Wyoming | Leslie Patten Books: Wild Places, Sacred Spaces

Yellowstone Autumn

Posted on September 24, 2009 by Leslie

I decided to spend a few days in Yellowstone. I like to bask in Boiling River but I especially wanted to hear the elk bugling. The bulls are in rut and if you’ve never heard an elk bugle, you’re missing out. Its the eeriest sound, the most beautiful sound, a sound that seems other worldly.

The Park, usually nice and quiet this time of year with all the crowds gone, was jammed pack. They’re having the busiest fall in 10 years. I couldn’t get a campground anywhere, so I had to drive outside of Mammoth 20 miles down the road to a National Forest campground. That was a real surprise. And even that campground was just about full. I think I found the very last site!

Waking up early, I soaked in the river, then headed up the trail to the Beaver ponds. Its a fairly short loop of 5 miles. Since I was early on the trail, I didn’t see anyone for the first hour. The trail winds along the open hillside overlooking Gardiner, but soon dips into a conifer glade with seeps. The day was already hot (as we’re having our summer now in fall), and as I moved into the cool shade I noticed about 20 elk, mostly cows and calves, lying around. One bull was there. This was his harem. The cows were relaxed. The calves were curious. And the bull was keyed up.

I lay down on the trail and watched for ten minutes. As I continued on, I later heard that some hikers had come around the corner and gotten chased a bit by that bull.

Although there were no beavers to be seen when I arrived at the ponds, their evidence was.

On the last leg of the trail, I noticed an old structure that looked like it had been a cabin. I couldn’t find references to it in the guidebooks. Wondering if anyone knows what it used to be?

Old Structure along Beaver Pond trail

After a late lunch, I headed back towards the Lamar. A coyote was catching grasshoppers. He was terribly cute pouncing around.

Coyote catching grasshoppers

And the light was perfect for this herd of Bison.

The light was perfect

I stopped for a while and watched a second coyote, before heading up to Trout Lake. I wondered if the otters were active. Trout Lake is a very short hike/walk. Otters are often seen playing there. I didn’t see any otters today, but the lake was beautiful. I spent time snapping some photos of the Lake, of a gigantic ladybug, and a dragonfly.

Trout Lake

In order to get into the Park, you must rise in elevation. That’s because of the bulge from the hot spot that Yellowstone sits upon. I used to wonder why that special feeling seemed to almost begin and end at those entrances and exits, until it was explained to me.

I met a woman from California on the trail. She comes to Yellowstone every fall for 3 weeks. At the campground I met some people from Seattle who come every year at this time. I met a man several years ago who comes every spring from Iowa. Yellowstone is just like that. It is a very powerful place. A healing place. Once it gets under your skin, you can’t help but dream the dream of returning again and again.

Filed under: Yellowstone National Park | Tagged: Coyotes, Elk, Yellowstone National Park | 1 Comment »

What is this insect?

Posted on September 19, 2009 by Leslie

Does anyone know what this insect is? They have just appeared in the last month, everywhere. They don’t move too fast. I’d appreciate knowing. Thanks.

Filed under: Cody Environs | 3 Comments »

More Snow Fence talk

Posted on September 12, 2009 by Leslie

When you have a pacemaker, you’re not supposed to use a fence post pounder. At least that’s what JB, my 85 year old neighbor tells me.

“The poundin’ could break one of the wires. But I can drive it with my sledge hammer.”

Fence post pounder with sledge nearby.

I spent the day finishing my snow fence with JB. He’s done just about everything in this country. Fencing large tracts of ranchland is just one of his specialties. Its not a long run–we just had 30′ left of fencing to do, but it took several hours. JB would start the posts with his sledge, and if I didn’t stop him he’d drive them all the way in. Otherwise, I’d finish up with the pounder.

The hill where it drifts onto my driveway

“I can use one hand.” he’d tell me as he pounded along with me with his right hand. I could feel he’s way stronger than I am, even at 85.

After a few posts he’d say “Let’s stop and catch our breaths”. So we’d sit down and he’d tell me stories or jokes.

“You ever seen a sidehill animal?”

“What’s that?”

