Even the Smallest of Observers ...

... can enjoy Old Faithful:

Although, I think this guy was way more interested in soliciting crumbs from the human observers of the geyser, than the geyser itself.

"Can I pretty please have some crackers? Please??"

The Rolling Photo Safari

A new approach to capturing the action!

Yellowstone rocks in all sorts of ways ...

I have to admit, Yellowstone is one of my favorite places, if not THE favorite place, I have ever been. Because of my feelings, I have managed to finagle trips there AOAP (as often as possible). This recent trip was my 3rd visit, and it was great to share a place I love, with people that I love, people that had not been to visit before. Each time I visit, I leave feeling like a kid again, thrilled that nature has come up with things I could not have begun to imagine, and I think my travel mates felt the same way.


This trip, we had the luxury of more time to explore, and I used this opportunity to visit places a little more off the beaten path in the park, places I hadn't ever gotten to. One of these places was Harlequin Lake, a small body of water that lies on a ledge above the valley of the Madison River.

Here's the sunset from Harlequin Lake. Mom, Justin, and I took the short trek to Harlequin while Dad was busy with elk. The lake was very peaceful, but we were able to observe a number of ducks, and what was most likely a beaver. A great finish to our first foray into the park!

SPS: Yellowstone Warm-Up

We'll be heading out West next weekend, to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. I am posting a picture from Yellowstone to get warmed up this weekend. Here's the last one out of a set of black and white photos I took almost three years ago now.

This is the general landscape outside of Gardiner, MT, the northern entrance to the park. I'm also posting the picture in color, because I'm not sure anymore which one I like best!

The twist with this upcoming vacation is that my parents are going to be along for the ride. They have not been out West, so it's going to be an all-around adventure. I am sure you'll see quite a few interesting blog posts from my Dad and me in early September!

SPS goes Black and White again

Last Saturday, I promised I'd share the rest of my b & w Yellowstone pictures, so here they are:

This formation, I think, is known as the buffalo. It does have that shape to it. The buffalo is one of the hot springs in the Mammoth Hot Springs area.

As you drive into the Mammoth Hot Springs area from the south, you look out across a valley to a dramatic rock face.

And finally, a trumpeter swan preening in a small lake. We found two swans and were able to approach quite closely, as long as we took a few steps at a time and gave the birds to become used to our presence.

SPS goes Black and White

Sandy has been doing her best to convince you all that Bryce Canyon is the best place ever, so I am feeling the need to lob a few more Yellowstone shots out there :)

A ranger told us that this elk had been fighting fairly heavily the day before, and was probably resting on this day. He was tucked away in the remnants of a marble terrace, out of the sight of other bulls. The ranger told us that many elk like to hang around the hot springs formations in the cooler weather, because of the heat the springs provide.

These three shots were all taken in and around Mammoth Hot Springs, on the northern edge of the park, back in fall of 2005. I remember learning that this area is like an "inside-out" cave, because the hot water seeps out of the ground and deposits marble (travertine, I think?) in terrace-like formations as it evaporates. The entire area is enchanting.

I found that I had five or six shots that, for whatever reason, looked average in color, but really appealed to me in black and white. I will have to share the other three shots next week :)

Parks are Super!

My friend Sandy and I really enjoy the ABC Wednesday and SkyWatch Friday group posts that many of our bloggisphere friends take part in, and it sparked a little idea in our heads.

Now if you've kept up with either one of our blogs, I'm sure you know that we like to get out and about and travel. And that both of us are incurable National Park junkies :)

Something you may not know is that we both have lots and lots of pictures from parks that we've been itching to post, and now, we've decided to give ourselves an excuse to post park pictures every week:


I'm not sure how the other groups are managed, or how everyone keeps up with everyone else who posts, but I'm imagining this as a really informal group. If you want to come and visit and see what parks we have up on a particular Saturday, that's great. If you want to use the emblem and post your own park pictures on Saturday, that's great, too! If you want to make your own emblem and post your own park pictures, why not?!? [NOTE: After some helpful comments from other posters, I am trying out the Mr. Linky system ... look for it at the very end of the post! Big thanks to those who suggested it.]

I'm planning on posting shots from National Parks all the way down to neighborhood parks. As long as its public land, its fair game :)

If you would like to join us, I will keep a "master list" of folks who are posting park pictures, until the point when (if it ever does) it gets complicated enough that we need a better organizational thingamajiggy :)

Since I wanted to start things out with a bang (or maybe I should say, splash!) here's my first park shot:

This is a geyser in Yellowstone National Park, which, to risk sounding 13 years old, is my favorite park EVER :) It isn't Old Faithful, but it was within spitting distance of it. Its name escapes me now.

Here it Is!

I had to scan in a page from a scrapbook to get this picture - this was well before I went digital! This is Pilot Peak in Yellowstone. It supposedly got its name because pilots used its distinctive shape as a landmark in the old days. I read in the guidebook that it looks somewhat similar to the Matterhorn in Switzerland. I don't know whether either fact is true, but this remains my favorite mountain :)

It is at the beginning of an abso-frickin-lutely beautiful drive called the Beartooth Highway. I would highly recommend it to anyone.