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The weather around Glacier National Park was less than perfect so I decided to take my buddy Howard to Yellowstone hoping for better. It was better, aided in part by the more Southerly latitude and we spent a great day in this awesomely interesting place!
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First stop: Mammoth Hot Springs. This place has visibly changed since my last visit in October 2002, some springs are now dry but others have grown. That's the nature of the place and part of what makes it so interesting. | |
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Throughout the day we crossed paths with participants of a photography workshop. I didn't mind; there's plenty of really interesting things to shoot here.
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| Yes! That's a BEAR! A bit fuzzy (I mean Howard's photo), but we were a bit excited to see it 30 feet away! | ||
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The Noris Geyser Basin is another nifty area with lots of steaming pools and spewing geysers. We walked around this place for a couple hours. | |
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| When I walked up to the cone of White Dome Geyser I thought only to photograph it with the beautiful blue sky behind. I then heard a hiss and a bit of a rumble and saw a puff of steam. A patient couple of minutes later and it was shooting 20 feet into the air! | ||
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Old Faithful Inn is as interesting to me as the geysers outside. This National Historic Landmark was built in 1903-4 by Robert C. Reamer, who wanted "the asymmetry of the building to reflect the chaos of nature." | |
| We got to the Upper Geyser Basin that contains Old Faithful late in the day but had plenty of time to prepare for it to blow. The expected times are posted at the visitor center and are accurate to the minute. |  |
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| I knew from experience that trails encompass Old Faithful and can afford a much better view away from the crowds. Our spot wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bad either. | ||
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After dinner we had just enough light to visit one more spring near Old Faithful. This time we were rewarded with a visit by several elk who were more concerned by our intrusion than the scalding pools nearby. Good instincts.
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We caught up with this old guy just before sunset. The route we'd taken through the park hadn't shown us many buffalo (bison) so we decided to stop and make the most of this encounter. As he began to move we saw his left hind leg was injured and he could only use it sparingly. Hobbled this way he could become prey for the predators in the park, but sadly that's often nature's way. | |
| Howard LOVES to photograph Sunsets -- insisting and even begging that I stop the car at times. Usually I get a bit annoyed and go on but in this place I couldn't deny the opportunity to watch a fitting end to the day. |  |
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On the other hand, I'm a bit partial to Moonrises reflecting off rivers with bison nearby! | |
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