A marmot braces against a rock for balance in the Alaska Basin of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest.
While up in the Alaska Basin, we saw a flurry of smaller wildlife in the forms of pika and marmots, such as this one that offered to pose for us. Both marmots and pika are found throughout the higher elevations of the Teton Mountains with marmots going as far down as the base of the mountains themselves. During the winter they live in burrows underneath boulders or rocks living off of much of the fat that they’ve built up in the fall as well as anything they managed to store up.
It’s only September 1st as of this posting, but you can bet that with plenty of snow falling on the Tetons today that they’ll be busy building up their fat and storing plenty of food.
September 1st, 2010
Tags: Alaska Basin, Marmot, Wildlife, Wyoming
Posted in Wildlife
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A near full moon lights up the Alaska Basin as a camper admires the view nearby her tent.
Having another person along with me for the hike into the Alaska Basin was a little unusual. I typically do much of my hiking alone so having someone else nearby at all times got me a little inspired to try some new things. I’ve got several shots with her as the subject, including this one just before we called it a day. She was very cooperative with me as I experimented on a shooting a subject I don’t normally have the opportunity to do.
With the moon casting a halo in the clouds above, she participated quite well as she stayed still during this entire exposure. As beautiful as the Alaska Basin is during the day, there’s something very magical and peaceful about it at night.
August 29th, 2010
Tags: Alaska Basin, Jedediah Smith Wilderness, Mountains, Night, People, Wyoming
Posted in Landscape
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Dusk settles over arnica sunflowers and boulders in the Alaska Basin of the Teton Mountains.
While in the Alaska Basin last week up in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness of the Teton Mountains, we were treated to a nice sunset as some higher clouds began lighting up above the landscape. In addition to the large variety of wildflower displays that were out in the area, there were also many boulders which provided a natural barrier to the Alaska Basin Lakes. Some of the lakes are leftover from snow melt, others are fed by creeks coming from the peaks surrounding the basin. In virtually every patch of grass in between the boulders and rock poking out of the ground were wildflowers. A nice treat was also a three-quarter moon making an appearance over the southern peaks.
August 25th, 2010
Tags: Alaska Basin, Jedediah Smith Wilderness, Mountains, Wildflowers, Wyoming
Posted in Landscape
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