[Racer X 69]

From Gillette, Wyoming to Gardiner. Montana

Looks like you made good time. How was the drive?

[gaweidert]

Looks like you made good time. How was the drive?

Once I got past Chicago it was not too bad. I80/90 (Indiana Turnpike) was a joke. It is in terrible shape and they have the nerve to charge you to use it. South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana was very relaxing. Often 80mph with no other vehicles within a mile or more. My kind of driving. Very relaxing. Unfortunately for the ride home. the traffic just keeps getting worse once you cross the Mississippi. As you well know.

[Racer X 69]

Once I got past Chicago it was not too bad. I80/90 (Indiana Turnpike) was a joke. It is in terrible shape and they have the nerve to charge you to use it. South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana was very relaxing. Often 80mph with no other vehicles within a mile or more. My kind of driving. Very relaxing. Unfortunately for the ride home. the traffic just keeps getting worse once you cross the Mississippi. As you well know.

For sure. I always enjoyed the wide open spaces of the West.


And the turnpike in Indiana is indeed a joke. I couldn't believe they actually charge to drive it, but rather they should pay people to use it.


The Ohio turnpike on the other hand is beautiful. The travel plazas even have showers for truck drivers.

[aslyfox]

Sitting at Bozeman International Airport ( Belegrade Mt ) hoping flights home better than flights out

Has a great time in Yellowstone with George and on my own

Ran into a young man using medium format Pentax, he was from Spokane if I remember right

One thing to remember about Yellowstone, the geothermal sites and Vistas are always there, the animals move at their own pace which may not correspond with your schedule


Old joke -

"You guys seen anything

Yeah if you were here ten minutes ago, the wolf pack was right there and the grizzly sow and Cub were on the other side of the road "

More later

[aslyfox]

Flight problems again

will have to stay at Denver overnight

United is picking up room but only giving me $20 meal voucher good at air port only

Making the 20 -24 hour drive from topeka to gardiner looking good now

C'est la vie

[Racer X 69]

Flight problems again

will have to stay at Denver overnight

United is picking up room but only giving me $20 meal voucher good at air port only

Making the 20 -24 hour drive from topeka to gardiner looking good now

C'est la vie

Like I said Allen.


Driving beats flying commercial any day.


Have a safe rest of your trip.

[Mallee Boy]

Enjoyed that little travelogue guys....look forward to the photos.

[aslyfox]

as requested by Mallee Boy:

these are roughly edited

walked in off the road ahead of small group of bison, hoping they would come my way, caught this red dog getting a meal

unknown flower on walk out

mountain blue bird male

Great Blue Heron on nest

Harlequin ducks male and female

grizzly bears

bison crossing road these two just off road, they decided to go at it

Stepped on brake since they could get back onto road

grabbed first camera I could and shot through car wind shield, no time to adjust settings

Ospreys on nest

[aslyfox]

after travel difficulties ( getting to and from YNP - trust me, you don't want to know - basically costing me a full day on the beginning and an extra day on the end )

arrived 5/15 PM at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, spent one night, 5/16 moved to Travelodge in Gardiner MT for one night and connect with gaweidert, back to Mammoth Hot Springs Cabins on 5/17 and left on 5/21

spent a couple of days learning a lot about the YNP from gaweidert

_______________________________

fantastic vistas, sights and animals all captured by the Mark 1 eyeballs and recorded in internal memory, some of which I captured with

the K 3 or K 3 II plus:

the SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL WR, the SMC Pentax-FA 31mm F1.8 AL Limited ( rented ), the HD Pentax-D FA* 70-200mm F2.8 ED DC AW, SMC Pentax-DA* 300mm F4 ED [IF] SDM, the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6 ED DC AW.

I also used the HD Pentax-DA 1.4x AW AF Rear Converter

other lenses stayed in back pack

_______________________________________________________

used a rented Pentax spotting scope and carbon fiber tripod

my own tripod

and a duffle bag based on the hood ( actually the best set up )

many times what I was trying to record - grizzly, wolf and birds were too far away for my equipment

other times, the wildlife got closer and were photographed through the open window or even the wind shield of the rented Suburban [ out of focus in photo below was the hood of the vehicle ]

____________________________________________________________________________

photos posted here and throughout the other threads

and on my flickr.com account

anyone is seeking more info on exactly what I was doing, please send me a pm

[Racer X 69]

after travel difficulties ( getting to and from YNP - trust me, you don't want to know - basically costing me a full day on the beginning and an extra day on the end)

About 900 miles each way. An easy day and a half drive, with some awesome scenery along the way.

Coulda passed through the Badlands.

And no airline aggravation.


At least you made it home safely.

