Photos > [2009-10-04] Yellowstone National Park
I visited Yellowstone during my trip out West in late '06. Due to the road conditions and the relatively low volume of visitors in the winter, only the North gate is open, and most of the park is closed off except to snowmobiles. In the parts that are open, though, the winter conditions make the scenery great.
Most of the photos are from the Mammoth hot springs, the main "attraction" still open in winter. Part of the hot springs were frozen over or inactive, but Canary spring at the top of the terrace was still piping hot. It's the most constantly active, and sustains different kinds of algae and cyanobacteria, creating different bands of colors in the water and along the terrace.
Bison roam around freely in the park, so I got several good bison shots. I got a bit too close for the shots posted below, particularly this one - I was about 30-40 feet away when this shot was taken, after which a park ranger came along and scolded me. Apparently that's a bit too close to stand.
In addition to the bison, in one afternoon I also saw hundreds of pronghorn, a few coyotes, and even a couple of elk, though I didn't get any good photos.
Update: I returned to Yellowstone in the autumn of 2009, getting a few good shots of geysers and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
