I love revisiting old haunts because there is the challenge of getting something you didn’t the first time as well as the excitement of seeing that place you first fell in love with. I got a text from my Dad, who’s up here leading a workshop, about Bighorn Sheep near Big Sky which is quite typical as they are frequent visitors to that area. Since it was such a beautiful day I decided to drive down but by the time I got there they had gone back up the hillside. Bighorn Sheep need very little water to survive but they do need it so they often come down once or twice a day to the rivers to drink and then head back up the slopes. I was a little too late, but it was still a beautiful drive.
Gallatin Canyon, like most canyons, is filled with little gems as the light goes up and back down throughout the day. The light was fading but this cliff face was lit up beautifully and was creating a great shadow on the pines of Gallatin Forest. I stopped and took a quick shot with the D4 and 70-200 VRII. That was my mistake. I should’ve stayed longer and looked closer. When I got home I noticed something funny in the image and then I saw it. A Marmot sunbathing on the lower peak of the rock face. The trail was leading right up to him and I missed it. If I had noticed he was there it would’ve been a great time to get the 600f/4 out. Why you might ask? Well biological landscape shots showing a critters habitat are just as important as a portrait of the subject. In this case it would’ve been a great shot to add to the files. On the plus side, now I know where to find him.