I first visited Yellowstone 30 years ago (I use the term "visited" loosely. I traveled through with a family and we spent about a half a day in the park. We saw Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone). Yellowstone is Huge, and the beauty of what I saw in those few hours ignited a spark in me that made me want to return.
However, returning wasn't going to be that simple. You see, I live near Yosemite, and that grand place has a tug on my soul that can't be ignored. So when I'm able to get out, my first thought always goes to Yosemite and it's granite cliffs and domes, it's awe-inspiring waterfalls.
But my lovely and patient wife finally decided that she wanted to go someplace different. If I had to choose someplace other than Yosemite, where would it be?
Yellowstone. That burning ember came quickly back to mind. I had paid rapt attention years earlier when I heard news of the wolves re-introduction to Yellowstone. You see, I love true wilderness, and wolves represent wilderness to me more than just about anything else. A decades old dream would come true, if only I could see some wolves in the wild. And to hear them howling? Wow! But how likely would this be? More on that later.
We spent our first day in the Canyon area (Grand Canyon of Yellowstone) and took a ranger-guided hike of its southern rim. We learned a lot about the geology of Yellowstone, what caused the canyon, how it was affected by the thermal features beneath it, the last glacier, and more (later in the week we hiked the North Rim Trail, where the middle two of these images were taken. Whenever it started to sprinkle we were amused to watch the "Vista Pull-Out Takers" rushing back to their cars, apparently afraid that they would melt in the rain). Ranger-guided tours are truly a wonderful resource. We also got to take an hour and a half walk of the Old Faithful area with a ranger, Terrance, and his knowledge and enthusiasm made for an extremely fascinating afternoon.
I made my way into Hayden Valley on an old trail, its' whereabouts gleaned from a helpful Yellowstone pro on the backpacker forum.I started early, and it was drizzling. Ahhh, perfect. The trail was a little mushy in spots, but I had been forewarned, so I wore my water-proof, all leather hiking boots. Not far into the hike I found that some buffalo had decided to take a rest just about 20' from the trail. Having had it drilled into my head how dangerous and unpredictable these animals can be, I detoured around them, giving them a birth of over 25 yards.Past the buffalo, I found myself constantly singing. You see, this is grizzly bear territory, and one of the best ways to avoid getting mauled is to make sure that you don't surprise them. Whenever I couldn't see around a corner or over a hill, I'd sing (maybe this is why people don't hike with me? :)). Of course I had bear spray, but I'd rather not have to use it.The Valley was wide and wild. As I looked at my feet I was mesmerized by the Lilliputian community of ferns, mosses and flowers.
We were fortunate enough to have some "bad" weather each day. I love some wind and rain. It adds character to the landscape, and what is more, sends many people scurrying inside. The next day I took the Lower Blacktail Deer Creek Trail into the Black Canyon of Yellowstone. I didn't find the trail itself all that fantastic, but the weather did make for some nice photo opps.
The wildflower display was quite nice. It seemed odd to be surrounded by wildflowers that were foreign to me. I knew some of the flowers: lupine, larkspur, and another flower that my wife and I thought was Mules' Ear, but turned out to be a close relative (the yellow flower here is Arrowleaf Balsaam Root).
The middle flower (pink) is Montana's State Flower, the Bitterroot. Small & delicate, it takes your breath away.
The flower on the bottom is Prairie Smoke, and it really caught my eye. The sun's rays caressed it gently, adding warmth to a thing of fragile beauty.
P.S. Thanks to Double Cabin & BackpackHNTR, both from the backpacker forum, for giving me an ID on the flowers.
The next day, since we were staying in the Tower-Roosevelt area, we spent the day exploring Lamar Valley, which is appropriately known as America's Serengeti, because of its abundance of wildlife.
Later that day, as the rain poured, we hiked up Specimen Ridge and got some wonderful views of the canyon's lower reaches. Also here, a layer of basalt was present (had also seen this in other places in the park). This layer looked like hexagonal columns of stone. They were formed when a several foot layer of molten lava cooled quickly.
Looking below, we also saw ospreys sitting on their nests, as well as a family of mountain sheep. The osprey were observable through binoculars, but too far away to get a descent picture of.
This family of mountain sheep weren't all that concerned about us, but the mother did lead her lambs to the cliff in short order. It amazed us, watching these ungainly looking animals as they easily maneuvered what appeared to us, to be a completely unnavigable cliff face.
Now back to the wolves. One of the many helpful members of the backpacker forum suggested that Lamar Valley was the place to find them. He said that the best way to do so was to take a ride down the valley and look for people with scopes, or for a vehicle with antennas. I never did see the vehicle, but I found a number of people with scopes, on the road to Slough Creek Campground. By the time we found them, it was the middle of the day, so we decided to return bright and early the next day. We returned around 7 a.m.
We were at a bit of a disadvantage because we only had binoculars. People with scopes were seeing wolves and pups playing. The wolves were too far away for us to see the pups..for that matter, we saw the adults only when they came completely out of the sagebrush and were fully exposed. One guy with a scope kept saying "I see an ear" or "Ohh, the pup is kissing its mom". We wanted to shove the scope down his throat :). But it was great to actually see a wolf. We saw a black one chase a raven that had been pestering them.
On our way back on another day I passed a "animal jam". Someone in another car told me that it was wolf pups. Very excited, I waited for a spot where I could pull completely off the road, and then ran back to the spot where the photographers were. Unfortunately, I only had my "point and shoot". I was a bit disappointed to find that the "wolf pups" were actually coyotes. Still, very enjoyable to watch them play and banter about. It was also a pleasure to get to know the photographers, who, like me, were more concerned about being courteous to fellow vacationers than getting the perfect shot.
We had seen many buffalo throughout our 7 days in Yellowstone. I had hoped to get a good shot of one, but each time we saw them from the car there was traffic behind us and I didn't want to force everyone to wait for my pleasure. The park warns that you should maintain a distance of at least 25 yards from buffalo, so when I was out of the car I was too far away from them to get a nice shot.
So, by our final day, Sunday, I had given up hope of shooting buffalo. Then as we came over a hump in Hayden Valley we gasped to find that a buffalo herd was in the process of crossing the road right in front of us. Soon we found ourselves in the midst of the herd. The lighting wasn't great for shooting, but of the 30 or so images I shot in quick succession I got about 5 worth keeping.
As soon as the herd passed, I pulled off to the side of the road, got out and clicked a few shots as they left.
Yellowstone is a very special place. I don't believe I will ever find a location that will knock Yosemite out of First Place in my heart; but in visiting Yellowstone my heart was forced to make room, lots of room, for a place outside of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.
