Yellowstone Trip - September 2011

Hi Everyone,

I just made a quick trip to Yellowstone National Park. I only spent four days there, and I had a lot to cram into those four days, but I did manage to get a little bit of photography in. I have posted two new images from this trip. One afternoon Norman and I hiked to Lone Star Geyser. It's an easy three mile walk along an old road. Lone Star erupts about every three hours, and we had a two-hour wait. Prior to her main eruption, Lone Star had a pre - eruption. There were a few other spectators, and after this unimpressive performance (compared to her real eruption) all but one couple left. I had a feeling that she was not done yet, and sure enough 30-minutes later she put on one of the best performances ever. She spurted water high into the sky for a full twenty minutes, turning the sky black with steam. I found the best angle with the best lighting and took some shots. There were a few moments when a rainbow appeared in the rivulets of water cascading back down, I watched the rainbow form, and then click, captured the full scene. If you'd like to see this image you will find it in the Yellowstone album.

On my last morning, the morning I had to drive back to Colorado, I was up bright and early (too early actually) to capture the sun rise in Hayden Valley. I had my spot chosen ahead of time, and arrived just before the sun rose. I set up my camera in the cold, shivering a little. It wasn't too bad until it started to drizzle, at which point I took my coat off and draped it over my camera to protect it. My car was parked a little way off, and I didn't want to dash to it to get another coat, and leave my camera standing alone, so I just got wet. I am after all, waterproof. I took some shots of the first light, and waited out the whole sunrise. Wow, it was spectacular! More than I'd hoped for. There were some clouds that reflected the suns first rays back down onto the Yellowstone River, and between the rain showers it was still, with no wind, and the trees reflected in the water perfectly. I decided to add three of the pictures I took that morning to my Yellowstone and Sunrise/Sunset albums. I hope you will take a look at them.

I don't have any more trips out of town planned for a while, but here in Estes the aspen leaves are just beginning to turn, and the elk are bugling. Hopefully I will get an opportunity to capture a special moment right here in my home base.

Here's hoping you have a wonderful fall, or spring (depending where you are in the world).

Bye for now,
Roxy