Yellowstone 2019
Sioux Falls #1
Falls Park consists of 123 acres in the heart of Sioux Falls. Each second some 7,400 gallons of water drops 100 feet over the course of the falls. The falls are part of the Sioux River. The land surrounding the falls was purchased by Richard Pettigrew in 1878. With the help of a New Jersey capitalist George I. Seney Pettigrew built a mill which opened in 1881. The mille was built of Sioux Quartzite quarried from the site. It was considered one of the most advanced in America at its time at a cost of nearly $500,000. The mill closed in 1883 as a result of a short water supply and a short supply of wheat. Several attempts were made to revive it but were unsuccessful and fire swept through it in 1956. It was later demolished. The quartzite building on the east bank housed the Sioux Falls Light and Power Company in 1908. The plant was abandoned in 1974 and donated to the city in 1977. In addition to the water falls it is home to a visitor information center, café, nearly 29-mile trail which begins at Falls Park and loops around the city. Walk, jog, bike, or rollerblade your way along the Big Sioux River as it flows through Sioux Falls. The River Greenway offers a paved bike trail that winds through scenic urban and wildlife areas. The trails are maintained in the winter as well, so enjoy a nice crisp winter walk for year-round outdoor enjoyment.
Sioux Falls #2
It was a 7½ hour drive for us from Holts Summit, Missouri. It was an overcast cloudy day when we arrived. I shot these images with a Nikon D850 and a 20mm lens. Using a tripod I was able to capture these falls using a slow shutter speed. I select speed ranging from 0.6 seconds to 1.3 seconds with an aperture of f/14 and an ISO of 100. I took over 100 images of the area using different combinations of shutter speeds and apertures. In hindsight, I should have taken a panorama of the area. This is a beautiful park and the City is to be commended on developing the area.
Badlands at Sunset
Badlands National Park is an American national park located in southwestern South Dakota. The park protects of sharply eroded buttes and pinnacles, along with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. The rugged beauty of the Badlands draws visitors from around the world. These striking geologic deposits contain one of the world’s richest fossil beds. Ancient mammals such as the rhino, horse, and saber-toothed cat once roamed here. The park’s 244,000 acres protect an expanse of mixed-grass prairie where bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, and black-footed ferrets live today.
Custer State Park #1
Part of the Needles highway these rocks contribute to the highways name. There are several places to pull off to take in the landscapes. The rock formations that pop out of the ground are amazing to behold. To see more images and learn about this area follow this link to my travel joural. www.jmgilbertphoto.com/National-Parks/Custer-State-park/
Needles Highway #1
Custer State Park: This is a winding highway and was adorned in yellow aspens. I was there in the fall of 2019 and took a lot of shots along this road. At that time of year, it was not very crowded with other visitors. To see more images and learn about this area follow this link to my travel joural. www.jmgilbertphoto.com/National-Parks/Custer-State-park/
Granite Rocks #3
Custer State Park: The granite rocks towering up out of the ground contribute to the highway's namesake. Igneous rocks are formed (crystallized) from molten magma. Cooling time and pressure determine what type of rocks are formed. Most, if not all, Igneous rocks in the Black Hills were formed (crystallized) at depth and as such are coarsely granular.
Needles Eye Tunnel
Custer State Park: It gets its name from the peculiarly shaped rocks just outside of it. Prior to entering the tunnel stop to see the towering rock whose head looks like the end of a giant sewing needle. This impressively thin formation looks fragile yet it has been there for hundreds of years. This tunnel was blasted through sheer granite walls traversed by South Dakota Highway 87 also known as the Needles Highway. It stretches through 14 miles of granite structures and pine-covered mountains.
Custer Bison
Custer State Park: Buffalo have had a place in Custer State Park since the first herd of 36 animals were brought to the park in 1914. Thriving in their native habitat, the herd quickly outgrew the amount of forage available on the park’s pastures and rangelands. Park managers faced the prospect of losing both the rangeland and the buffalo, but they knew that by occasionally gathering together almost all of the buffalo and culling a select few from the herd, the forage would be conserved and the buffalo and other grazing animals in the park would likely have enough to eat year after year.
