Trip to Yellowstone National Park

My husband Bill is on spring break this week, so we took a short trip to Yellowstone National Park. The park doesn't open officially for another month, but the road to Cooke City, Montana is plowed all year around. The fifty mile road can give you quite a few astonishing views and my husband Bill shared a few with you below.

The north entrance of the park in Gardiner, Montana is the  home of the Teddy Roosevelt arch, with it's timeless motto, "For the benefit and enjoyment of the people".

The Mammoth Hot Springs terraces continue to create beautiful terraces all year long. The algae in the water creates different colors depending on the temperature of the water.

A close-up of the south terraces.

 Another close-up of the south terraces.

If you like to hike, this bridge over Soda Butte Creek will be the start of your journey to the back country.

There weren't a lot of animals to see on this trip, but this Bald Eagle was kind enough to pose in a tree near the Lamar River.

Thanks stopping by and be sure to check back Monday for a few more photos of our trip to Yellowstone National Park.

Presidents Day Trip

I won't be doing Make It in Minutes Monday  because we decided it would be a good weekend to go to Yellowstone National Park.

Only a northeast corner of the park is open to car travel in winter. The rest of the park is open for snowmobiles and snow coaches. We were only there a short time, so we visited the northeast corner.

This is the Buffalo Ranch in the Lamar Valley. It started out as a real buffalo ranch with the goal of restoring bison in the park. Once the bison were re-established, it was used for public education by the advocacy group,Yellowstone Forever. You can take classes from professionals on almost any topic, including geysers, photography, wildlife and the environment.

The weather has been very warm for February and you see there is lots of snow, but it has melted down quite a bit.

We did see wolves, but they were too far away for pictures. This coyote crossed the road in front of us and posed for a few pictures before moving on.

There are many bison on the Blacktail Plateau. Most seem to have come through the winter in good condition.

Some bison on the grounds at Mammoth Hot Springs. The old building in the background is known as the Mail Carriers Cabin.

This the north entrance on the edge of Gardiner, Montana. The arch was built in 1884 and has a plaque on the other side that says "For the benefit and enjoyment of the people."

I hope you enjoyed viewing Bill's pictures. Have a great day!

Labor Day Trip to Grand Teton National Park

We visited Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming over the Labor Day weekend. In lieu of a crafting post, my husband Bill is posting some pictures from our trip.

Hi all, hope you had a great weekend. Here's a few photos from our trip.

This is Mount Moran at Oxbow Bend. It is 12,605' feet tall. (3,843m)

Linda navigated us to some rustic buildings in an area known as Mormon Row. The buildings were built by early homesteaders beginning in the 1890s.

The whole area is about about 6 or 7 buildings spread out over a mile. Each one is gorgeous photo opportunity. The tallest mountain in the picture is Grand Teton at 13.776 feet tall. (4,199m)

We traveled through Yellowstone as well. The elk rut is just starting and this fellow has already captured himself a harem on the lawns of the Mammoth hotel and other buildings. His antler points are called 6x7, which indicates he is about 13 years old and in prime condition.

This fellow is only 6x5 and was about a mile down hill, biding his time. As the rut progresses, he will probably attempt to confront the one above. You might notice a bump on his nose. A ranger told me he got the bump by ramming a passenger van when he was two years old.

Thanks for visiting and come back Friday for Linda's Fab Five Friday!

Yellowstone Trip

Hello all. I hope you had a pleasant Memorial Day. We headed to Yellowstone National Park over the weekend and I thought it would be fun to share some photos by my husband Bill.

Thanks Linda! This area is known as Pelican Creek. the mountains in the background are on the east shore of Lake Yellowstone. This entire area may be flooded soon as the spring run-off raises the lake level.

This coyote was hunting rodents, and from what I observed, was pretty successful.

May brings bison calves. These ones were born recently and some still had their umbilical cord showing.

If its about 7:30 in the evening, it's nap time!

This Uinta Ground Squirrel was watching out for coyotes at about 8,000 feet on Mt. Washburn.

In the Hayden Valley, this grizzly was digging up food and put on quite a show for everyone.

A herd of bison swam the Yellowstone River. They give quite a shake when they climb up on the shore.

This huge bull bison napped in a meadow. Glad I had a 400mm telephoto lens to get this picture. All the animals are in the process of shedding their Winter coat and they look pretty shabby until Fall when they are all sleek and fat again. 

This beautiful swan and it's mate was swimming in the Firehole River near Old Faithful.

Whenever we visit the Old Faithful area, we always have to visit the Old Faithful Inn. It's said the be the largest log structure in the world. You can see four stories in this picture and it goes up another story or two above that!

Hope you enjoyed the photos and thanks for looking!

Just Got Back From Yellowstone

I took a short break from blogging as my husband Bill and I took a Labor Day weekend trip to Yellowstone National Park. I'd like to share some photos my husband Bill took while on the trip.

The weather was not great for photos as it rained a lot during the first two days. Bill got up early the last day and these are his best ones.

The clouds made beautiful patterns and colors just before sunrise over the Yellowstone River near Fishing Bridge.

After sunrise, a golden glow filled the landscape as the fog lifted.

The Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River are always an amazing sight. They drop 308 ft.

The elk are in full rut right now and showing off for the females.

I hope you enjoyed his photos.