Yep
– the alarm rang at 5:15 am. Yikes – did
anyone say this was vacation?! Showered,
C had eggs & tomatoes & elk bolognaise, J had donuts, & coffee and
we’re off!
It
was the first time we've taken the 6 Blackfoot Plateau. It's a little off
the beaten track, is 6 miles long, one way, and a one lane road; we encountered
no other humans! As we rounded the first climb, there was a lone bison to
greet us. He was in the sun and happily rolling, followed by scratching
on a branch and then lumbering across the road. The light was
superb.
 |
| Bison |
Carrying
on, we were running to find a good point to welcome the sun who was imminently
due to make an appearance. Along the way, we were noting things we would
like to return to capture once the sun was actually up in the sky.
The
sun made and appearance over a meadow, through some pine trees in front of a
mountain range. It was a perfect opportunity to try out two different
lenses: 14mm prime and 24-105 mm. Carefully setting the camera/lenses to
capture a star with the sun, Cheri shot away with John’s camera. Hope
you enjoy these.
After
the first round trip it was clear we needed a second run through. There
were some aspens whose leaves were turning from green to yellow and even some
to red and orange. They were the best specimens we had seen so far.
So, off we went for a second run through. This time we had lots of
company. We took our time and shot all kinds of images and played with
them in artistic ways.
After
two rounds, it was time to press on and see what else the park had to offer.
We decided to head down to the Yellowstone River once again and see what
we could see.
We
no sooner got started and we ran into a group of mountain sheep who we running
back and forth across the road eating sweet grass. Of course this was a
perfect picture opportunity.
After
shooting for about 15 minutes a man approached Cheri and said, "Cheri is
that you?" I looked up and there was a colleague, Rod Griffith, who
I knew 15 years ago!! What are the odds?! We chatted away, got to
meet each other's spouses and fifteen years seemed to evaporate right there on
the side of the road!! We ran into them again a few hours later.
We
stopped off at the falls and decided to walk in the 150 ft to see it.
When we got to the falls there was an additional trail that took you down
to the river itself. This one was straight down and conversely straight
up after you had been to the river. We had both been missing our bikes
and thought "why not"? So down we went! The river was
green and blue and abutted some sandstone peaks. We played with images
and enjoyed the heat of the morning. It was already climbing from the
early morning lows of 42 degrees to what would be the high of 75 deg; gotta
love Indian summer.
By
now, it was past lunchtime and we decided to make a run for the river so we
could picnic there. We found a pull off with a nice tree and settled in
for ham and dill pickle sandwiches, tortilla chips and salsa verde! Yummy! The river was peacefully floating by with the
blue sky and white clouds reflecting.
The
bison were holding court in the Hayden Valley and forcing traffic to their
whims. Good light and fun to watch!
We
carried on to Le Hardy rapids looking for otters. No otters, but we did see Rod & Vicki
again! A merganser was playing in the
rapids; would have never guessed that would be a bird behavior as the rapids
were really running!
The
weather started to get dark and we decided to head for hotel and dinner! Back to the Iron Horse where Cheri had the
elk bolognaise and John had the Bison Meatloaf.
More food envy!
Enjoy!
Cheri
& John
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