Road Trip (With Video!)

02.14.2012 | 12:07 pm | General Info, National Parks, Photography, US National Parks, Wildlife, Yellowstone National Park

Rebecca at Sunset

Sometimes you just need a road trip.

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Yellowstone and Grand Teton

10.29.2011 | 8:18 pm | General Info, Grand Teton NP, Landscapes, National Parks, Photography, US National Parks, Wildlife, Yellowstone National Park

Bull Elk, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming - Copyright © 2011 - Thayne Shaffer

Here are a few wildlife photos from a quick trip to the Yellowstone and Grand Teton areas a few weeks ago. Unlike my trip in June, it was a slow trip for wildlife. I’ve never seen weather quite like this in the fall – about 75 degrees during the day and not even freezing at night – very warm for the last week of September. I think the relatively hot weather contributed to the scarcity of the wildlife. I’ve been in colder weather in Yellowstone in mid-summer before. On the other hand, the weather felt wonderful, and it was great to be there. As you can see I did get some interesting shots of an elk and a moose exhibiting flehmening behavior, which I’ve never photographed before.

I also took some night sky photos and some scenics at Schwabacher’s Landing to stitch together into panos. I’ll publish those images in a future post once I get them processed.

Follow this link for a full-screen slideshow and additional images.

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The Best Trip Ever

06.30.2011 | 12:58 pm | National Parks, Photography, US National Parks, Wildlife, Yellowstone National Park

Blackbear, Junction Butte, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming - Copyright © 2011 - Thayne Shaffer

Since before it was established as a national park Yellowstone has been a region impossible to describe without invoking superlatives. The earliest recorded reports of the area, sent east by traders and mountain men, seemed so outlandish that they were dismissed as tall tales. Since then tens of millions have traveled from every part of the globe to experience for themselves the unique curiosities and observe the renowned wildlife found there. Inevitably at the end of their stay, each visitor is left searching for adequate words to describe the wonders they’ve witnessed.
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Wolves

11.1.2010 | 6:41 am | General Info, National Parks, US National Parks, Wildlife, Yellowstone National Park

Elk Antlers

For our annual autumn trip this year we decided to mix things up a little and go looking for wolves in Yellowstone instead of taking our traditional excursion to Grand Teton. We hoped to substitute and abundance of wildlife sightings for the sweeping landscapes of Grand Teton this year.

Anybody that has visited the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park would have a hard time missing the crowd of wolf observers reliably found there. Eager searchers disburse along the highway equipped with two-way radios and powerful spotting scopes, quickly to converge on a spot when word goes out of a sighting. Read More »

Autumn in the Tetons

01.23.2009 | 9:20 am | General Info, Grand Teton NP, Landscapes, National Parks, Photography, US National Parks, Wildlife, Yellowstone National Park

Beaver in Snake River Beaver Swimming in Snake River Bull Moose at Willow Flats
Autumn at Moose falls Mt. Moran

There were some other things that we did on our Fall trip to the Tetons besides run from bears. We even drove up into Yellowstone for a day. The weather was a mix of snow early and sun later. Temperatures at night weren’t bad. Here are a few of the images captured when we weren’t running for our lives.