An uncooperative osprey mocks me from afar.

I'll do my best to remember what happened... I would've been posting these from Gardiner, but that didn't quite work out. Later, I'll have more of my better photos online in the Photo forum and on my site. Without further ado...

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I ended up going on this trip because I received a free ticket as a gift a few months ago. I figured using it on a spring trip to Yellowstone (when I had never been to the park) would be a great idea. After seeing several of the images posted the last couple years here of wolves, bears, carcasses and snow, I prepared myself for lousy weather and some great photo ops. My girlfriend even fashioned a slick rain cover for my new lens and camera... I was ready to test it out under the toughest conditions.

Unfortunately, the ticket was on United and not Alaska/Horizon, forcing me to wake up at 3:45am Thursday to catch a flight to Denver, where I would transfer planes to Bozeman. I arrived safely in Montana, my camera gear crammed unceremoniously (and rather unsafely) into a duffel bag I carried on. Then the first problem arose... my cell phone was missing! Okay, not a huge deal, as I was about to spend 5 days in the park, enjoying nature... where I didn't really get reception anyway. But I didn't like the idea of being stranded on the road somewhere with no means of calling for help.

I picked up my rental car and started driving. First animal... a deer! Oh, it's dead. Second animal... another deer. Also deceased. Hmm... not a good sign. The third animal I saw was a llama. At least it was alive. Suffice to say, I was worried about all these omens.

Snow and wintery conditions can last into June in Yellowstone.

I hit 89 south to Gardiner. The road from Livingston to Gardiner makes for a great drive. Lots of raptors can be seen not far from the road, along with coyotes and deer... and the scenery is fantastic. Ten miles or so outside Gardiner, I skidded to a halt. Bighorns on the side of the road, a first for me outside the park.

The sheep left the road rather quickly so I moved on and stopped at an osprey nest I had visited last November. Back then it was empty, but this time there was already a bird sitting there. I got some nice close-up shots, before trying to attach my teleconverter to my lens... and it was right then that the osprey flew out of the nest! Carrying a fish, no less. Hmph. It settled on the power pole across the road and waited me out.

Quickly checked into the Yellowstone Village Inn in Gardiner, and headed to the park to take advantage of the few hours of daylight that were left. Last time I was here, I left in a driving snowstorm, and kinda expected the same weather. But it was bright, clear and sunny. Lots of elk and bison at Mammoth, but the Lamar Valley was my ultimate goal. On the way past Floating Island Lake, I spotted a couple of sandhill cranes. I remember being envious of Helene's close-ups of these birds (probably the same pair), which I had never seen at the spot. In fact, I'd never had luck getting close to sandhills. They're normally too skittish.

The sun kept shining as I passed through Little America. Lots of pronghorn scattered about, often in small groups or pairs, mixing in with the bison. As the road curved around the bend into Lamar Valley, I spied (with my little eye) a bull elk carcass in the river below. After parking somewhat precariously, I ventured down to the river to snap away, wary of potential bear activity. I wondered if this would be one of those great potential opportunities to spot grizz or wolves feeding over the next few days.

Signs of winter leftovers were everywhere.

The carcass was looking old, bedraggled and ignored. Only later did I learn that it had been there since at least January, when the river was completely frozen. It didn't appear there would be any action in this spot after all. Two days later, the water level in the river rose, and the body disappeared from view.

Not much happening in the valley, really. I did notice an interaction between a pronghorn and coyote. The pronghorn eyed the coyote warily as it approached, but the coyote ignored the antelope after some initial curiosity. It didn't take long to figure out that it was outmatched. So the coyote passed by on its merry way and the pronghorn continued grazing.

No luck elsewhere in the valley, and ultimately it was time to head back. I stopped at Blacktail Lakes, where a bald eagle had settled on the ground. It simply sat there as darkness descended. Perhaps it didn't like people watching it get a drink.

At last I returned to the inn and brought my stuff in. I set up my computer, intending to get some work done as planned. The hotel's wireless was working this time, so there shouldn't have been any problems... But when I stuck in my wireless card, the laptop failed to recognize it! It had been working less than 18 hours beforehand, and now, nothing. To make matters worse, AOL had magically uninstalled itself during that time frame, so I wasn't even able to dial-up. No Internet, no cell phone... trapped in a faraway place without even being able to let the office know I wouldn't be able to do anything for them. Oh well, I guess there are worse places to be stuck... but I was hoping for a better second day.