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Well, someday I hope they are for sale again. The only thing I have more of than jackets I don't need is hats I don't need, and damn if I don't need more of both.
 
Artemus said:
Thanks T! We put our heated birdbath away once the snow started stacking up - they quit using it. I am interested in your experience. What altitude do you live at and what ecosystem? Nice, catching the eagle...
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@Artemus - I had to look up ‘the altitude’ we live at (because there isn’t much!)- its about 500ft. Lots of trees, shrubs, wetland and lakes around. And plenty of houses and people too. We will never get a property like this again- we build a house on it 18 years ago.
The Bald Eagles are frequently spotted down at the local lake close by where we live. About 1.5 year ago I was on the road walking 10 ft above (!) a Bald eagle sitting on a tree strump at the edge of the lake. We were equally surprised, it took off, so I was looking down (!) at it as it took off, whoa...Pretty amazing sight, like right out of Avatar. The lake has a lot of fish (no idea which kind) and the lake is almost surrounded by trees. Ospreys also hang out there.
Our property butts up against a forest and we on purpose left large areas with native shrubs and trees (oak, ash, few pines, lots of maples) instead of making every single sq ft into a pretty lawn (which we do have some of as well). Certain smaller areas on the property are officially ‘wetlands’, which attracts lots of birds and animals: Foxes, coyotes, deer, raccoons, way too many bunnies/voles/mice/chipmunks, opossums, occasionally a black bear, fisher, lots of Woodpeckers, various hawks, ton of birds, owls.

The bluebirds prefer nesting in more open fields, so we did better getting them to nest 10-15 years ago. But they do come to eat worms, insects. The wrens and tree swallows are happier nesting here. A week ago I saw 6 bluebirds in the backyard and today lots of them right off the lake.
One owl was right on a path in the rear yard, the other owl was sitting in a wetland area some miles away. Hopefully looking for some voles, which destroy everything I plant.
Voles (I don’t mean moles) are a royal pain in the rear.

Obviously the yard is full of butterflies too in the summer and the fall. I plant lots of seeds/ flowers to attract them. somehow over the years we ended up with more and more milkweed every year- it’s getting pretty invasive in my regular garden, but the Monarchs are thrilled!

Last summer a Baltimore Oriole visited the suet feeder frequently- fun when that flash of orange arrives! We get some migrating birds in spring. The hummingbirds arrive first wek in May, the tree swallows show up first week in april. Always lots of activity!
It hasn’t been that cold here and we haven’t had much snow, but that’s all changing now. The birds love the heated birdbath when it gets cold here (10F this morning).
 
Nice. Tell me how the new bath experience goes please. Great accounting. My wife and I keep a separate calendar for our local natural history in our property which is riparian at 6,600’. We are documenting change in our local environment due to climate change. Thanks for sharing.
 
Wanderlust073 said:
Well, someday I hope they are for sale again. The only thing I have more of than jackets I don't need is hats I don't need, and damn if I don't need more of both.
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I’m glad you buy those bright orange ones. Makes the photos classic - even the ones supposedly not posed! :)
 
Artemus said:
I’m glad you buy those bright orange ones. Makes the photos classic - even the ones supposedly not posed! :)
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Corpse Recovery Orange! Funny thing is that's the same jacket wherever you see it, lol. Backpacking, skiing, etc - love that thing. Super warm, super light.

But I do have a lot of jackets...
 
Ran away from home for a few mountain days in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Of course it was straight up raining this morning. So, I took a cave tour at Wind Cave. Not something I'd normally do but it was me, a guide, and one other guy. Pretty nice, chill tour. Much better experience than a shoulder to shoulder packed tour.20190203_111752.jpg
 
b.stark said:
Ran away from home for a few mountain days in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Of course it was straight up raining this morning. So, I took a cave tour at Wind Cave. Not something I'd normally do but it was me, a guide, and one other guy. Pretty nice, chill tour. Much better experience than a shoulder to shoulder packed tour.View attachment 74793
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Wind Cave is cool! Literally... I did the same walk through when snowed out of a climbing trip to the Needles near there years back.
 
