Landing:

Blondie: I don’t know about the rest of the people at the bear jam, but I didn’t like what I witnessed this morning. Blondie and her three new cubs were trying to cross the road that connects the main park road to the Leek’s marina area. The road was closed at both ends. Instead of letting the family cross at their leisure, the Park Ranger pulled up along side them, with lights flashing, and hazed them.  I suppose you could suggest they were worrying about their safety crossing a closed road, but it looked like harassment to me. The group of four made it to the other side and were starting to graze again. While well off the road, the ranger pulled close and hazed them with his blaring horn. This time, they disappeared into the forest.

Pronghorn: This buck was resting along the Gros Ventre Road.

June 1, 2022 – Wednesday

Mountain Bluebird: June is a good “Spring Month”, loaded with the newborn animals and wildflowers.

Blacktail Ponds: We had an early spring in late April and May, but late may hosted several late winter snow storms. The much needed snow and moisture is still evident on the peaks. Jackson Lake is extremely low this year, so boating will be limited.

The Moose-Wilson road is under construction along the old gravel portion. It is only open on the weekends and federal holidays. There are at least three large construction zones in Yellowstone. The Jackson Hole Airport will remain closed throughout most of June.

Blacktail Ponds: Traffic in town is already getting heavy. The National Park Service is still predicting a busy year despite gas prices ranging from $4.59 to $5.29 per gallon as the month begins. Prices are usually higher at pumps inside the Parks.

Elk Cow:

Wildlife News:

The big migration that started in April and continuing through May is essentially over. Watch for Elk at the edges of the forests and Moose in the river bottoms. Bison can disappear for a few days at a time but are commonly seen at Elk Ranch. Pronghorns are mixed in all over the sagebrush flats. I believe you will find Bear viewing in GTNP to be iffy at best this year. Many of them have been actively hazed from the roadways and seem to be less likely to put up with the hassles. Watch for flashing signs on Togwotee Pass telling you not to stop to view Grizzlies there. I wish I had better news on that front, but if I wanted to see Bears, I’d head on into Yellowstone.