Montana In Deep Freeze

Hi Folks for the past three weeks the temperature has been a balmy -5 to 5 degrees with the wind sometimes blowing 45 miles per hour. Needless to say the Yellowstone River has froze up in some places and the large animals have come down off the mountains. This blog will focus on that river in it's frozen glory and a herd of Big Horn sheep with their thick winter coats. Enjoy!

Frozen Yellowstone at the Bridge in Tom Miner Basin

Plenty of deer hanging out at Red's house in Tom Miner Basin. I stopped counting at 40. Is nice to have them around but a large bear also likes to hang out at this semi remote home and tear things up.

Somebody put this in Red's front yard as a Christmas joke.

The Big Horn Sheep came off the mountain in Tom Miner Basin to eat and for a photo

of with yours truly.

This is the old railway road that goes through the Tom Miner Basin and up to the Yellowstone NP

Very beautiful any time of year and especially when covered in white.

Yellowstone River

Tom Miner Basin, Montana

Tom Miner Basin on the edge of Paradise Valley, Montana

The old railway line up to the Yellowstone National Park

Tom Minor Basin

This is some old 19th to 20th turn of the century marking that were put here for the train that use to run
from Livingston some 45 miles away up to the Yellowstone National Park.

For some stupid reason they shut down the train run.

The train use to run into this Yankee Jim Canyon and parallel along the Yellowstone River.

As my buddy Red points out it would have been a really beautiful ride to the
 Yellowstone NP back in the day.

Nice view of the Yellowstone River in Yankee Jim Canyon, Montana

Frozen but still moving in spots the Yellowstone River

          

Back To California

Hi Folks, just got back from California. Been battling a bad cold/flu and a bad back. Of course I had to do some exploring prior to the sicknesses and came up with a few nice shots for your view.

The view from the Amtrak window of the Suisun sloughs.

 The weather finally cleared up as I stepped out to the coast for some sun, hiking and fresh air.

This is outside the Golden Gate with a view of San Francisco in the background.

The building in the backdrop is Ft. Miley where I spent several knee operation and months on end in rehab after the Army.

I believe this is a Black Phoebe? Spotted on the beach rocks catching some sun, water and bugs.

National Park area of the Marin Headlands looking north.

This is looking south near Ft. Chronkite

Looking south towards San Francisco at Marin Headlands National Seashore.

Ft. Chronkite

This is the full moon rising over the East Bay and the San Rafael Bridge taken from atop a hill in Mill Valley, CA

I took a nice long bike ride in San Francisco Golden Gate Park and placed my seat way to low and enflamed my herniated disk in my back. No pain no gain!

Bison in Golden Gate Park San Francisco. Notice how clean, and healthy this big boy looks compared to the Yellowstone critter. No tail missing or scars for this fella.

The fountain across the plaza from the Aquarium in Golden Gate Park

This house on Divisadero Street in San Francisco sure was gaudy.

Winter In Montana

Hello Folks, just a quick blog from the wonderful Montana mid winter.

These first four shots are of the rural landscapes of Manhattan, Montana.

The streets of Bozeman after a good storm of snow.

 Then we go into Paradise Valley where I have been working for the past month. The mountains are part of the Gallatin National Forest in the Absaroka-Beartooth Mountain Range

This is Wineglass Mountain. I have been trying to get over to these giant rock cliffs for years now, but the rich people have sealed off all the ways in so my wife and I took a shortcut over a hill to get this view. I hope to get in good enough shape to hike all the way over there with my large format camera for some close up work of the rocks. 

My wife Lidice and I atop the hill for the view of Wineglass

The view back into Paradise Valley, MT