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Shell Falls

            Yellowstone National Park

Well, where to start. Yellowstone was always that place that I dreamed about visiting for years and years. When I finally saw the sign leading into the park it was an amazing
feeling. I finally made it. Little did I know that I'd be back in the park less than a year later. 

Yellowstone is such a gigantic park that its impossible to really describe, what I can tell you is that Yellowstone is the best national park in the country, hands down in my
opinion. I've seen everything from the deserts of Utah and the arches, hoodoos, ect to the towering granite peaks in Yosemite and all the cool things to see in the east like
the Everglades, Cuyahoga, and so on. Nothing compares to Yellowstone. It really is a special place that you'll remember for the rest of your life. If you want to get in touch
with nature and see some things that you won't get to see anywhere in the world, Yellowstone is the place to go.

I had roughly five days in Yellowstone. Basically I had food packed and ready to go so while in the park I wouldn't need to stop at all. In those five days I easily put in a 
solid 80 hours in the park whether that be driving or hiking. I seen and did about everything the time I had allotted me to. The park is a huge figure eight, it would take hours
to get from the bottom to the top or visa versa. On the outskirts of the park are various towns, I tried to stay in them all in my time in the park. 

The first day I got to the park late and traveled up the Bear Tooth Highway only to find everything in the park was booked, my only logical choice was to spend the night in Cody,
Wyoming. I woke up at the crack of dawn the next day and finally headed up to the park. About an hour drive and I finally made it in. One of the first views I was able to see was
Yellowstone Lake, it was amazing how large of a lake could literally be sitting on top of a mountain some 7,000 feet up. I headed down to the lake and got lucky, within the first
hour of being in the park I spotted my first grizzly. What an awesome start to the trip.

Thats just a small glimpse of one of the days, to make things a bit shorter a lot of my time was spent hiking. There are quite a few thermal features in the park including the
famous Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Spring. The thermal features really are out of this world, no where on this planet has as many thermal features as Yellowstone (You can
thank the sleeping giant super volcano below it for that) If you go to Yellowstone and you don't see a thermal feature...then you haven't been to Yellowstone.

One of the most asked questions towards me pertaining Yellowstone is always wildlife, what did I see, what I didn't see and so on. Most of my trip was put towards seeing wildlife.
Bison are everywhere. You will hit traffic jams with them and yes they get right beside your vehicle sometimes even bumping into it. Bison also injure more people a year than
any other animal in the park. Elk are also very common to see. Big horns are a bit of a challenge to find, but if your willing to use some gear you can almost always spot one or
two around dawn or dusk up near Gardiner. Just scope out the ridges, I seen them there both trips to Yellowstone. Tons of coyotes, they are beggers so be aware they will try and
snatch food off of you, some seem a little to friendly. The only wolf encounter I had was in Hayden Valley, there was one lone "wolf" I say "wolf" because it was so far away it
was impossible to tell the difference between a wolf and a coyotes although a lot of the spotters seem to think it was a wolf. And finally bears....I was shocked at how many bears
I was able to spot in Yellowstone on both of my trips. Within five days I spotted around 8-9 grizzlys. My second trip was around 5 grizzlys and 3 black bears. If you have patience
and a little luck you'll find them!

Some other amazing things to check out in the park are the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, trust me it lives up to its name. As I stated above the Grand Prismatic Pool is amazing, I
was lucky enough to hike up the hill behind it and get an amazing view, but beware it is in a dense bear area and its not advised to do it alone. Another sort of off beat thing to 
do is checking out the Old Faithful Inn, go grab a drink. Watch the geyser erupt from the deck, its an awesome place full of great history!

As for towns to stay in and what not, if you can't get a place in the park (which I highly suggest) I would highly recommend staying in Gardiner, Montana. Its a small sleepy western
town. But it has quite a bit to do, its a blast if you get a chance to check out some of the shops and bars. Also it is only a stones throw away from the entrance. Also if your into 
more of a modern feel, West Yellowstone also located in Montana is more of the "touristy" towns. Hotels there are probably triple the price compared to Gardiner though!

Well I don't really think a review of Yellowstone is needed if you can't already tell, its amazing. Easily a 11/10.
   

Taken on: September 8, 2013

Sets appears in: • Yellowstone and Surrounding Areas • National Parks/Monuments/Ect more » • D300s HDRs • HDR « less

Camera: Nikon D300S, f/22.0, 1/5 sec, 18mm (=27mm), ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D300S
Aperture:	f/22.0
Exposure Time:	0.2 sec (1/5)
Focal Length:	18mm (35mm equivalent: 27mm)
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	-3 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Shutter speed priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)
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