Yellowstone in Winter--December 2009--Day 1

After a nearly 5 hour drive, my wife and I entered the park at 1:30 on the nose.  I stopped and prepared my camera equipment, saddling up the Sigmonster (300-800mm) and got my tripod and gimbal head ready for action as well.  We headed east out of Mammoth Hot Springs towards the Lamar Valley, which is a drive of 40 miles.  It didn't take long to encounter sights that have made Yellowstone famous since 1872.  These guys were quite impressive, so I spent about 15 minutes watching and shooting images.

After watching the bulls for a while, we continued on towards Tower Junction, only glimpsing one coyote and a few cow elk along the way.  I was surprised how little snow covered the ground as many places were brown and bare.  The snow was no more than 6-10 inches deep even in the darkest shade.  Unlike my previous venture into the park during the winter months (February 2009), the wildlife were scattered far and wide.  Last February, deep snows on the ridges forced them into the more visible river drainages.  Wildlife photos may be a challenge over the next few days.  Even though these next two photos are not tack sharp, they illustrate how athletic coyotes can be when they need to be.

As the sun sank lower on the horizon, the landscape warmed itno golden hues and I focused on capturing the last 15-20 minutes of magical light.  Serrated cliffs, timbered ridgelines and snow covered meadows embraced my lens.  There's nothing like watching God's creation transform in the fading sunlight of a day nearly gone.  Enjoy!

I'll be in park all day tomorrow photographing whatever I find and doing some x-country skiing if I can find snow deep enough.  I'll make every attempt to post more in thee evening.