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September 8, 2015

Atherton Ridge – East to West

Gros-Ventre-Road-and-Foothills

Elevation change on the Atherton Ridge Hike
Elevation profile and route below courtesy of the HAZ Tracks App

Distance (one way): 4.1 miles
Difficulty: Strenuous
Best time of year: Spring, Summer, Fall

The Atherton Ridge Trail is a relatively forgotten trail, but is well worth the effort. Neither side is considerably easier to climb than the other, but most people prefer to hike east to west because of the great views that unfold of the Teton Mountains in the distance to the west.

Across from the Atherton Creek Campground, the trail immediately begins climbing, bringing you from an open meadow to aspen groves and thick willow growth. At roughly .5 miles, another trail will fork off to the right, the main trail continuing straight ahead and through meadows, aspens and willows. Farther up the trail, the trail crosses a few muddy areas from streams that trickle out of beaver ponds just up Atherton Creek. These only appeared a couple of years ago, so the trail’s been rerouted slightly to avoid stressing them out. Please respect this and don’t cause them any unneeded stress by getting too close. A good vantage point is just up the trail where it comes out of the trees where a small knoll lies just off of the right of the trail. This provides a good look back toward the ponds.

Slide Lake and Gros Ventre Slide

At this point the trail begins a steep ascent up a grassy hillside that will give you some great views over Slide Lake once you gain some altitude. The trail then begins to take the shape of an old 4WD road as two paths begin to parallel each other. The trail will go up and down a couple of small hills and then bend sharply to the north past an old evergreen tree that looks like you could push it over, but don’t try. The trail climbs steeply for a brief section here, before winding back to the west and smoothing out. At the top of this hill you’re treated to some magnificent views of the Tetons over some nearby hills. You’ll also notice that a trail veered off to the right to head back farther north. In fact there are many trails in this area and you could potentially spend an entire day or more exploring them. To remain on the Atherton Ridge Trail, either look for the trail at the top of the hill that goes to the left, or if you can’t find it, take the most obvious trail down the hill into the small valley below you. Either trail will intersect with another running north-to-south on the other side of the small valley, where you’ll want to begin heading south (left) along it.

Tip: This area’s used frequently by the Gros Ventre River Ranch for horseback rides. If you come across them, please step off the trail and let them pass.

Storm Clouds over Hills

Once on the other side of the small valley, the trail then climbs a short distance as it goes through an aspen grove and continues to climb up to a small hill. You’ll notice more trails branching off here and there, but as long as you’re continuing toward the Gros Ventre Slide (the massive landslide in the mountain to the south) you’re headed in the right direction. Of course if you want to explore a few trails, feel free. Just remember when you’re ready to start back, follow the trails in the direction of the Gros Ventre Slide.

The main trail will top out a small hill where the trail actually disappears, but can be easily found on the other side of the small hill. A bit past the hill, the trail will fork again next to a small section of an old fence. This is where you’ll want to branch off to begin your descent.

It descends steeply down the hillside for a short distance, then flattens out where it winds around a treeline before dropping again where some sandstone is exposed. It climbs back up a short distance, then the trail then forks again at the top of a steep ridge, one trail leading down the ridgeline to the right, and two seeming to head straight down. Of the two heading straight down, pick the one that looks the least steep to you and begin making your way down. They’ll connect again just a short distance down.

Trail Over Grassy Ridgeline

Continue your descent down and over the hills, and eventually the trail will pass through a lush aspen grove. As you pass through the aspens, the road pops out in front of you, as well as the parking area where you left your shuttle car.

To see more images of the Atherton Ridge Trail, check out my Gros Ventre Mountains Gallery here.

Getting there: From Jackson, take Highway 89 north out of town 6.8 miles to the Gros Ventre Junction and make a right. Less than seven miles later, you’ll reach the town of Kelly where the road bends sharply to the north. Continue for just over another mile and you’ll see a paved road to your right. Turn right there and continue on that road for another six miles, passing Kelly Warm Springs immediately to your right, then the border of Grand Teton National Park farther back, followed by the Gros Ventre River Ranch, and after more twists and turns, Slide Lake. The parking at the trailhead is very small and tight, so pull off of the road as best as you can on your left where you see the trail heading up just across the street from the Atherton Creek Campground.

