Martin – Wild Things Nature Photography

Trail Ridge Road

Adventures into the wild take us to the most extraordinary places. You will find narrative and photo records of our adventures on our blog. We look forward to your input on the blog articles as we are constantly tracking wildlife sightings across North America.

Our first family trip into the wilderness was in 2012. We visited Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Mount Rushmore, and the Badlands. In all, the trip was amazing!

The photo gallery here is the first photo gallery ever put together for this website. It consists of our adventures across trail ridge road in Rocky Mountain National Park. The road, constructed in 1921, passes across the northern portion of the Park’s high country. The adventure spends almost twenty miles above the tree line reaching altitudes over 12,000 feet.

Prior to the road construction, Trail Ridge had been used by Native Americans to cross the mountains between their home lands in the west and hunting areas on the east side. Arapahoe Indians called the trail located on the ridge as “taienbaa” (“Where the Children Walked”) because it was so steep that children could not be carried, but had to walk. The Ute tribe crossing the mountains at Forest Canyon Pass marked their route with stone cairns. The present park Ute Trail follows partially that ancient route.

On the west side, about 1880, a wagon road was constructed along the Kawuneeche Valley from the town of Grand Lake to the mining camps of Lulu City and Gaskill. The camps were abandoned after a few years when short-lived mining boom ended and later the road was used only occasionally by hunters and tourists.

The pictures here were taken on our adventure, the last week of June, 2012. We hope you enjoy them, and plan on making your own trip to this amazing natural wonder in the middle of our great country.

Wyoming Bear Encounter

During our visit to Yellowstone we were blessed to see bears on three separate occasions, one of which was much closer than we could have expected. As you can see, the first picture was from over 100 yards. After the camera clicked, the bear heard the noise and clearly caught a scent. He came close to check me out – but changed his mind after all when he was about 100 feet away. The gallery below captures the entire event, from the time the bear first headed my way to the time he calmly walked away, heading downstream to stand up and scratch his back on a tree.

Here’s some information about the bears at Yellowstone to go along with the gallery.

An estimated 600 grizzly bears live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Black bears are common in the park and were a park symbol due to visitor interaction with the bears starting in 1910. Feeding and close contact with bears has not been permitted since the 1960s to reduce their desire for human foods.^[100] Yellowstone is one of the few places in the United States where black bears can be seen coexisting with grizzly bears.^[100] Black bear observations occur most often in the park’s northern ranges and in the Bechler area which is in the park’s southwestern corner.^[101]

What’s the difference between a grizzly and a black bear?

Grizzlies have a hump on their upper back, a rump lower than their shoulders, a ruff of long fur and long claws. Males weigh between 200 and 700 pounds, while females weigh between 200 and 400 pounds. The bears are surprisingly fast, able to run up to 45 miles per hour, and climb trees, although their weight makes this getting up high somewhat difficult. They live up to 30 years. South of Canada, large populations of grizzlies are only found in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and northwest Montana. A single bear will roam over hundreds of square miles.

Grizzly bears are not afraid of humans and are more aggressive than black bears.

Black bears are smaller than grizzlies, with males weighing between 210 and 315 pounds and females weighing between 135 and 200 pounds. Not all black bears are black. Some are brown or blonde. They eat rodents, insects, elk calves, cutthroat trout, pine nuts, grasses and other vegetation and have short, curved claws, making them expert climbers.

Yellowstone is one of the few areas south of Canada where black bears coexist with grizzlies.

What are the odds of seeing a bear on your Yellowstone visit?

Not too bad. Visitors reported more than 40,000 bear sightings between 1980 and 2011. Most grizzly sightings occur at night, dawn and dusk during the spring and early summer. Grizz are most often seen in the Lamar Valley, Gardiners Hole, Antelope Creek meadows, Dunraven Pass, Hayden Valley, and in the wet meadows along the East Entrance Road from Fishing Bridge to the East Entrance of the park. Hoping to see a black bear? Your odds of seeing these smaller bears improve during the daytime, especially when you’re in the northern part of the park along the road between Elk Creek and Tower Falls, on the stretch from Mammoth Hot Springs north to Indian Creek, or in the Bechler region in Yellowstone’s southwest corner.

