Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Dinosaur Roadtrip
I am laying in bed with some internet after a 2 week road trip and I'm bummed its already over. We had a blast and got to see and do some amazing things, with great people, in beautiful places. The trip started off leaving Denver and headed to Sheridan and Billings for a few nights to see my family. From there we drove over to Mammoth in Yellowstone where we were met with bison, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, deer, and elk in the first 10 minutes. I almost forgot what animals looked like after spending a year in the desert. It was very rare to see mammals and when you did, they were pretty small. Our friends set us up with a place to stay in Mammoth where we headed into Lamar Valley and got some good wildlife shots.
Bison Digging for Food
Bighorn Sheep Near the Road
After skiing and exploring the Mammoth and Lamar Valley area we got on a snow coach and headed down to Old Faithful for a couple nights. We spent the days skiing from geyser to geyser trying to get photos and video of as many as possible. We got to see Old Faithful go off a number of times, Castle and Daisy Geyser twice, and also Lion and Grand geysers as well. We skied about 15 miles during the stay and made it out to Biscuit and Black Sand Basins. Each day was nicer than the next, and the weather was cold so it made for some great geyser photography.
Grand Geyser
Castle Geyser and Old Faithful Geyser
Heart Spring and the Lion Group
Daisy Geyser
Castle Geyser and Rainbow
Old Faithful under the Clear Winter Sky
Curious Fox Near Black Sand Pool
From there we heard that there was going to be a big snow storm headed our way so we needed to head down to the Tetons if we planned on making it there at all. The next day we headed up to Flagg Ranch and skied out to Huckleberry Hotspring where we soaked for a while and had some beers. Then the weather came in and pretty much dumped 2 ft of snow on us over the course of the next couple days. We were able to make it out skiing, but the weather wasn't great for photos. On our last day we headed down to the Elk Refuge and went on a guided tour with one of the Naturalists where we saw some Pronghorn, Sheep, Bison, and a pack of 9 wolves eating on an elk that they had recently taken. They were too far away for photos, but they were awesome to watch in the spotting scope. After that we headed on a sleigh ride where we got to see the elk up close and personal.
Along the Trail to the Hot Springs
Bull Elk on the Refuge
Elk Sparring
After leaving the Tetons we headed to Dinosaur for a day of hiking to split up the drive back. It was a gloomy day but we got to do some off-trail hiking and we even found a dinosaur bone. We also explored some cool petroglyph panels before we had to call it quits for the day due to rain.
Scenic Ridgewalk
Checking out the Lizard Panel
Next we are headed to Colorado and Winter Park to do some downhill skiing. Then I will be headed back to Moab for a little video work I am doing on the side. Hopefully I will line up some trips when I am down there and get to explore the area right when the flowers start popping. I hope all is well with everyone else.
Special thanks to:
My Family in Sheridan and Billings for letting us crash and throwing us a party, Neal and Jenn for putting us up and showing us a great time in Yellowstone, Clay, Aimee, and Elizabeth for taking care of us in the Tetons, Dan and Lesha for setting us up with the hotel in Dinosaur and Corrie for being a worth road trip companion.
Comments
Your photos are brilliant! The lone bull elk in front of a row of cows headed the opposite direction is so cool and represents the life of a bull elk in such unique way.
Thanks for sharing! Happy trails.