Yellowstone 2022 Trip Report
- pscrimshaw
- Apr 12, 2023
- 9 min read
What can I possibly say about Yellowstone National Park that hasn't already been said. The grandfather of all national parks, it is a symbol of one of the last wild spaces of the American West and perhaps a symbol for the country itself. In a lot of ways it is baffling that I never had taken the time to visit Yellowstone, but I finally decided to pack up my car one day and head out on safari in my own backyard (well 3 states away but same concept).
The drive from Seattle to Yellowstone was a brutal one, but I honestly made pretty good time and made it to West Yellowstone in roughly 12 hours. Seeing the landscapes changing from mountains to plains as I crossed the Continental Divide was astounding. Montana is called big sky country for a reason, because all you see is sky for hours and hours. A long drive to do in a day, but definitely one you don't forget.
The following morning I set off into the park and decided that my first activity would be an early hike at sunrise. Just driving through the park gave me chills, and that foggy morning I was convinced there could be amazing wildlife creeping around every corner. I even pulled over for what I thought was a wolf, but just turned out to be a coyote in the distance. Nobody gets that lucky in Yellowstone within the first 20 minutes of them ever visiting the park.
I made my way to the Fairy Falls Trailhead, and was surprised that no one else was there in the parking lot. I thought that hikes would be crowded in Yellowstone, but evidently people don't hike quite at 6:30 AM like I thought. I mention this because a sign at the trailhead mentioned to be aware that there was a mother grizzly bear with cubs somewhere nearby and to be cautious. Yes I had bear spray, but hiking alone in bear country is generally a bad idea. So I did what every idiot city tourist would do and did the hike alone anyways. Yes the hike and the falls were beautiful, but I was so stressed the entire way that a bear would get me and no one would even know what happened to me. I even recorded videos every 10 minutes on the off chance that I didn't make it and people needed evidence to figure out what happened. A 2 hour hike yes, but it was the longest 2 hour hike of my life.
After the hike, I made my way to Old Faithful to see the geyser erupt like every good Yellowstone visitor should do. It definitely felt more crowded and less wild than the rest of the park, but it was still a fun little show for a few minutes seeing the water and steam spray out of the earth.
Finally I made my way down the lower loop of the park down by Yellowstone Lake before checking into my home at Bridge Bay Campground. I was a little nervous seeing big bison and elk just casually walking around the tents, but what really spooked me was a giant grizzly bear paw print right in front of the spot where I set up my tent. I would find out later that the park staff would actually shoot a bear and her cubs with BB guns that were wandering too close to the campground. There's camping, and then there's Yellowstone camping which is just a whole new level.
After setting up my tent and chairs at Casa del Phillip, I headed up to Hayden Valley for some proper wildlife viewing. On the way a small red fox was literally walking right down the road, but he was so fast that I didn't even have a chance to get my camera up to photography him. Hayden Valley didn't yield many photos that first night, but it was still amazing to see giant herds of bison and gorgeous landscapes all around.
I made my way back to camp and got a fire going to try and heat me up before bed. Even at the end of June, Yellowstone was freezing cold and I definitely underestimated how cold it would be and didn't have the right camping gear for this weather. I don't think I ever had a solid night's sleep during the entire trip, and had to buy multiple blankets to keep me warm at night lest I actually get hypothermia.
The following morning I headed straight back to the valley but couldn't see a thing due to a thick layer of fog. Seeing the bison just casually appear and disappear through the fog was totally unique, but still no great photos in Hayden Valley.
Declaring Hayden Valley a bust that morning, I made my way all the way past Pelican Valley when I saw a huge group of people lined up on an uphill road looking down into a dead tree forest. I knew this meant something good was there, so I parked and got out only to see a grizzly bear and her cub playing along the logs. These two bears were known as Raspberry and Jam, and they entertained people for about an hour before heading off beyond our sightline. I didn't get any good photos, but still I could at least say that I was a grizzly and cub on this trip.
I made my way up the mountains towards the east entrance of the park, where I came across a herd of bighorn sheep walking right along the cliffs next to the road. After a few shots, I enjoyed a scenic drive before heading back to camp and relaxing for the afternoon.
I tried my luck that evening at the same spot to see Razz and Jam, but after a couple of hours they didn't show up and I called it a loss. On a whim I decided to head back to Hayden Valley that evening just in case something good was happening, and boy was that the right idea.
A large group of people were standing on a hilltop, and as you can probably guess when there's a big group of people that usually means something good is happening. The Wapiti Pack of wolves were on the hunt after a large herd of bison, and even though I could only see them through my camera lens and heavily cropping, it was still amazing to say that I had seen wolves. The bison stampeded across the road, and I was convinced that the wolves would follow so I got into position but they never came. For my reward I had to sit behind a bison herd for an hour driving in the dark back to camp. Ah Yellowstone.
