Miracles in the Tetons

Thanksgiving week once again arrived with the opportunity for Leanne and I to go back with some friends, Keith and Kryz, who have never been before. It is always fun to see all the beauty through the eyes of first timers. We usually go with a bucket list of photography opportunities we want to capture, both wildlife and some beautiful landscapes.

This year will definitely go down in the books as an amazing week and one full of many little miracles. Some will call our experience luck, kismet, a coincidence, but I will suggest to you that this week was a perfect example, to me, that there really is a God and He wants us to be able to find joy in our existence. Being lucky doesn’t do anything for me. It seems so impersonable. I try to consider God’s hands in all things and when I do, the little miracles seem so much more personal and truly feel like a gift from above, just for me.

One might suggest being in the mountains with nature is all the joy we need, but if you look, you will find the little moments when God’s gentle touch can truly open our eyes to His love. I felt His love this week, and really want to share with you this story, Miracles in the Tetons.

As stated, Leanne and I had the privilege to travel with some dear friends of ours to the Tetons, and as it was their first time, and I couldn’t help but be excited to show them all the fun opportunities in the park. They, of course, had their bucket list and I told them that we would do our best to find them all.

I, on the other hand, really went with one new bucket list item. I wanted to see all the other good stuff, but I was most excited to find an animal a friend of mine saw just a few weeks before we left, and that is a Pine Marten. I have been really close to seeing a Marten, Ermine, and other weasel like animals before, but I was always just a bit too late. This was my goal for this trip.

I told my friends that we would most likely find all the animals they were hoping for, but we should check for the Pine Marten way up north between the Tetons and Yellowstone in the mornings. Each morning we got up early enough to make the trek, but to no avail, each morning we found nothing.

The rest of each day was filled with all the other critters. You can always find moose in the sagebrush fields of Antelope Flats this time of year. If we were lucky, we would find them near or in the creek going through the field, or in the trees near Gros Ventre River. This is some of my favorite ways to capture moose. They did not disappoint.

One morning at Ox Bow Bend, we had the incredible opportunity to watch 6 river otters scamper across the frozen river, going in and out of holes in the ice until they disappeared off in the distance. This was something we tried to see again most mornings, but we were lucky to catch them only on our first day.

Throughout the week we saw many coyotes. They were either crossing the frozen rivers, or in the fields looking for voles, but when they saw us, they surely stayed away. This one was quite close, but didn’t stick around too long.

The red foxes were a delight to find. We found them most days hunting in the fields. These fields are incredibly big and unfortunately, they were usually hunting in the middle, away from either side we would be on. It was quite frustrating until a couple little miracles came and we were able to follow them pretty close.

Both the coyotes and foxes had such beautiful coats this time of year. They seemed to be much bigger than I am used to back in Washington.

We had some fun with the ravens. They seemed to quickly appear the second you got out of the vehicle. They are such smart animals and with their beautiful blacks, blues, and purples in their feathers against the stark white snow, they were a blast to shoot – with a camera that is!!

We took some time one afternoon to drive up to Dubois where we hoped to find some bighorn sheep. It was a bit of a journey but once again, we found our way to some up the mountains near Dubois. One might say, luck was on our side, but for me, we were witnessing one little miracle after another.

As we were driving down the mountain outside of Dubois, Kryz, whom we will call 'eagle eyes' (she was the best spotter ever!!) screamed “eagles” and we had to stop, back up, and look through some trees to barely see what she was talking about. There were two eagles and a couple of magpies on the frozen lake eating a Canada Goose. Quite the sight! As we slowly approached one of the eagles flew away.

Shortly after, the other eagle jumped to the side and as it landed it slipped on the ice, but after a few flaps of the wings it righted itself and all was well. It was kind of funny to watch.

We spent the week driving all over the park, hiking in the hills, trekking through the sage brush fields, and even trying to follow the small footprints of my personal quest throughout the woods. It was beginning to drive me crazy!!!

The night before our last full day Leanne and I said our prayers before bed as we normally do. I was the one praying this time and I decided to apply the 'faith of a child' and simply ask of God to help us find a Pine Marten. My wife teased me a bit that I would pray about such simple things, but at the same time, I felt the need to apply the simple phrase, "ask, and ye shall receive".

We decided to get up early on our last day and try one more time to go north and hit the road that was recommended to us to find my little critter. We also decided that we would shoot for the morning, go home for lunch, pack things up, and then hit town for a little shopping and dinner before leaving the next morning.

We drove the road, seeing the same footprints in the snow, yet no luck in finding one.

On the way back we had great luck again finding a coyote, fox, bison, and more moose. We arrived back at the condo about 2:30. Feeling a little dejected I walked toward the back slider in the condo where I had been keeping my camera gear when I heard a bunch of commotion in the back yard from some magpies.

Usually, when you hear the birds go crazy, it means something is bothering them, so I looked out the window. Just off the deck was a rather large tree and in one of the lower branches was a great horned owl. I was stoked!! Owls are probably my favorite thing to photograph.

Feeling a little more upbeat, I called Keith and told him that we needed to go outside to shoot this owl in the tree. We both ran like kids going to the candy store. When we got outside and around the corner of the condo we realized that facing the owl also meant facing directly into the sunlight. That wasn't going to work, so we needed to walk around the condo to the other side.

It was six building wide so we had to not only go all the way around but it also meant carrying our big lenses behind all of them in their yards. Probably a little creepy.

We didn't notice what tree the owl was in until we were right underneath it so we had to back up 30-40 feet to get shots of it without scaring it away. We started shooting and it was a beautiful owl. Normally in this situation, the owl would've been totally focused on us standing right in front of it, however, it didn't look at us much as it was focused on something down at the deck.

I started looking around to see what was capturing its attention. Lo and behold, in the corner of the deck, and from a hole in the ground a pine marten head was popping in and out of the hole. I nearly choked on my tongue.

I couldn't speak, the only thing coming out of my mouth was audible grunts trying to get Keith's attention regarding our visitor. This cute little guy quickly became my target as we continued to photograph both animals.

In quick fashion, the pine marten came out of the hole and ran up the tree scaring off the owl. It was nice though because it gave us some nice tree shots with the little guy.

He was a very nice model. Even though he was quick and you had to be on your toes, he would pause once in a while and give us an opportunity for some quality shots.

They are pretty cute, but don't be so sure that if push comes to shove, this little guy might just tear your fingers off.

In the end he gave me one last little pose by the base of the tree, almost to say, "see you next time"! Don't worry my little friend, I will be back!!!