Dec 31 - It's a Wrap!

 Wow! What a totally crazy year!

It's started out a like any other year - goals, dream trip to NW Alaska to see more Caribou, bears, moose, etc booked, made it up to Angels Landing in Zion and Valley of Fire in NV for the 1st time ever. Looking good.

And then the Covid shutdown came and unfortunately stayed. Whether one agrees or disagrees that it was and continues to be overblown, it doesn't matter. It shattered lots of dream, goals, cancelled trips and yes, many (overwhelming the aged) died. 

The working from home, packed trails, paranoia for hiking near so many people/grocery shopping has been personally very hard on me. But I'm plugging forward hoping the vaccine will at least get my life moving forward.

But despite the crap year, it's been pretty good for me in the outdoors. Here are some highlights.

1) After 8 years of hiking the Lambs Canyon trail, spotting my 1st ever Relict Fritillary on the final switchback on the trail (actually there were 3 all in the same still sunny spot. Didn't get a photo but went back a week later and one switchback down in again in the last of the day's sunlight, I spotted one who was very photogenic. (There was another flying in the same area.) Yes!

2) Again after 8 years of hiking the Lambs Canyon trail and again in the last of the days light, I see a snake I didn't know existed - Rubber Boa Constrictor. Yes, a Utah native - way cool!

3) Again after 8 years of hiking the Mormon Trail, spotted both a single Tailed Copper and many Colorado Hairstreaks!! (I also spotted Colorado Hairstreak on 2 separate occasions at Lambs Canyon. They were the first ones in years at that spot.)

4) Camped for the 1st time in the Albion Basin. Need to do that again this year!! (And found out how to make a loop out of the Catherine's Pass hike.)

5) Lots of moose this year (I think 14 of them). That include 3 within a 1/2 mile of the start of the Cardiff Mine trail; 3 in the Mill D south meadow; 4 on the trail to Lake Solitude, 3 on the Mormon trail, Mom and calf on the trail up to Lake Mary.

6) Saw for the 1st time, Tundra Swans in Utah (Little Dell specifically)

7) Heard the ice on Twin Lakes sing -- what beautiful music!!

8) Saw my 1st Utah beaver on Silver Lake

Despite the chaos, it was a good year. Just hoping 2021 brings back the dreams/goals, emptier trails and continued good health.

For 2021 blog see: jeanetteklodzen2021@blogspot.com.

Dec 29 - Sentry Trail

 Cold but sunny morning (just 19 degrees). Heading up to Antelope Island to hopefully hike the Sentry Trail (bison willing).

I arrive on the island and find a Kestrel and Rough Legged Hawk along the causeway.

Closer to the island, I spot a lone Bald Eagle. To the west, I spot another Eagle. This one is at the ice's edge. 

There's an area of open water to the south with more ice on the other side. In the water on the other side are ducks, 2 ravens and something moving. It's a coyote!!

The Eagle must have killed a duck and had it's fill. The Ravens are picking on the rest. The coyote is now moving towards the Ravens. When he gets there, one of the Ravens flies. The coyote gets a meal too!

I move on and find the 3rd Eagle of the morning.

Great start to the day!

I reach the island and head around the north side for something different. No animals around the Visitor's Center. I head into the Bridger Bay campground because there was a recent sighting of a Great Horned Owl. I find no Owl but there are a bunch of bison behind the new campground that is being built.

As I move east, I notice something moving south towards the road. As I drive closer, they're deer; 3 bucks to be exact. One crosses the road and starts feeding along side the road. I watch the other 2 cross as well. Awesome!

I head over to White Rock and find bison still along the trail. Time to head towards the Ranch.

Along the way, I find 7 porcupines including 3 in the same tree (at least it looked like the same tree).

A find a large bison herd farther down the road

I see a couple of cars pull over a bit farther down the road. What are they looking at? Hey, it's 4 deer! Looks like 3 doe and a smaller buck all feeding in the sagebrush not far from the road.

Then there's another bison herd just before rolling up on the Ranch.

At the Ranch, I happy to report the bison have moved a bit north and I can finally hike the Sentry Trail!!!

But first, I check for owls. No luck.

I gear up and start my hike - a bit nippy at 20 degrees but the sun is out and the wind is light.

The bison are about 150-200 yards away

I check for Eagles perched at Mushroom Springs but nothing and continue up the trail.

Quiet walk. 

I run into an inch or two of snow on the 2nd uphill section but the rest of the trail is clear.

Yea! I'm at the top!!

I start south along the ridge; no critters to be seen.

Time to start downhill. 