Sources: MyYellowstonePark.Com and the Wikipedia page for Yellowstone National Park.

Minnesota Black Bears

The Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary, operating as the American Bear Association, is located approximately two hours northwest of Duluth, and approximately thirty minutes from Orr less than 50 miles from Minnesota’s northern border with Canada.

The Sanctuary consists of over 500 acres of dense aspen forests, cedar swamps, marshes, beaver ponds, a primary stream, and open meadows, all of which make perfect habitat for all native wildlife. The grounds are home to a wide range of animals including whitetail deer, bald eagles, beavers, mink, pine martens, fishers, timber wolves, red squirrels, bobcats, blue jays, owls, ducks, songbirds, ravens, and a variety of other species.

Vince Shute was an ambitious young man, owning his own logging company in Northern Minnesota in 1938 at 25 years old. Vince and his loggers lived in the remote north woods with wildlife as their only neighbors. Black bears, attracted by the smells of food preparation and disposal, became a nuisance. Out of fear, the men solved this problem by shooting the bears, but after three decades, Vince began to question the killing. Having observed the animals he came to the conclusion that “The bears weren’t mean – only hungry.” In the early 70s, to prevent bears from breaking into the cabins, he put food out in the meadow area to see if that would keep them away.

Bears continued to visit the logging camp as a food source during their foraging season. What began as an act of survival slowly evolved into a labor of love. A special relationship developed between Vince and the bears. By the mid-eighties, Vince had become something of a local celebrity and was often referred to as “The Bear Man.” In the fall of 1993, at the age of 80, Vince approached three friends who shared his interest in the bears. To help secure the bears’ future, he donated his interest in the land for the formation of The American Bear Association, which was established as a nonprofit organization in January 1995.

In today’s world, we now know that Vince was wrong to start feeding wild bears, but he was ahead of his time in seeking a means of coexistence as an alternative to killing. A growing number of people learned of Vince and the bears. Even today, when the bears are in the two-acre meadow they accept the presence of people. Outside of this area they revert back to their normally wild and elusive ways, exhibiting their natural fear of humans.

The Sanctuary is open Memorial Day through Labor Day each year, six days a week, for only three hours a day (5pm to 8pm). During that time, the staff of the Sanctuary host hundreds of visitors to their observation areas where they can get close range views, pictures, and experience with large numbers of black bears in all sizes, shapes, and ages.

The photo opportunities are spectacular as the bears come and go through the meadow. Below are a few pictures from our last trip. I hope you enjoy them, and I hope I get another chance to visit Vince’s legacy in the near future.

Wyoming Bison

The Yellowstone Park bison herd in Yellowstone National Park is probably the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States. Yellowstone is known for its geothermal activity and large mammals, especially elk, wolves, American bison, bears, pronghorns, moose and bighorn sheep.

The Yellowstone Park bison herd was estimated in 2015 to be 4,900 bison. The bison in the Yellowstone Park bison herd are American bison of the Plains bison subspecies. Yellowstone National Park may be the only location in the United States where free-ranging bison were never extirpated, since they continued to exist in the wild and were not re-introduced, as has been done in most other bison herd areas.

Other large free-ranging, publicly controlled herds of bison in the United States include the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Kansas (2100 to 2600 animals), Wind Cave bison herd (approximately 350 animals), the Antelope Island bison herd (approximately 550 to 700 animals), the Henry Mountains bison herd in Utah (400 to 500 animals), and the National Bison Range herd near Flathead Lake, Montana (400 animals).

Enjoy the following pictures taken during our last visit to Yellowstone.

Yellowstone Geothermals

The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. The number of thermal features in Yellowstone is estimated at 10,000. A study that was completed in 2011 found that a total of 1,283 geysers have erupted in Yellowstone, 465 of which are active during an average year. These are distributed among nine geyser basins, with a few geysers found in smaller thermal areas throughout the Park. The number of geysers in each geyser basin are as follows: Upper Geyser Basin (410), Midway Geyser Basin (59), Lower Geyser Basin (283), Norris Geyser Basin (193), West Thumb Geyser Basin (84), Gibbon Geyser Basin (24), Lone Star Geyser Basin (21), Shoshone Geyser Basin (107), Heart Lake Geyser Basin (69), other areas (33). Although famous large geysers like Old Faithful are part of the total, most of Yellowstone’s geysers are small, erupting to only a foot or two. The hydrothermal system that supplies the geysers with hot water sits within an ancient active caldera. Many of the thermal features in Yellowstone build up sinter, geyserite, or travertine deposits around and within them.