[aslyfox]

About 900 miles each way. An easy day and a half drive, with some awesome scenery along the way.

Coulda passed through the Badlands.

And no airline aggravation.


At least you made it home safely.

there is that

and United has been contacted and complaint filed about failure of agents to help me try to reroute and other issues
_________________________

I'm easily confused

had to get to the north gate to Yellowstone NP - Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel

from Topeka KS

Driving Directions from Topeka, KS to 1 Grand Loop Rd Yellowstone National Park, WY - MapQuest

I-70 W to US-89 N
16hr 46min 1,097mi or

I-80 W
17hr 11min 1,091mi or

I-70 W to US-191 N
19hr 13min 1,214mi

and I am not used to driving by myself for 10 hours or more at a time

[Racer X 69]

I'm easily confused

had to get to the north gate to Yellowstone NP - Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel

from Topeka KS

Driving Directions from Topeka, KS to 1 Grand Loop Rd Yellowstone National Park, WY - MapQuest

I-70 W to US-89 N
16hr 46min 1,097mi or

I-80 W
17hr 11min 1,091mi or

I-70 W to US-191 N
19hr 13min 1,214mi

and I am not used to driving by myself for 10 hours or more at a time

Stay off the interstates. Take US highways.

[aslyfox]

Stay off the interstates. Take US highways.

lots of idiots on the roads [ and I can fall into that category from time to time ]

4 lane makes me feel safer but you do lose a lot on interstates

but I am an amateur driver, not a pro and a trip of 500 - 600 miles one way is about as far as I travel by myself

with spouse, now that is a different matter

[gaweidert]

Well, I got home at about 10:30 last night after another 920 mile drive. This one form Des Moines, Iowa back to Rochester, NY. I decided to try a different route back form Bismarck, ND where i had some family business to wrap up. Added two hours or driving so not worth it. The drive across Indiana on the Indiana Turnpike was worse going back than going out. The eastern half of it is basically a simulation of a washboarded dirt road. The new rest stops are a joke. They are basically a gas station with an A+ Minimart attached. Just like on any street corner. And gas is 28 cents a gallon more expensive just to enhance the experience even more. Once you get to the Ohio Turnpike it is like being upgraded from steerage to first class.

By the time I got the eastern end of the turnpike (almost 3 hours to drive 130 miles) I was contemplating just driving through the tollgate without stopping. I was just so ticked off. There were actually two several mile ling "work zones" wit ha 45 mph speed limit. The zones had absolutely nothing going on in them. No work in evidence anywhere. Plus they space them so that just after you leave a work zone and the traffic gets itself all sorted out and back up to speed another one pops up. Avoid the Indiana Turnpike if you can. it seems set up to deliberately induce road rage in drivers. Very frustrating experience.

Meeting Aslyfox was great. We haven't heard each other's stories so conversation flowed freely. Even with not alcohol involved. It seemed my fate this year to never be near the wildlife. A lot of you should have been here yesterday or an hour ago comments. That is the way of the park. The only bears I saw were a mile or so away. Same with wolves and mountain goats. I think that the photo Aslyfox got of the bison throwing all the dirt around is the shot of the trip. I was setting up to get a shot of a tourist being tossed by a bison while trying to take a selfie with it when Allen warned them off. I have to admit that he took the higher road here,. It is hard to get interesting shots of bison as they usually just eat or lie down.

This photo is interesting form several viewpoints. The waterfall is spring runoff. In the center are three mountain goats. Sadly the K1-II noise reduction seems to have removed all detail in their fur. This mountain is made up of alternating layers of pyroclastic flows, ash fall and lahars. In fact in the light grey area where the goats are you can see trees that were caught up in that have been exposed by subsequent weathering. The second shot is a heavy crop of the first showing the mountain goats.

[aslyfox]

---------- Post added 05-23-18 at 15:42 ----------

. . . I was setting up to get a shot of a tourist being tossed by a bison while trying to take a selfie with it when Allen warned them off. I have to admit that he took the higher road here,. . . .

I am truly sorry about spoiling all the fun but it was purely self interest

I would have be obligated to try to render aid after the tourist landed [ Scout training dies hard ]

and I didn't want to waste the time trying to take care of that person and not be able to explore the park

_____________

those [ Rocky ] Mountain Goats Oreamnos americanus were a long, long way up and quite distant


" Despite its name, this ungulate is not a true goat, being more closely allied with the chamois and gorals than tot he genus Capra. Due to its inaccessible habitat, the Rocky Mountain goat has been less affected by human activity than any other large North American game animal. "

http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Artiodactyla/Oreamnos_americanus.html

___________________________________________________________

SOC

cropped and pp