I went to Bryce Canyon and did a cross country ski weekend. A lot of fun and good snow

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My significant other (Scatwoman) informed me recently that she would like to hike to the top of Mount Timpanogos this coming summer, so it is never to early to begin training for it. Of course, I had to pick an easy hike, Ensign Peak, and a return to my Thanksgiving Day demise where I tweaked my pelvis, which started an ugly chain of events. :( Well, heading up this morning was a muddy mess, :cry: the kind of mud that cakes to your shoes. It was still a fun, short hike and we hope to extend up the ridge from Ensign next weekend if the weather allows.


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The old man and the Jeep - I think someone wrote a book with this title. :)

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Oh, how I hate stairs at the beginning of a hike - reminds me of the beginning of Mount Olympus.

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A little overlook just below the summit with the Union Pacific North Yard and an oil refinery below

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@Rockskipper - Keeping the Backcountrypost greeting alive at the top

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Checking out Mount Wire in the distance
 
I got stuck in a buffalo (er, bison) parade the other day in the Lamar Valley and this really big guy came right up to my FJ and started pawing the snow and acted like he was going to charge - I don't think he liked my dogs. I wasn't sure what to do, so I asked myself, WWSD? (What Would Scatman Do? - I have a bracelet engraved with that as a reminder). So, I kind of hung out the window and did the Backcountrypost greeting, and he looked surprised, nodded his head, snorted, and left.

I think he somehow had seen @scatman up here hiking at one time or another...or something like that. ;)

And I think it's the Old Man and the Seep, or is it Seap?, from the looks of all the water on your hike.

And hey, @Nick, hows about a WWSD? bracelet in the swag department? It's always good to ask oneself that when in dire straits, eh?
 
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Rockskipper said:
I got stuck in a buffalo (er, bison) parade the other day in the Lamar Valley and this really big guy came right up to my FJ and started pawing the snow and acted like he was going to charge - I don't think he liked my dogs. I wasn't sure what to do, so I asked myself, WWSD? (What Would Scatman Do? - I have a bracelet engraved with that as a reminder). So, I kind of hung out the window and did the Backcountrypost greeting, and he looked surprised, nodded his head, snorted, and left.

I think he somehow had seen @scatman up here hiking at one time or another...or something like that. ;)

And I think it's the Old Man and the Seep, or is it Seap?, from the looks of all the water on your hike.

And hey, @Nick, hows about a WWSD? bracelet in the swag department? It's always good to ask oneself that when in dire straits, eh?
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You're quick on your feet @Rockskipper. There are three buffalo (er, bison) that had it in for me in the backcountry though. Normally, I don't pay them much attention, but these three had me on high alert.

Suspect #1
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This young gentleman, we ran into along the Mary Mountain Trail just shy of Mary Lake

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Same gentleman, who has gotten up while I tried to take his picture with my medium format camera.

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The now irate gentleman, destroying a small lodgepole where me and my camera were positioned just moments before.
He damned near chased us back to Hayden Valley. :scatman:

Suspect #2
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He wasn't really aggravated at me, he just scared the bajesus out of me while I was walking down the trail.
I wasn't feeling well on the last day of this trip and as I was making my way along just finishing crossing
Pelican Valley, I met him at a turn in the trail, with him heading my way. I only had time to step over a
downed log as he passed. I could have reached out and pat him on his side if I had dared to. I got my
camera out of the case and took this shot just after he passed me. Whew!

Suspect #3
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This is the largest Bison I have ever seen in Yellowstone. My son and I ran into him on
our way out along the Wapiti Lake Trail. He ended up getting up and moving us along
our way. I think my son still has nightmares about this one. :)

If any of these three were the one you were able to tame, then more power to you. I'm impressed!
If I'd only thought to use the BCP greeting, I'd have been just fine. :) Unfortunately, all these
trips were before I knew BCP existed. :(
 
@scatman, I was in my car and still scared. Those big guys (gals) scare me almost as much as bears. I used to live near a bison farm and even though they were inside a very tall hot-wire fence, they would still scare the bejeebers out of me. Kudos to you for keeping your calm. Fantastic photos, but I'm glad you took them and not me.