The following day I decided to drive around the the park looking for bears and wolves or just something, but just couldn't get lucky like I had the day before. I got a few good bison and elk photos, and even saw a black bear far off, but nothing like the day before. Most mornings and evenings I would sit in Hayden Valley and hope something would happen, but aside from the bison and maybe the outline of a bear miles away I was not getting lucky with my photography.
The next day I decided to focus more on landscapes, and checked out the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and wow do those waterfalls not disappoint. Again, very touristy like Old faithful but still spectacular nonetheless.
Later that evening, I was hanging around Hayden Valley again thinking something would happen. I was beginning to develop friendships with the people that would also frequently stake out in the mornings and evenings hoping to glimpse wolves or bears, and in a lot of ways socializing with these strangers from around the world was just as rewarding as seeing the wildlife itself. It definitely helped keep up my morale, which I'm sure would have been gone already due to the lack of photographic success I had been having.
As the sun went down most everyone was ready to call it quits, but at roughly 10 PM the handful of us left were treated to an amazing experience. The Wapiti Pack came out maybe 100 yards from us and were all howling together across the valley. Hearing wild wolves like that was an amazing experience, and even though it was pitch black and we could barely even see them, it's as close to a spiritual experience that I had ever had in my life.
After that amazing wolf encounter, I figured that I wasn't going to get luckier than that in Yellowstone. The next day would be my last full day in the park, and I was content with that experience alone. Boy was I in for a treat.
Across the valley some of the people with spotting scopes managed to see a handful of the Wapiti puppies that had been born earlier in the year, and even if they were miles away it was so fun just to see them bounce around and play like domestic dogs. Finally they disappeared into the tree line and we figured that we be all the wolf action that morning, but then we spotted a hug black wolf making its way across the valley in plain sight for all to see. The one thing that finally stood out to me when I could see the wolf up close was just how big this thing was. This isn't your typical German Shepherd here, this is a long legged hulking mass of a wild animal. It briefly chased a mule deer but there was really no serious hunting going on, and finally the wolf decided to cross the river and put on a show for the spectators that were now piling up.
In my brain it finally clicked as to what this wolf was trying to do. It was clearly wanting to cross the road to the other side of the valley, and just trying to pick a route with no people. At that moment I picked up my camera and sprinted down the road knowing I would only have a moment as this wolf walked across the road. I set my shutter speed to 1/2000 sec knowing that I couldn't risk missing this shot, and finally I made it right to where the wolf crossed just about 100 yards away or so. In that moment I got my photo of a wild wolf in Yellowstone, which probably still stands out as my favorite photo ever taken. Is it the sharpest, cleanest most amazing photo ever? No, but that doesn't matter to me because I spent days trying to photograph these incredible creatures and finally I had a shot that I was proud of.
At that point I was on such a high that nothing could top that moment. I drove around a bit, and even saw a black bear with two tiny cubs, but nothing was better than that moment with the wolf. Later that evening I went back to Hayden Valley one last time, and lightning actually struck twice because the same wolf came to cross the road again! Unfortunately this time it happened at dusk, so there really weren't any good photos like the morning but it still was amazing to see a wolf again.
The next morning I packed up and said goodbye to Yellowstone as I headed south to Grand Teton National Park. The drive was a nice relaxing one, and I got here around late morning and managed to check off most to the typical spots in the Tetons (Oxbow Bend, Mormon Row, etc.). I didn't have much wildlife success, but later that evening I decided to check out Schwabacher Landing to get that iconic reflective photo of the Tetons in the water. Here I stumbled upon a young bull moose with velvet antlers, and managed to get a couple nice shots of him before realizing from some people that I ran into that I should actually visit at sunrise for a better photo.
The following morning I got up bright and early to get a sunrise photo, and with some big storm clouds building I knew I was going to get lucky. I made it and got some incredible golden light over the mountains, with purples and pinks coming through the storm clouds in amazing ways. I snagged a few shots that I was happy with before running back to my car as the rain began to pour in.
Much of my time after that in the Tetons was just driving around looking for wildlife, but I didn't have any success like I did in Yellowstone. Outside of the moose encounter the evening before, I virtually saw no wildlife inside of the park. Finally I called it an early night and prepared to drive back to Seattle that following day.
Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons both delivered some spectacular results in terms of photography. My time there really taught me to just be patient and take what the parks can give you. Yes I did tend to drive around like a maniac and go hunting for good photos, but the best ones I took were when I just let the moments happen as opposed to going looking for them. Yellowstone isn't like Africa where there are things happening right in front of you at every moment. It's a slow burn that you have to just sit back and enjoy. In that sense, it was an amazing photographic destination that I can't wait to get back to.
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