Look! There! Donna was pointing.
I looked across the marshy area we were traversing and saw a canine disappear at a run into the forest.
“There were two”, she said. “The first one was bigger.”
We all have favorite interests. For some it is old mining ghost towns. For others it is peaks that must be climbed. One of ours is wolves. They are why we return to Yellowstone regularly. So naturally we have been following the news about OR7, the Oregon wolf that decided to winter in California this year. OR7 is collared and the California Department of Fish and Game has been updating his location as he wanders. CA F&G Using this information we decided to spend the Memorial Day weekend visiting the general area with the unlikely idea that we may just be in the right spot at the right time. Considering that even the state personnel that track OR7 have only been able to get one photo, we knew the odds were similar to winning the lotto. But any excuse to explore and camp is enough for us.
The latest update as of the Friday was he was located in western Lassen County. Normally wolves and coyotes do not get along. But not having any luck finding a female wolf, he has been observed hanging out with coyotes recently. Maps of his previous wanderings put him north of HWY 44 on several occasions. So we saw a possible pattern and it is located in National Forest which allowed us access and camping. The plan was made to find the most remote watering holes in the area and hang out there.
The first two nights were spent northwest of Blacks Mountain. There were some old reservoirs on Beaver Creek. Mostly now they are large meadows with ponds in what used to be the deeper parts. We found a spot on a cattle pond near the reservoirs and settled in. The next day we hiked around the reservoir area. There were waterfowl in the ponds and deer tracks everywhere. This is when we made the sighting noted above. They were gone before we could get the glasses on them. Strange, usually when we see coyotes they are not spooked by humans. These spooked fast.
First camp.
Around the old reservoirs:
Wilson's Phalaropes:
I looked across the marshy area we were traversing and saw a canine disappear at a run into the forest.
“There were two”, she said. “The first one was bigger.”
We all have favorite interests. For some it is old mining ghost towns. For others it is peaks that must be climbed. One of ours is wolves. They are why we return to Yellowstone regularly. So naturally we have been following the news about OR7, the Oregon wolf that decided to winter in California this year. OR7 is collared and the California Department of Fish and Game has been updating his location as he wanders. CA F&G Using this information we decided to spend the Memorial Day weekend visiting the general area with the unlikely idea that we may just be in the right spot at the right time. Considering that even the state personnel that track OR7 have only been able to get one photo, we knew the odds were similar to winning the lotto. But any excuse to explore and camp is enough for us.
The latest update as of the Friday was he was located in western Lassen County. Normally wolves and coyotes do not get along. But not having any luck finding a female wolf, he has been observed hanging out with coyotes recently. Maps of his previous wanderings put him north of HWY 44 on several occasions. So we saw a possible pattern and it is located in National Forest which allowed us access and camping. The plan was made to find the most remote watering holes in the area and hang out there.
The first two nights were spent northwest of Blacks Mountain. There were some old reservoirs on Beaver Creek. Mostly now they are large meadows with ponds in what used to be the deeper parts. We found a spot on a cattle pond near the reservoirs and settled in. The next day we hiked around the reservoir area. There were waterfowl in the ponds and deer tracks everywhere. This is when we made the sighting noted above. They were gone before we could get the glasses on them. Strange, usually when we see coyotes they are not spooked by humans. These spooked fast.
First camp.
Around the old reservoirs:
Wilson's Phalaropes:
