And just like that I had another wildlife encounter

Last weekend I took off with my boyfriend to enjoy some mountain time. My boyfriend wanted to ski and I wanted to get away to just simply enjoy some time away from the madness of being lonely without my Grunion at home and dealing with the beach crowds. We headed up to Mammoth Mt. to spend the weekend...we stayed at the village but my old time favorite place is Tamarack Lodge so I was determine to make my way there at some point. 

Once everyone left and we had the cabin to ourselves we planned my day to explore after he went skiing all morning. Off to Tamarack we went...I have loved that place ever since we stayed there a few years back. We have been lucky to always get the same cabin there so that make it even more special. I could enjoy the lake view, trails and explore with Grunion while my boyfriend would go skiing all day. I have always had great luck finding wildlife there...last time I even found bear tracks close to our cabin which made my trip super excited. Bear tracks importance you ask? Well I have a list of animals to see in the wild and bears are on top of that list. I have gone to many places where I could potentially see them and I am yet to see one, I've heard them and found bear tracks but not seeing a freaking bear yet. I even made my boyfriend get up before sunlight to go looking for bears in Yellowstone...I was so close (so I thought!) when a huge warm steaming hairy rump was behind some brushes. Oh I was ready to start crying with excitement when that steamy hairy beast got up and I realized it was a bison...oh the disappointment! So there...

Anyways, we got there and immediately I started to look for tracks away from where people would be walking further into the trails...there's still about 6 feet of snow on the trails, the bridges are cover over the rails and half of the lake towards the waterfall is still frozen so that's were I was heading towards to see if I could check out some tracks going in and out of the one open spot of water on the edge of the waterfall when my boyfriend said to me; "is that a bald eagle?" I wasn't sure and I wasn't even expecting to see one there, never even thought they would be in the area (not sure why but it wasn't something I thought I would see there I guess). But there it was this massive majestic beautiful bird soaring above the pine trees in the same direction we were heading to. I tried so hard to get a picture while it was flying but I could not for the life of me to find it with the camera lens and I kept sinking in the snow (I am a beach girl, I know how to walk on sand but snow is something I don't have the finest to walk on without struggling). Once it finally perched itself on a pine tree I was able to find it to take pictures but none do it justice. We were a few hundred yards away, I was sinking on every step I took and the wind started blowing like crazy just in time when I was trying to take pictures.

I have learned a few things throughout my wildlife encounters...1) Patience is a requirement if you want to see something, 2) The conditions aren't always going to be in your favor for you to take that amazing shot to show everyone what you saw, 3) If you waste your time fighting with the camera, wind and snow, you will missed the opportunity to appreciate the encounter. On that note I stopped fighting the camera and used it as binoculars instead. Shares it a few times with my boyfriend so he too could see the gorgeous bald eagle mother nature had just gifted us. It was a very unexpected surprise to see it, I had seeing bald eagles in the wild before but never closed or long enough to appreciate the beauty. I am still stoked about it and I can't wait to go back to look for more and continue to look for my bear tracks of course :^)

*Even when you least expected nature will surprise you...never will you ever have the same experience, encounter or opportunity to appreciate the moment so don't miss that chance, look around and enjoy every little bit of it. Look deep, be patience and let nature express itself to you...you wont regret it!

Maria

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