Yellowstone: Day 2

Yesterday was a long day in Yellowstone, but I was able to get a great night sleep and I woke-up at 6am feeling very refreshed. After reading a road trip update from my parents (they are up in the Canadian Rockies) I got dressed and went down to warm-up the G8. It had dropped to 27 degrees overnight and it took a while for everything to get to operating temperature. Just before the sun came over the horizon I set out towards the Lamar Valley.

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I saw many of Yellowstone’s geological attractions yesterday, but today I wanted to “hunt” for wildlife. The drive to the Lamar Valley was nice, but it’s quite difficult to drive and scout for animals at the same time. I also had to dodge piles of bison poo that littered the road… every time I had to drive over one I wondered if it was a “high fiber morning” and I’d not be able to clear it.

The first wildlife I came across was a herd of bison alongside the road. I pulled-over and got setup to take some photos. The sun didn’t make it much warmer, but standing on the side of a road in freezing temperatures was totally worth it.

While I was surrounded by bison I just had to take the chance to get a few photos of the G8.

While I was preoccupied taking photos of my car I missed the chance to photograph a badger that decided to join the party. By the time I knew what was going on it was running away into the distance.

After I had my fill of bison I moved on down the road to find some more critters to photograph. It didn’t take me long to find a group of pronghorn (antelope) relaxing in the morning light.

It feels a bit strange going through all this work to photograph pronghorns, since they were a daily sight on my trip to work when I was in Utah. I wish I’d known then that they are the fastest land mammal in the Western Hemisphere (evolved to outrun cheetah).

I continued into Lamar Valley in an attempt to find wolves, but it seems I missed them by ~45 minutes. Nature photography takes lots of patients and even more luck… I keep having to remind myself that I’m “on a driving vacation” not a “photography vacation”. One of these days I need to get back here with enough time to spend days camped out for that once in a lifetime photo!

At this point the light was getting higher in the sky (bad for photos), so I decided to head into Canyon Village to get some lunch. After some food I was feeling very sluggish and unmotivated… where should I go now? How about Inspiration Point!

Yeah, that worked (the caffeine I had didn’t hurt). With my new found second-wind I made a short hike down to the “Brink of Upper Falls” and dangled myself out over the edge to snap a photo.

While I was out looking for wolves I heard rumor that there was a bison carcass in Hayden Valley that has had some large predators feeding on it. I drove out there, found a parking spot (there were a bunch of other people there), and spent the next three hours tracking the wildlife. It was awesome watching several sets of wolves and even a grizzly bear come in to feed. I took lots of photos, but unfortunately everything was very far away… even with my long lens (and an extender) none really came out.

Despite having great light for photos, I made my way back to Mammoth early so I wouldn’t have to eat canned ravioli for dinner again tonight. After sorting through today’s photos I took a shower and got ready for bed. It was a really long day, and I have one more to go… time for sleep!