“Its’ an animal that has legs shorter on one side than the other and goes up the mountains always in the same direction.”

I thought for a moment. I’m pretty gullible but not that gullible!

“I was working on a dude ranch and told that to one of the guest kids. He went and told his dad he’d seen one of those animals. His dad didn’t say nothin’.”

JB showed me a way to stretch wire without a stretcher. Of course, they’ve been making barbed wire fences before wire stretchers were invented. He showed me with a crowbar, and with a hammer–two ways.

Double row. Trial and error. We'll see how it works this winter

We took another rest. “What I know could go in a little book. What I don’t know could go in a big one!” We talked about wild horses. I told him that I thought the wild horses on the Pryors were ‘more wild’ than the ones at McCullough Peaks as they had Spanish blood in them.

“Nah. When I was a kid, everyone here had horses–horsepower. That was all we had. You’d use them in the summer and turn them out in the winter. They’d just run wild and come spring you’d round them up. There was a lady who had lots of horses out there in the Pryors. She paid me $10 for every one of her horses that I rounded up. We’d bring them all in, then she’d look at them and figure which ones were hers. The ones she didn’t keep we’d sell.”

“There was a fellow who was a horse rustler. He’d come over the North Fork down Gravelbar. That’s hard country and he’d drive those horses he stole over those mountains and bring them up north. I think he finally got caught. Horses just got left loose and turned wild.”

“Let’s go stretch another wire on that fence below as long as we’re here. I want this to hold for you. There’s a lot of weight in that snow. And 100 mile an hour winds here are nothin’.”

We put a third wire on the fence we did the other day. JB wrapped another wire around the stabilizer posts as well. When we finished, we sat in the grass, the sun warming us with fall playing in the air. JB’s new Walmart gloves, two for the price of one, made in China, were just no good. After one day they were torn. He told me he’d been to Peking after the war.

“After Iwo Jima and after they dropped the bomb, they sent me there. Only for a short time.” He told me how he’d come back to Cody and there was another kid he’d known. He saw him at a local bar. His leg had been blown off at the Battle of the Bulge. They had a drink together.

“He died just a few years ago. He was a good guy. I helped him do a lot of fencing.” Somehow he spoke about it like it was just yesterday.

Building a snow fence is fun, but its everything in between that really counts.

Another view. The first fence is at least 50' from the driveway.

Filed under: Cody Environs | Tagged: snow fence | Leave a comment »

Don’t recycle, Reuse!

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Leslie

I’ve been busy working on some winter preparations. First I built a wood shed addition and I’m proud of it. I had a little guidance but did all the work myself. I spent a little time thinking about how not to dig post holes and came up with using a railroad timber.I started digging out the area to level it. That was probably the most work of all. When I got to the part where I had to put the railroad tie down, I decided why not just dig only as far as needed.

All the materials came from stuff left at my cabin when I bought it except for the two pressure treated 4×4 posts.

I figure I can get an extra cord and a half packed in there.

Next I worked on a snow fence. There was some old fencing here when I bought the property. At first I thought it was a visual barrier, hiding some junk behind it. But then I was told it was snow fencing. Last winter I had terrible drift near the road, so I brought it to the beginning of my driveway and placed it way high up.

Not knowing about snow fence placement, I had some help from my neighbor.

“Trial and error.” he says.

My son and his friends had put in the posts (also used) and I ran the fence. But when my neighbor came by, he said “You need some stringers in there and bracing at the ends.” Before I knew it, he was over with his buddy and I had two 85-year-old men fixing fence for me. I was learning from the experts, but you should have seen them work. First they decided that the posts weren’t in a straight enough line. So they got their handyman jack from the truck and within minutes had 3 posts pulled, realigned and then repounded in.

The awesome tool- Handyman jack

Next they drove a post at a 45 degree angle, one at both ends, while I hustled up some old barbed wire that another neighbor was about to dump. JB got out his hammer and twisted it around and around till it pulled real tight. Then they set two stringers of barbed wire behind the snow fence, used my fence stretcher (I sure hope the guy who invented that tool is rich!), and tied the snow fence to the stringers with some of the rusty old wire. I was amazed, and I got a real kick out of being helped out by these two old guys.

