Stanley Mountain

Cloudless skies and quickly melting snow on the peaks made for a bland sunrise and landscape photos in general. 

Surprisingly, it turned into a wildlife day on the tundra. 

Once I slogged up the switchback I was rewarded with two ptarmigan that were molting.  They were beautiful with their summer colors highlighted by the remaining white feathers.  They didn’t seem to mind me too much.  They just poked around the tundra.  One seemed to be just as curious about me as I was about it.  It hopped up onto a rock above and just looked at me for a while.  I couldn’t help but smile. 

I was rewarded with solitude the whole way to and most of the way back from Stanley’s summit.  Hiking that distance on the open tundra is mindblowing with big views of the mountains in every direction.  Some mountains a hundred miles away.

I spotted a velvety buck and two doe mule deer on the slope.  They stopped and were watching too, but not me. 

There was a coyote walking along a snowfield just below me….yowza!  It was only 30-40 yards away.  He kept a watchful eye on me as I turned my camera to him.  

He would trot along turning to look at me and make sure I wasn’t following.  He stopped a few times as he started climbing up the slope.  Glad I’m not the only one that has to do that.  I was able to get a few decent shots of it standing on the slope with snowy mountains in the background. 

The deer took the opportunity to disappear.  And, I continued on my way back to the car.