Yellowstone Fall 2023 Trip Report

Let me start off by saying that this trip was definitely not planned. Normally I would only visit Yellowstone once a year, but even though my spring trip proved very productive photographically, I was still left wanting more. Yellowstone is an incredibly difficult place to photograph wildlife, and I've found that the real key to success is just giving yourself as many opportunities as you can. That's why I decided to take an impromptu trip to spend an entire month there, with the focus on one animal specifically: wolves. A solid wolf photo has eluded me for years, and since I'm not the most experienced winter driver, I decided that I would try my luck in the Fall to see if I could get a decent photo of these elusive animals.

Given that it was Fall time though, I couldn't not spend some time in the Tetons photographing the amazing fall colors and landscapes. Thousands of photographers flock here towards the end of September/beginning of October hoping to catch the leaves in peak Fall bloom. I began my trip hoping that I had timed it just right, but unfortunately a rather cold September meant that many of the leaves had already fallen before they even got the chance to change colors. Still, there were plenty of aspens and cottonwood trees all around the park that gave me plenty of color to work with despite some rather bare trees mixed in.

Oxbow Bend with full Fall colors

In perfect Fall fashion, it was raining almost every single day while I was in the park. Unfortunately this meant that landscape photography had to take a back seat until I could actually get a clear day when the mountains were in view. That did allow for long days where wildlife was more active, so there were pros and cons to the difficult weather I faced.

The Tetons aren't exactly prime wolf territory, so I knew that wouldn't be my initial focus. this time of year though was the middle of the rut, where the moose and elk in the park battle for dominance with their racks on full display. Almost every single day I was coming across huge bull moose somewhere in the park, and on many occasions they would get within feet of my car. You don't realize how big moose are until they're right next to you, and man were some of these animals giants even by moose standards. I had rainy day moose, moose in riverbeds, and even moose in front of the Teton range. This definitely turned into a very moose centric trip.

I saw more moose on this trip than I've ever seen in my entire life

Some of these moose posed in front of some amazing backgrounds

I did struggle to find some of the big bull elk in the park, and outside of one encounter near Willow Flats, I mostly heard elk bugling rather than getting any good photos of them.

Elk proved to be a challenge for me in the Tetons, with the exception of this one bull

One animal that I was not expecting to encounter, but had always wanted to see, was the North American river otter. I had heard from others about a family of 7 that would consistently pop out in the same location, and lucky for me on one afternoon they came out of their den right on time. Photographing otters is so hard because they move quickly and are constantly cuddling one another. It's incredibly difficult to focus on just one, even if it is super cute to watch.

These river otters were the cutest surprise during my trip

As I decided to call it a day with the otters by the river, an osprey swopped down and grabbed a fish right out of the water. I was so unprepared for a bird in flight shot, but I pressed my shutter down for as many photos as I could and came away with a frame or two of the osprey actually in focus. It was such a fast moment, but really taught me the importance of having the right settings ready to go for any encounter.

One of the few in focus frames of my osprey encounter

After a few days of some amazing wildlife encounter, there was still one animal in the Tetons that I had yet to see. For years I have been trying to photograph some of the famous grizzly bears of the Tetons with little luck. Grizzly bears are very common to see in the park, and there are a handful of bears that hang out by the roadside making for easy photography. For some reason though, every time I had visited the park I had never seen one. Just bad luck I suppose! After an initial few days with no luck finding any, one afternoon word got out that Grizzly 793, aka "Blondie" had just popped out with two cubs. The next few days became a circus of photographers and other tourists trying to get a glimpse of mom with her adorable babies.

I wouldn't say that I got amazing photos of her, but they were by far some of the best grizzly photos I do have. That and it is still incredibly special to see a grizzly with cubs for the first time, so if nothing else the experience was still worth it.

Blondie with her two adorable cubs. She stole the show during October in the Tetons

After an amazing first week in the Tetons, I said goodbye to the bears and moose and headed north towards Yellowstone for wolves. I planned to spend the majority of my time in the Northern Range, where I knew several wolf packs could be spotted relatively consistently. The problem though is that I have little interest in just spotting wolves. I can see wolves any day in Yellowstone if I want to, the tricky part is actually being able to get close enough to photograph them.

