A Long, Hard Look

Bird

2009-10-11T12:02:00.000-07:00

Yellowstone: A Memory

2008-12-11T21:22:00.001-08:00

There was plenty to see at Yellowstone. Here is a video I put together of some of the footage I got with my digital camera.

Animals of Yellowstone

2008-10-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

There are so many animals to encounter at Yellowstone National Park. From bison blocking traffic to "whistle pigs," sneaking into your cabin in search of food, the beasts make themselves visible quite often.

Here, a pair of pronghorn were grazing in a valley as I drove by.

People often create traffic blockages in Yellowstone by stopping in the road to look at animals. The more people there are at the scene, the more dangerous the animal, it seems. However, the more dangerous the creature, the more difficult it is to see it.

That's the way it was for me, anyway.

Most of the wildlife is seen from the road, though only 2% of
the park is visible.

On one drive, I caught a picture of these fine birds. I'm not sure, but I believe they are pelicans. If anyone out there knows otherwise, please drop me a note!

Below left, a uinta ground squirrel, apparantly posing for the camera. On the bottom right, a squirrel of the type which I am more familiar with.

Look out!

High Places of Yellowstone

2008-10-03T23:32:00.000-07:00

Sears Tower

2008-09-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

I had to visit Sears Tower when I was in Chicago last summer.

You can really get an idea of how big the city actually is from the top of the tower...

Trees and Grass

2008-09-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

Mammoth Hot Springs

2008-09-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

I took a walk around the thermal features of Mammoth Hot Springs (or the Terraces, as we called them) once during my stay at Yellowstone last summer. It's a great place to be, in the northern part of the park.

I was blown away by the things I saw!

"The main attraction at Mammoth Hot Springs is the terraces. Heat, water, limestone, and rock fracture combine to create the terraces. Travertine is deposited as white rock, however the microorganisms and living bacteria create beautiful shades of oranges, pinks, yellows, greens, and browns. The Mammoth Hot springs are constantly changing. As formations grow, water is forced to flow in different directions. The constant changes in water and mineral deposits create a living sculpture. Mammoth Hot Springs is divided into two sections, the lower terraces, and the Upper terrace Loop." --YellowstoneParkNet.Com

The 3rd picture from the top of this post shows a dormant section of the terraces. It resembles a set of stairs or shelves.

On the right, you see a shot over one of the springs. Notice the plants growing in the water here. Are they thriving, or will they die?

I found this article at Annals of Botany, an international plant science journal, while browsing the web. It seems that there are certain plants that prosper in these hot waters.

What other extreme environments will we discover life? Mars perhaps? Unfortunately, you won't find any pictures taken, personally, by myself, of Mars.

Some of the interesting things we can see here, on Earth, can be stranger or more beautiful than any other planet we've seen so far, in my opinion.

For example, this is a picture of a fumarole.

"Fumarole, FYOO muh rohl, is a hole or vent in the ground that gives off volcanic gases. Most fumaroles occur in inactive volcanic regions, such as Yellowstone National Park. The gases given off are mainly steam mixed with small amounts of carbon dioxide, hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, and sulfuric acid." --HowStuffWorks

If you've never been to Mammoth Hot Springs, you don't know what you're missing. The place left a huge impression on me. I recommend taking a walk up the terraces when it's cold enough to see your breath. This makes it easier to see the hot steam and gases coming out of the fumaroles and other geothermal features at Mammoth.

If you don't go there at least once, you're wasting your whole life!

Cat and Dog

2008-09-03T14:34:00.001-07:00

Water in Yellowstone

2008-08-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of water in Yellowstone. As Yellowstone Net tells us, it covers 5% of the park.

The Yellowstone River is 692 miles long and flows into the Missouri. It's the longest undammed river in the contiguous US. The picture above shows it winding through Hayden Valley.

Lower Falls, above left, contributes to the beauty of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, into which the river's water falls 308 feet.

Tower Falls, 132 feet, can be seen above, on the right. Of course, these are only 2 of the park's numerous waterfalls.

Lake Yellowstone, with its size, white-caps, and thermal features, was one of my favorite bodies of water in the park. The largest lake in Yellowstone, it takes up 130 sq. miles. Its elevation being over 7000 feet, it can get pretty cold. During my first days in the park, the whole lake was covered by a thick layer of ice.