Along the way, just after you pass the Gros Ventre River Ranch, the road climbs through a forest and bends sharply to the left. There is a big parking area here on top of the hill. This is where you’ll want to leave the shuttle car, otherwise you’ll have to do the whole hike the other way.

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September 8, 2015

Foliage Reports September/October 2015 :

Jackson Hole & Grand Teton National Park

During September, I’ll work on two pages simultaneously. This September Foliage 2015 post will contain more specific information about the every changing foliage status in the area. The September 2015 Daily Updates & Photos for Grand Teton National Park & JH Page will contain some foliage information, but will focus more on wildlife and landscapes. You’ll want to go to both regularly.

Archived Resources:

You can go back to the September Daily Updates and Photos pages for the previous two years and probably get a good idea of how the entire month unfolds.

September 2015 | September 2014: | September 2013: It will probably be apparent that not all areas change at the same time and some of the fall foliage can go well into October.

Foliage Scale 2015

This scale should help with visualizing the approximate color hues. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being summer green and 10 being peak), I will give a three part number. The first one is an average of the least changed. The middle number is the overall average and the last number is the status of the most advanced trees in an area. Note: Some aspens and some Mountain Maple turn orange and red, while many aspens, cottonwoods, and willows peak at something in the 8 or 9 range before the leaves fall or turn brown.

Remember, peak Fall foliage is not a one day event! It evolves over several weeks. Some areas go first, then lose leaves while others are just beginning. You should be able to find colorful foliage anytime from around the 10th of September to the first week in October.

September 8

For this first entry, I’m just going to give an overview. Some of the upcoming entries will be more specific. There was some shifting from summer green to slightly olive around September 1st, prompting me to suggest it might be an early Fall. I would have predicted more changing in the past week than I am actually seeing. Valley wide, we are probably averaging 2-3-4, but there are stands or areas slightly ahead. If you look hard enough, you can even find some near peak trees. Willows along the Gros Ventre and some areas of the Snake are ahead of the Cottonwoods. Cottonwoods, at least at the moment, look duller than I remember and not turning bright yellow. Aspens are shifting in most areas. The brightest group I’ve seen is along the East Boundary Road north of Antelope Flats Road. Mountain Maple (in the Snake River Canyon) is behind last year but maybe ahead of most years. There are less Choke Cherries on the branches this year, but Black Hawthorne berries are plentiful along the Moose-Wilson Road. Mountain Ash berries are bright orange now. Most of the grasses and pastures are golden in color. The underbrush is turning bright colors in most areas.

Recent Photos

September 4: Colorful Leaf

September 4: Advanced Aspens near Jackson Lake Junction.

September 4: Grass and Aspens near Arizona Creek.

September 6: East Boundary Road north of Antelope Flats Road. Several large stands of aspens are already bright yellow.

September 6: Black Bear in Low Grasses along the Moose-Wilson Road. In most areas, the ground cover is a mixture of green, gold, and yellow.

September 8: This was captured in the morning light, so it has a heavy gold cast. Willows and Cottonwoods are changing fast along the river bottoms.

September 8: Ditch Creek: Cottonwoods, grass, Tetons, thin clouds, and haze.

September 9: GTNP Warm Springs Road: This is a hillside inside GTNP, located across from the Welcome to GTNP sign along the Highway— just north of the National Fish Hatchery.

September 9: South of Jackson: I drove south of town a few miles to check out the foliage status. Cottonwoods along the Snake River in that area are still “summer green”. Aspens are beginning to change as seen here.

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September 5, 2015

September 2015 Daily Updates & Photos for Grand Teton National Park & JH: A Monthly Journal

Welcome to September! Monthly Overviews for JH / GTNP .

