Worth the Journey A Simple One Day Journey Through Yellowstone National Park By A. R. Massengill Photography
Š 2010 Arnold Richard Massengill 1st edition
Introduction This one day journey starts along the Madison River about fifteen miles inside the park. The Madison River winds along the valley floor while crisscrossing the road that runs from the west entrance into Yellowstone National Park to an intersection with the Gibbon River and the Firehole River. I traveled down from Montana along highway 287 to the town of West Yellowstone, Wyoming. I entered the park mid morning on a rainy overcast day the first week in June 2010 for a one day trip through the southwestern section. Highway 287 enters at the west entrance and exits on the south side of the park at the Grand Teton National Forrest. This grand park is spectacular in its natural beauty. I am glad to have made the journey and seen it first hand. I am also glad that, in the past, there were people of power and influence with the foresight to protect areas such as this for future generations to enjoy. Yellowstone National Park is near the top of my list of places to visit. If you like the outdoors it should be on your list, as well. A place of natural beauty that is definitely- Worth the Journey.
The River “I stand along the edge of the winding river and I look in awe at the surrounding natural beauty; the gently flowing water, the fields of green along its bank, and the lush forest that reach toward the mountain tops.” “I look and feel some pangs of fear at the thought of being there in the distant past and maybe not knowing how to face nature and survive.” “Then I look and feel lasting regret at not being the first to see this powerful natural beauty.” Arnold Richard Massengill
“As a proclaimed civilized world I don’t think we should be judged by what we achieve, collect, and conquer, but by the natural wonders we preserve for the sake of humanity’s future.”
The Firehole Falls is on the Little Firehole River south of the intersection of highway 287 and highway 89 at Madison. Firehole Canyon Drive is one way and leads off the main road and goes to the falls. It loops back to the main road that goes on towards Old Faithful. The roar of the falls and the river rushing through the canyon drowns out all other sounds in the immediate area. On this day there were not too many folks at the falls. The wind was blowing and even though it was June it was cold and damp.
Firehole Falls
Yellowstone National Park is abundant with water falls. But, like most of the national parks across the country it takes an effort to reach the falls if you want to capture images. I feel fortunate in my quest of pictures to see the ones that I have happened upon. To reach some of the other remote water falls in the vast area of Yellowstone would require a lot more planned time and resources. My one day trip through the park is enough for now, have to see what the future brings.
Upper part of Firehole Falls
The bison was the only large animal I saw during my one day journey through the park. I would have to think that in June the bison are more visible due to the fact the calve are born during the spring and grazing is better in the valleys along the rivers. Bison has made a tremendous come back due to the efforts of both the Department of the Interior and the private sector. The national parks provide safe havens for the remaining wild herds and the private sector purchases the excess beyond the capacity of the parks for food and other ventures. You look at a bison in the wild and it is sad to think that the number was as low as 1000 before folks took a real interest in saving the species.
Bison roam the park and mostly ignore the hundreds of vehicles that pass through. They seem to be docile but I would not bet my life on it and make the mistake of getting to close. In June the calves were aplenty and that would sure make getting close much more of a risk. My telephoto lens allowed me to capture several pictures without facing real danger from protective moms. The pictures I shot were of a small herd roaming along the Firehole River. It’s hard to imagine that there were millions of these amazing animals roaming the country. Now the truly wild ones are confined to parks and managed for preservation of the species.
The young bison calves get to enjoy lunch. Bison are undoubtedly the most photographed animal in the park simply because they graze pretty much all day, they are out in the open, and are not easily spooked by tourist.
The bison live in the park and survive as they have long before the migration of man to the west. Of all the tools of the white man to blame for the near demise of the bison, the railroad would be near the top. Railroads opened up the land to the mass slaughter of large herds of bison that roamed free.
Yellowstone National Park is known for Old Faithful and that seems to be the destination of most visitors, that is if the number of vehicles in the parking lot is any indication. In fact, it appeared to me from the number of vehicles passing me on the road that a lot of folks drive hurriedly toward the site of Old Faithful. Once I got passed the site of Old Faithful traffic was less and folks were driving slower. Along the way to the famous geyser are numerous areas where the steam is rising up from the ground. I took pictures at a few hot springs along the way. My day trip would not include a stop at Old Faithful, on this trip I did not care to stand or sit around with a group of people waiting for an eruption of hot water to shoot up out of a hole in the ground. It’s nice to see once, which I did on a previous trip. This trip was more about taking pictures with fewer folks around.
Yellowstone Lake is the largest body of water in the park. It sets nestled in the mountain range at 7700 feet above sea level and is 430 feet deep. I drove along the section of the lake referred to as West Thumb. The pictures I took are of this section. The mountain range in the back ground is snow capped at an elevation above 9,000 feet. I was making my way toward the south entrance of Yellowstone National Park and on toward the Grand Teton National Park. The temperature was dropping down into the low forties as the day wore on even though the elevation was below the 9,000 foot mark. A person could spend a life time in Yellowstone National Park and never run out of natural beauty to photograph.
The road leading out of Yellowstone on the south side of the park runs partially along the Lewis River. The cold crystal clear water flows through the valley all during the year and spreads out across the valley floor as the snow melts. The Lewis Lake captures some of the flow as it moves down from the higher elevations. One smaller water fall (Lewis Falls) is in view from the road. I’ve seen this magnificent park on two separate one day occasions knowing that it has been photographed by many that have gone through it before and also know it will be photographed by many in the future. I made this one day journey through the park knowing my photographs could never be duplicated, since no two people can capture the same image. The images I present are what my eyes where able to view through the camera on this particular day.
South of Yellowstone National Park is the north end of Grand Teton National Park. The view from highway 287 is of the beautiful high peaks that run down to Jackson Lake. There are other lakes in the park since the park has glaciers to feed the streams, rivers, and lakes, but my trip would not include scouting much off the main road. I chose to include the pictures of Jackson Lake in this book due to the beauty so close to the south end of Yellowstone. I felt it was fitting since this mountain range would be the last one I would see on the way back east.
Journey Looming Looking out from my windshield I see the mountains looming as I travel south through the Wyoming countryside. Do I continue tracking south as the miles I keep consuming or bypass the park and head east, it’s a long and boring ride. The sun was moving closer to sitting in the west so I make a real decision to stop to clear the night. Since vision grows much dimmer putting eyesight to the test decisions come much clearer as the darkness turns to light. Reaching morning makes the yearning ever stronger and so south I will surely go. To reach the looming mountains was no mystery any longer, looking forward to the sightings with my equipment all in tow. Made my journey through the landscape stopping so to claim the sights, captured image after image for to show. Made the journey going southward, still shots with perfect light last forever never fading, alas, future faces all aglow. The day yielded pleasure, new places I did see made my journey everlasting, least the worry ends. Time to reach forward, place this day in the past for me let the road lead me eastward till the yearning comes again.
The long road heading east toward home...