YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

At the moment I am sitting in the laundry mat at Colter Bay in Grand Teton National Park.  Had a nice hot shower, for $4.25, and washed some clothes for $2.50.  Camping and the parks gets more and more expensive – I guess they are discouraging cleanliness with the increasing prices.  Still, the shower was hot and there was no timer and now the clothes are clean.  Yippee.

I am on a trial run with camping and traveling as a tent or the back of my car becomes my residence for six weeks during the summer.  Normally, I set up a tent in Yellowstone and stay for a month – sounds like a long time but it goes by too quickly.  And, then I move out of the park for another few weeks.  And, life is good until the nights become too cold to bear.  But, this year, with how busy Yellowstone is, I am thinking that we could all use some new adventures from me – to some new places – like Glacier and Banff, with a couple of weeks in the Tetons.  So, I am seeing how that plan might work – the living out of the car and the expense of traveling, such as showers, ice and laundry.  I need a more ice efficient cooler! Oh, and keeping up with my postings and photo editing, while keeping batteries charged.  Camping should be simple but not anymore, with the digital age and responsibilities.

So, I drove through Yellowstone and didn’t see a thing to photograph so kept on going to Cody, WY and the wild horses.  It was fairly late by the time I arrived, after a couple of  naps along the way, and one never knows where those horses are or how long it will take to find them.

I went to the pond with 2 and a half trees and there were cows!  Had the horses been kicked out?  Unexpectedly, I had gone through two gates that had to be closed behind me, so this was all new.  But, I came to a fork in the road, meant to go straight but turned right.  And, just as I was about to panic, “I will never find the horses,” there they were.  More horses than I had ever seen out at McCullough, scattered around in various groups and then a large, core group with many of the same animals I have seen and photographed before.

The horses stood before me and it had been so long since seeing them last, I felt a little lost.  Eager to capture them but where to start.  And then I saw a small colt and smiled because there were babies.  Most of the mares have been given BZT and so can’t conceive.  But, every mare is given a chance to have one foal before given the drug.

I overheard a guide telling her clients who this mare is but can’t remember.  She said that the colt was born on the day Prince died and so that is what they were calling him until something better comes along.  He is a small colt with many caretakers looking after him, but he is scared of daddy and moves quickly when he comes around.  Who doesn’t like a baby?

There was one stallion that stood out for me but then I have always liked black!  I don’t know his name – possibly he is Washaki – I have seen him before.  But, there is a big bay stallion that has his eyes on the girls and so he is constantly following the band and challenging the leader.  This stallion is quite the sight when he gets fired up, with his mane falling in his face, his neck arched, and stepping high.  I could not take my eyes off of him.  Besides, he provided fun entertainment.

I probably took around 1500 photos of the horses and have a lot to go through – had gone through many and loaded them in Photoshop to edit and share with you, but the computer crashed and they all disappeared, so I have to start again.  So, for now, you get to see the high lights of my time with the horses.

A Couple of other guys too!

In the morning the horses were close to where I had left them the night before.  I had camped in my car, in the middle of nowhere, and had a wonderful night’s sleep.

I parked near the horses and soon found myself surrounded.  Not coming to me but milling around, eating, fighting and doing horse things.  They seemed to circle around me – several bands were constantly on the move and they made wide circles around the outside, always ending up right where they began.  And, so I just stood, watched, took photos and completely relished my time alone.

After  a couple of hours some tours showed up but they just parked and watched too.  At times the horses were so close I had to sit in the car.  Once the sun got high and bright in the sky it was time to leave and so I headed towards town.  Which is when I felt something bite my shoulder.  It was a tick!  I’d noticed ticks on the horses but had hoped none would get on me.  That sucker hurt and it weirded me out.  With 25 miles to drive before getting to town, all I could think of was that many legged thing biting at my back.

Once in town I took some vaseline and smothered that sucker!  Got him out clean but the feeling lingered.

And then I headed for the Tetons, going through Yellowstone and not seeing much, except an accident.  Drive carefully out there!