Yellowstone

Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Archive, 2005.

Landing in Jackson, Wyoming is a bit of a trip. First, the scenery is beyond beautiful. Then there's this small airport which tolerates its larger aircraft with stoic practicality. Some jets easily dwarf the buildings that serve their passengers. The travelers themselves seem to sort out between novices and old-timers, the former agape in the clean air and the latter simply going about their business, without a second glance at jaw-dropping surroundings. I'd like to think we'd never fall into the latter category, even if we lived there fifty years, but it is easy to take for granted what we see every day.

And if it's not the scenery-at-large that gives one pause, perhaps the entryway wreathed with a thick tangle of antlers will do the trick. That's a lot of elk.

Beware #12. He is known for causing a ruckus.

Mammoth Hot Springs.

Paddington and me, celebrating what was, at the time, ten years of marriage. Continued happiness since then. Hooray!

If you look closely, you can see a coyote trotting away, mid-photo toward the top. And if you had a microscope and this was a higher resolution photo, you could also see the small lunch he's carrying away. For those of us whose eyes aren't what they used to be, the bison will have to do.

Morning bear. Far, far away on the other side of a deep gully. The best kind of bear.

Bear awake? Time to go!
Trout Lake.

Blue flax.

This is as close as my zoom lens would let us get to momma moose and her young one. As moose have tempers, this was plenty close enough.

Just passing through.

Mmm, mud pots. Smelly, bubbly mud pots.

A welcome change of scenery.

Can you see the double rainbow? Maybe not. This is at the base of the lower falls... we think.

Following a path made by something(s) we didn't see.

Cowboy and fishermen bedspreads are the best.

In between us and this critter are a zoom lens, an accelerator and relatively sturdy steel. "Relatively sturdy" as compared to, say, green poly/cotton blend. I was so hoping for one of those Animal Planet dramatic moments. Luckily for Jeff Corwin Sr. there, it was not to be.

LeHardy Rapids, where the cutthroat trout migrate to spawning areas. We did see a lone fish resting in the shallows, but no decent photos.

Lovely sunset, near Yellowstone Lake.

Theoretically I'm coming back to this post to add some story to the trip. But each time I get sucked into the pictures and just sit here smiling about it. I'll try harder, next attempt. Really.