Today I “broke camp” from Colorado and started making my way home. I drove around seven hours to Salt Lake City and specifically to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. My car clocked the temp at 104, but it was still an amazing place. I went before and after I checked into the hotel and I may go back tomorrow before heading north.

I spent far too long admiring and identifying my photos, so I will leave you with this simple photo essay to explain my day.

Tomorrow I’ll head up to the Boise area to visit with a friend, stopping at Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge on the way.

To be continued…

They say that the unexpected adventures are part of the joy of travel. It’s possible, but I don’t think that’s going to do much to persuade me that today was worth it.

Today was the final day of the Peggy Judy workshop, and Peggy had arranged for us to have a “cowboy” photo shoot at a ranch down in the Dominguez-Escalante canyon.

The workshop participants assembled at seven in the morning and took off. I drove with another workshop participant because Key obviously couldn’t be left behind. About 45 minutes later we were on a dirt road (yes, another one) and my car hit a rut/rock/pothole really hard. About 5 minutes later, my tire sensor light flickered on and… well, yes. My tire was flat.

Now, imagine this. You are at the bottom of a deep canyon. There is no cell service. No internet. You are at the back of convoy that is going someplace you don’t know. You feel honor-bound to get your passenger to the destination, but the logical and sensible voice in you is saying, “Okay, slow down. Let’s think about this.”

Fortunately, my passenger was a good sport. When we found a little campground/pullout, I pulled in and eventually arranged the car so we could see the road when someone from the convoy came back for us. I took a deep breath and prepared myself to do what I intellectually knew I could do, but had only ever done in a controlled situation: change a tire.

In an AMAZING stroke of good luck, two young guys who were camping came RUNNING over and offered to change my tire. Now, frankly, I was tempted to stand on my honor as an independent woman and insist on doing it myself. But…

1. It was SO HOT.
2. They were young.
3. I am old.
4. I hate tires and such.
5. They were offering.

And such, the heroes of the adventure arrive. I only managed to get a picture of one of my heroes (and forgot the name of both, unfortunately) but trust me… they had capes!!!!!!!!

The guys finished and we were just getting back in the car when Peggy came back for us. I explained the situation, transferred my human passenger over to her car so she could partake of the photo shoot, and limped my way out of the canyon and back to town. Now that I could take (and did) a  more leisurely pace, the scenery was stunning.

I even saw some wildlife on my way out.

Once out of the canyon and back to town, I used my phone to find a tire solution. Being Sunday DID NOT help my cause, but Walmart was open. Their team was awesome and Key and I waited in a shady parking lot island with a lot of water until a new tire was purchased and put on. Yes, the tire was dead. I’ll be talking to Les Schwab when I get back home!

At this point, my car was a mess because I had rearranged it to get a passenger and (now) a useless tire in. We went back to the workshop location and enjoyed some cold water, lunch, and the adventure with the group. But frankly, I was spent. Done. I had used up all my composure and concentration for the day, and I just didn’t have it in me to do more.

So, I chatted and passed around cards with a few of my new friends. Packed up when several other people were also saying goodbye, and then made my way back to the A/C of the hotel. I need to unpack and repack my car to accommodate the (wet) paintings, ruined tire, and the other flotsam accumulated on the trip.

The plan is to head to Salt Lake City tomorrow and bird Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. Tuesday I’ll head up to the Boise area to visit with a friend, stopping at Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge on the way. Wednesday my friend and I will bird Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge and Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area.

Thursday, I’ll head home. A day ahead of schedule, but I’m good with that. Frankly, earlier today I was debating doing the nearly 18 hour drive on Monday and just ending all this. But I’m trying to not let a single day spoil my mood.

I miss home and the kittens.

To be continued…

Well, we’re here. In the southwest part of Colorado. Our southern-most port. And I’m glad to land for a few days.

The big birding stop of the day was Highline Lake State Park.

It’s so hot that the pickings are slim. Just to check, I looked at eBird tonight and it confirms that June is one of the worst months to bird down here. Still, I did add a few things to my list, including a white-throated swift (not pictured) at the last stop of the day.

However, the scenery is gorgeous. There is so much of it, it’s hard to stop the car and enjoy.

When I checked out the workshop location, I found it was near this.

And just further down the road is Black Canyon Of The Gunnison, a park I had never heard of and explored on a whim. It is stunning! Unfortunately, I’m afraid of heights, so it’s all but impossible to show you how dramatic it is.

If you’re ever in the area, I’d recommend checking it out!

To be continued…

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Dirt roads.

No internet signal (so no maps.)

A very long day.

We hit the road early today to a lovely sunrise.

The goal for the day was Seedskadee NWR. When we were almost there, we came across Fontenelle Reservoir, where several American white pelicans were hanging out. They still have their breeding humps, which is a fun  reference to get.

Seedskadee was lovely.

But we have definitely entered dry sagebrush country, which means birds are scarcer and browner.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to see.

For reasons that made sense at the time, I decided to head over to Brown NWR instead of going the highway route to Dinosaur. Most of it was (good) dirt road, which is a little unnerving.