Wolves have a healthy fear of humans, and tend to stay away from them as much as possible. In order to get a closeup photo of a wolf, you're hoping for either a carcass being found within viewing distance from the road, or a road crossing. Unlike the spring when wolves are crossing to and from their dens rather frequently, in the fall the packs are constantly on the move with no real sense of direction. That means finding a wolf that wants to cross the road is just praying that you stumble across one at the right moment.

If all of these scenarios sound like just dumb luck, that's because they really are. Getting a good wolf photo is the hardest thing to do in Yellowstone.

Every single day, from sunrise to sunset, I would venture into the park looking for wolves. On my second evening in the park I came across the Shrimp Lake Pack with their 4 healthy pups at close range. I had seen the one black female in the pack earlier this spring, so this newly formed little pack has my heart in a way. Unfortunately it was too low light for photos, but just seeing such a healthy pack with all of their pups surviving the year was a treat to experience.

Unfortunately Lamar Valley's most dominant residents, The Junction Butte pack, proved to be difficult subjects. I would see them almost daily, either 3 or 4 individuals at a time or a larger group of 14 or so. The problem is that they would be so far across the valley, that the only real view of them was through a spotting scope.

The average distance of wolf photography is between far and very far

Most of my days followed the same routine. Go to Lamar Valley before sunrise, see the Junctions a thousand miles away, and then it would get too hot and they would bed down for the day in some trees.

Fall in Yellowstone is supposed to be relatively chilly with even chances of snow. That was part of what appealed to me when it came to planning this trip, and is also great weather for wolves. Instead, I ended up getting bright sunny days where it was almost 70 for about two weeks straight. This is terrible photography weather for one thing, but it also meant that wolves would be much less active.

Most of my days would be shot after the morning wolf watch, and all I really could photograph was bison. Don't get me wrong, bison are beautiful animals, but they're literally everywhere in the park and after you've photographed a few it does get a bit old. The wolves were definitely not cooperating, and that was beginning to take its toll on me mentally.

Bison were probably the only thing I could photograph in Yellowstone when the wolves were so far away

At one point I came across a lone black wolf feeding on a bison carcass a few hundred yards off the road, but before I knew it the wolf had given me the slip and crossed the road while I was running trying to get a photo. This was probably my closest chance in weeks, and missing out on it was an emotional gut punch. Later on, the rest of the pack came to the carcass and even battled with a grizzly bear over eating rights, but none of them came close to the road like that one black did. Sometimes you just miss out on your moment.

I later got word that a couple of the Wapiti pack wolves, the residents of Hayden Valley in the south, had finally be spotted again after being gone for weeks. These wolves have a much higher chance of crossing the road, and last year had given me my closest wolf encounter to date. I spent several days here hoping to see if lightning would struck twice, but instead all I found was fog. I wasn't going to find wolves across the valley through the thick fog, and outside of am elk across the river and a coyote that I was able to photograph hunting, wolves were a bust in Hayden.

If there were wolves in Hayden Valley, I certainly couldn't see them through all the fog

Every time that I visit Yellowstone, on my last day in the park I have usually have great wolf encounters. Even though I had zero luck after my extended stay, I was still clinging to the hope that my last day would yield some sort of miracle for me. As I came into the valley, I spotted a black wolf heading east that was easily visible with the naked eye. I realized that this could finally be my moment, and I wanted to seize it. I drove down to intercept the wolf where I thought it would be moving, but when I got out and started moving towards the hill line the wolf darted right in front of me. I was stunned at how quickly it had gotten to my position, and I never expected it to be that close. Once again I misread the situation, and it had cost me my wolf photo.

The rest of the pack then briefly made an appearance by the edge of the tree line, which was somewhat of a consolation prize. They howled for about 10 minutes which was very cool to witness, but once again they were too far for photos. It seemed like that summed up my trip pretty well at that point.

Probably the closest wolf photo that I got on my trip, and even that was too far

So while the Tetons gave my amazing photographic opportunities, my Yellowstone wolf mission was a total bust. The weather was awful, there were no carcasses within photographing distance, and the wolves just never seemed to be in a position to cross the road. And on the couple chances I had when they did cross, I blew my opportunity. I know this also sounds like a rather negative experience, but it did teach me some valuable lessons that I hope to carry with me in the future. I know I will be back in Yellowstone at some point, and I will keep trying to get my wolf photo. My moment will come at some point, and I'll make sure to seize it when it does.