When we got up this morning, it was a beautiful clear and sunny day - the temperature was minus eleven degrees, with wind chill of minus 26 degrees. A good reason to hang around the warm hotel for a while before heading out to the National Elk Refuge, just east of Jackson. The refuge covers nearly 25,000 acres set aside to provide winter habitat for elk and other endangered species. It is the winter home of 7,500 elk, one of the largest herds in North America. Many of the elk here migrate from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks; it's one of the longest animal migrations in North America.
First we stopped at the Jackson Visitor Center. There were nice exhibits inside, but things were more interesting outside - that is, if you're into snow. There were mountains all around and a pretty snow scene in every direction.
The visitor center actually overlooks the elk refuge, but we wanted a closer look - we took a horse-drawn sleigh out into the refuge and were able to get quite close to some of the animals. They are accustomed to the horses and sleighs, so they tolerated our invasion pretty well. We spent most of our time looking at gathering of bull elk - with antlers ranging from small spikes to huge racks.
We headed back to Jackson for lunch and some walking around town. In late afternoon, we joined six others of our group for another sleigh ride - this time at the Mill Iron Ranch. This family-owned ranch is about 10 miles south of Jackson and then a couple of miles east along a snow-packed road that followed Horse Creek Canyon. The current owners are Chancy and Kim Wheeldon; Chancy's grandfather originally homesteaded here and the place has passed from the generations. Chancy and Kim's grown kids (Coby and Sadee) live here, along with Coby's wife and young son. The Wheeldon family raises horses - draft horses, riding horses and rodeo horses - and opens their home to small groups for winter sleigh rides and summer trail rides and hunting trips.
So ... the ranch is situated in a little valley or canyon. It adjoins the state elk refuge on one side and is bordered by national forest on the other sides. There are no neighbors and no entrance/exit except their road. A little bit isolated out here -- get that idea?
After we met all the family, we piled into a big sleigh, drawn by Cowboy and Classy, a matched pair of Belgian draft horses. Son Coby was our driver and he kept us entertained with stories about the ranch and its inhabitants - human and four-legged. The big excitement today was the sighting of a wolf nosing around their house and the elf refuge.
We rode first out to the back edge of the ranch to have a look at the elk - there's a herd of about 2000, but most of them were on the far side of the open field, just barely visible. A few female elk (cows) were grazing near the fence. As we sat and watched, a most amazing spectacle unfolded before us.
Out of the woods came the wolf, a big fellow wearing a radio tracking collar. The collar suggests that he was one of the wolves re-introduced into this area OR that he had been trapped and tagged when he was younger. We weren't really sure of gender, but the fact that he was alone, not part of a pack, suggests that he was a male.
This lone wolf slipped under the fence and gave chase to the elk. He seemed to have his eye on one cow elk that seemed a bit slow and weak.
As the wolf moved in, the whole herd went nuts - first scattering and then bunching back together - it looked like they flowed up the hill away from the wolf. We watched the wolf chase and circle; he and his prey disappeared from our view and we don't know the outcome - did he have elk for dinner or did he go home hungry? The elk that we could see seemed pretty nonchalant about the whole affair as they went back to munching grass.
Reluctantly, we headed back into the main area of the ranch to have a look at the horses - they were pretty nice, but not nearly as exciting as the hunting wolf.
As the sun dropped behind the hills, we headed back to the lodge for dinner. Chancy is the chef and his specialty is an inch and a quarter thick T-bone steak. Kim added corn on the cob, baked potato, salad, bread and dessert - and soon we all were well-stuffed. We said our good-byes and headed back to town, well-pleased with this outing - not many folks ever see a wolf in the wild, even fewer see one on the hunt - what a great day.
