Yellowstone to Yosemite, Day 2

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Photos from this day at Yellowstonw National Park

This was our daughter Celeste's birthday, and we celebrated her existence among the splendors of the first National Park in the world. She was our first child in our world, and a big reason why we smile when we see a waterfall or the night sky. Our children make the mountains more majestic, the seas more soothing and sometimes scary, the trees more friendly and the rocks more alive. They provide the sense for the maxim Leave No Trace.

Since my back was still screaming at me, we didn't expect to do too much hiking for our shots, so most everything we got was quite near a road. The "Road" in Yellowstone can be described as a figure eight and that's what I'll use to describe our path for each day's venture. HERE'S THE 8: Gardiner is just off the top left of the upper bubble in the eight. Traveling west to east, the upper bubble leads from Mammoth Hot Springs around the east side through Tower-Roosevelt to Canyon Village at the bottom, while the west side of the 8 brings you down through Norris where the top bubble ends, through Madison to Old Faithful in the lower bubble. Grand Teton National Park is just below the 8 near West Thumb, and Yellowstone Lake sits at the bottom of the 8 on the east side and rises north to Canyon Village. The middle line of the 8 (did you guess?) is the road between Norris and Canyon Village.

Today's excursion brought us down the west side (both bubbles) and around the whole bottom bubble and back across the middle of the 8. We then retraced our path back up to Gardiner, actually forming a rigid number six. There were 481 exposures from this day, which resulted in only 90 photos to make the gallery. Of course with digital there are such things as don't-cares, let's-try-these and what-ifs that clog up media cards. Add the many HDR attempts which usually use at least three exposures per photo, a large number of frivolous photos from the PEN out the window of our moving car, and it's tough to come up with ninety. Certainly the subject matter gets the credit for the quantity as well as any perceived quality.

The morning photos missed many opportunities the early frost provided because I was too excited to be in Yellowstone National Park; that is, I got in the way. Photos 5 thru 9 were taken at the first real stop we made. Barb likes to drive so she can get that freaked out feeling when I scream "HERE!" or "STOP!!!" or "PULL OVER" and she has to piss off anyone driving behind her. Hmmm. Maybe she doesn't really like that. Maybe she likes it better when I drive with my head out the cold window looking for the perfect picture while driving around switchbacks as though they were straight-a-ways. No. I'm surprised she likes to come at all. Again I give credit to our destinations.

We didn't have to worry about anyone behind us this morning because it was too early for them, and no one had to even say "Let's stop here" because the scene was that obvious. We pulled into a little lot and could see a pool of water steaming in the morning dew. There was a large group of tripoders (photo #5) already gathered along the appropriate shore. I joined them. We exchanged some kind nods and occasional gestures like asking if I was in the way or similar niceties, but I sort of just came upon them, danced around them and left without leaving a trace. Actually I wish I was more forward. Often I am, but morning moods are surprisingly quiet wherever photogs gather. It's interesting how everyone whispers at times like that—so as not to disturb… what? I feel it, too; there is a reverence for the... moment? place? situation? other's privacy or space? All of the above? Often it's because we all quite recently tip-toed passed someone who'd rather not get up this early.

"He's working on his crystals," I heard one say to another. I deduced from the direction of their attention when they spoke that they were referring to some kind of photographic effect someone was working on using the mist over the water. It sounded like something indigenous to the place, like they were locals waiting for that secret moment only a local could know. I didn’t ask, but wish I did.

We drove about another mile and saw our first buffalo. "Pull over here," I whispered to Barb in an excited volume. Without freaking out she was in the pullout and already reading her book, refusing to experience the chilling cold on its terms, when I sipped my coffee and reached for my camera. The first 24 photos in the gallery were all taken before we reached Norris, all in the upper bubble. We crossed the West Entrance road in Madison and continued onto the lower bubble, taking spur-of-the-moment detours on sidetracks like Firehole Canyon Drive, where I took a lot of photos for people --usually couples. They think I must be good at it because I use a tripod, but I warn them I might instinctively focus on the waterfalls they are standing in front of instead of on them.

We then stopped at Old Faithful, took some handhelds in and around the predictable geyser, and had lunch. Photo #44 was surely taken during the day but I used such treatment to enhance the warning on the sign in the ground. As we walked through the visitor's center on our way to lunch at the lodge we overheard someone say to a passing ranger, "Wow, that was pretty disappointing." "What's that?" asked the ranger. "The geyser. It wasn't very high." Without taking the straight line the ranger called "upstairs" on his shoulder phone and came back with the answer: "90 feet. That's average." Okay, so maybe the inquiring mind was higher than Old Faithful, but what about the amazing predictability of the event? What about the enthralling amazement all around you? Are you not engaged with it? That guy should have gone to Disneyland to satisfy his Hollywood expectations, but maybe a trip to Yellowstone is just what he needed to become complete.

Speaking of rangers, let me rewind to the informative pep talk another ranger gave just before the punctual Old Faithful pleased most of the spectators right on cue. During his talk the park ranger also mentioned how "last" night he received an email from his state representative. In it the rep asked for support for some commercial interest using National Park land. The noble ranger declined, saying when it comes to national parks he must vote for the entire nation --in fact all nations past, present and future. The "inquiring mind" who later expressed disappointment in the Old Faithful stage show probably thought the ranger was a fool for passing up such a great business venture.

We left the lodge and traveled along the bottom of the 8. With a few diversions like Kepler Cascades and Craig Pass, the road brought us to our first view of Yellowstone Lake (photo #46). Also, as we later saw on the flight from Bozeman to Denver, this is an incredible lake to view from the air. Photos 47 thru 60 were all taken at the West Thumb Geyser Basin overlooking the lake. Further up the road we looped onto Gull Point Drive for the views. When we tried to re-enter the main road we discovered a huge traffic jam. This time of year that would most likely mean some sort of animal sighting. Sure enough. We had to wait for a herd of buffalo to come our way off the Natural Bridge. After that we went straight to the Mud Volcano on the east side of the lower bubble before a long stop at the Lower and Upper Falls areas.

We then drove across the middle of the figure 8 from Canyon Village to Norris and retraced our earlier path back up the east side of the top bubble to Gardiner. We made a few second-time-today stops at places we photographed in the morning to see how different they appear in the late afternoon. Numbers 22 & 23, for example, are from the same place --North Lake of the Twin Lakes-- as numbers 86 & 87. We celebrated a luscious birthday for Celeste and know she did the same.

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