Monthly Archives: June 2012

Wild Yellowstone – Day 8 (Yellowstone National Park)

Another relatively early start to the day, but rather than pre planned locations we would stop as and when the mood took us or an opportunity for a good photograph arose.

Our first stop was near the Mount Haines viewpoint on the West Entrance road. We had noticed a small heard of elk were making their way across the Madison River, and the light on the far bank was really quite lovely. Fortune favoured us because having crossed the river, the elk stopped to graze for a few minutes.

Elk Calf in Morning Light, Madison Meadow

As we made our way along the Firehole River we came across a Great Blue Heron. Just as we stopped the cars it flew out from the river onto the bank. Fortunately, for us it stayed out of the shadows and we all managed to get a few reasonably good shots.

Great Blue Heron, Firehole River

Our next stop was along the Firehole Lake Drive, which branches off the Grand Loop Road about half way between the Lower and Midway Geysers Basins.  We had been along this road a few days earlier and photographed the White Domed Geyser, but on this occasion we would spend most of our time concentrating on the colour and details to be found in the algae mats and run-offs from the hots springs and thermal pools.

Firehole Spring, Firehole Lake Drive

The Artist’s Paint Pots area was another interesting stop. It’s a relatively small area with a short but steep hike up to a couple of large and very active mud pots. I managed to get a few shots with the pots spurting hot mud into the air, but my favourite shot of the stop was of an American Robin. Pretty much everywhere I went, the Robin followed or was it the other way round 😉

American Robin, Artist’s Paint Pots Area

Images edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.1

** Disclaimer** Above images are quick previews specifically for this blog so that friends and family can see how I’m getting on.

Wild Yellowstone – Day 7 (Yellowstone National Park)

Day 7 began very early (5.30 am) as we wanted to photograph sunrise over the river in Madison Valley and the steam and mist rising from the various geysers, hot springs and thermal pools of the Lower Geyser Basin. During winter and fall the steam and mist linger for much of the day, but in summer the high temperatures burn it off very quickly.

Lower Geyser Basin

By the the time we reached Tangled Creek (7.00 am) much of the steam and mist was already gone. Nevertheless, we decided it was still worth stopping and trying to make the best of what remained.

Skeleton Trees at Tangled Creek

The plan for the remainder of the day was to make our way across the park to the West Thumb Geyser Basin. This basin lies on the shores of Lake Yellowstone and is always very popular with tourists coming into the park via the South East Entrance Road. As it happened we arrived at West Thumb at the same time a two fully laden buses of Chinese tourists. A sturdy tripod comes in very useful in such occasions 😉

Tree Swallows Mating, West Thumb Geyser Basin

On our journey back to West Yellowstone we made a short stop at Black Sand Basin, which has always been a personal favourite of mine. Given the lack of steam and mist from the thermal pools we wouldn’t normally have bothered, but on this occasion it provided an opportunity for panorama shots of Sunset Lake.

Sunset Lake, Black Sand Basin

 Images edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.1

** Disclaimer** Above images are quick previews specifically for this blog so that friends and family can see how I’m getting on.

Wild Yellowstone – Day 6 (Yellowstone National Park)

Day 6 took us along a section of Yellowstone’s Grand Loop road over the Dunraven Pass. Given its height this area of the park is closed during the winter and when there are heavy snow falls at other times of the year. Having not been able to see this area of the park on my four previous visits I was pleased to finally experience the splendour of the pass, the views from Mount Washburn and the Hanging Valley at Tower Falls.

Hanging Valley, Tower Falls

During our drive over the Dunraven Pass we made a number of stops to photograph the wild flowers. We even managed to see a Grizzly Bear mother and cub, but sadly they were too far away to make a useable photograph.

Alpine Spring Beauty, Dunraven Pass

In the afternoon, we spent an hour or so photographing the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone from the various viewpoints. My favourite viewpoint is Artist’s Point from where it is possible to photograph the Lower Yellowstone Falls head on. The lower falls are just over 300 feet high and in winter it freezes. Even in summer it’s possible to find snow and ice lingering in areas shaded from the sun.

Lower Yellowstone Falls from Artist’s Point

Our return drive back to West Yellowstone took us along a section of the Grand Loop Road bordering the Gibbon River. Again, many stops were made, but the most enjoyable was coming across a pair of Bull Elk in ‘Elk Meadow’.

Bull Elk Grazing in Elk Meadow

 Images edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.1

** Disclaimer** Above images are quick previews specifically for this blog so that friends and family can see how I’m getting on.