In fact, just a few weeks ago, I was trying to change a tire and couldn’t for the life of me get a few of the lug nuts off. These wonderful old men came to my rescue and showed up the 20 year olds hanging around. They’re stronger than most guys you’ll meet, good natured, and probably faster.

JB told me that same morning he’d taken an old 50 gallon drum he’d sawed in half, laid down an old hose around the sharp edge securing it with liquid nails, and placed it in his upper pasture for his horses. Then he and his friend helped me with my snow fence, and afterwards they went fishing!

I keep thinking that JB ought to teach a class called ‘Don’t Recycle, Reuse.” If he sees me throwing something away, he wants it. My neighbor had some old twisted metal fence posts I was bringing to the dump. “Don’t toss them” JB said. “I’ll straighten them out and use them.”

Luckily I had saved those rolls of my neighbors barbed wire cause we used some of it on the snow fence. “Use the rest and put two wires as a top wire on your fence. That way the elk can see it better. They were throwing away some cable when the Power Company did work around here. I took it and used it along with the top wire on my fence. I had to stretch it with my ‘come along’. The elk see it and know where to jump. That way my fence never needs fixing.”

I do have to say he’s got the best fence in the valley.

When I was working on fixing my driveway JB told me that several years ago (like 18 now) they were paving the main road and had base rock left over. He took that and paved his driveway. “Just wait until they’re working on the Beartooths and get some of their leftovers.”

When I go over to his house, by the kitchen sink they have a bowl of all those little leftover pieces of soap. You know, the parts when the soap gets too yucky and small and you throw it away. Instead, they put them all in a bowl and use them.

My favorite of all his ‘reuseables’ is one of his hats. “I’ve had this since 1940.” Its not a fancy thing. Its synthetic, but where its all worn through, JB has put duct tape. Now that’s creative reuse.

Filed under: Cody Environs | Tagged: Recycle | 1 Comment »

Early fall?

Posted on August 16, 2009 by Leslie

Oh my God it’s the middle of August and it seems like fall already. We did have summer…it was last week! Apart from that, and a few hot days scattered here and there, its been a rainy pattern like the Pacific Northwest. It is sunny till noon, then cloudy and rainy the rest of the day.

This morning there was frost on the back of my pick-up. Last weekend I went to the end of my dirt road. It ends just 5 or 7 walking miles from the Yellowstone border. It was 37 degrees at 7:30 am when we started. The road soon became impassable in anything but an ATV. Several years ago I drove to the end in my Jeep, but with all the rain and snow over the last 2 years, the road is overgrown, the streams can be dangerous, and fallen trees have been cut by ATVer’s so only ATVs can get through.

Its so wet this summer it looks like the Northwest

About 70-80% of the conifers back there are dead. All the wet weather and more trees are going to fall, making for good fire material. We drove almost up to the glacier, or at least what’s left of it before it melts completely.

View from near the end of the dirt road in my valley

Last week my son was in town and we went to the Park. On the way home, a hailstorm began that lasted for over an hour. The visibility was so bad, the hail was so hard, that we had to stop the car and sit for 15 minutes. I felt like I was inside a popcorn machine. A motorcyclist stopped with us. I looked at the size of those hailstones and felt sorry for him.

The gathering storm

When we got home, the road was covered with inches of hail. An eerie calm fell over the landscape. A monotone light saturated the air.

The light is eerie

Koda sits in hail

UFO?! Just kidding. Just a strange outside light reflecting the inside lamp

UFO?! Just kidding. The strange ambient light reflecting the inside lamp

I’m not ready for fall just yet. I’m still hoping for a bit of summer to begin.

Filed under: Cody Environs | 1 Comment »

The Storm

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Leslie

7pm the day before the morning of the storm

Another view 7pm to the north, clouds roll along a butte

Last night I was witness to a staggering spectacle, an event no man can control, manipulate, make signage for, run through pipeline, or build out of concrete. Maybe it was predicted on the evening weather report, but those are only small thoughts compared to the largesse of this event.

