Yellowstone has been on my wish list since I started this whole process several years ago. Not only is it the oldest national park in the world but it is also among the most spectacular. They've got just about everything ... wild animals, spectacular scenery, geothermal features out the wazoo (over 10,000) ... there's something for everyone. I'd been intending to go there earlier in the trip but was told that the park was mostly closed due to heavy snow so it would have been a waste of time and money to try getting there. But I had time at the end of the trip so I made the 1000 mile drive from Albuquerque to the park in the middle of May. Spent over a week in Grand Teton and Yellowstone and it was worth every minute I invested. I could have easily spent another week and still not visited all the areas. I took almost 3000 images in that week, almost half of all the images I took for the whole trip. It was amazing and made the cycle worth the effort. Had I not gone I would have written off the entire trip as a waste.
One of the attractions is the big animals. They have buffalo, elk, moose, bear, wolves, coyotes ... in abundance. I was in Mammoth Hot Springs for 5 days and almost every day there was a large herd of buffalo living in the center of town. I also ran into them on the road several times, so close I could have rolled down my window and stroked their flanks. Not a good idea of course because buffalo are know for their hair trigger tempers and they can destroy a car in a heartbeat. Also ran into several bears including a mother and her cub that took up residence on the side of the road and disrupted traffic for several days. It's almost comical to watch people when they see bears. They slam on the brakes and pull off the road, oblivious to traffic and anything else around them. They will literally chase a bear with their cameras trying to get a shot. Of course, only an idiot chases a bear and there are "accidents" every year between people and bears ... the bear almost always wins unfortunately. Also, unfortunately, quite a few bears are killed or injured by cars driving too fast on the road. There's a reason why the speed limits are 35-45 mph on roads that look like they can easily handle 60. It's all about the animals.
Anyway, the last day in Yellowstone I wanted to take a sunrise at Yellowstone Lake. That required me to get up really early, like 4 am, and drive down past Old Faithful to a town called West Thumb which is on the lake. Coming down the hill above town I see a good spot to set up my camera so I hang a quick u-turn and park off the road. Set up the tripod and camera and start shooting. After a few minutes I hear loud billowing coming from the valley below but don't think anything off it. Figure it's a moose or buffalo. Keep shooting when suddenly, there's a loud crashing noise and a medium size black bear, probably a female, comes blasting out of the trees not 50 feet from me and goes barreling across the road and down the slope on the other side. Not even sure she saw me but she was definitely in a big hurry to get somewhere. I guess I should have had a "holy shit" moment but I can't say I was really too excited. Heart rate barely changed and other than being startled by all the noise I had almost no reaction. Since the bear was between me and my truck I'm not sure what I could have done other than start yelling like crazy and flapping my coat. I would have used my tripod to keep the bear at bay so I could maneuver to my truck but that would have been the extent of my efforts. Had the bear really wanted to attack me I wouldn't have been able to do much. But man, that was definitely one of the biggest rushes I had. Definitely an interesting way to end my trip. Only wish I'd been able to point the camera and get a picture. Now that would have been something to capture!
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
One of the attractions in Yellowstone is the "Grand Canyon". Not nearly as large as the one in Arizona it is still pretty spectacular. The Yellowstone River has, over millions of years, carved a nice ditch through the soft rock which is several hundred feet deep and very impressive. I was there in the late afternoon and, fortunately, the place was pretty much deserted so I was able to set up my tripod and get a good panorama. I really like the drama it captures, of the darkening sky and the cliffs and the river far below. This is a pretty standard process, HDR in Photomatix, blending in Photoshop and finishing in Lightroom. All I can say if, if you have some extra time on your hands, please make a trip to the Northwest corner of Wyoming and spend some time exploring Grand Teton and Yellowstone. You won't be disappointed.
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| Grand Canyon of Yellowstone - 24mm,f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0 |
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