On the way down, I see I will have company soon - a guy, 2 horses and a dog.

I reach the flat switchback and start across. I'm about 1/2 way across when I notice the horses have stopped and then Whoa! there's a coyote standing on some rocks looking down on the horse! (Probably eyeing the dog I bet.) I'm maybe 50 feet away. I stop to watch!

I finally start to move even closer and the coyote drops over the ridge.

I continue along meeting the guy on the horse. I ask if he saw the coyote; he said "no" but his horses did. His dog is a small Austrian Shepard/Border Collie mix - cutey!

I continue along reaching my car in no time.

Time to head north.

As I round the final corner before reaching the Visitor Center, there's a Bald Eagle soaring above - way cool!

Back along the causeway, I find a Bald Eagle and my Kestrel has lunch!

Awesome day!

Dec 25 - Gravel Pit Trail (Antelope Island)

 Merry Christmas!

Cold morning with the temperatures at 20 degrees when I leave my home around 7:30am.

Heading up to Antelope Island to hopefully hike the White Rock Trail - yesterday it was bison-free.

Sunny and still only 20 degrees when I arrive at the causeway. Definitely very frozen looking this morning.

I don't see any birds of prey along the way until I get closer to the island when I spot a Bald Eagle out on the ice. 

It doesn't take long for the bird to fly - cool!

Lots of ducks huddled in the open water by the bridge.

When I reach the island, I head directly to White Rock passing a few bison heading up towards Bison Point.

As I drive down toward the White Rock parking, I see bison standing along the trail - shoot! Need some weather to move them along I think.

I turn and head towards the Gravel Pit.

I actually drive to the lower Frary Peak parking -- pit stop. No critters seen along the way.

The short road to the Gravel Pit trail is now closed (snow/ice) so I park at the gate and walk in. Crunchy walking on the snow/ice.

But once I get to the trail, it's pretty clear.

It is cold though with the light wind. Need my ski cap and fleece mask to keep warm.

Nice quiet walk and before long I'm heading up Beacon Hill.

I find a little snowman at the end.

Also, heard a couple of coyotes howl to the south.

Time to head back.

Back at my car, I head north. As I round the curve, I see a few Pronghorn on the west side of the road. I stop for a few photos.

I continue only a few feet because there's several Pronghorn at the edge of the road (right side). I stop to watch.

There are Pronghorn streaming over the edge of the slope - very cool since it's so rare to get close.

Another car passes me and the Pronghorn and then stops. He gets out of the car. The Pronghorn are still happy...until he's dogs start to bark. Heads up!

Off go the Pronghorn - people and their dogs :(

On way back across the causeway, I find the Eagle again and a Kestrel.

Good day!

Dec 24 - Antelope Island

 Sunny but cold this morning with temps in the 20s.

Crossing the causeway, everything is frosty or frozen.

No luck on the Bald Eagles this morning but I do spot a Kestrel.

I reach the island and head south towards the Ranch stopping for a Kestrel behind the Visitor's Center.

Quiet until I see a Porcupine across from Frary Peak. Since there's no one around, I stop and walk down to take a peek.

Hey, he's feeding - way cool!!!

So cool to see his hands moving!

I move on, passing another Porcupine not that far away.

Continuing on, I catch sight of a herd of Pronghorn to the west. They're pretty hidden behind the tall grasses but they are there.

I also find a decent sized bison herd not far from the Ranch.

I pull up at the Ranch and I'm happy to see that the bison seem to have moved on - I can hike Sentry Peak today!

But first, I stop to look for Owls. I do find a puffed out Northern Flicker 

and some brown bird with long legs in the water (Virginia Rail?)

Then I start my walk toward the trail head. Along the way I see a little herd of doe laying in the grasses. I can see steam coming out of their noses.

As I pass, a few of them stand.

I also see a buck 

and what look like a doe in the distance -- the "doe" is actually a small buck. 

As I move closer to the trail head, I see that there are bison laying near Mushroom Springs -- no Sentry Trail today. :(

I head back to my car (after another check for Owls) and head north.

I see a black dot along the shoreline. I spot because it's out of place. Hey, it's moving... coyote! And he's running north.

That herd of Pronghorn are harder to see on the return as they are now laying.

I spot for that 2nd Porcupine. He's not eating but he's awake!!

I stop at the lower Frary Peak trail and walk up to the trail - just for some exercise. - and walk around a point looking for rabbits - no luck.

Time to head home -- good day!

Dec 20 - Antelope Island

 Mostly cloudy day with highs near 40 degrees.

It's below freezing when I start crossing the causeway. I stop for a perched Kestrel.