A storm rolled in and in and in, all night, Mostly dry lightning. Even few seconds deep booms filled the air, followed by flashes, sometimes from the eastern sky, other times from the north or west. Sometimes sheet lightning, other times forked. An ancient waning moon played its’ light between large clouds, illuminating the night landscape, then hiding and allowing the flashes of lightning to eerily cast shadows, blindingly, for a few seconds.

Light rain fell, then paused. The lightning, the thunder, the moon, the slow moving clouds continued for hours. It was a massive concert, with many movements, orchestrated by an invisible conductor, hardly any audience to appreciate it since it rolled throughout the late night.

At 11:00 I looked out the window. The sky was fairly clear. The night was silent. The moon played behind the clouds in a beautiful inviting way. Something drew me to sleep outside.

I grabbed my sleeping bag, and an old buffalo hide, and laid out on a couch I have set under a covered porch with a view of the north, eastern and western sky. Wyoming skies are like no other, broad and sweeping, punctuated with fabulous rugged mountains and reef cliffs—this was my view. In the bright moonlight, the colorless landscape was of haunting beauty.

I set up the bag, got comfortable, and began watching the play of Venus, the clouds and the moon. Without me planning it or knowing what was arriving, I became witness to hours of torrential beauty, a shock and awe of natural wonder I’d never witnessed before.

When I was six years old, I went away for the summer to a camp in the mountains, my first exposure to the mountains. I remember my first mountain storm as clearly as the ‘ah ha’ of learning to ride a bike. Sitting inside a cabin, watching from a window for an hour, the storm moved across the sky, vibrating my little body. It was the first of many such experiences. I went to that summer mountain camp, far from home, every year for most of my youth, witnessing many storms, sometimes seeking shelter from their surprise and quickness.

I’ve observed great summer storms in the wide skies of the mid-West. But this storm was a thing of utmost beauty. As I lay outside, sheltered with a wide view, the never-ending play of light, dark, deep resonance, moving in slow rhythm across the sky rivaled any natural wonder I’ve ever witnessed. Like good music, soon I was a participant. The storm lifted me up into it. The dog sat nearby on the lawn, equally awed, sometimes moving out of the brief periods of rain to shelter.

By 4:00 am, having dozed in and out of sleep, Koda and I moved inside for better rest. He let me know his preferences by coming over and nuzzling me as if to say the show was over. I felt like thanking someone–the orchestra’s expertise, the conductor’s skill, the patient audience of this thin lithospheric crust of life. It was only natural.

Thank whoever it is you thank that man has not learned, and never will learn, to control the weather. It is one of the last of wild nature we have before us, to humble, to remember the sacred. Our own wildness, the essence of who we are, is precisely contacted in the midst of events such as these. I bow down. It is only natural.

Filed under: Cody Environs | Tagged: Natural events | 3 Comments »

Heart Lake

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Leslie

I took a few days off and went into the park. My plan was to hike into Heart Lake, possibly around the lake if the ford was passable.

Heart Lake view

I wouldn’t exactly call going backpacking in the park ‘wild’. It’s wild in terms of the animals that you have to watch out for–grizzlies, moose, bison. But the back country is very regulated. That’s a good thing; and a bad thing.

The good part is that registering and being assigned designated campsites each night assures your safety and especially preserves the park. There are bear poles at each site; there are only a certain number of sites in order to preserve the wilderness and your solitude; and a ranger who is stationed at Heart Lake checks on your paperwork and informs you of bear activity.

The bad thing is that its hardly a wilderness experience. I actually had trouble getting a campsite for 2 nights because the Park Service now lets people reserve sites in advance for $20. Or without a reservation its free. This was the second time I’ve tried to get in and was lucky to find a space.

Enough of the gripping. I can say that Heart Lake is well worth the 8 miles to get in. Its a unique and beautiful spot with natural thermals right at the Lake. Mt. Sheridan presides over the lake, while moose, elk, and grizzlies hang out there. I would too if I were a grizzly. Lots of wildflowers to see, plenty of bird activity.

Dusk

Thermals

The mosquitos were bad as we’ve been having lots of late rains. With a little wind, they are quite tolerable. I was having some foot problems so I didn’t do much hiking except the 16 there and back with an overnight.

