I am not going to update my site very much this winter. I don't get out as much with the camera as I do from spring to fall. The low temps make it very hard on my equipment and I don't want to keep replacing it. I might post a new picture once a month, but not much more then that.
I will post on a more regular basis in April.

Winter takes a bit out of my hiking. It was a month since my last update and I haven't had to many chances to get out.
On Christmas day I walked/snowshoed back to an area near Jenny Lake. The temps were nice and in the upper teens, blue sky and no wind. Not much for wildlife. One maybe two moose had been bedding down in one area, but I never saw them. A large flock of Rosy Finches were feeding in some tree tops but I wasn't able to get any shots before they flew away to another tree. It was just a great day to get outside.

I love getting up early for pictures. The color one can see if you look hard enough is surprising. The color of the mountains at sunrise is reflected in the water. But you really only see the color if you lay flat in the snow so the angle of view includes the mountains. That combined with a slow shutter speed gives great feel and look to the image. The one down size is how cold it is.
I have more images that I will try and upload after the weekend.

Winter has hit the valley. This shot was from 11-9, which was the only day I was able to get out. Icy roads kept me home the weekend before and a snow storm kept me in my cave this weekend. I think in the winter I will only be posting every other week (if anyone really cares).

After the snow last week, most of the color has left the valley. Elk have been very active and now the moose are moving around chasing cows.

Snow has finally arrived. It was not a lot and by Sunday everything was gone, except high up. Animals are even more on the move and some color is still hanging around. Great time of the year.

I went to Yellowstone on Saturday and hit the north end of the park. This was an area I explored a lot when I lived in Livingston. The area I hit was one that I've always wanted to explore but never took the time to hike in. On the map were a lot of little lakes and ponds and I thought it would be a great place to visit, but I would have to do it off trail.
The hike was very steep in the beginning, but once to the top it was very open and easy going. I hit the first lake to find nice fall colors. As soon as I reached the shore a group of wolves began to howl. They were very close, in fact I thought maybe they were on the ridge right above me. So I went to find them. I have learned that wolves during the day will group under a tree near or almost at the top of hills. I moved around the ridge and kept an eye out for anything along the base of trees. After a half mile I figured they were maybe moving through and just gave a howl to regroup and kept moving. I said I would go to the next ridge and just have a look into that meadow. Of course I let my guard down because I didn't think they were in the area and just before I reached the ridge, the base of tree not more then 20 yards away exploded with wolves. I counted 7 but I think it was maybe 9 or 10. They didn't really see me so they didn't scatter to far. They slowly moved back to the tree but one came up from behind me and gave a yelp and that sent them running. 
Returning to Jackson just as the sun was going down. It was on of the best sunsets I've seen in awhile.
I also shot a lot of pictures of a bald-faced hornets nest with fall colors in the background and some fall colors abstracts using camera motion.

It was a great week. Last Wednesday hiked up Table Mountain for some of the best views in the Tetons. Spent all day Saturday with the owl. Sunday had a great hike and found some moose. Monday morning followed a pack of wolves and this morning had a bugling bull elk almost walk right up to me.
Fall colors in the trees are just about a week shy of being at the peak. The temps have been in the low 30's upper 20's in the morning. A couple of low areas the leaves are now brown. The elk are very vocal at sunrise and sunset. Once the moon comes back they should stay active all night.
The valley has a thick cover of smoke from the fires so I've been doing non-Teton landscapes in the morning. On Monday I hiked back to a big old tree. While shooting it wolves began to howl and they were close. I circled around and found two of them, one black and one gray. I could hear five different howls. But the others were maybe a half mile away. I stay with them for a couple of hours before they hit a thick tree line and disappeared.
The owl I saw in a tree as I was hiking into an area off trail. Over the next couple of hours without approaching it became use to me being around it. Then I slowly worked in closer, maybe 3 feet then wait 15-20 minutes and then another 3 feet and so on until I was almost at the base of the tree. It liked to sit on low branches so I was able to get some nice close and clear shots. I was also happy I could move around and work in the fall colors for a background.

Not much new to write about. It is very cold in the mornings and more trees are showing color. The elk are more active and bulls are more vocal. Berry bushes are getting hit hard by birds and bears, although I've only watch the birds fresh bear sign is in the area each morning.

The sound pierced the darkness. It was a high pitched squeal of a young elk. Not the normal sound of a young one separated from mom, but one in distress. It calls out again in a series of three. Now I hear water splashing and tree limbs breaking. It was being chased. I could almost tell how close its pursuer was by how short and fast it was calling out. Again it hit the water then it then the pitch changed even higher and it was over. For ten minutes I had listened to this and then no sound at all. It was getting light enough to see the mountains, but still to dark to see anything else.

My figured a young elk had just been killed, by a wolf or bear. The elk are big enough that a black bear will not try to kill them anymore, but a griz would. I had not seen any grizzly tracks in this area all summer, but I had seen wolf tracks. About twenty minutes later I headed to a trail head about a quarter-of-a-mile away. I made plenty of noise just in case a bear was in the area. A couple of hours later I was back at the trail head and I just had to go check out the area that I heard all the commotion coming from. I hiked in with bear spray out and ready, but I never found a kill site. I walked both sides of the stream and never found any sign of what I had heard only 2 hour before. It was puzzling but I didn't want to go into any thick timber or willows just in case it was a grizzly that would want to protect its food. But I am left to wounder what it really was that I listened to.

I hear and see a lot more things then I ever get pictures of. A lot of times it is too dark for pictures or if I move they will run away. So I sit and watch. The picture of the weasel was almost one of those moments. Five times before I've seen them, but never took a shot. One time I was sitting by a log and one came running toward me in the grass. But if I moved it would see me and turn away. Instead I watched it bound right up to my feet, then it realized I was not part of the log and quickly ran. This time I had been shooting birds and noticed him moving around the log. With slow movements I was able to swing the camera toward it. It became curious and moved closer and I was able to fire off a few shots before the noise of the shutter scared it and it ran off. 

The elk are becoming more vocal and the bulls are starting to gather herds of cows. Colors are starting to show a little more and some of the grass in the low areas is already brown. Fall is close.