The Trip: Part II, Yellowstone and AOU

OK, I know it's been awhile. But between Photoworks messing up my account and my Papa having knee surgery, well, updating the trip blog got shoved down the priority list.

Let me recap. Early August we went on a family trip to Bear Lake with Mike's parents, Mike's sister and her daughter SJ, and my other niece and nephew JD & JR. Much chaos and merriment ensued. The key part for us was that when we all went our separate ways G-ma & G-pa took the Bean with them.

I had really been looking forward to the two weeks Mike and I would have to ourselves. I knew I'd miss her, but I wasn't really worried about being apart from her for all that time. That sentiment, so different from other moms I know, worried me a bit. So, strange as it sounds, I was really glad when the tears rolled down my face as they drove off.

But then came the fun stuff. Anyone who knows me and Mike knows that we're crazy about the outdoors, and wildlife in particular. So Grand Teton and Yellowstone was a dream come true - even if it was only for five days (a few weeks might be enough, but probably not). There was so much more we would have liked to see, but since we had such a short time we decided to hit the highlights and make a list of stuff to include on future trips. Doesn't it always work this way?

So here's the highlights, short and sweet as I can make 'em. C'mon, it's Yellowstone! I could go on for hours.

• Old Faithful & the Upper Geyser Basin. Of course we had to see the main attraction. It had been easily a decade since Mike or I had seen it last. But as cool as Yellowstone’s best-known attraction can be it wasn’t the best one by a long shot. Morning Glory hot spring, about a mile walk down the paved path, had the most amazing colors. And Beehive geyser, which the ranger told us only erupts every couple days, was absolutely fantastic (this link describes it better than I ever could).

• Mammoth Hot Springs and Beaver Lakes. Our second day we headed up to the northwestern corner of Jellystone to check out the Mammoth Hot Springs and do a 5-mile loop hike I read about the hike in our Lonely Planet guidebook. The trail took us up through the mountains at the base of the Gallatin Range to two algae-filled ponds called Beaver Lakes. Beautiful views of Sepulcher Mountain and we even got to see a beaver swimming in one of the ponds. It rained on us toward the end and we had to take cover under some trees, but on the up side we met a wonderful family visiting from Israel.

• Wildlife. The list is not as extensive as we might have liked but we got to see quite a bit. More than we thought we would anyway. And though the views maybe more close-up on Animal Planet, in person is way cooler. Forgive all the bird species (what can I say? I married an ornithologist?)
Mammals: Beaver, Moose, Grizzly bear, Wolf, Bison, Elk, Mule deer, Pronghorn antelope (the fastest land mammal in N. America!), Coyote.
Birds: Sandhill crane, Trumpeter swans, Gray Jay, Barn swallows & Violet-green swallows, Red-tailed hawks, Ravens, Kestrels, Williamson’s sapsucker, Bald eagle, Osprey, Lesser Scaup, Mountain chickadees, Western tanager (female), Broad-tailed or Calliope hummingbird (?), Empidonax flycatcher.

• Lamar Valley. We spent a full day in the valley affectionately known in the park as the Serengeti of the American West. All I can say is WOW! This broad open valley, rimmed by incredible ridges and peaks, is where we saw at least half the species on our list. When we got there we were a bit tired from out 5-mile hike the day before so we decided to just take a short 1.5 mile walk along the valley floor, see what we could see, and then turn back. Well, about 1.4 miles out Mike looked up on a nearby rise and started poking me in the side and pointing. The brown spot he pointed to turned out to be two grizzly bear cubs (complete with the hump on the back and silvery points on the fur). The first thought that crossed both our minds was “Oh sh%t, where’s Mama?” We watched them for 20 minutes or so standing back to back, with one of us looking at them through the binos and the other scanning the surroundings for big mama. We never saw her thank goodness. That evening as we headed back to camp we stopped on the roadside a few times in hopes of seeing one of the wolves from the Druid pack or the Slough Creek pack that inhabit the valley. At our last stop we got our wish. It was at quite a distance so I don’t have a good photo though.

• Grand Tetons and that f*!#ing roll of film. Our last day in the area time constraints made hiking out of the question so we did a bit of wildlife watching near the southern end of Jackson Lake. We didn’t see much, so we went into Jackson Hole to spend the afternoon at the Wildlife Art Museum and go to dinner to celebrate our anniversary (see below). The next morning we got up early to see what we could see before starting the drive for Laramie. We had heard rumors of moose and bear. We stopped at joined a crowd gathered just off the road. Sure enough, it was a moose munching on a tree. A few people kept creeping closer, which made us all a bit nervous but the moose didn’t seem to mind. So I thought, “Well, why not? I’ll creep up, snap a couple photos and sneak out.” So I did. And I was able to snap almost a whole roll of film crouched in the grass about 35 feet from it. Talk about amazing. And dangerous. But here’s the clincher. When I sent the film to Photoworks to have it developed, guess which roll produced nothing but exposed greyness? Naturally the one with the closest, most incredible wildlife shots of the trip. Ahhhhrrrrgggg!

