At the end of February, I needed to go to Gardiner, Montana for some work stuff. I stayed the night hoping for some great photo opportunities in Yellowstone’s northern section. I rarely visit this part of Yellowstone anymore, especially in winter, so I hoped for some cool stuff. While I enjoyed meeting up with some friends, photographically the trip was a bust. The weather didn’t cooperate though I did get some neat light at sunrise for a brief moment. Knowing it wouldn’t last long, I made the short walk to Canary Spring. Fortunately, a little color hit the clouds above the colorful terrace and I was able to create this image. The terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs were largely dry this winter so I was happy to at least have some color at Canary Spring.

After a slow start, I ended with some decent moose sightings from around the area over the last half of winter. This moose calf would have been born last May most likely and now is quickly approaching it’s first full year of life having survived a challenging winter. The calf and it’s mother were grazing on pine needles when I came across them. Moose are able to eat a wide variety of vegetation which helps make them successful. Long legs are great for navigating the marshy areas they frequent in the summer months but also help them move through deep snow in the winter. I felt privileged being about to photograph this young moose as it neared it’s first full year but every wildlife viewing is a privilege. Ironically I post this on my birthday!

Bison are one of the hardiest animals I’ve photographed. I also find it special to have the opportunity to photograph these beasts. But despite their hardiness, or perhaps because of it, they’ve been persecuted for a very long time. This winter has been an especially difficult one for a species that is adapted well to Yellowstone winters. With record snowfall to start winter in December followed by some warm temperatures in January which froze some of the snowpack to ice, and then more heavy snow through February and March, bison are trying to survive through some very difficult months. On March 7th, the first grizzly bear of the 2023 was spotted by Yellowstone Park Service personnel in Pelican Valley, a part of Yellowstone in still in the very grips of winter. Yet a bison carcass provides sustenance for bears waking up now. Typically males come out of hibernation by mid-March and bison carcasses are an important food source. While I’m still out on snowshoes, I started carrying bear spray on March 1st. As I explore the wintry landscape looking for bison, I also know it’s time to be bear aware and stay alert and away from other large brown mammals.

Before I get started, I just want to point out that this is not a current photo. This bear was photographed several years ago in April from my car and is actually the same bear in my “Welcome to Yellowstone” photo. But grizzlies are emerging from their dens as a male grizzly was seen in Yellowstone National Park on March 7 by park service personnel doing a fly-over of Pelican Valley. Big male grizzlies are the first to emerge, usually this time of year, and search out food sources such as winterkill carcasses. Younger bears and females start to emerge after and females with cubs are typically the last to come out of their winter dens. I personally have never seen a bear in March though I have seen tracks. My earliest grizzly sightings usually happen in April as was the case in the photo above. As a rule, when I’m out photographing, snowshoeing, or skiing, starting March 1st, I begin carrying bear spray with me. Having it in a backpack or some other inaccessible place really makes no sense as it’s important to keep it where you can reach it in an instant. I have mine hanging from the backpack strap just off my chest by my shoulder.

I was talking to someone in town last week about snowshoeing and skiing and looking for wildlife. I used to cross country ski more than snowshoe but the last couple of years that has changed. Reasons for the change vary but include distances I’m covering now, snowpack, and maneuverability. If I’m going longer distances then I’ll still go on skis as it’s faster. But that’s just it, I prefer to go slow and stay ever watchful for movement. Last week while snowshoeing through a stand of lodgepole pine, I heard a noise in the trees. I looked up to spot a marten watching me. The light wasn’t great so I didn’t take any photos but the experience was great so I wanted to share it here and include this image from a couple of winters ago. Being a member of the weasel family, martens can be fierce. I encountered one on a trail while hiking in Grand Teton National Park many years ago. We both paused and just stared at each other for a few moments. I swear he was wondering if he could take me!

So just how much snow have we had this winter? December for the West Yellowstone area had the second most snowfall on record. While January was more mild, February and early March seem to be trying to keep pace with December’s efforts and I’d estimate at least 4 feet of packed snow through out most of the region. This has made it tough on ungulates such as bison. I recently snowshoed into Yellowstone searching for bison. I can’t afford to spend money on snowcoaches as they’re quite expensive, so snowshoes certainly do the trick once the bison have moved into areas I can hike. This cow bison had plowed the snow out to the ground level in order to reach what meager brown grass she could find. Meanwhile I’m standing on top of the snowpack. I tried for a lower angle but getting too low just meant the bison wasn’t very visible behind the deep snow. She is standing with her head raised here, having plowed into about 4 feet of snow. As always, I kept a good distance away and, while this was shot at 400mm, I also cropped the image as well. No need to get too close to such large mammals, for my own safety but also because these animals are walking a very fine line for survival right now. Any additional stress only causes them to unnecessarily burn more calories.

I’ve talked about the adaptations that different wildlife have in order to survive winter and I’ve mentioned how the paws on a fox are like mini snowshoes. I thought the image below showed it perfectly and cropped it in close to show the paw better. Besides the long claws used for digging and catching prey, notice the fur on the footpad. There’s no skin coming in contact with the snow thus insulating the paw but it also helps keep the foot from sinking too far into the snow much as a snowshoe would do for a person. When I viewed this image, I knew I needed to make a crop of it to better show the paw and I think it’s a good illustration of just how these animals are able to do what they do during the snowy months.

Continuing in my series of local peaks and mountains, I’d be remiss not to include Sawtell Peak among those listed. While the peak itself doesn’t reach 10,000 feet, it’s imposing size at the eastern edge of the Centennial Range makes it stand out as a landmark for miles in many directions. Also referred to as Sawtelle, with an ‘e’ on the end, the peak was named after one of the first settlers to the area, Gilman Sawtell. The summit is used for radio equipment, as can be seen in the photo above. Despite it’s prominence, I’ve had a hard time coming up with images of Sawtell Peak that I’m truly satisfied with, though the frost on the trees in the top image certainly made for an image with a wintery feel and the cold feel of the bottom part of the image contrasts nicely with the warm tones in the top.

I rarely convert images to black and white as it’s a medium I’m not real comfort working in that format, but the above image, taken much later than I would photograph landscape, screamed to be seen in black and white. The foreground road is dirt but in the winter, it’s packed snow and not reliably plowed. A few days after shooting this image, I was back here trying for early light but this stretch of road was covered by wind-blown snow and impassable. Below, as with the Mount Jefferson post, I included a summer scene of Sawtell Peak from near the summit.