[1]
January 21, 2011
Needing a break I venture out in the late January afternoon. Mule Deer are everywhere along the East Fork road. Two beautiful bucks cross in front of me and slowly angle their way up the steep hillside. They are intent on putting distance between themselves and me but are very casual about doing so. They climb high and into the late afternoon sun that catches them splaying light across their bodies. They are big beautiful and full of grace and they seem to know it. Looking back as if to say. "Look at me".

[2]
January 21, 2011
The second buck further up the hill has climbed up into the shadows created by a rocky face on the hillside. He too is a magnificent animal. They are taking on winter pretty well.

[3]

January 21, 2011

Both crest the hill and turn to eye me curiously. They are so casual about the whole proceeding. They are perfect models.

[4]

January 21, 2011

I continue on up the road and stop to watch two golden Eagles who have risen up off the meadow and are climbing into the sky. Higher and higher they climb and are drifting away from me. They are soon all but out of sight but I revel in their show and only wish I was closer to photograph them.

Behind me the sky is darkening quickly with a front moving in. there will be snow falling tonight. Minutes later the sun is gone from the valley floor and the hills and mountins beyond are quickly enveloped in cloud shadow.

[5]

January 21, 2011

I do continue on to the top of the bench above Bear Creek and stop to glass the surrounding country looking for elk. There are none. Last year the East Fork Elk herd spent most of the winter way east in the Owl Creeks. Maybe they are doing so again this year.

The meadows below me are on the Spence ranch famous for the Lawyers College run by Jerry Spence the world famous Trial Lawyer. There are scattered groups of Mule Deer scattered about and a few Whitetails. The sun has completely dissapeared. The wind is brutal.

[6]
January 21, 2011
The night does bring us snow but only an inch in Dubois. Daylight has brought the wind back. On the hill above my house the sun rises through diminishing snow showers.

[7]

January 21, 2011

Behind me the Wind River Mountains are very prominently displayed with clear skies overhead. To the north across the Wind River valley the Absarokas are socked in with snow still falling. The rising sun caresses the Badlands with its fresh mantle of snow covered in a light that is purely artistic.

January 1, 2011
[1]
It is New Years Eve and an hour from now the sun will be setting for the last time on 2010. It is cold out. Currently -2 and I have taken an hour off from a remodeling project I have going on in my studio to see what is going on in the outdoor world. just a few miles north of Dubois I find a herd of around 75 Mule Deer scattered about on both sides of the Horse Creek dirt road. Nearly a third of them are Bucks. I am not sure I have ever seen this many bucks in a herd such as this. Most are leisurely browsing about or lying in little groups here and there. They don't seem the least bit disturbed by my presence.
Two evenly matched young buks are sparing off to my right. Testing themselves or merely trying to keep warm. It is obvious after watching awhile that one is particularly aggresive and maybe even a bully. The other tries several times to break it off and leave. The bully will have none of it.

January 1, 2011
[2]
I continue up the road until I find a place I can turn around and again stop to watch and photograph the various groups of deer scattered about.

January 1, 2011

[3]

The same two bucks are still going at it and as I watch and photograph them I notice a much larger buck approaching seemingly minding his own business. I watch with interest just knowing something is going to happen. The buck who has been trying to get away from the young bully does just that as the big buck approaches getting the attention of our bully. Undaunted, the bully lights into this big fellow trying to pick a fight. It is pretty short lived as he is totally outmatched by the large buck. It is an interesting event to watch and I am glad to have had the opportunity to do so.

January 1, 2011

[4]

The next morning is New Years day and Vicki and I go out for breakfast and then head up to Torrey Creek and Whiskey Basin to see if there are any Bighorn Sheep out and about. The wind has come up overnight and it is kicking up the newly f allen snow from several days ago into a frenzy of ground blizzards. The dirt road ahead is full of snow snakes as the snow slithers across in snake like fashion. The wind does raise the temperature over a period of a few days but it is sure cold while doing so. It has gone from -13 last night to +4 now. As we continue up the valley it actually gets even warmer-AND-the snow drifts deeper. By the time we get to Whiskey Basin we have bucked many drifts and watched the trucks thermometer rise to +13 degrees.

January 1, 2011
[5]
The peaks surrounding Whiskey Basin are mighty cold looking with plumes of wind driven snow intermixed with a foggy mixture of flurries blowing far out into the atmosphere. There is sheer bauty in all this. we have seen few animals up to now but just ahead we see two small bands of Bighorn Sheep.

January 1, 2011

[6]

One of the bands of Sheep is near the road and we watch and photograph them for a time. The snow is actually not as deep in the basin as it is back in town and the wind is not nearly as bad. That is so tyupical for this little basin tucked back here in the mountains.

January 1, 2011
[7]
We continue on to the Glacier trailhead and begin our journey back. Several deer cross the road and continue up to the top of the low ridge joining a third. They are perfectly framed against an old Limber Pine Snag and it makes for a great picture.

January 1, 2011

[8]

We pass back by the Bighorns who are diligently feeding away. Nothing seems to deter them from their task at hand and only occassionally will one look up towards us and then quickly resume back to grazing. It has been a brutal couple of days with below zero weather and snow falling and I am guessing they are making up for lost time having hunkered down for the past several days.

January 1, 2011

[9]

Leaving Whiskey Basin the road hugs Whiskey Peak to the south but it is a panoramic view for several miles to the east north and west. This view is looking northeast across this vast expanse of rugged wild country towards the East Fork country

January1, 2011
[10]
Back towards town there is a spot where the road hugs a pretty good drop off. I pull over as far as I dare to let an oncoming vehicle pass and Vicki tells me there are some deer directly below. I get out of the truck and walk around to see for myself and am surprised to find they are just feet below me laying on that steep drop off. they bolt off the edge and bottom out in seconds. Two does continue on up the opposite side but this buck stops for one last look at what scared him so.

January1, 2011
[11]
The wind seems to have dropped off a bit and the snow is not blowing like it was on our way up this morning. The temperature has again dropped off from what it was in the basin and now reads 8 degrees. The Badlands are impressive with their covering of white in the bitter cold.