Get a quick look at what you might expect to find with all 12 months side by side.

Daily Updates Archives:
2015: Sept: | Aug: | July: | June: | May: | Apr: | Mar: | Feb: | Jan:
2014: Dec: | Nov: | Oct: | Sept: | Aug: | July: | June: | May: | Apr: | Mar: | Feb: | Jan:
2013: Dec: | Nov: | Oct: | Sept: | Aug:

September 7, 2015 :

Cinnamon Sow On Buck Rail: I saw several Black Bears today, but only took photos of this Sow taking advantage of a step ladder to the Black Hawthorne Berries. D810 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Buck Rail Seat: D810 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Standing Black Bear: I’ve heard a few tourists identifying this bear as a Grizzly, probably based on the light tan patch on her back. D810 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

One-On-One Excursions Openings: A few openings are available in September. Just ask! September 8/9 recently opened up. The trips are designed to help people learn to use their DSLR cameras and help photographers find some of GTNP’s nice shooting locations. Click the link for more information. (Golden Era Studios / Mike R. Jackson is an Authorized Permittee of the National Park Service and the National Elk Refuge.)

September 6, 2015 :

Stripped Velvet: Today was a very long day for me. I am making this post at 10:30 pm. The image above is a crop of a very early morning shot at ISO 10,000. D810 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Moose-Wilson Road: The rules still say people are supposed to stay back 100 yards from bears, but when Wildlife Management personnel or Law Enforcement Officers are on the scene, people are often allowed to be closer. The road is tight, with few legal parking spots. D810 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Black Bear Crossing Marsh: This bear has a yellow ear tag. Bright summer light makes photographing black bears especially tough. D810 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Cinnamon Bear in Hawthorne Bush: D810 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Black Bear Crossing the Creek: D810 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Black Bear in the Forest: Late evening, low light shot at ISO 7200. I was heading home when I ran into this bear jam. D810 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Sunset Barn: I started before sunrise and ended after sunset today! For this shot, I used an off camera SB910 strobe, triggered with a RFN-4s controller. I was holding the strobe just out of the frame (to the left), set to +3 power and zoomed to 200mm.

September 5, 2015 :

Soggy Skies: After making my normal loops looking for animals (moose with velvet), I ended up at Mormon Road. They make good foreground subjects to put in front of the mood clouds. D810 and Nikon 24-70mm lens.

Evening Storm: The clouds rolling in over the Tetons at sunset were equally dynamic and moody. D810 and Nikon 24-70mm lens.

I got a late start because of the dark skies, rain, and thick clouds.

Cattle Drive on Spring Gulch Road: D810 and Tamron 24-70mm lens.

Snow Capped Grand: In town, we had rain overnight. The Grand received a layer of new snow. D810 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Cinnamon Bears: Taken along the Moose-Wilson Road. (I removed a branch across the face of the small bear) D810 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Cinnamon Bear and Hawthorne Berries: D810 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Black Bear: D810 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Sleeping Indian: Taken from the highway on the way home. D810 and Nikon 70-200mm lens.

Spring Gulch: Also taken from the highway. D810 and Nikon 70-200mm lens.

September 4, 2015 :

Schwabacher Morning: I started out looking for Moose, but ended up at Schwabacher for first light. I tried a shot from this same spot last evening, but the colorful evening sky never happened. This image is stitched from three individual captures using Lightroom CC2015. D800 and Nikon 24-70mm lens. Click this image to see it much larger.

Schwabacher Mossy Pool: The water level has dropped in the first pool by the parking lot, revealing aquatic vegetation that breaks up the normal mirror reflections. There is similar “trash” in the water along Flat Creek just north of the Visitor’s center, but the many ducks and waterfowl don’t seem to mind. There were at least 8 vehicles in the south parking lot at Schwabacher Landing this morning. Over the past few years, beavers have been busy building and maintaining a series of dams in that area, creating reflection pools that were not there in prior years. D800 and Nikon 24-70mm lens.