The various geyser basins are located where rainwater and snowmelt can percolate into the ground, get indirectly superheated by the underlying Yellowstone hotspot, and then erupt at the surface as geysers, hot springs, and fumaroles. Thus flat-bottomed valleys between ancient lava flows and glacial moraines are where most of the large geothermal areas are located. Smaller geothermal areas can be found where fault lines reach the surface, in places along the circular fracture zone around the caldera, and at the base of slopes that collect excess groundwater. Due to the Yellowstone Plateau‘s high elevation the average boiling temperature at Yellowstone’s geyser basins is 199 °F (93 °C). When properly confined and close to the surface it can periodically release some of the built-up pressure in eruptions of hot water and steam that can reach up to 390 feet (120 m) into the air (see Steamboat Geyser, the world’s tallest geyser). Water erupting from Yellowstone’s geysers is superheated above that boiling point to an average of 204 °F (95.5 °C) as it leaves the vent. The water cools significantly while airborne and is no longer scalding hot by the time it strikes the ground, nearby boardwalks, or even spectators. Because of the high temperatures of the water in the features it is important that spectators remain on the boardwalks and designated trails. Several deaths have occurred in the park as a result of falls into hot springs.

Prehistoric Native American artifacts have been found at Mammoth Hot Springs and other geothermal areas in Yellowstone. Some accounts state that the early people used hot water from the geothermal features for bathing and cooking. In the 19th century Father Pierre-Jean De Smet reported that natives he interviewed thought that geyser eruptions were “the result of combat between the infernal spirits.”^[5] The Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled north of the Yellowstone area in 1806. Local natives that they came upon seldom dared to enter what we now know is the caldera because of frequent loud noises that sounded like thunder and the belief that the spirits that possessed the area did not like human intrusion into their realm. The first white man known to travel into the caldera and see the geothermal features was John Colter, who had left the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He described what he saw as “hot spring brimstone.” Beaver trapper Joseph Meek recounted in 1830 that the steam rising from the various geyser basins reminded him of smoke coming from industrial smokestacks on a cold winter morning in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the 1850s famed trapper Jim Bridger called it “the place where Hell bubbled up.”

We made a family visit to Yellowstone and captured the beauty and power of the geothermal events. A gallery from the trip is posted below. Remember that all of our pictures are provided herein with permission to be copied or reproduced to support the preservation and development of natural habitat in North America.

Colorado Moose

State Forest State Park near Walden, Colorado, is one of the most amazing creations of natural beauty in North America.

In the ultimate rugged Colorado, State Forest State Park offers visitors 71,000 acres of forest, jagged peaks, alpine lakes, wildlife and miles of trails. The park stretches along the west side of the Medicine Bow Mountains and into the north end of the Never Summer Range. In all this vast space, the park offers barely over 150 campsites, which means that you will see much more of nature, and much less of humanity, during your stay. We have hiked several of the trails there now, and visited many of the beautiful Alpine Lakes in the park. More than anything, we have seen wildlife barely to be found elsewhere in North America.

The wildlife common to the park includes bear, mountain lion, coyotes, and thousands of other species. But Moose is their claim to fame. North Park is considered the moose viewing capital of Colorado, with over 600 moose to be observed year-round.

The last two summers we have ventured there and have begun to collect some amazing moments. We have created a new gallery including some of our precious collection. Enjoy!

Lake Agnes

Rose and I attended State Forest State Park near Walden, Colorado, for the first time in 2016. What we found was an amazing treasure of untouched wilderness, mountain lakes, rocky peaks, and wildlife beyond our imagination.

