Lessons Learned - Yosemite Coyote

Learn From My Mistakes! - Yosemite Coyote - Yosemite NP
It was just a few days before Christmas 2019. I had my new Nikon D850 and we were at Yosemite National Park. We were heading for the Chapel to get that "Postcard" shot and had parked around the corner 0.3 miles away.
Now that the scene is set, I committed my second mistake: Not taking all the lenses I should have.
I told my wife,"I'll just take the 24-70mm lens, it'll be great for the Chapel." And it was, but my failure to realize where I was and the potential of what might be right around the corner never crossed my mind. The coyote, in this image, hunting gophers. Jumping and pouncing repeatedly, and surprisingly coming up with a mouthful each time! I took some shots as best as I could with the lens at 70mm, and all the while asking myself, "Should I go back for the bigger telephoto?" I did not, which was my third mistake: not realizing I would have enough time to get a better suited lens for the amazing scene before me. It wasn't that far, probably a half mile total, but I feared he'd be gone when I returned. The reality was he was still in the vicinity, after we continued to the Chapel, took photos, built a couple of snowmen and returned.
Oh I left out the first mistake, on purpose, as I didn't realize it until later...my first mistake: I failed to check I had memory cards in both slots! Yes, I have photos, but all were saved as JPEG as I shoot RAW on the XQD card slot and redundant JPEG on the SD card slot.

So take gear for the area and its potential, go back and get it if it's close, and first of all check your gear before you head out!