Mt. Sheridan at dawn

Dawn

Highly recommended and an easy fairly flat hike.

Camassia quamash-most prized food of the first Americans

Filed under: Yellowstone National Park | Tagged: wildflowers, Yellowstone National Park | Leave a comment »

Big Horns, Medicine Wheel, and the Pryors

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Leslie

Last week I took off for a few days and went to the Big Horns. I intended to go for 3 days, but got rained out on the second evening. I had been to the Pryors a few days before, and was quite taken with the area so I wanted to explore it more. The Pryors are sacred to the Crow Indians. Part of the land is on Crow Reservation and not accessible to the public. Some of the mountains are in Montana, and some in Wyoming, with a section of it reserved for Wild Horses. The entire area is considered a Wilderness Study Area, which means that it’s pending designated Wilderness. Rarely visited, its a special place. There are some old uranium mines there and mining claims.

Since Day 1 was really hot, I decided to backtrack to the Pryors and head first for the Big Horns. My main intention was to go to The Medicine Wheel. This is a holy site for many Plains Indians tribes. Its a place of pilgrimage.

Entrance to Medicine Wheel

Signage at the site notes that some people can prepare for a year before making the trip. A young Forest Ranger was stationed at the Wheel to make sure there was no vandalism, and if Native Americans wanted to go inside, he had a key. When ceremonies are conducted, the site is closed to tourists.

He told me that years ago, before there was such tight control, tourists (not Native Americans) would take home rocks from the structure as souvenirs. In fact, he said, the height of the circle of rocks was 2′ or 3′ taller than it is today.

I was reminded that in Uluru, tourists sometimes take home pieces from the sacred site. There is a large collection of rocks that were mailed back to Uluru because tourists went home and felt they were brought bad luck, bad karma, or whatever, from taking souvenirs from the site. Medicine Wheel signage I circumambulated the Wheel three times and left a small gift at the East facing entrance. Its a wonderful and mysterious place. Some say it was constructed by Sheepeaters.

From there I took the Jaws hike down a beautiful canyon opposite the Wheel. I saw several moose and deer with their antlers in velvet.

The jaws hike

Along the canyon hike

The next day I went to the Pryors. It was overcast and drizzling, perfect weather for hiking in this exposed country. The Pryors were an ancient Indian route through the Big Horn Canyon. There are many spots right along the main road of the Recreation Area with teepee rings. Instead of going along the main road, I took a 4×4 track.

Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range The Pryors

Koda matches

On the way out I encountered a mama wild turkey on her clutch of eggs. Wild Turkey on eggs

Wild turkey eggs

Filed under: Pryor mountains, Sheepeaters | Tagged: Australia, Big Horn Mountains, Medicine Wheel, Native American Culture, Pryor mountains, Sheepeaters, Uluru | 3 Comments »

Beartooth Highway Memorial Day 2009

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Leslie

Took a ride on the Wyoming side of the Beartooth highway yesterday. Amazingly, with all this snow, its open now. I live about 20 minutes from the highway, and only drove up to Long Lake. Its like winter all over again up there, while its fast becoming a distant memory down here at 7500′. In places, water was flowing fast across the highway. Large chunks of snow had fallen and blocked a few places, but the crew seemed to clear them pretty fast. Here are a few photos taken yesterday of the highway Charles Kuralt called the most beautiful highway in America. If you go, bring your skis.

Filed under: Cody Environs | Leave a comment »

An Advertisement for Yellowstone!

Posted on May 10, 2009 by Leslie

Happy Mother’s day.

Since my son is in New York, I gave myself a present. The last few days have been either too busy or too cold to go into the Park. I heard the road opened earlier than the scheduled date, Friday, the 8th. So on Thursday I headed up towards Cooke City. I never made it because of a snow storm. Not that the snow was so bad, but I figured the animals wouldn’t be out.

This morning I woke up early and was out the door by 7am. I’m only 40 minutes from the Park’s entrance; an hour from the Yellowstone Institute in the Lamar Valley. Because I had the dog, my plan was to visit for 1/2 day, and take a hike outside the Park the other half, with the dog.

