The vast skies, the glowing grass, the peaking mountains, the delicate flowers, the steaming hot springs, the flowing rivers...I've never seen a place that holds so many colors. It was almost like a fairy tale....
I just loved Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Being surrounded on one side by buffalo, to watching an eagle soar on the other, all while bluish mountains towered in the distance, brought such a unique sense of awe and wonder.
Camping and having to keep even toothpaste in the Jeep, there was a strange feeling we could indeed be greeted by a random bear passing though. And we did see bears. Luckily not in the form of meeting us at the tent in middle of the night. On a hike I watched as a black bear clung to thin branches, eating tiny, little, red, juicy berries off the bush she claimed her own. I photographed a grizzly bear...luckily way, way off in the distance, feasting on a carcass dragged in by the rangers. We drove pass a brown bear not too far off in the field, once again, grateful we did not run into him along a hike.
One of my favorite moments was the black wolf. It didn't last long but he was one of the most beautiful animals I've ever seen. He was tall. Very, very tall, pitch black, and his eyes...his eyes were a crazy piercing golden color. We were driving, very slow thanks to some traffic, and this black wolf just ran out right in front of my Jeep yet stopped and stared into my eyes before completely crossing. He stared only for a moment before he passed, but those eyes got me. I pulled off the road and attempted to find him, but only watched with my camera by my side as he pranced off. It's one of those animal encounters I will remember forever.
The barns in the Tetons were another thing that captivated me. To see the structures still standing among the rugged mountains, as if they were placed there in a little world of their own. I became lost among them, capturing images of them in their true essence.
I will come back to Yellowstone again, to see it again years later, with different thoughts, more wisdom and a different eye through my camera. Nonetheless I know it will be just as stunning.
Until next time...
