Sometime Spring

We’ve never seen so much snow in mid-May, little surprise when last winter’s snowpack in Jackson Hole was 200% of normal. There are still deep drifts in the shadows at ground level and nearby hills bear ribbons of white.
The 1050-mile drive from St. Helena was a messy one, with 18-wheelers throwing sheets of muddy slush against the windshield and roads that get worse each year, the potholes, ruts and bumps rattling the teeth in your head. Added this year are avalanches and rockslides, one large enough to close the Snake River Canyon highway.
But once we reached the scenic home stretch, when the Tetons burst into view, we spotted herds of pronghorn in the sage, more than we’d ever seen in one spot.
There were no welcoming bison as we pulled into Gros Ventre campground before dark the second day, filling the tank with water and settling into our favorite campsite, one of only a half-dozen occupied. A scattering of moose droppings seemed a good omen.
The motorhome literally expands our horizons, with views all around and a huge picture window looking out on the mountains. It’s well named the Vista. I made martinis while Terry scanned the sage meadows, spotting two moose in no time. We sipped our drinks and watched the moose from our comfy seats until dark – the perfect first night at one of our favorite places on earth.
The moose had moved toward the trees during the night, but were still easily visible from our window on the wildlife world as we sipped our morning coffee. Binoculars revealed a large herd of elk on the opposite hill, moving steadily through a steep snowfield toward a canyon. There would be more moose, one relaxing in a campsite down the road, another browsing near the aptly-named town of Moose. Last spring they were scarce.
The first day would reveal a wealth of elk, as we spotted herds numbering in the hundreds in their annual spring migration from Jackson’s National Elk Refuge north to Yellowstone. Finally, thanks no doubt to the late spring, Terry got his wish to be here when the elk were on the move.
This morning's coffee was sipped viewing bison, moving from the trees to within spitting distance of our front window. The behemoths browsed for over an hour, then moved out of sight, just as the expedition van arrived with visitors out for a morning of wildlife viewing.
Each year is different; each season brings its own wonders. We’ve seen no young yet this year, although the meadows were well-populated with blond bison calves last May. The great horned owl we’ve watched nest in a nearby tree for three years has not returned. But the liquid warble of meadowlarks remains a constant, and the cerulean flash of the bluebird.
Wolves have moved into the valley in recent years and on a drive to Miller Butte to observe mountain goats, we came across two winter wolf kills of elk, the bones cracked for the nutritious marrow inside.
Today brought the annual Elk Fest, where it's possible to buy a single antler from a vendor on the street or 500 pounds of them from an auctioneer. Each spring, Boy Scouts gather the shed antlers from the Elk Refuge to auction off on Jackson’s town square. Buyers from around the world purchase lots by the pound, with 80% of the proceeds going to maintain the refuge, and the remainder to the Scouts. It’s a nice bit of recycling where the antlers the elks shed each winter help finance the purchase of their supplemental feed for the following year.
Last year’s take was a disappointing $47,000 on 6,000 pounds of antlers, but this winter was severe and with 10,000 elk remaining on the refuge, Scouts gathered 15,000 pounds.
I know it sounds goofy,” said one Scout leader. “But the world price for antlers is set right here.”
Such is the competition for antlers that two local brothers left their ranch at midnight last Monday, leading pack horses through deep snow for seven miles to be first at the gathering grounds at dawn.
Snow still covers the bike path and rain arrives late each afternoon. But welcome bursts of sunshine punctuate the days, illuminating the neon yellow of spring willow shoots and revealing the first of the wildflowers in the meadows. And by next week, the bison may drop their calves.
Pictures at: (Click on first photo to view one at a time.)
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