Friday, August 6, 2010

Yellowstone

This past May we had the chance to spend a day in Yellowstone National Park--a little hiatus in a mad drive across the country from Chicago to Vancouver. Little did we know when we set out on our "summer" road trip that we would arrive at the park only the day after it had reopened following a long winter's hibernation.


There was still snow on the ground and on the peaks, and the roads were empty as far as the eye could see (undoubtedly everyone else thought to check the weather and saw there was a blizzard on its way).


A teeny little blizzard was a small price to pay for having the park almost all to ourselves. We did cross paths with a few hardy locals, still bearing their winter coats (and making us wish we'd had the foresight to bring along our own). Note: T-shirts in May are not seasonally appropriate clothing in Wyoming.

Stunning waterfalls, canyons, rock formations and volcanic pools, and we got to enjoy it virtually uniterrupted (except for a few herd of shaggy bison and one grizzly bear who woke up from his winter's sleep a few days too early).

7 comments:

Angry Asian said...

Gorgeous pix, as per usual!
I've missed ur posts Elizabeth.
I've driven across country 2x but always did the southern route. I regret that.

Anonymous said...

When I lived in SW Montana that was my most favorite time to drive through the park. You take a fantastic photo! Oh, now I miss it. -Talla

evan said...

Very John Toll-esque.

montague said...

SO SO SO beautiful!

Ashkon said...

How long do you think Hazel would survive outside the car there?

ClaireAshworth said...

these pictures are amazing! i wouldnt think it'd be a great time to go, but it looks almost eerie and i always love when a park feels empty. and what great photography it made.

Elizabeth said...

Angry Asian - Thanks for checking in, despite my long absence!

Talla - I had no idea how gorgeous it would be at that time of year. Now I would recommend it to anyone.

Evan - Thanks! Photos first, cinematography next?

Montague - Thank you!

Ashkon - The question is, could we convince Hazel to get out of the car with all those bison around? Not likely.

Claire - Thanks so much! I did love that empty feeling around us. It's the first time I've been to a national park where it's felt that way.