Photos under the Sun

I had been hearing wonderful descriptions and seeing jaw-dropping images of the beautiful Grand Tetons for years!  So, as Jim and I prepared for our trip to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone, I conjured up visions of unimaginable proportions.  The road from Salt Lake City in Utah to Jackson in Wyoming wound through some  beautiful scenes:  old cabins, lots of horses, brilliant red, orange and yellow foliage.  At our first sighting of the Snake River, I got more and more excited because very soon, that legendary mountainous vista would appear.  Would, could but never did!!  The Grand Tetons were shrouded in thick smoke from all the wildfires and we found out that they hadn’t been visible for weeks.  Well, we told ourselves, maybe tomorrow will be a different story.  We drove to Coulter Bay where we were to stay for two nights and I looked forward to eating the food we had picked up in Jackson.  We had been on planes all day and driving for 5 hours, so we were starving.  At check-in, Jim was advised to leave the cooler with food in the car because a Grizzly Bear AND a Black Bear were sighted in the area.  Now, if I haven’t made myself clear on the subject of all critters on this earth, let me just say I ADORE them; so I was horrified to find myself thinking bad thoughts about the bears who would be ripping into my very delicious organic berries.  My imagination went on a rampage of scenarios of huge bears tearing down the cabin door because they could smell the chicken that had been there an hour before.  I made sure that Jim slept near the door because he would be more able to fend off a chicken-and-berries-hungry bear or two.  All night I could hear noises on the roof of the cabin–probably pine cones falling–and I had visions of bears ripping off the old roof and jumping in to gobble us up.  At one point Jim had to reassure me that the food was safe because if they DID try to break into the car, the alarm would scare them away!  I finally fell asleep for a few hours and next day was so smoke-ridden, we decided to go on up to Yellowstone.

Before we went on this trip, I had researched the best spots for photography and we had a tight schedule for each iconic spot in the park.  I know there are a million images of Oxbow Bend, etc. but I wanted to have my own.  Now, all  that planning was of no use so we had to devise another schedule.  There is so much to see in Yellowstone, I became dizzy at the prospect!  We drove past Lewis Falls and then onto Kepler  Cascades.  That was the beginning of ten marvelous days of sights and experiences.  I’ll be back soon with more tales from Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons–yes, we did, eventually see them at the end of our trip.

I will eventually have a gallery of  images from the trip on my website but for now, here are a few shots.

End of day vista of the Grand Tetons near the Snake River

Two Ravens kept us company as I was photographing the Bison herd in the distance:

The Welcoming Committee

Lewis Falls

The Aspens

This was the only bear we encountered.  I took the shot as we drove by.  The bear was in a tree right next to the road.

Black Bear