okansas.blogspot.com

okansas.blogspot.com
Occassional thoughts about orienteering

Monday, February 16, 2004

A few Yellowstone snapshots

OK, it has nothing to do with orienteering. But, I figured I'd post a few snapshots and comments from our trip to Yellowstone.

I'd never seen a wolf before. But, on our first day in the park I saw a wolf. Actually, I saw a pack of eight wolves. Mary and I drove to the Lamar Valley, the prime area for spotting wolves, and got lucky.

The wolves were playing in the snow on the other side of the valley. With bare eyes, you could see them moving around and their general shapes. With binoculars you could make out distinct features of each wolf.

The wolves were too far away to get a good photo. The snow falling and the bright white background of snow made the exposure tricky. But, I took a few photos anyway. Three wolves standing in the snow.

Mary and I did a lot of skiing, exploring the park and watching wildlife. Yellowstone is a great place to watch animals. Winter is a great time to watch animals. In the winter, the animals don't move as fast and are easy to spot against the snowy background.

In this snapshot, Mary waits for a bison to walk by. You need to give them a bit of room (the park rule is at least 25 meters).

Here's a snapshot Mary took. I'm sitting in the snow, taking a lunch break during a trip we took to the Lone Star Geyser. When we spent a week in Yellowstone a few years ago, we didn't see the sun. This time, we had lots of sun. I was glad to have my Fitover sunglasses (despite the geeky look, they worked great).

After we'd finished our lunch, the Lone Star Geyser erupted. Different geysers have different character. Lone Star erupts for a long time (we watched it for a good 15 minutes and it was still going as we skied away). One of the most striking features of Lone Star is that it makes a loud whooshing sound -- a bit like a jet engine -- that changes throughout the eruption.

In the snapshot, Mary skies away from the still erupting Lone Star Geyser.

posted by Michael | 2:58 PM

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