When I get to frozen water, I spot a lone Bald Eagle out in the distance (perhaps he's one of them from last week).

Bunches of ducks in the open water under the bridge.

When I reach the island, I head south towards the Ranch. Hoping to hike the Sentry Trail and curious to see if there are Bald Eagles perched around Mushroom Springs.

Pretty quiet morning on the snow covered landscape.

I spot 3 porcupine across from Frary Peak.

Patches of bison with some herds near the Ranch.

Arriving at the Ranch, I see lots of bison scattered around the Sentry trail - sad.

I stop at the Ranch to check on the Owls.

I do find both of them (rare find) sitting next to each other in the north east corner of the woods. Hard to see their faces though.

Time to head north - no hiking today :(

I swing over to the north side of the island finding bison on the upside of Bison Point and more bison around the parking lot of White Rock.

On the causeway on the way out, I spot 5 (yes, 5) Bald Eagles! There's a 3-some and a pair.

One of the pair flies east. 

I find him a bit east and closer to the causeway. A second flies in and lands.

A few minutes later more fly.

So very cool!

Dec 13 - Antelope Island

 Partly sunny with the temps at 19 degrees when I left for Antelope Island. My hope is to hike Sentry Peak - but it's cold.

I arrive at the causeway and it's 20 degrees and the sun is just cresting the mountains.

I quickly spot a Northern Harrier (??)

and a Kestrel.

Lots of ducks in the open water near the bridge -- everything else is frozen.

There's still a little dusting of snow remaining from yesterday morning's snow.

The area behind the Visitor's Center is animal free.

Hmmm, they have the road to the Gravel Pit trail closed.

I do spot my first critter - a lone bison - downslope and rounding the curve past the 1st pull-off.

And then, surprise, there's coyote starting up toward Beacon Hill.

I see 3 porcupine in the trees across from Frary Peak. (FYI: the road to Frary Peak is closed.)

Farther along and behind a hill I spot a big herd of Pronghorn - always fun to spot.

And then there's a small herd of bison in the sagebrush.

Arriving at the Ranch, I see a deer in the distance. Closer look reveals it's a large buck!

And after waiting a bit, looks like he has a mate -- how sweet, they both have blue ear tags!

There are no bison near Sentry Trail (finally) so I gear up and start off. But my camera is now saying memory card failure and my feet are already cold -- it's more clouds than sun at this point -- so I head back to my car. Yes, a bit disappointed because I really wanted a hike. So back north I go.

Well, that little herd of bison is now a huge herd on the west side of the road -- I had to have missed them on my way to the Ranch. But there are bison still crossing that are from my original herd.

I'm back on the causeway and probably more than 1/2 way across when I see a Bald Eagle and a crow/raven. Crud my camera is dead -- I try anyway and yea, it's no longer reporting errors!!

They have breakfast and at times the Crow/Raven sneaks away a few morsels. Lots of wing waving goes along with that. (I wish my photos came out - just not enough light for action & zoom).

Looks likes a ducks as it appears the eagle is throwing feathers and it looks like he is holding a wing.

At one point, another Bald Eagle flies in - how cool!

The second lands not too far away. After a bit, the eagle with the catch, flies past the 2nd eagle and continues eating!

Love it!!

My camera begins reporting errors again so it's time to go.

My hiking disappointment is no longer - if I hiked, I would not have witnessed this.

Great day!

N0v 29 - White Rock Trail (Antelope Island)

 Sunny cold morning with temperatures in the low 20s

As I arrive on the causeway, there's a fog bank blocking the view of the island. But as I get closer, the bank, thankfully, starts to break up and I can see again.

I reach the island and head south towards the Ranch.

No critters to be seen again today. I check for deer near Frary Peak and find none (although there were cars pulled off seemingly looking at something that I couldn't see).

I turn around and head north and over to White Rock campground. 

Still plenty of bison hanging out on the north side of Bison Point (been there for weeks now). And there's a herd just south of the road up to Bison Point parking.

I reach the parking lot and there are only a few cars parked just after 9am.

There are 5-6 bison along the bottom trail but the trail up to the top is clear. As I head up, those bison that were hanging out (there ones that caused me to walk only 1/2 the trail on Friday) are still there but along the fence line. I think I'm good. So up I go.

I pass those bison along the fence without issue (I actually couldn't even see them as I walk by).

Then it's just a quiet walk around the loop. 

There are 2 bison on the far side of the White Rock meadow and that's all the critters I find.

Along the causeway on the way out, I do see a Kestrel perched on a mile marker.

Good day!