Hoary Marmots in Mount Rainier
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What’s All This Then?
As I watched this hoary marmot, it kept turning and looking up over its shoulder. I could hear something rummaging around up and out-of-sight on the hillside but was surprised to see the marmot paying it so much attention. The source of the noise was revealed when this pika popped out and ran across the trail with twigs from several different plants in its mouth. It paused briefly before continuing into the talus field to store away its treasure for the winter, then returned to the hillside for more plundering.
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Marmot Hygiene
A couple of close-up marmot pictures from the Skyline Trail. With such close views, I could see that it still had a bit of its breakfast on its teeth and that it could have used a Kleenex. I don’t know why it surprised me that the same cold and rainy weather would give the marmot a runny nose just as it did me. You can see a bit of the rain in the second picture.
Remind Me Why I'm Not Hibernating Yet?
Snow dusted the higher elevations in the Sunrise area on my last morning but it melted when the sun rose. After hiking a bit on the Sourdough Ridge Trail hoping in vain to see marmots, pikas, or grouse, I dropped in elevation to the Summerland Trail. The trail is an uphill march mostly through a forest before you pop out into a mountain meadow at the very end of the trail, I chose it since there was a chance of seeing hoary marmots and elk in the meadow (the mountain views from the meadow are also spectacular and make up for the lack of views in the forest).
I didn’t see any elk but I did see a few marmots when I first entered the talus field. The afternoon sun didn’t make for good light for pictures but this marmot was shadowed by rocks where the snow hadn’t melted. I followed the trail through the rocks and saw more and more marmots until I realized just how large the colony is there at the end of the trail, this was by far the largest marmot colony of any species I’ve ever come across.
I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the marmots as at least one was usually close to the trail, taking advantage of every passing cloud to improve the light. I had thoughts about staying until sunset but I still had a long hike back down and while I had my headlamp, I was hiking alone and didn’t want to risk it. When the marmots that had been near the trail were no longer around, I took that as my cue and headed back down the trail.
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Snow Not White
Snow is usually white, but high on the Skyline Trail on the flanks of Mount Rainier the old snow of the distant snowbank was dirty and gave a gray background. I didn't have long to photograph this marmot, although I hadn't seen any other people on the trail that morning, right after I took this picture hikers came from both directions. They were really nice folks so I took time to chat and by the time we parted the marmot had wandered far from the trail.
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Thank You Little One, Thank You
I spent the afternoon watching the large colony of marmots at the end of the Summerland Trail, but it wasn't until the tail end of my day that I spotted this youngster, the only young one I saw on the day. It was so much smaller than the other marmots that I'd guess that it had been born in the spring and was about to face its first winter.
As the sun disappeared behind the mountains, some of the marmots started to head up towards what I assume was their home in the rocks above the trail. When the little one jumped down to follow, it landed on an unstable rock that crashed loudly onto the rocks below. The other marmots rose and froze to attention while the youngster sprinted up and away. I'm so jealous of how marmots speed across a jumbled talus field compared to my slow plodding even on the open trail that it was nice to see that even they occasionally put a foot wrong.
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Oh For Better Light!
When I saw that I could photograph this marmot against the brown background, I prayed that the heavy winds would bring cloud cover to soften the afternoon light, but alas it was not to be. I'd get some occasional clouds later in the day but by then the marmot was long gone.
You can't have everything. ;)
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Footprints in Stone
I always enjoy watching for animal footprints when I hike, such as the time I was hiking in Yellowstone in the rain and came across a water-filled grizzly print, or when I walked a sandy path beside the prints of a black bear and could see how it dug in its claws as it climbed or descended the short hills.
But it isn’t every day that you see footprints in stone. These prints were left by a hoary marmot that I had been photographing next to the Pinnacle Peak Trail in Mount Rainier National Park. It spent a great deal of time warming itself and watching the world from this flat rock which looked over the talus field, and when it got up for more foraging on the damp hillside I realized it left some wet footprints behind. I took a quick picture before they dried and were gone.
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Waddling Clothes
Two young marmots play in a mountain meadow as one of the adults of the colony looks on. While this adult had the typical lighter coloring, many others had a preponderance of dark fur and I suspect one of them may have been the parent of the black-faced youngster climbing down the rock.
We came across this colony in the early fall beside the Skyline Trail. You can see how chubby even the youngsters are at this time of the year as they prepare to hibernate through the long winter on the mountain. Despite being wrapped in waddling clothes, the marmots move with surprising speed when they want to, bursting across the talus fields with a speed that belies their bellies.
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Gang of Four
All hoary marmots have dark fur in their face and feet, and in some it extends into the shoulders and even legs. But this gang of four, part of a colony near the Skyline Trail in Mount Rainier National Park, had the most dark fur I've yet seen, mixing in over much of their bodies. Some of the others in the colony had more typical coloring and they intermingled between two large rocks, so I was pleased when these four finally got together to pose for their family portrait.
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Black Coat, White Coat
Another view of the marmots from the colony near the Skyline Trail, two juveniles being watched by an adult. With the two youngsters side-by-side, you can really see the variability in their coloring, black coat on the left and white coat on the right.
Different colors. Equally chubby.
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Saboteur
For over four years I photographed many mammals with my Canon 20D: from the humans, cats, and dogs of our home to the deer, elk, and bears that share my hiking trails. And always the furry little critters that run underfoot: chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, pikas, and marmots. This marmot on the Skyline Trail was literally the last mammal the camera photographed as the shutter died while I took pictures as it dined on nearby grasses. A moment before it had been preening on these rocks as the fog rolled past.
A saboteur in furry form? Perhaps, but an awfully cute one.
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Last Frame
This picture of a hungry marmot was the last picture my camera took before the shutter packed it in. At least it went out on a high note!
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More Marmots
Copyright © 2009 Richard Cameron
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Last modified: October 16, 2009