There is so much to see in Yellowstone. Its bodies of water are one of the top options.

Montour Trail

2008-08-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

The Montour Trail is a 46 mile "rail-trail," a railway that was converted to a recreational trail, stretching from Moon Township (near Pittsburgh, PA) to Clarion, PA. Every once in a while, I take a walk on it--usually only for a few miles.

Not too long ago, I decided to take a few pictures of this fine trail.

As you can see by looking at the picture to the left, there are some great opportunities for photography here. I'm sure a professional would easily be able to fill up a few rolls of film on the trail.

Sometimes this white road of gravel just seems
to go on endlessly. For the more adventurous types, a quick hike along one of the numerous side-paths, which branch off the main stretch, can change things up a bit (for the better).

There are fine views of mother nature's stuff on the Montour Trail. These rocks, hidden behind a layer of green plants, are one of them.

Old bridges and long tunnels add to the appeal of walking here. Sometimes you can really tell that it was, at one time, a railroad track, and other times you are far from thinking of it.

If you live nearby, or are ever in the area, take some time out of your day to stroll down the Trail for a bit.
Just look out for the bikers...

Yellowstone's Bison

2008-08-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of great things to see at Yellowstone. One of my favorites were the bison. They show up in all sorts of interesting places. Right outside your window, for example.

A good place to see them is right on the road, as shown in this picture on the left. Bison cause traffic jams on a daily basis.

Buffalo are always up to something good. I was
thrilled to get shots of these buffalo as they hopped over a fence. Notice the top board in the fence... it seems to have been replaced in recent times. Perhaps these buffalo are fond of leaping over this particular spot.

At Yellowstone, I learned that bison love to be around the warm thermal features of the area. I guess I'll just take 'fences' off my list of ways to keep a buffalo from a hot spring!

As I mentioned earlier, it's a surprise to see bison outside your window.

Once, 3 came into the area in which I was living at the time, and I followed them around for a couple hours.

This picture shows one of them tasting the grass near someone's vehicle.

I found out, from nicklebuffalo.com, that bison eat about 25 pounds of grass each day. Well, it sounds about right.

Look at this one go!

It's always a great experience to see a huge buffalo from all angles, but no trip to Yellowstone is complete without having the chance to see a bison calf up close.

According to an article by Laura Klappenbach, at about.com, bison can give birth to one calf per year. It seems that they stick very close to their mothers, but the males do not care for or protect their young.

This one came strolling down the road past the window of the car I was in. A group of other, older ones, accompanied it.

It was an amazing thing to see.

If you ever have a chance to visit Yellowstone, make sure you set aside some time to get to know these incredible creatures. You might just want to take one home.

Plenty of Elk in Yellowstone National Park

2008-08-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

Yellowstone is an amazing place with a lot of wildlife. I was able to spend a few months working there, and in that time I saw a lot of animals.

There are more elk than any of the other large mammals in Yellowstone. According to yellowstonenationalpark.com, more than 30,000 elk from 7-8 different herds spend the summer in Yellowstone National Park. There are even 15-22,000 in the area during the winter. So, I probably saw more of them than anything else, and I was able to get quite a few pictures.

During my stay, the elk would show up frequently. They
would sometimes come right up to the guest cabins to partake of the grass that grew all around the area.

It was common to come across one unexpectedly, as there were so many around. Before the picture on the right was taken, a rustling was heard around the corner of the porch. After peering beside the cabin, surprise set in after being almost face-to-face with this fine beast.

I took several pictures before the elk became bothered and decided to saunter off down the road. Moving around to the back of the cabin, my excitement increased as 3 or 4 others came strolling along, right past me and the other people who had wisely come outside to document the scene.

People are not the only ones who are happy to see an elk. Magpies like them, too.

One day, I came across one grazing, as it normally would, unaware of the magpie that had set its sight on making a perch of its back.The magpie was relentless, jumping right back on after being shaken off.

I was able to get these shots of the elk and his energetic bird friend. And, as it turns out, whatbird.com tells us that this magpie was eating ticks off the elk's back.

Even though I saw elk on an almost regular basis, I didn't tire of it at all. They are interesting animals, and an afternoon spent around them is well worth it.