High up in the canyon and a light rain starting, I came across this little fellow. It was a ways off and disappeared into the boulder field. To my surprise it popped up a few minutes later on the other side of the trail. I edged closer until it was in range of the my 100-400mm lens and took this picture, which reminds me of Mr. Burns from the Simpsons.
The rain picked up and I decided to turn around, up ahead was a narrow cliff passage and I'm scared of heights. I doubt I would have continued on a sunny day, but especially not now as the rain made the rocks slick. I knew my wife would never forgive me if I slipped off to my death so I headed back down the trail, happy that I had gotten what I came for.
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Winter Colors
I came across this pika hiking up to Amphitheater Lake in the Tetons and stopped at the same boulder field on my way back down, the location was out of the wind and I was ready for some food and water. Some dark-eyed juncos splashed in a natural bird bath a few feet away, and then the little pika made a return appearance.
Though taken in the fall, the picture shows mostly winter colors. You can see a little of the oranges and yellows from the autumn leaves, but mostly the background is dominated by the white of the small snowfields. There wasn't a lot of snow at this elevation, but a little higher up the snow was already inches deep on the trail. |
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Fall Colors
I had never seen pikas before visiting the Tetons. This is the second one I saw, sitting in a boulder field along the trail to Death Canyon! The first was a little earlier on the trail but also a little further away. This was one was much more cooperative and so I spent quite a bit of time watching it. It eventually popped up onto this rock with a view of the fall colors behind it. A beautiful moment on a beautiful trail in a beautiful park.
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