The roundup continued through the 1940s and 1950s, but not annually. As a result, by the late 1950s, the herd was once again too big for the amount of available forage. For that reason, and because new regulations required herd managers to test the buffalo for brucellosis and other diseases, the roundup was made an annual event beginning in 1965. It’s now held every September.
The goals of the roundup have remained essentially the same over the years but in the modern era – since 1965 – the buffalo are sold at auction. The modern roundup has also become a major Black Hills tourist attraction, annually drawing ten thousand people or more.
Park staff and wildlife management professionals manage and lead the roundup but volunteer riders still play an important role in the event, just as they did in the 1930s. This video from 1991 shows volunteer and guest riders – including then-governor George S. Mickelson.
Praire Land #1
Custer State Park: Accessed from the 18-mile Wildlife Loop. Winding through pine-covered hills, rolling prairies, and red-walled canyons, the Wildlife Loop is one of the highlights of a park. Here you can spot Bison, Big Horn Sheep, Praire Dogs, Pronghorn, Wild Burros, and Cayote just to name a few.
Roughlock Falls #1
Roughlock Falls, located in a side canyon to Spearfish Canyon are one of the Black Hills' most beautiful areas and one of the most photographed spots. It is created by the Little Spearfish Creek which flows down a spectacular chasm, then tumbles off a 50-foot limestone ledge in a series of lacy cascades. This is an easy hike 2-mile round trip hike.
Just one hour and 35 minutes to Custer State Park on Highway 385.
Spearfish Creek
Surrounded by the Black Hills National Forest, Spearfish Creek is a fly fishing paradise and holds one of the finest populations of wild rainbow trout in the Black Hills. Classified as a permanent cold water fishery, Spearfish Creek averages 29 feet wide, and anglers can easily find a stretch of the creek all to themselves.
The creek is unusual because it freezes from the bottom up instead of icing over due to the very fast rate at which the creek flows. This speed prevents ice from forming except along the bottom of the creek bed and makes year-round fishing possible.
Undine Falls #1
Undine Falls is four miles east of Mammoth, near the roadway, and accessible by an easy, short hike.
Lava Creek spills over the cliff face of a basalt lava flow that was em-placed about 700,000 years ago. The falls is approximately 60 feet in height, descending in three plunges.
Originally called “East Gardner Falls,” “Cascade Falls of the East Gardiner,” or “Gardiner River Falls,” Undine received its present name in 1885 from geologist Arnold Hague. Undine (Webster says it is pronounced UN deen) was named for wise, usually female water spirits from German mythology who lived around waterfalls and who could gain souls by marrying mortal men.
Undine Falls #2
Undine Falls is four miles east of Mammoth, near the roadway, and accessible by an easy, short hike.
Lava Creek spills over the cliff face of a basalt lava flow that was em-placed about 700,000 years ago. The falls is approximately 60 feet in height, descending in three plunges.
Originally called “East Gardner Falls,” “Cascade Falls of the East Gardiner,” or “Gardiner River Falls,” Undine received its present name in 1885 from geologist Arnold Hague. Undine (Webster says it is pronounced UN deen) was named for wise, usually female water spirits from German mythology who lived around waterfalls and who could gain souls by marrying mortal men.
Firehole Falls #1
Firehole Falls is a 40-foot waterfall amidst 800-foot thick lava walls that form the canyon. There are several small parking areas along the Firehole Canyon Drive.
This waterfall on the Firehole River in southwestern Yellowstone National Park in the United States. The falls are located approximately upstream from the confluence of the Firehole and Gibbon Rivers at Madison Junction. Firehole Falls has a drop of approximately. The falls are located within Firehole Canyon on Firehole Canyon Drive, a one-way road that parallels the main Madison Junction to Old Faithful road. (Wikipedia)
Grand Presmatic Spring Overlook #1
The Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook was added in 2018 but was proposed back in 1997. The best way to view this spring is from above because of its size. It is hard to get a good photograph from the boardwalk around the spring to best reflect the size and beauty of this spring.
From the Fairy Falls Trailhead, this is a short 1.2-mile round-trip hike. It is rated as easy to moderate with an elevation change of 105 feet. The trail was developed in a series of switchbacks and the trail has a nice compacted chat base.
