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Published: September 5th 2014
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Yellowstone photos from this day ~~~
Grand Teton photos from this day Barb & I have always planned spontaneous trips, ever realizing how weird planned spontaneity sounds. On our honeymoon, for example, we took the money her dad gave us and drove until it was gone. Wherever we stopped at night we just got out our maps and roughly figured where we might go the next day. The next day never turned out as planned because we always left room for spontaneity.
In our planning for this trip we figured we'd see Grand Teton National Park at some point. This turned out to be the day. The weather was the same each of the days we were in the area, but I can't help wondering if the mountains would have been more photogenic on any of the other days. We've seen many gorgeous pictures of this place but this day there was so much haze we knew we weren't going to get some of our own. Still, we enjoyed a great visit and with post production were able to come up with some acceptable representations.
We traveled down the west side of the 8 and continued on to Teton. Our first view of the mountains is photo
11 in the Yellowstone gallery, so you can see we weren't expecting too much by way of photos. To chronologically insert the Teton gallery into the Yellowstone gallery the insertion point would be between photos 22 and 23.
Our first pullout in GTNP was a magnificent spot to stand in awe of the grandeur. There's a neat kind of transformation that occurs when you come upon a scene that silently bellows it's beauty and you have camera in hand. It may be the real reason for the quiet I mentioned on the morning of the 21st; that is, so we can all hear without ears. When I pull the tripod from its travel spot in the back the camera and 24-105 lens are attached. I'm off to photograph but I'm no longer in charge. The muse takes the controls.
When I finally look up from the camera I notice a bus of tourists who only spoke Japanese had pulled into the turnoff. The occupants quickly debused and scattered, each one quietly proclaiming the beauty in excited whispers. Perhaps it was the awe of place, the inability to communicate with language, or the state of aforementioned transformation, but there
was that unusual contact where one soul on a sojourn acknowledges another and wishes them well. A level of communication I wish we humans would explore more. It was present in the air and acknowledged by the eyes of many I saw. Nothing was said, but communication was cosmic and eternal.
We left the bus and moved on well-wished. The next pullover we chose had similar beginnings, but led to a problem that could have left me without a tripod for the remainder of the trip. Photos 14 & 15 of the Teton gallery were only included to remind me where it happened. I walked off to look for a better composition showing the river. After settling for photos 12 & 13, I started to walk back up the hill to look for Barb. The muse noticed a Paul Stand stump (that nomenclature I'll have to explain later) and I went about setting the tripod low to the ground to get it. Just as I was about to push the remote release a leg of the tripod fell off. Pieces were everywhere. Before leaving I snapped 14 (over-exposed) and 15, which was behind me.
Barb recognized my uh-oh
face as I approached. Trying to reassemble the broken leg I noticed a very small piece was missing. Barb and I retraced my steps and found it with incredible quickness, although it was under a leaf. Still, I couldn't re-attach it without a proper screwdriver. Just then a camper pulled in and a couple got out to have lunch. Camper folks have everything and they are always willing to share it. We were back on our way in minutes and stopped at a country store to buy our own screw driver. Thanks campers!
After lunch at the John Colter Ranch House we continued on our quest for that great Teton photo, knowing we'd be happily settling for experiencing the sensation of this amazing part of the planet.
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