Subject: [Tweeters] RFI: Need advice about Yellowstone + Teton road trip, next week
Date: Tue May 29 21:20:40 PDT 2018
From: Chazz Hesselein - chazz at hesselein.com

Dear Rohan,

I made a trip to Yellowstone with a drive back through the Tetons a couple of years ago. I had a couple of target birds that took me a lot out of the way driving there and a little out of the way in Yellowstone. On the way I wanted to see Boreal Chickadee and White-winged Crossbill that had been reported in NE WA so I took Hwy 20 across state. Pretty drive but way out of the way. In Yellowstone I've seen wolves on two visits in the Hayden Valley. We went through the Lamar Valley on the way to my other target species, Black Rosy-Finch, on the Beartooth Hwy. (http://beartoothhighway.com/beartooth-highway-maps/). The Beartooth Highway is a national scenic highway and worth the trip. There were wolves denning in the Lamar Valley a couple of weeks before we were there so that's another spot for wolves. BTW, it was so crowded in the main geyser areas when we were there in August that we hardly spent any time at the main geysers and spent most of our time in the Hayden Valley area.

I went home by way of the Grand Tetons and only drove through but stopped at the Jackson Lake Lodge. We came through southern ID on the way home. Going that way we passed through the Craters of the Moon National Monument and stumbled on the Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area (https://idfg.idaho.gov/ifwis/ibt/site.aspx?id=77). We were there at the wrong time of year but you should be hitting it just right. There's a nice place to stay in nearby Fairfield, ID; the Prairie Inn (http://www.theprairieinn.com/). As you're coming home from here you can stop at the Spring Creek Great Gray Owl Management area between La Grande and Pendleton, OR (https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/wallowa-whitman/landmanagement/resourcemanagement/?cid=stelprdb5287707). You're getting to the end of the breeding season, but they should still be on nest. You can call the forest service office and ask a biologist for directions to an active nest.

Have fun!

Chazz Hesselein
Port Orchard, WA