Gear: The images above were taken with my Nikon D800 body. I recently ordered a new Nikon D810 and it should be here today. My Nikon D4 now has over 670,000 actuations and is going strong! A year ago this week, we were fishing for Kokanee Salmon and the D4 took a couple of second bath. While in for service, Nikon replaced the shutter on it. At the time, it had 503,000 actuations—well above the published life expectations. In the 12 months since, I’ve added over 170,000 actuations!

THE SEVEN DEADLY MYTHS OF INTERNET COPYRIGHT: This page has been on my site for a while, written by a lawyer and specifically dealing with photographs. There are a couple more similar pages linked on that page. Since this page is essentially a Daily Journal of what’s going on, I’ll include a bit more about my personal experiences. A couple of the sites suggest copyright submissions must be made in a timely manner…they suggest 90 days from the time you take a photo. I had my June copyright submission ready for uploading on August 31, but the US Copyright Office site was down and has been down all week. I spoke with a person at the Copyright Office today. She said the “90 day window” is not an issue at all.

There’s a section in yesterday’s post called Area Tidbits: All of it applies today.

Chris Balmer from Perfect Light Camera and Supply dropped off my new Nikon D810 before lunch. We headed north for a few shots and a little reconnaissance. This is a mid-day shot overlooking Hedrick Pond. D810 and Nikon 24-70mm lens.

Aspen Trunks and Ground Cover: This was taken behind the Camas field near Arizona Creek. D810 and Nikon 24-70mm lens.

Red Leaf: There are hints of rich colors at our door step. D810 and Nikon 24-70mm lens.

Orange Aspens: After a big rain, you’ve probably seen TV news reports of a guy paddling around in a canoe in a low area of a town. There may be some actual flooding in the area, but they pick the very worst little spot for the new cast—even though much of the surrounding area is relatively dry. That’s the problem with doing random foliage shots. I’ll always find the trees with the most color to post. Right? This group of orange aspens stood out against all the green trees near Jackson Lake Junction in GTNP. There are random trees turning prime all over the park, but most are just beginning to turn. D810 and Nikon 24-70mm lens.

I spent half an hour setting the Auto Focus Fine Tune adjustments on the new D810. I set the AF Fine Tune for each of the telephoto lenses using a LensAlign.

September 3, 2015 :

Custer in a Side Channel: I looked for moose all morning, including hiking a mile or so of the river bottom in two directions. Nothing! I gave up, figuring it just wasn’t my day. As I was driving home, I spotted this bull out of the corner of my eye. D4 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Mountain Maple: I have been hearing the Mountain Maple are starting to turn in the Snake River Canyon towards Alpine Junction. We had soft, thin cloud cover this morning, so I make a quick trip down. A few of them are beginning to turn. Traditionally, the maples are bright red between the 15th of September and possibly up until October 2nd or so. Last year, many of them looked good when we went down to fish on September 7th. Check out September 2014: for more photos from down there. D800 and Nikon 70-200mm lens.

September Foliage Reports Page: Coming Soon! Some areas seem well ahead of normal.

Area Tidbits:

Tomorrow is the last Free Concert at Snow King ball field. Lucas Nelson is playing and I hear he’s really good.

The Fort Bridger Mountain Man Rendezvous is underway at Fort Bridger, WY. It is the largest of the year in this region.

I’ve driven by the barns along Mormon Row and haven’t seen much new progress lately.

There is road construction near the Hoback Bridge and just north of Hoback Junction.

Black Bears are still feeding along the Moose-Wilson Road. No reports yet of Grizzlies in the area.

I’ve heard a few reports of Great Gray Owls being sighted again, including several reports of them around Munger Mountain.

Don’t forget to check yesterday’s new Feature Post.: Antlers and Wyoming’s Shiras Moose –

September 2, 2015 :

New Feature Post: Antlers and Wyoming’s Shiras Moose – As I make this post, about half of the bulls have already stripped their velvet for the year. If you are lucky, you might get to see and photograph this important stage in the yearly rut cycle.

