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Lion Geyser, Yellowstone National Park |
Last January, our friend Owen Floody went on a photo tour
of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Owen recently retired from a
career of teaching and research at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He has
always been an avid photographer and in his retirement has taken several trips
that allow him to pursue his passion. Here is a short reflection on his Yellowstone
trip and some of his excellent photographs.
Once my photo tour at Canyon Village in Yellowstone National
Park (see Part 1, May 12) was over, I spent most of another week exploring the two other areas in
the park with winter accommodations, Old Faithful and Mammoth Hot Springs. I spent four nights at the Old Faithful Snow
Lodge before traveling by snow coach to Mammoth, where I spent another two
nights. Whereas travel by snow coach had
been a focus in my time with Yellowstone Expeditions at Canyon Village, I traveled
by foot at Old Faithful and Mammoth, supplemented by snowshoes on my one full
day at Mammoth. (Snow coach tours were
also available at Old Faithful and Mammoth.)
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Resting Geyser |
The thermal features at Old Faithful and Mammoth offer
potential sources of heat to animals, especially bison and elk.
In addition, they are sources of steam that
envelops nearby vegetation when the wind is right.
I came to Yellowstone hoping to photograph
bison or elk hunkered down in or near a hot spring to combat the cold.
I also hoped to see animals and plants
encrusted in snow and ice, especially in the morning, after a night's exposure
to the steam and cold.
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Warm bison |
These hopes were realized only in part: The plants had no
choice but to cooperate. But the temperatures during most of my visit were not
sufficiently low to keep the animals near the hot springs.
The one exception occurred early in my visit,
when the temperatures were relatively low and we briefly shared the road with a
snow-encrusted bison.
I did see some
bison at Old Faithful and Mammoth, but they looked positively toasty as they
plodded majestically along.
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Icy Bush |
So the emphasis was on landscapes, and even these had to be
caught early in the morning, before the icy crusts on the trees and shrubs
melted away. I typically would get out
into the thermal fields before sunrise, to capture the best light and
crusts. A late breakfast might have been
possible, but I usually made do until lunch with a candy bar or piece of
fruit. Hunger was never an issue as I
had lots to distract and occupy me.
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Icy Trees |
Other photo opportunities appeared and disappeared as
functions of cycles in thermal activity.
At Old Faithful, some of the geysers adhere to predictable schedules
displayed at the visitor's center.
Though I caught some of these eruptions, I also was lucky to
catch some unscheduled ones, some of which even coincided with the attractive
light of the late afternoon.
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Thermal runoff |
Finally, one of the joys of Old Faithful and Mammoth was the
fact that one is constantly in the midst of hot springs and geysers. Many are colorful themselves, but what I may
have enjoyed even more was the frequent riot of color in the streams bearing
the runoff from these features. Some of
these also present very unexpected and appealing textures. In some cases, it's hard to believe that
you're out in Yellowstone in the winter rather than floating underwater,
alongside a brightly colored tropical reef.
In this environment, I was amazed often, bored never.
Here I would like to add that Owen Floody done a great job and capture gorgeous views of Yellowstone. These breathtaking views motivate me to visit this splendid region. Next week I will go there with my friends by yellowstone tours packages to enjoy the natural scenery.
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