Bison, Gardner River
Yellowstone National Park, Montana
2015

Bison grazing in the last light of the day near the Montana/Wyoming border.

Bison #6
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2015

Yellowstone Park regulations say you should stay 75 feet from a bison when you are on foot. Given they can run 30 mph, they can cover 75 feet in something less than two seconds–if they feel inspired to do so. Bison are generally pretty lazy; so presumably the 75 feet must be a distance thought far enough for them not to get irritated enough at a human to motivate them to run after you. Observing and photographing bison from a car seems like a safer bet, especially if you’re trying to get a close-up head shot without a really long telephoto lens. Gotta love the frosty top-knot on this one.

Bison #5
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2015

Nine Below #9
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2015

This is probably about the most subtle snow form photo I’ve ever taken. These wrinkles in the snow were in full shade when I took the photo. The light was so even the shadow pattern was barely visible. It took some work on the computer to bring out the snow ripples as they are shown here.

Nine Below #8
Yellowstone National Parks, Wyoming
2015

Nine Below #7
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2015

Cold Fireworks #2
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2015

Cold Fireworks #1
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2015

The north side of a snowbank, with the sun shining over the top of it just enough to light up the frost-covered fragile grass that had somehow remained standing in two feet of snow.

Having grown up in Wichita and driven back and forth from there to Montana and Idaho many times over the years (o.k. decades) I can relate to this. I’ve seen the first Pizza Hut, the world’s largest ball of twine and the concrete teepee I’ve been by (but for some reason not in) the underground salt museum. I don’t know how I missed the giant Van Gogh easel as I’ve driven by Goodland countless times on I-70. One thing (at least) Zippy missed that I’ve been to though is the Garden of Eden, which is strange given it’s proximity to the world’s largest ball of twine. I’ve also seen M.T. Liggett’s political sculptures which are strange enough to put even Zippy a little bit on edge.

Bison #4
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2015