Yellowstone National Park/Grand Teton National Park, 9.26.21 - 10.6.21, Part 6 of 11
Our second to the last day in Yellowstone was another ambitious itinerary that would have us out from before dawn until after dark. We had sampled the southeastern side, the Canyon area and the southwestern side. It was time to head to Lamar Valley.
Lamar Valley is known as America's Serengeti. It is home to not one but two wolf packs, grizzlies, pronghorn, bison, elk, osprey, badgers, bald eagles, deer and coyotes among others. The bison herds alone could give it the Serengeti feel with animals scattered as far as the eye can see. Literally thousands of the big beasts cover the sage flats and hillsides of Lamar Valley. The lovely Lamar River starts way up in the farthest reaches of the eastern roadless part of Yellowstone and winds down through Lamar Valley, paralelling the road from about the midway point between Tower/Roosevelt Junction and the Northeast entrance near Cooke City. East of the midway point the road follows Soda Butte Creek, notoriously known for its grizzly population.
Wildlife watchers know that most of these animals are the most active at dawn and dusk. There can be plenty to see in the middle of the day, and sightings can be had at any time, but dawn and dusk are the times when there is a lot more activity. This particular year, a key road leading from Canyon Village due north to Tower Junction has been closed for road renovations. As a result, reaching Lamar Valley is over a two hour drive from Canyon, first having to drive west to Norris Junction, then north to Mammoth Hot Springs and finally east out to Lamar Valley. And you still have all that driving to do to get back at the end of the day. Knowing that the Canyon to Tower road would be closed, I knew that dragging Candice out of bed at 4:30AM to get to Lamar Valley before dawn would be harder than skipping the Superbowl to watch The Masked Singer. So rather than deal with that, I plotted an itinerary that would have us coming back through Lamar Valley at dusk instead.
As a photographer immersed in Yellowstone, I wasn’t about to waste a sunrise. In the extremely helpful book I had purchased called “Photographing Yellowstone”, the author mentions that sunrise at Swan Lake can yield a perfect reflection of 10,969’ Electric Peak in the calm water of Swan Lake. Since this was only about an hour from Canyon and right on our morning route, it made a perfect goal for arriving by sunrise. Leaving Canyon around 6:45AM, we drove west to Norris Junction before heading north towards Mammoth Hot Springs. The sun had just barely risen when we reached Swan Lake Flats. I got out and hiked out into a field to get to the edge of Swan Lake. Sure enough, Electric Peak was bathed in a golden cloak of the kind of light that you only see at dawn that typically disappears within the first hour of the day. As beautiful as it was, sadly the lake was frozen around the edges so I could not get a reflection shot of the peak in the lake.
Sunrise at Swan Lake Flats
Swan Lake and Electric Peak
10,969’ Electric Peak
After enjoying the sunrise at Swan Lake Flats we continued north to Mammoth Hot Springs. This is near the northern entrance and where the famous Mammoth Terraces are to be found. There is a lower set of terraces accessed by a maze of boardwalks and an upper terrace that is mainly an area just to drive through. We started at the lower terrace parking area and made a loop through the lower terraces before heading up through the upper section in the car. It was still very early and parts of the terraces were in direct sunlight and other parts in the shade of the morning. It was very challenging from a photography perspective and the subjects I was shooting were so alien and strange that I had to really think out of the box to try and capture the essence of what we were seeing.
Lower Terrace boardwalk
Lower Terrace
Lower Terrace
Lower Terrace
Lower Terrace
Lower Terrace
Lower Terrace
Lower Terrace
Lower Terrace. I overheard a guy say that the previous year this had all been full of water. Constantly changing.
Lower Terrace
Lower Terrace
Lower Terrace
After a nice leisurely stroll through the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces, we turned east and began the drive out to Lamar Valley, while visions of wolf packs danced in our heads.
We continue on in Part 7.