By the time I got to brown, it was high noon and the birds were scarce. At this point I was a little lost, but I had been studying maps to prepare for my jaunt to the Sand Wash Basin mustangs, and I started recognizing roads, so I reconfigured my plans and toured the mustangs today instead of tomorrow.

While I didn’t see huge numbers of horses, I did see one big group and several smaller groups.

The heat and dust was amazing. I can hardly believe horses can live there. It was almost six o’clock by the time we ended, and it took another hour to get to the hotel. Key and I were TIRED.

I’ll sign off for the day with this amusing photo of rock trolls.

To be continued…

Ah, Yellowstone day. The day I felt most nervous about. So nervous, in fact, that I woke up at 4:30 am (not planned) and was on the road by five.

The first excitement came with a set of dancing bison. This group was obviously young bachelors who were head butting and running about in a circle. I may have to paint this experience.

The next excitement came when a low, gray, fuzzy thing darted across the road with something in its mouth.

Yes, a wolf. I saw a real, wild, Yellowstone wolf (for about 30 seconds). Looking over the website, it was probably a member of the “Canyon” pack, but I am not able to find any information to help me ID it (it’s wearing a collar, as you can see.)

From there, traffic picked up and it became harder (for me) to stop and really appreciate things as much as I probably should have.

By the time I left Yellowstone for Grand Teton, traffic was moving, but very busy. It seemed all the places had full parking lots that had expanded onto the highway. I basically ended up driving straight through.

Which meant that I got to Jackson much earlier than planned. So, I decided to hit the National Elk Refuge today, instead of tomorrow morning. I wasn’t entirely shocked to find no elk at the refuge. My guess is that all the elk are up in the neighboring forests with their babies; but during the winter, then come down into the enclosures and are fed. Still, it’s a lovely, lonely place.

The biggest excitement was seeing a badger! It was doing a little tour under a parked RV and was not a fan of my attempts to photograph. Still, I saw it, which was fun. My first impression was that it was a moving carpet!

Badger (look at the shadow under the tires.)

Still no bears on this trip.

Tomorrow it’s south through Wyoming to Rangely, Colorado. I’ll hit Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge and, if possible, Dinosaur National Monument.

To be continued…

This morning I loaded up the last minute items and was on the road by 6:30. It’s hard to tell, from a map, what kind of drive to expect. Things will estimate distances, but there are still a lot of unknowns.

I headed south, and for the first time drove through “the big hole”, which for some reason I thought was in the north east part of the state. I get confused. It’s a lovely area and I can see why it is so popular with Montanans.

We made it to the dirt road that takes you from one side of the Red Rock Lakes refuge to the other and front there onto West Yellowstone, the goal of the day. EB White made Red Rock famous with his book, The Trumpet of the Swan.

I was delighted to see Trumpeter swans as well as a variety of other birds and animals.

But it was the lovely scenery that stole the show this day.

At 4:30 we hit the hotel. Both Key and I are tired, so we’re just vegging out in the hotel. We’ll be up tomorrow to go through Yellowstone. It’s the day I’m most nervous about, but I’m going to try to be patient and enjoy the trip!

And that, folks, means I’m up to date. We’ll all have to wait for what adventures tomorrow holds!

To be continued…

And thus, the final day in Hamilton. Everyone headed to church, but because I have Key, I didn’t want to leave him in the car and went back to the Lee Metcalf refuge.

From there we took a drive out to where some of Mom and Dad’s ashes are spread, which is a pretty drive. Hamilton is buzzing because the show Yellowstone is being filmed nearby and it’s bringing in lots of business. On the drive we went by “the ranch”, so I guess I’ll have to watch the show or something now.

And the day ended with more “framily” and good-byes. Tomorrow we take off again.

To be continued…

Now settled in at Hamilton, for the next couples of days, it was mostly about fun. Key and I took a walk in the morning (while still cool) then met a friend of my mom’s (and me) to look at horses…

…. and then the Lee Metcalf refuge…

… and then more horses!

After that, it was mostly visiting with more “family.” I saw new houses. Spent more time on my favorite porch, cataloging the birds.

And admired new horses.

Branch (on the left) is only two. But he has a handsome mane!

It was a great day, capped by dinner with more “framily”.

To be continued…

Friday morning Key and I woke up and quickly hit the road again. I wanted to hit the National Bison Range (north) before heading further south to see my friends.

The range is one of my favorite places in Montana and I’m glad I made the effort to see it.

From there I headed down to see family friends. These are such good friends, of so many generations, that I’m not 100% sure I can’t call them family. I ran tame in their house for so many summers that revisiting it was a little like visiting home.

Calliope hummingbird

They had arranged a wonderful treat for me. A real cow drive. Jeremy has cows and needed to move them to a new pasture. So he and two friends mounted their cow ponies, called the dogs, settled Ray on the ATV and moved ’em out!

They had a bit of a rodeo when a cow steer from a neighboring pasture jumped the fence to join the party, but it just added to (my) fun. While we were sitting there, I noticed an unusual bird sound and looked around. I ended up counting four bobolinks (a HUGE find for me.)

That night we visited a while before I headed off the hotel. Two more days here and we’d be off again.

To be continued…