wesleyaston.com Blog

Hey its Markai typing today!! Today we got quite an eyefull! We started out by heading back over to Jenny Lake to check up on the black bear we had seen yesterday with a dead elk. Not too much going on. We then drove up Signal Mountain to see what we could see, and sure enough Wes looked over the edge of the lookout and there was a black bear milling around in some bushes. Soon there was a small crowd and we went on our way. On the way back down we decided that we would go check out the grizzly over at Jackson Lake Dam. They had moved her over there with her kill two days before for peoples safety. When we parked we had a half mile walk to get to the other side of the dam. Since she was still pretty far away the rangers had set up a scope so that people could watch her. It was funny because she had buried the elk and was sitting on top of it. The rangers stated that every now and then she would pull out a bone or some other body part and eat it. After that we decided to go check out the sweet fall colors and swung over by Oxbow Bend. After wandering a bit we noticed quite a gathering of large artillary (camera gear) down by the river. Since we had missed the eagle action the last two days we hurried down to check it out. To our suprise there was a family of NINE otters swimming, fishing, and playing in the river. They were so funny wrestling and barking at each other. Then we noticed the fish they were pulling out were almost just as big as they were! They must have been tasty though because the fish didn’t last long. And if that was not enough, two juvinile bald eagles flew in to check things out. After all the excitement was over we started to head out. Just as we were told, around 6 p.m., the elk were on the move. They were everywhere. But sadly too far to get a good picture. Although we still have not seen our moose we have came to see this trip has been already very rewarding!

So yesterday morning we got up at 5:30am to head to the Tetons for sunrise. It is about 1 1/2 hr drive and I wanted to be there for the sunrise. Not sure where i really wanted to go for some morning shots but I was thinking Mormon Row. It was all going to be depending on the sky and clouds, but this morning there were a big fat ZERO! So we went to check it out anyway at Mormon Row, well so did about 30 other people too! But this is one of the “famous” spots to take a picture. The sun was peaking over the hills and I couldn’t see through the bugs that i have collected on this trip on my windshield. The wipers and water were a bad choice, being only 25 degrees outside now I had a frozen bug ice sheet on the window. I had to sit in the road till I could see again. At least no one else was behind us! We drove by to see what the shot looked like, and of course the trees in this scene were not Yellow yet….. so we passed. The Moose Jct park entrance was just down the road so in the Park we went to hopefully see animals this time! Only in a couple miles and I spot it in the distance about 200 yards, a Bull Elk and he is pushing his herd our way. We pull over and wait, then another car see’s him too then another…. that is the game you play in National Parks, “Who will get the Shot?” As they come closer the sun is on the wrong side and if they just crossed the street it would be much better. Well that is what they wanted to do, but all of us spectators are scaring them and they run parallel to the road another 1/2 mile. They double backed and were now going the wrong way, so I flipped my car around and went down the road where no one else was, hoping they would cross the road now with the sun on the correct side. They did exactly that, and here is some shots I got.

So down the road we go to see what else we can find, which driving is of course the most of what we do on a trip like this. Anyway we come to a group of cars pulled over, and you know what that means!!! Some sort of animal will be around, and not just a squirel. There it is, our first bear of the trip, and it is on a Bull Elk carcass. She was feeding on this kill and guarding it from the 3 Coyotes that were tring to get in on some of this Elk. We hung out for a while hoping for something awesome to happen, but it was the middle of the day and the Bear thought it was nap time. Well maybe for her but not us!
We took some pictures through the bushes, but nothing to exciting.

I guess we will see what tomorrow will bring!

Sunday morning after cleaning up Blaines cabin since we spent one night and now it is a huge mess….not, we waited for my brother and his wife Bobbie, and little boy Mason so we could head up to Grand Teton National Park. We all get into my car in Alpine WY, and drive on up enjoying crazy stories and getting Mason to dance in is carseat. Once we get into the park Mason starts to cough up a storm and I asked if he was going to throw up. I shouldn’t have said a think cause 2 seconds later…….. there it was, not once but 2 times he lost his breakfast. Being my car, I look to see how bad it is, that was a mistake, seeing it out his nose and then smelling it turned me green and I was out of the car in a flash so I didn’t join him. So here we are pulled off the side of the road on a senic drive cleaning out the car, and so many people are driving by wondering what we are doing….. Lucky for them they didn’t stop, or they would have enjoyed the smell too… Finally we took a stroll through the park hoping to find some animals, and even though the colors were awesome we didn’t see more then a few herds of Antelope, but we were planing to head back to the Tetons later.