The Grand and Blacktail Butte: D4 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Custer in Sagebrush: The three Bulls I photographed on Monday stripped their antlers on Tuesday. Quite a few people got to photograph it and I would have liked to be one of them. Still, I was with the bull above on Tuesday as he did a river crossing. I added roughly 650 actuations on my venerable old D4 in the process. Can’t complain! D4 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

Today, I found this one and stayed with him until he bedded down in a cool, shady area. On the way home, I saw another one along the side of the Gros Ventre river with what appeared to be full velvet. It was close to 10:00 am as I drove by and he we still feeding in the warm sun. D4 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.

September 1, 2015 :

Sleeping Indian: Taken from the hillside along the Gros Ventre Road. Lots of possibilities yet to be explored there! D800 and Nikon 70-200mm lens.

Clouds Above the Tetons: I saw this cloud developing over the Tetons, so I did a quick run to the barns for first light. D800 and Nikon 24-70mm lens.

Welcome to September!

This photo was taken on August 30th, 2015 along the Gros Ventre River. Based on a few clues like this one, it appears foliage is going to be early again this year. The 30°F morning we had about a week ago might have initiated the early changes in parts of the valley? During September, I plan on adding a JH Foliage Reports 2015 page to accompany this September Daily Updates and Photos page.

August was a banner month for me. If you missed it, check out August 2015 Daily Updates & Photos for Grand Teton National Park & JH: You can get a good idea of what the first part of September will look like. Also check out September 2014:

This photo at Oxbow Bend was taken on September 21st of last year. Typically (if there is such a thing), Oxbow peaks around October 2nd or 3rd. I haven’t been that far north in a while, but when I do, I’ll report on the status here. I don’t think many leaves will still be on the trees at Oxbow on October 1st this year either.

September Crossing: Bull Moose crossing the Gros Ventre in early morning light. D4 and Tamron 150-600mm lens.
If you like moose, be sure to look over the last half of August: August 2015 Daily Updates & Photos for Grand Teton National Park & JH:

Beginning of the Month Loose Ends and Reports:

FREE in Jackson Hole ~ Areas & Activities: Some of the Free activities end after Labor Day.

The Fall Arts Festival will offer plenty of new activities and events.

Wildlife is becoming very active. Moose are beginning to shed their velvet. Bison are still in the rut. Bears are looking for berries. Elk are beginning to bugle. Beavers, squirrels, and other small mammals are beginning to gather winter supplies of food.

Smoke has mostly lifted or blown out. Lingering amounts have still been causing great sunrise and sunsets.

Please, if you like this post, share it by using the Social Media buttons or simply let your friends know about it.

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September 3, 2015

Better Naming for our Geographic Features

First Light on Devil's Tower

I’ve always been bored with the naming of many of the geographic features found throughout the United States. How many Boulder Creeks, Deer Creeks, and Bear Creeks are there in this country? Even just right here in Jackson Hole, we have two different Granite Canyons. A quick stroll through Google Maps will uncover many more similarly named areas. And if it’s not something with a trite name, it was named for someone who most likely never even saw the place. Take for example five different spots in Yellowstone National Park all within just a few minutes of driving from each other: Lewis Canyon; Lewis River; Lewis Falls; Lewis Lake; the Lewis Channel Dogshead, all named after Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis & Clark Party, neither of whom ever stepped foot anywhere near what is today Yellowstone National Park. While it was a nice gesture, the names do nothing to add to what the feature actually is. Was this nation really that dull that we couldn’t even think of a descriptive name for a geographic feature? Even the great mountain of Denali, translated to The Great One, was renamed to Mount McKinley simply because he was the president that happened to be in office at the time. Fortunately, that’s finally being corrected. Denali is a unique name, and no one will argue that that mountain is indeed, The Great One.

