My trip to Yellowstone was so INCREDIBLE! Everyone in the group was just great (well, except for one guy, but once we pointed out where he was going awry, he backed off :)), and he ended up being a hoot! Our photography guide, Zack Clothier, was really wonderful! He is a great teacher and a lot of fun to be around too! He is a slave-driver though as far as spending as much time as possible out in the field :)....up EARLY and back LATE! I still have not finished going through all my photos, but someday I will.
Anyway, our first four days were spent in a snow coach in the interior of the park. Saw some amazing wildlife and the most beautiful snowscapes imaginable! I may not get all of this in order, but you probably don't care anyway :)! Our first stop was at Norris Geyser Basin, which was so incredible with the colors and the steam from the geysers.
On our second day, I know we headed over to Fishing Bridge area, but don't recall where else exactly. I remember it was lightly snowing and I loved it! We ran across a few elk foraging through the snow for grass by the river. The first shot below was actually one of my favorites from the trip. I loved the look on this elks face and loved the snow falling all around her. After the elk encounter, we found a small herd of bison with a coyote just milling around between them. We watched that action for awhile, until one of the bison seemed to have had enough and chased the coyote away.
Probably my favorite moment of the whole trip....
Upon entering Lamar Valley area on our fifth day, we ran into a little fox and coyote drama. We stopped to photograph a sleeping red fox (along with quite a few other photographers, I might add), when all of a sudden a coyote crossed the road and started to go up the hill behind the fox. The fox was very sleepy and seemed oblivious to it all...and at a few points even got up to stretch and lay back down while the coyote was up on top of the hill looking down. In the third photo, if you look closely, you can see the fox curled up asleep on the hillside while the coyote was at the top. Another coyote also started moving in from the opposite direction, so we thought foxy was a goner...luckily the fox finally seemed to clue in and started looking alert. We were all relieved...UNTIL, the fox started moving up the hill toward where the coyote had been (he/she had disappeared behind the hill at this point), curled back up and went back to sleep. We waited for quite awhile to see if anything was going to happen, but we were standing in ankle deep snow and our cold feet finally won out. I am happy to report, however, that we stopped in this same spot (the fox had a den here in the rocks) the following morning and foxy was happily curled up asleep again! Whew!
After the fox and coyote drama, we ran into a herd of big-horned sheep. All the rams were very close to the road, while the females and youngsters were higher up on the hill. I took a lot of photos of these rams, but still haven't gone through them all yet. I did manage to process this one with the most magnificent horns! So majestic!
I haven't processed too many photos from the sixth and seventh days yet, but we did run into a few wolves and lots more bison. Here are a few shots from those days...I promise to post more soon!
On our last morning (so sad to leave this crazy magical place!), we got up super early and headed to Mammoth Hot Springs for sunrise. It was a beautiful way to end an incredible trip.
Well, thought I should post this while I had the time. I have a few more trips to post in the coming weeks...one to Yosemite and one to the beautiful Canadian Rockies. Oh, I'm headed to Churchill, Manitoba in 2-1/2 weeks for a photography tour...hope to see lots of polar bears, arctic foxes and snowy owls!