I read an article by famous ex-Yellowstone ranger Action Jackson, who started raising buffalo after he retired. He says they're extremely intelligent and territorial, and the groups have a lot of behavior similar to humans when it comes to actually having cultural traits.

"As individuals, each bison has distinctive roles in the herd and this herd consists of families, extended families, bands, clans and tribes, the same as all indigenous peoples. Families also meant they have to have homes and homes meant they, as extended family groups, had territories to live in and defend. I found out they did not make these homes in areas disruptive to family life development, i.e. watering holes, travel routes and mineral licks used as common ground by all extended families. Environmentally, this meant these herd animals did not overgraze and negatively impact sensitive riparian areas like panicked dysfunctional animals with no home. Functional herds also grazed close together because they wanted to be close together. Range Science’s perpetual degradation (of) range problem of domestic cattle, bison and sheep spreading out and “grazing the best and leaving the rest”, and science’s labor intensive solutions such as Management Intensive Grazing, were being carried out by Yellowstone’s bison without the fences. Plus, what I saw in Yellowstone was bison with a vibrant and complex life, something I never saw in domestic or managed public herds. The life of these non-managed herds was full of emotion and play. They had Culture!! And the herd with the most culture was the Mirror Plateau- Pelican Creek bison herd. Their core herd couldn’t care less about the bison in Hayden or Lamar valleys and they led exciting lives with only 200 members."

It's an interesting interview: http://www.tallgrassbison.com/New West Interview-titled.pdf

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Rockskipper said:
@scatman, I was in my car and still scared. Those big guys (gals) scare me almost as much as bears. I used to live near a bison farm and even though they were inside a very tall hot-wire fence, they would still scare the bejeebers out of me. Kudos to you for keeping your calm. Fantastic photos, but I'm glad you took them and not me.

I read an article by famous ex-Yellowstone ranger Action Jackson, who started raising buffalo after he retired. He says they're extremely intelligent and territorial, and the groups have a lot of behavior similar to humans when it comes to actually having cultural traits.

"As individuals, each bison has distinctive roles in the herd and this herd consists of families, extended families, bands, clans and tribes, the same as all indigenous peoples. Families also meant they have to have homes and homes meant they, as extended family groups, had territories to live in and defend. I found out they did not make these homes in areas disruptive to family life development, i.e. watering holes, travel routes and mineral licks used as common ground by all extended families. Environmentally, this meant these herd animals did not overgraze and negatively impact sensitive riparian areas like panicked dysfunctional animals with no home. Functional herds also grazed close together because they wanted to be close together. Range Science’s perpetual degradation (of) range problem of domestic cattle, bison and sheep spreading out and “grazing the best and leaving the rest”, and science’s labor intensive solutions such as Management Intensive Grazing, were being carried out by Yellowstone’s bison without the fences. Plus, what I saw in Yellowstone was bison with a vibrant and complex life, something I never saw in domestic or managed public herds. The life of these non-managed herds was full of emotion and play. They had Culture!! And the herd with the most culture was the Mirror Plateau- Pelican Creek bison herd. Their core herd couldn’t care less about the bison in Hayden or Lamar valleys and they led exciting lives with only 200 members."
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Great article @Rockskipper. I think I met Ranger Jackson in the Thorofare about twenty years ago, around mid September. He was leading a horse/mule train into the Thorofare to the Thorofare Ranger Station. He told us that he was stocking the station and that he would be patrolling the south boundary of the Park for poachers during the elk hunt. He was very friendly to me and my backpacking companion and didn't hesitate to answer our questions. He even invited us to stop by the cabin if we were in the area.
 
Hiked about 1.5 miles along the ridge from Ensign Peak this morning with the Scat family. Some seriously strong, frigid winds were blowing across the ridge and I think we might have been a tad bit under-dressed. The wind eventually forced us to turn around and head home.

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Scatwoman, making her way across the ridge

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Scatgirl and her Pappy, freezing our tails off. :cold:

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A little bit of a break from the wind heading down to this saddle

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Turn around point - City Creek Canyon behind me
 
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