Other bonuses.
• Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone: amazing, both visually and geologically.
• Artist’s Paint pots: smelly but beautiful.
• Lewis Falls: I found a very interesting railing. It looks runic but I think it was bugs. Hayden Valley: at least as good for wildlife viewing as the Lamar Valley, maybe better. We didn’t have much time to explore it, which was one of our main regrets as we left.
• Jackson Hole. We ate at The Gun Barrel Steak & Game House. Expensive but highly worth it. I had elk medallions and Mike had the elk chops and buffalo ribs. The chops were soft, melt-in-your-mouth good. Like nothing either of us had ever had before. And strawberry rhubarb cobbler for dessert . . . Mmmmm. I went to bed a happy woman.

After Grand Teton and Jellystone we headed to the American Ornithologists Union conference in Laramie, Wy where Mike presented some of the analyses he’s done on his Sage grouse data. It’s been a couple years since I’ve been to an academic conference, and it was really nice to be able to engage people on that level and learn about some of the current research going on.

In the end it turned out to be a good trip. And a nice anniversary present for the two of us (weird to think that it’s already 6 years!). We know it wasn’t easy on the heels of a long vacation, but thanks again Mom & Dad!

The Trip: Part I, Bear Lake

I will preface this by saying that this is going to be the first of many posts. So much happened on our trip the low down is going to have to come in several installments. I will also add that anyone who wants pictures (digital or otherwise) can either email me or leave a note in the comments section (see the link at the bottom of the post).



Alright, here it goes. As anyone who is familiar with the Atamian family knows, Bear Lake is pretty epic. We started this one with the southern Calif. contingent (G-pa, G-ma, and our niece JD, and nephew JR) driving 8 hours from Orange county to settle in with us in our little house for the better part of a week. Mike's dad exhibits many of the same manic, work-a-holic tendencies as his son (go figure!). This is a double-edged sword that I, at least, love and dread at the same time. It's exhausting, invigorating, maddening and satisfying at the same time. You often wonder if they've found some sort of naturally-occuring stimulant that gives them this inhuman-like energy to help family, complete around-the-house projects, cook, clean, and arrange social activities (our inter-family theory is that it's an OCD, ADHD, and Budweiser cocktail). And, don't misunderstand me, this is not an insult since it applies to my husband as much as my father-in-law, both of whom I love very much. But let me give you a small example.



After he'd restained our deck, taken us out to dinner, mowed the lawn, and played UNO with Mike, me, JD, and JR every night until past 10 p.m., he decided we should take the kids downtown to the Truckee river so they could play at the Whitewater park. Now, there is a theory to Dad's madness, since our trip dowtown consisted of Dad & Mom sitting in camp chairs while the rest of us repeatedly entered the rapids, floating the river or zooming Luci around in the water to her continued delight (insert mental picture of her signing "More, more").



And this is all before the 10-hour drive to Bear Lake. I smile just thinking about it. Everyone gives Mike and I a hard time about being so active, always on the go, and trying to fit so much into our schedules. . . I guess you do what makes you happy. So, as stressful as large family gatherings can be to an only-child like myself, the incessant activity at least keeps me smiling (and shaking my head at the craziness of it all). In the seven days we were at Bear Lake we rented a boat and innertube for the day, went whitewater rafting, wandered around the Raspberry Festival, played in the pool, sat around reading our books and watching the Muppets & Veggie Tales (over & over & over), and of course played the requisite game of UNO every night.




The pool was by far the funniest thing to watch Luci do. Her Aunt Pris brought foam floaties, and after watching her cousin Sarah in the spa, Luci was off. I couldn't turn my back for a second or she'd be off toward the spa saying "bat, bat" (we told her that the spa was warm like her bath). By the end of the week she would crawl out of the spa and then turn around and try to jump back in (to avert disaster I had to teach her to sit down first and then slide in). Watching her walk around on the spa's step and then step off and kick around in the deeper water without any hesitation at all I could think was "Alright, we've gotten past step 1. She's not afraid of the water. Good. But, shit I think I would do well to panic here and get this kid into swim lessons before she starts jumping into every body of water she sees, with or without her floaties on." I know I wanted a strong, independent, and confident child but aren't we pushing things a bit here?




At the end of the week we were all tired (and seriously bummed about not being able to see Little Shop of Horrors the Pickleville Playhouse), but all agreed that we'd had a lot of fun. Sarah and Luci dancing together after dinner in Jackson, playing, and hugging had to be one of the highlights (and best camera opportunities). But I think the one that topped even that was teaching my niece and nephew to whitewater raft and pointing out the bald eagle flying over us while we paddled.