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Show-Me Nature Photography’s Nature Blog
Recent Travel & Photos
Here is my trip log from my latest photo adventure, 11 days in Grand Teton NP, Yellowstone NP, and Rocky Mountain NP. We camped in the Tetons and roamed about during the daylight hours at several locations within the park, as well as one daytrip to nearby Yellowstone NP (due to limited time, we stayed in the southern area of Yellowstone, where the thermal features are located). We then traveled to Rocky Mountain NP (Estes Park, CO). Photo subjects on this trip included bison, bugling elk, moose in rut, and very abundant scenics! Enjoy!
Saturday, September 19:
With everything loaded into the truck, we left home at 6:00am. Leaving home, we drove north to Nebraska City, NE. From there, we traveled west until we hit I-80, near Lincoln. We then traveled westward across the state, arriving at our night’s destination (Laramie, WY) about 5:30 pm.
Sunday, September 20:
After breakfast, we left Laramie at about 8:00am, still heading west. With no problems, we arrived in Jackson, WY at 2:00 pm. Before driving to the campground, we enjoyed a lunch in Jackson. Then, on to Grand Teton NP. We drove to the Gros Ventre campground, which is located in the southern end of Grand Teton NP. After finding a suitable site, we set up our tent and unloaded all our equipment. A while later, my good friend Tim Mayo (who lives just outside the Park) dropped by to visit and give me some “tips and pointers” on places to shoot within and near the Park. A while later, Karen and I drove to Mormon Row, where several old, scenic barns and buildings are located. From here we traveled to Antelope Flats Road, back to the main Park road, and back to camp. At 9:00 pm, with it dark and getting cold, we went to bed.
Monday, September 21:
Awoke at about 6:00 am, but very cold! Temps overnight had dropped to mid-20s. We had an old catalytic tent heater along, but it had stopped working overnight. Also, our air matress had gone down overnight, making for a pretty hard bed! Laid in the sleeping bag until 6:45 am. Got dressed and headed to Oxbow Bend, at the north end of Grand Teton NP. This is a very picturesque place to photograph the early morning, with the reflection of Mt. Moran in the Oxbow Bend waters. We had actually gone to Oxbow Bend to look for moose, which often are seen in this area. As luck would have it, one was there earlier, but was no longer to be seen. We then took the offroad, scenic route back to camp. Along the way, we photographed the Cathedral Group and the Teton mountain range from various locations. We stopped by the new Visitor Center, then into Jackson for a late lunch. Also picked up a new mattress! Then back to camp and set up the new mattress. Lounged around camp until bedtime.
Tuesday, September 22:
Another cold night (mid 20s)! Got up at 6:00 am and drove to Oxbow Bend. Again, no moose, but did shoot the sunrise as it rose over the mountains onto Mt. Moran. Also, climbed up to a higher altitude and shot Mt. Moran with aspens in the foreground. Then drove to the Snake River Overlook, a spot made famous by Ansel Adams. We then drove north to a pasture that contained many horses. Shot the horses for about an hour, then headed southward, shooting scenics along the way. We then took Moose-Wilson Road from the Park to Teton Village, the area ski resort. Then drove the short drive to Jackson. After lunch and filling the truck with gas, we headed back to the campground and downloaded the images from last night and this morning. About 5:00 pm, walked a short distance behind our campsite (near the Gros Ventre River) and photographed 1 bull and 3 cow moose. Moose are common in this campground area in fall. The moose rut is on and photographing the bull chasing the ladies around can yield some interesting photos. Back to the campsite. A bit later, Karen was stung by a yellowjacket. Seems they are everywhere, and very, very aggressive! In bed by 9:00 pm.
Wednesday, September 23:
Not as cold overnight; temps in lower 30s. Got up about 7:00am and walked toward the campground office. On the way, passed 2 cow moose that were feeding. When I got to the office, a bull moose and 2 cow moose were in the sage just north of the office. Photographed them for a couple of hours, then back to camp. Our air matress had gone down again, overnight (maybe the temps are causing a slow leak?). While inflating the air matress back to life, a yellowjacket stung me on my left hand, between my first and middle finger … OUCH!!! Did not shoot in the afternoon, as my hand was hurting like (yep, you know what it hurt like … crazy!) and was throbbing a lot. Just lounged around and developed a game plan for dealing with the nasty yellowjackets.
