Pictures/Writing: Lyle Such
Camera: Canon 5d MkIV
After many years of thinking about visiting Yellowstone, we finally decided to take a road trip up to Wyoming and spend four days exploring the enormous park.
We approached Yellowstone from the west. Just in case we didn't see any bears, we decided to stop at Bear World.
Brown and Black Bears roamed around while we drove through the park.
Really getting into this tourist thing.
Approaching Yellowstone from the west entrance.
A moose crossing the river outside of the park.
We didn't have a lot of time before sunset. Our first stop was the Artis Paint Pots Trail.
A nice boardwalk led us above the paint pots for an expansive view of the West side of Yellowstone.
Some fun bubbling features.
The smell of sulfur was strong here.
After the Paint Posts trail, we stopped at Norris Geyser Basin for sunset. We walked the lower loop looking for some of the larger geysers.
Our first major geyser, the Steamboat Geyser.
We read that this geyser drains many of the smaller pools in the area when it erupts.
The runoff from each geyser creates unique patterns in the surrounding rocks.
The sky was smoky from fires burning in Idaho, Montana and Oregon.
There were several geysers along this path.
The Green Dragon Spring.
We neared the en of the loop, and began scouting out a spot for sunset. Yellowstone is a very easy to navigate place, and the "hikes" are generally just easy walks along very well designed boardwalks.
We decided this view of the Norris Geyser Basin would be the perfect spot to watch the sun set.
Beautiful colors in the sky, helped by all the smoke in the atmosphere.
Once the sun went down, we walked down into the basin to see the geysers and pools up close.
That was it for day one. Once it was dark, we drove up to Gardiner for our first night.