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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Yellowstone National Park 2012, Part 1

Yellowstone National Park's Grand Loop Road forms a figure 8 in the center of the park. We entered from the Northeast Entrance through Cooke City-Silver Gate, Montana.


When we reached the east side of the Upper Loop, we dropped south a couple of miles to visit Tower Falls. After the long drive over the Beartooth Highway and then through Lamar Valley to the junction with the Upper Loop, Doug was ready for some ice cream at the Tower Fall General Store. To our dismay, the store was already closed for the season.

The beauty of the falls made up for the lack of ice cream. The 132-foot drop of Tower Creek, framed by eroded volcanic pinnacles, is very picturesque.

Driving north again on the Upper Loop, we soon came to the beautiful Undine Falls.

September is the season for the elk rut (mating season). On previous visits, it was common to see groups of elk throughout the national park. It's not so common anymore, most likely due to the reintroduction of wolves into the park several years ago. But there was no shortage of elk around Mammoth Hot Springs. When we reached the Mammoth Hot Springs historic district, we found the largest group of elk that we were to see anywhere on this trip.

This bull looked totally whipped.

Rustic Falls, located just south of Mammoth Hot Springs, on the western side of the Upper Loop.

Gibbon Falls, near Madison Junction

We spotted this Bald Eagle along the West Entrance Road the following morning.

A short side trip through the Firehole Canyon, on the west side of the Lower Loop, led to Firehole Falls, pictured above.

Mule deer in the Firehole River

Firehole River

There is so much beauty in Yellowstone National Park that it's hard to pick a few representative pictures to share on the blog. So, of course, there are more to come.



21 comments:

  1. Absolutely glorious, Linda. There is so much beauty indeed.

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    1. Thanks, Linda. I'm glad you enjoyed this look at Yellowstone.

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    2. I did indeed, Linda. I have never been there so it was like I have been upon seeing your lovely photos.

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  2. Very nice, what a glorious area to visit.I enjoyed all of the falls. There are some web cams in the park at Old Faithful and Mammoth
    springs.

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    1. Thank you, Steve. Now that you mention it, I think I've heard of those Web cams. I need to go check them out. Thanks for that tip. One of our favorite geysers is Riverside, but its eruption didn't fit into our schedule on this trip.

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  3. just awesome falls! love the elk and deer, too. totally jealous over the bald eagle! :)

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    1. I was pretty proud of that bald eagle shot. It was the only shot I got of him, but it was a keeper. :)

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  4. These pictures make me want to go back there again.The beauty is unlimited.

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    1. Ruth, it's got to be one of the most amazing places on earth, with all it's thermal features, Yellowstone Canyon, waterfalls galore, and its huge natural lake. It's one of our favorite places to visit, even though it's a long drive out there.

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  5. The falls are magnificent, the bald eagle is fantastic but I love the last picture, Linda, it's so impressing. The light shining through the shadows, accompanying movement forward... Quite inspirational, isn't it? :)

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    1. Petra, I'm so glad you liked that last picture. At first, I thought it was too dark. I tried lightening it but wasn't satisfied with that. Then, the more I looked at it, the better I liked it. It's my current desktop background picture. :)

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  6. These photos are so beautiful after watching Yellowstone on the television i would love to visit one day

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    1. I would definitely recommend a visit there someday, Julie. It's the most awesome place I've ever seen. Thanks for visiting and leaving your nice comment.

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  7. God's creation is truly AWESOME...you captured the beauty in your pics! I especially liked the Firehole River photo!!!

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    1. Thanks, Diane. That picture of Firehole River wound up being one of my favorites, too.

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  8. All of them are wonderful shots but that last one.. it's a stunner. What a beautiful scene. There are certainly no shortage of falls there.. such lovely views. That eagle.. what a treat.

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    1. Doug was here in the computer room when your comment came in, and I read it to him. He said, “Doesn’t she get to see eagles where she is?” I said, “Eagles would probably get Benny.” He laughed and said, “Benny wouldn’t go down without a fight.” 

      Thanks for the comment. That last picture grew on me the longer I looked at it. I was rather disappointed in it at first. I’ve heard that there are a thousand or more waterfalls in that park. Most of them must involve some hiking. I think we’ve covered most of the ones that can be seen from the road or within a short walk.

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  9. Gosh, you saw a little of everything! The bald eagle capture is beautiful!!

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    1. Actually, Gail, there is so much to see at Yellowstone that, although we saw a lot, it was nowhere near "everything." We've been there often enough that we no longer try to see it all at once. We just pick a few favorites on each visit. Glad you enjoyed the bald eagle. I was very pleased with that shot myself. :)

      When we travel, I usually operate the still camera, and Doug runs the video camera. When I was reviewing the video and came to the day we saw the bald eagle, the video showed the back of my head, with Doug’s commentary saying that we were watching a bald eagle. I’m gonna get him back one of these days.

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  10. Great pictures, Linda. The coloring in that last one is AWESOME.... We saw everything you saw on this day EXCEPT the eagle... Dang it!!! Missed that one AGAIN... ha

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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    1. Thanks, Betsy. I'm looking forward to seeing YOUR pictures. I know we saw the same things, but it will be fun seeing them through your camera lens, too.

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