An afternoon in Yellowstone National Park including the Grand Prismatic.
I spent the afternoon on September 10th, out at the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone. The trip there was very interesting. The day was beautiful, sunny and a warm 65 degrees. Then I started driving towards Yellowstone. The skies turned dark and a small smile appeared on my face. Dramatic cloud formations are frequently able to be captured after a good storm.
Well… the storm part turned into hail coming down so fast that the whole road and surrounding area turned white. I had to slow down just for visibility and decided to pull into a picnic area for a snack as I waited to see what the storm would turn into. As soon as I stopped the hail turned to rain and the hail on the roads was mostly washed away in a couple minutes. What a great start, I had not even made it to Yellowstone yet.
Once inside the park the day stayed mostly cloudy and windy. The Grand Prismatic Spring was pretty and there were many people walking the boardwalk and up on the overlook. After my trip around the boardwalk I drove down the parking lot farther south that is the trailhead for the overlook.
I took my Canon 10-18mm lens and my 55-250mm lens, and one was took close and the other wasn’t close enough. I still like some of the images, but I will have to go back with a lens in between those two. On the way back down to the car, there was a bison about 20 feet off the side of the trail grazing. I stayed on the far side of the trail and was able to get some nice pictures of him.
Heading back I saw brake lights and several cars slowing or stopping… sure sign there is an animal near the road. As I get closer I see three Elk cows and each had a calf. You have to be really quick with the camera, or really lucky, which I was neither this time, but one of the calves started nursing, and momma did not like that. All I got was a picture of momma Elk walking away. Further on down the road were more brake lights and two more Elk cows.
The trip was eventful in getting some images, but also finding more places to take pictures, and times to take pictures. The journey continues….
Planning your own trip? Visit https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm the National Park Service website for Yellowstone. They have alerts, road closures and hours of operation. If you are visiting and coming in through the East Entrance you will be driving through or maybe staying at or near Cody Wyoming, check out the city website here: https://www.cityofcody-wy.gov/ . Or a quick trip from your desk, check out the Galleries several images of Yellowstone are in the Nature section. Enjoy your trip, it is a beautiful area.