I frequently drive through different features of the country, all the while wondering, what did the natives of this land call that mountain/river/valley/lake/etc.? It was only recently that I learned that the native name for Devil’s Tower is actually Bear Lodge. (“Devil” being another cliché naming convention – Devil’s Canyon, Devil’s Staircase, etc.) The name Bear Lodge originated from a story of a great bear scratching the sides of the tower, thus leaving the irregularities up the sides of the spire. Maybe it’s just me, but that’s a much more creative name for the site that fires up the imagination, adding an extra layer of fascination with an already captivating natural structure. On the opposite side, according to the texts, the devil is very far underground, so why would he be on top of a giant tower shooting up into the sky? The naming for such a feature doesn’t even accurately follow the myth that it’s associated with.

Many natives of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Great Sioux Nation are now working to change the name back to Bear Lodge, and I wholeheartedly support them. I would love to see boring and overused names of geographic features contain more character and intrigue about them by weaving in legends and tales about their names, while also knowing it was the only feature with that name.

So what’s the holdup with changing the name back to Bear Lodge? According to the article linked in the paragraph above:

“Not far from Devils Tower, there are mountains and an area of national forest named Bear Lodge. Changing the name will create confusion and even lead to fewer tourists to the state.”

Interestingly enough, that hasn’t seemed to happen here in Jackson Hole. Grand Teton National Park (which includes the Teton Mountains) is not only neighbored by the Teton Wilderness, but also Bridger-Teton National Forest, and yet, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of confusion from people turning up lost in the adjacent forest because they couldn’t find Grand Teton National Park. But to add to the confusion in the area, there’s also the valley of Jackson Hole itself inside of Grand Teton National Park, the valley named after Davey Jackson, the first non-native to supposedly stay in the area year-round. The valley name is of course not to be confused with Jackson Lake, Jackson Peak, Jackson Hole Ski Resort, or especially the town of Jackson, though it frequently does just that since I’m asked the difference nearly every time I guide a wildlife safari. And yet, Grand Teton National Park has been experiencing record tourism practically every year in recent years despite having so many different features sharing the same names, much more so than the Bear Lodge area.

What about other places? Consider Mount Hood. Thus far, to my knowledge, no one has confused the Mount Hood National Forest with the summit of Mount Hood, so I find it highly unlikely someone will drive right by the sign pointing to Bear Lodge National Monument with the spire dominating the horizon and assume that they need to continue driving in the opposite direction. Fortunately, from what I can tell, it seems most Americans can apparently read text on maps and signs, so the confusion argument is a completely irrational argument based out of fear of the unknown.

What’s another reason? According to the Wyoming Department of Tourism:

“We’ve worked so hard to build it up to the point where we are now, the amount of tourism we have and the spending, we are at a record high for visitors and for visitor spending and local and state tax gatherings as well.”

Leave it to Wyoming to continue the trend of completely missing the gold mine of positive PR sitting literally right under their noses in favor of a fear of change. Rather than embracing the native tribes and creating an extraordinary amount of noteworthy and positive buzz, they’d rather continue a long, drawn-out battle with native cultures, alienating them and their children even further. An alternative option would be to allow the change to happen, and then release all kinds of press showing what a compassionate and understanding relationship Wyoming has with its native tribes, which would attract international attention and would probably cause traffic to skyrocket to Bear Lodge National Monument – sorry, Devil’s Tower – and other areas in the nearby Black Hills of South Dakota.

With Obama recently restoring Denali’s proper name, discussions are beginning elsewhere about restoring a landmark’s native name. People in Seattle are talking about changing Mount Rainier’s name back to Tahoma, or at least something similar. In addition to a plethora of other areas, I would also love to see Zion National Park renamed to its original Mukuntuweap. The name was only changed because people naming the park thought Mukuntuweap would be too hard to remember. Obviously that wasn’t a problem for major landmarks all over Hawaii, such as Haleakala, Na Poli, and Waimea Canyon, to name a few. It also didn’t seem to be a problem for people to remember some confusing native words that later became names of 27 states, including Mississippi, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Wyoming.