In the span of those 3 hours in the Lamar (or on my way there), I saw: (disclaimer…sorry my photos up close are not great. I just have a small digital camera that I use because its lightweight for hiking. Maybe I need to get a better one as well.)

Elk in my Valley. I thought elk on left looked quite pregnant.

First thing on the way to Chief Joseph were some early morning grazing elk. They are getting ready to calf soon. My neighbor, on whose pasture these elk are grazing, called me yesterday to tell me to watch my dog as a wolf walked past her daughter yesterday.

Moose on Chief Joseph Highway

These two moose were up past the 212 turnoff to the Park, right alongside the road. I didn’t see any moose in the Park, although usually some hang out in the river right past the NE entrance.

This one just sat and watched me. She had frost on her fur.

Here’s the approach to the NE entrance. There was no ranger at the gate today, so no entrance fees. Happy Mother’s day.

Entrance to Park

Not too far into the Lamar Valley, I stopped by a crowd with scopes. I watched 2 wolves for a long time, one a collared gray female and the other a black. They seemed to be trying to figure out how to cross the creek and road to get back to their den on the other side. There was a lot of howling and prowling.

This is through the scope. He was way across the Lamar river.

Pronghorn were all over the hillsides. Bighorn sheep were grazing high up. I continued down the road a bit, still wanting to see some Bison babies, when I was distracted by another black wolf of the Druid pack, very close to the road. I stopped and watched with my naked eye. He was walking back and forth along the stream bed. He was so close to the road that I thought he wanted to go to the other side as well. Suddenly, he had something in his mouth. It was a fish! He brought the fish over to a nearby snowbank (all this within 200 feet or so of the road), played with it, rolled on top of it, then devoured it as a magpie watched.

Wolf eating a fish he just caught

Wolf eating a fish

Finally I moved on to see the Bison calves. The one animal we don’t have in our valley next to Yellowstone is Bison. They wouldn’t be allowed to migrate out of the park. Granted, they do shoot a lot of wolves outside the park, but they return and soon reform local packs. In addition, each state is required to have a certain amount of wolves in their delisting program. But Bison no state will tolerate because of the perceived threat of brucellosis to cattle.

Here are the baby pictures:

Bison calf

Mom with two calves in the grass nearby

If all this wasn’t enough (I’d barely driven a mile within the Lamar), I went a short distance down the road to view the Grizzly hanging out within 100 feet of the highway. He’d been there all morning. On my way, another black wolf walked through a herd of grizzlies. He was joined by a grey and they both began howling. They were answered by a wolf on the other side of the road, not visible to me, near their den site. A coyote began yipping in tune to the wolves, and then he sauntered across the road. Several Red Tail hawks circled overhead, while Sandhill Cranes walked along the water’s edge.

Here is the bear:

This grizzly spent hours upturning Bison paddies for insects underneath

Grizzly rooting around

I’ve oftened pondered what makes for that special nurturing quality of Yellowstone. I left the valley and could feel its warm embrace. There is so much life there. The animals seem at peace, not threatened. They are simply doing what they do, going about their business. There is always a palpable feeling in the air there, like a slice of heaven. Is it the volcano living underneath? All the hot springs? I think its where the natural order of things are in place. In Yellowstone, man is not the top predator. This has been so for generations upon generations of wildlife and they ‘know’ it.

It is time to acknowledge Yellowstone for what it truly is–the serengeti of North America–and treat its surrounding environs as such. Outside of the Park, they are supposedly ‘protected’, but special interests always come first. Buffalo cannot migrate to lower ground in the winter or they are killed; wolves even when they weren’t delisted were killed regularly (they know what the sound of a helicopter means outside of the Park); right now is bear hunting season in my valley.

The income from open grazing or from hunting tags pales in comparison to tourists coming to see our ‘Serengeti of wildlife’. Having the Cattle or Sheep lobbyists win every legislative battle is old school. It is time we see what we have here that is truly of value, and so unique. It is time to preserve this land of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, not just Yellowstone Park, and manage it with wildlife as the number one priority.

There couldn’t have been a better advertisement for Yellowstone as this mornings two hours in the Lamar Valley.