Lake Agnes stands as the first mountain lake we have visited. Lake Agnes is an alpine lake in the Colorado State Forest State Park occurring within the Never Summer Mountain Range. The lake lies within glacial tarn surrounded by a cirque consisting of Nokhu Crags, Static Peak, Mount Richthofen, Mount Mahler, and Braddock Peak. It is the deepest lake in the Colorado State Forest State Park. Lake Agnes is named after Agnes Zimmerman, the daughter of John Zimmerman, a homesteader in the area and the proprietor of the Keystone Hotel in Home, Colorado.

Lake Agnes Trail is a 2.1 mile trail located near Walden, Colorado that features beautiful wild flowers. The trial has a long series of switch backs to handle a 429 foot elevation gain. The trail is best used from March until September.

Here are some pictures from our visit there in late June.

Iowa Deer

Hiking season kicked in full gear with temperatures warming in Iowa. Rose and I ventured down to Palisades-Kepler State Park near Mount Vernon, Iowa. To say that the wildlife was active would be an understatement.

Park Background: Palisades Kepler State Park

In the late 1890s, James Sherman Minott acquired 160 acres of timberland on the Cedar River and built a spacious inn for the accommodation of visitors. He also established a boat rental and sold lots for the building of summer cottages. Many people took advantage of this and soon the population of the area numbered over 200. Afternoon outings on the Cedar River, capped by a quiet dinner at the combined log cabin restaurant, general store, and hotel, were common in the early 1900s. Noted American poet Carl Sandburg was a yearly visitor to the “Palisades” during the 1920s and 1930s.

In 1922, Palisades-Kepler State Park was established. Much of Minot’s original land had been acquired and the State Board of Conservation had taken special notice of the unique bold cliffs and proclaimed that “these palisades lining the Cedar River are quite special.” In September of 1928, the Board of Conservation accepted the gift of property from the estate of Louis H. Kepler, essentially doubling the size of the park. The Board added his name to the park name. Since that time, almost 700 acres have been added to Palisades-Kepler.

In July 1934, a Civilian Conservation Corps company was established at Palisades-Kepler. Three barracks and a mess hall were built; then, work started on the building of many park facilities. The roads, hiking trails, entry portals, lodge and other timber and stone structures remain to give the park much of its rustic character. The C.C.C. camp of 200 young men closed in 1941.

Mount Vernon, home of Cornell College, is located 4 miles east of the park. Cedar Rapids and Marion are located 12 miles west of the park. These cities provide a variety of shopping, recreation and church opportunities.

Today’s Hike

This morning, in addition to 13 bald eagles, there were dozens of large turkey vultures, a handful of yellow breasted woodpeckers, a couple dozen geese, and several deer enjoying the good weather.

One of the adults from this family pulled a stunt I had not seen before – they stood in the path, less than 50 feet from where we were walking, and blocked our path. This was a clear effort to give the family time to get down the hill. We just stood there quietly for five minutes or so, and they all went on with their day. The animals were very active, and it was difficult to get very many quality photographs, but I did take a picture during our brief stand off with this deer.

Here are a few of the great shots I’ve gotten over the years at Palisades

Minnesota Birds

Today, as we begin another cold January in the Midwest, I took a photo journey to August, 2013, in Northern Minnesota. The family was staying on Pelican Lake, only about 50 miles from the boundary waters with Canada. We were staying in the cabins at Grey Wolf Lodge, where visitors always feel welcome and at home.

Early one morning, as I accompanied the boys out to the docks for fishing, it became apparent that something awesome was going on – the birds were waking up on the docks. Watching the gulls and pelicans wake up, groom, stretch, fly and swim quickly became my obsession. The classic text Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach came quickly to mind. My first reading of that book was in 1983, and I now read it regularly each year.

Every detail of that book, and the story of Jonathan, rushed through my consciousness over and over as I watched the birds awake to another day of flight. I couldn’t help but remember the basic premise of flight, and those birds which fly not for food but for flight itself.

“For each of them, the most important thing in living was to reach and touch perfection in that which they loved to do…”

Standing on the shore of the best fishing in North America, all I could think about was the sunrise, the birds, and the flight paths each of them were preparing for that day.

I have added a gallery with some of my photo memories from that morning, and will forever be grateful for the birds, the sunrise, and those like Jonathan whose flight paths alway follow their hearts.