Thursday, September 24:
Up at 7:00am and walked up near the campground office to find/shoot the bull moose. There were 1 bull and 5 cows in the area. Got some nice shots of the bull with the day’s first light shining across the sage pasture and on him. The bull had a rather large piece of sage brush tangled on the left antler; made for some interesting shots. After a couple of hours, back to campground and picked up Karen. We went into town for a late breakfast. Then traveled around town and found we could get high-speed internet from the parking lot of one of the local motels. Checked e-mail, then off to K-Mart. Per our plan, we picked up one of those “screen rooms”, our defense against the aggressive yellowjackets. (Don’t worry, Dennis (our financial advisor), we found one at 60% off, during K-Marts end-of-season sale!). When we arrived back at the campground, we set up the screened room over the picnic table. Then sat back, relaxed and laughed at the yellowjackets as they continually buzzed the screen, trying to find a “weakness” in our defense – none found! At 6:15pm, we left camp and headed to Tim & Rosies house for dinner. After some pleasant conversation and a great steak dinner, back to camp and bed.
Friday, September 25:
Up at 6:00am (long day expected today). Headed out to Oxbow Bend to shoot the sunrise on Mt. Moran. Go there and found 1 parking space, but no place to set the tripod; every photographer in America must have showed up! Waited a bit and finally did find a place to squeeze in; glad I did, some really nice scenics unfolded before us. Packed back into the truck and headed north to Yellowstone NP. First stop, the Old Faithful area. Old Faithful was scheduled to erupt in about 45 minutes, so we took a seat and just enjoyed the scenic area (steam from the many geysers was everywhere!). Then, to our surprise, the Beehive Geyser, located just beyond and to the left of Old Faithful, erupted. Very photogenic eruption, as the sunlight caused a “rainbow” to appear over the eruption! Shot lots of frames, with the eruption lasting several minutes. Shortly after, Old Faithful did not let us down. After her eruption, we walked the Geyser Hill loop, enjoying all the geysers and pools on the loop. Then, back to the truck and off to other hydrothermal areas. In all, we spent the entire day viewing and photographing the Upper Geyser Basin, the Black Sand Basin, the Biscuit Basin, the Midway Geyser Basin, and the Lower Geyser Basin. Headed back to Grand Teton NP about 5:00pm. Reached Grand Teton about sunset time, so photographed the sunset which turned out pretty neat; a nearby wildfire added a lot of smoke to the atmosphere and the setting sun lit up the skies with a pleasant reddish-orange color. Also shot a grove of aspens that were turning a brilliant yellow. Back to camp after dark, then to bed.
Saturday, September 26:
Our last day in the Tetons. After a long day yesterday, we slept in til about 7:30am. Then up and off to check out a spot Tim had recommended. We headed eastward from the campground and proceeded outside the park. We drove through some spectacular landscapes and ended up at Lower Slider Lake. Aspens were in peak color in much of this area. And if we looked back to the West, we could see the Tetons rising above the spectacular colors! We spent the better part of the day here and enjoyed all of it. Back to camp and prep to leave tomorrow.
Sunday, September 27:
Up at 6:30am and took down the tent and our protective (and very appreciated) screen house. Loaded everything into the truck and left about 8:00am for Estes Park, CO and the home of Rocky Mountain NP. We took the scenic route back through Wyoming, then I-80 to Laramie. On the east side of Laramie, I-80 was closed (construction work), so we had to exit and take the “backroads” into Colorado. Traffic was such a mess. Adding late Sunday afternoon traffic to the detour caused an extreme slow-down, often to 5-10 mph. Took forever to get to Ft. Collins, CO. But once we got there, we were able to get off the main road and use county roads that had little traffic. Made our way to Estes Park and ended up there by about 5:30pm or so.
Monday, September 28:
Got up about 6:00am and headed out to Rocky Mtn NP (RMNP). Photographed elk herds and the scenery most of the day. Also took a drive up Trail Ridge Road to the alpine zone. Not much going on up there, but the view was very nice. We could see many patches of yellow along the mountainside as the aspens’ fall colors were starting to peak. Heading back to town, we stopped by the golf course and watched a large bull elk and his sizable harem. At one point, the bull decided to “plow” the fairway with his large antler rack; I am sure the golf course personnel were happy with that! Then we drove back to the motel to download images, and clean up for dinner. A while later, we met professional nature photographer Weldon Lee and his friend, Lori for dinner. Had a wonderful time over some really great food! After dinner, we headed back to the motel to get things ready for tomorrow, our last day of shooting in RMNP.
Tuesday, September 29:
We again got up early and headed out for one last morning of shooting elk. Photographed one bull and his harem, up close and personal. Then we drove around the park, stopping to shoot the great fall colors and abundant wildlife. Got back to the motel at a reasonable hour and started downloading images onto my hard drives. Got all photo gear packed up and ready for an early departure in the morning.
Wednesday, September 30:
Got up early, had a quick breakfast at the motel, then began loading all our camping gear, photo gear, and luggage into the truck. Left Estes Park about 7:30am and drove home, arriving at about 9:00pm. Great trip! (I guess we will have to do it again next year!).
Below are a few of my favorite images from the trip. The first 3+ rows are from Grand Teton NP; the rest are from Yellowstone NP. Rocky Mountain NP images to be added soon!
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