As the first national park, Yellowstone lives up to its legacy between the geothermal features, the abundant wildlife and the overall incredible and diverse landscapes. I spent 5 days exploring and photographing inside the park in July 2020, as part of a larger trip featuring Grand Teton National Park and Craters of the Moon. I wanted to cover as much ground as possible, and still get in some good solid-length hikes along the way.
I started off with some wildlife in Hayden Valley.
(Above) A sleepy Elk, laying down for a midday nap on a bed of grass.
Then I went to the West Thumb Geyser Basin after my morning in Hayden Valley. The following day I would go to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone area.
Early morning fog draping the powerful Yellowstone River.
The longest hike I did was the almost 5 miles and over 2,000 feet of elevation gain, Avalanche Peak Trail.
The hike up was filled with a variety of different wildflowers blanketing the forest floor.
I also met this Marmot along the way. If you zoom in on his eye, you can actually make me out in the distance taking this photo.
Once at the top, the views of the surrounding mountaintops were incredible, with patches of snow still remaining.
An absolute highlight was the day spent in Lamar Valley. Lamar Valley is known for its stunning landscapes, and also its abundance of wildlife.
Here are some Pronghorns and different birds I saw in Lamar Valley.
My favorite photo from Lamar Valley is of a herd of Bison slowly making its way across the plains. I took this photo while hiking early in the morning on the Lamar Valley Trail, which the first couple miles of the trail pass amongst hundreds of Bison.
Here are some highlights of the various geothermal features across the park.
Including the Grand Prismatic Spring.
And of course, Old Faithful.
On my final day, a storm came in just as Old Faithful was going off, providing a nice back drop and contrast to the Geyser.
To see the full album version of this photo post, click here.