In the evening we hung out in Afton with my mom, and went up Swift Creek Canyon to check out the fall color. We only had a little bit of light left before the sun would be gone, so we got to it and took some pictures. Excellent color up the canyon, to bad we didn’t have more time.

Away from work and regular life, man is it great! Drove late Friday night to get to Afton WY to my moms house. We arrived about 9:20pm, not to bad since I had to work till 5. We had a safe drive up even though there were a few deer bouncing across the road. When we got here we found my favorite travel food in her freezer, FROZEN PIZZA! She got us some mini ones, along with a bottle of Champagne for our anniversary. Well needless to say we drank the whole bottle and had some fun digging through my moms house finding fun stuff.

Now while we are hanging out at moms house relaxing, my foot has been hurting A LOT since I went to the Dr. a week and a half ago. It seemed puffy and swollen, so we dug through the house to find a needle to poke it. It felt so much better after I did this and ……… yeah I won’t gross you out to bad…. but if you want to see what it looked like then check this out..
OUCH

So the next day we were up at 7 and headed to Swan Valley to see my Mom and Blaine also go for a hike. Not sure how far I was going to be hiking since my foot issue, but I gave it a shot. We hiked up Palisade Creek Canyon in Idaho, but not Blaine he ran it! Pretty good shape for someone in their 60′s. He made me look like a lazy boy! But even though my foot hurt I still packed about 20 pounds in camera gear and hiked 4 miles.

After all the fun we kicked back at Blaines cabin and had a few drinks then even watched Baby Mama.
It was ok…….

Today we are leaving to head North for a 10 day vacation, I am excited! I am hoping for some sweet color and good weather, some animals would be nice too! If you have never been to the Tetons in the Fall then you better start planning next years vacation. It is an awesome site at the right time of year.

I have the car mostly packed, but have to go back to work for a few more hours…… blah.! Maybe I can sneak out a little early, but I doubt it.

Off I go!!!

Last night I was going through some camera gear that I don’t use much if ever to see what I should take on our trip this next week and I stumbled across my flash magnifiying sheet that you hook to your flash to launch the light far way from you. I haven’t really ever used it much or really tried it out, but I hope to give it a try on some wildlife in the Tetons and Yellowstone next week. While we had it out I thought it would be fun to try some crazy pictures with it and see what we could come up with.

Well here you go!
One reason I love my wife Markai!

And of course I had to get in on the action too!

So Markai told me that she ordered me up something the other day, and well I guessed it! So she let me have it a couple weeks early so I can use it on our trip. We both have the same problem with backpacks, and that problem is we need on for everything. I told her that I wish I had one just a little bigger then another one I had and she went all out and got me one that is better then I was thinking of. This beast will hold most my camera gear and it has a big pocket up top to add more stuff when traveling or hiking. Also a laptop pocket just like my LowePro. The thing I like about this pack is that it is taller, has a padded waist belt, and it just feels so much better on my back! I will put it to the test this next week. I will have to jimmy rig a tripod holder onto it though, for those hikes that I might need one on. But if not, I have 3 other packs that I can fit a tripod on!

Yep Fall has got to be my favorite time of the year for pictures, not cause it is colder, but all those sweet colors that come with. The only thing is if you wait to long then you might miss it. You can see the color up on the mountain side, so nows the time to get up and see for yourself. The past week Markai and I went up to a few spots to see how it was coming. So far so good, but we need to keep checking or before we know it then the peak will have past us. I do have a few trips planned based around the season changing. This weekend is the first! We are taking a 10 day trip up north to Wyoming and Idaho. Working our way up to the Tetons, which last year I seemed to be a little early, hoping for the right stuff this time. Then up to Yellowstone for a couple days. My goal is to get some great Bull Elk pictures. They seem to be what people like to download the most from my Shutterstock site. One picture I did ended up on a phonebook, so lets see what this year brings.

As for the Fall pictures here are a few that we took this past week.
Markai having some fun outdoors at Maples Lake in Payson Canyon.

Summit Creek in Santaquin Canyon.

The best seat outside the house in South Fork Canyon.

My wife thought it was time that I got on board with the blogging so here we go!
I have been taking pictures like a mad man for just over 5 years now, starting with my first website at pbase.com I saw a couple of people doing a PAD project, so I thought that was a great challenge. So here I started the Picture A Day project starting on January 1st 2004. I didn’t miss a day that whole year, and this was quite the ordeal here for me. I started traveling more, and searching for new things to take shots of. I have done and seen many things I don’t think that I would have unless I got into photography. Now you can see what I see…….. through the lens.