Grand Presmatic Spring Overlook #2
This is a huge oval pool 370 feet across and 120 feet deep that is surrounded by unusually colorful bands of algae and travertine terraces, with wavy runoff channels, giving the appearance, from above, of a giant blue star (The American Southwest)
The overlook was well thought out and rests on the top of a mountain and is encased with a black rod-iron fence, high enough to protect visitors from falling but low enough to get dome great photographs of this breathtaking spring.
I remember the first time I visited this location back in 2010 with fellow traveler Niala Branson. There was no trail just a straight climb to the overlook. To get to the top was a difficult hike.
Grand Presmatic Spring Overlook #3
This gives you a closer look and one of the switchback trails to the overlook
Midway Geyser Basin #1
The Midway group has the fewest thermal features of the three main geyser basins in the southwest of Yellowstone National Park though it is just as varied, and several of the springs are large and dramatic. The geysers and pools are mostly concentrated around the Firehole River close to the highway, 11 miles south of Madison Junction.
This image was taken early in the morning with a temperature of 21° resulting in a thick layer of fog coming off the Firehole River.
Hydrothermal plant communities demonstrate in very short periods of time that change is fundamental in any natural system. In a few days, the ground can heat up, perhaps triggered by an earthquake, and kill plants, while an adjacent area may cool, allowing plants to invade a previously inhospitable place.
Merganser
This is a female Merganser that was photographed on the Firehole River.
Males average slightly larger than females but with some overlap. Like other species in the genus Mergus, it has a crest of longer head feathers, but these usually lie smoothly rounded behind the head, not normally forming an erect crest. Adult males in breeding plumage are easily distinguished, the body white with a variable salmon-pink tinge, the head black with an iridescent green gloss, the rump, and tail grey, and the wings largely white on the inner half, black on the outer half. Females and males in "eclipse" (non-breeding plumage, July to October) are largely grey, with a reddish-brown head, white chin, and white secondary feathers on the wing. Juveniles (both sexes) are similar to adult females but also show a short black-edged white stripe between the eye and bill.
The bill and legs are red to brownish-red, brightest on adult males, dullest on juveniles.
Mystic Falls Trail #1
This trail follows a lovely creek through a mixed conifer forest to the 70-foot Mystic Falls, over which the Little Firehole River drops from the Madison Plateau.
This is a 2.4-mile round-trip that begins at the same trailhead. Walk 0.3 miles to the far side of the Biscuit Basin boardwalk to the trailhead or begin 0.25 miles (0.4 km) south of Biscuit Basin by parking in pullouts on either side of the road and walking 0.5 miles north along the Upper Geyser Basin–Biscuit Basin Trail to the trailhead.
his loop trail leads you by geysers and hot springs, through a forest-fire burned area, along the Little Firehole River to Mystic Falls and up to a breathtaking overlook of the Upper Geyser Basin.
Mystic Falls Trail #2
The Mystic Falls Trail follows the Firehole River through a forested area. The falls are approximately 1.1 miles one way. From here the trail continues up a 500-foot climb to the Madison Plateau Overlook. We did not continue on but returned since Bob was experiencing some breathing problems. Our altitude was near 7,802 feet.
This was a beautiful hike.
Mystic Falls
Mystic Falls is considered a cascade type waterfall which is about 70-feet tall. On this particular day, we made it to the falls around 11:30 AM. One side of the falls was in the shade while the other side was being hit with the morning sunlight. I metered off the highlights with hopes of recovering the shadows in post-processing. I probably should have shot this in mutiple images and then blended together.
Mystic Falls Trail #3
part of this trail out and back crosses a boardwalk among thermal pools. I am always intrigued by the fallen trees and the contract and texture they add to a landscape. This one especially caught my attention because a new tree was growing and the base of the fallen dead tree.
Coyote #1
This was the year of the Coyote for me because I was able to capture them at different times and locations.
The coyote is a canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. They range in size from 32 to 37 inches long excluding the tail. They can weigh anywhere from 20 to 50 pounds. They are omnivores and can run in packs. The populations in America are increasing.
Trumpeter Swan #1
Photographing these majestic birds is always a treat for me. I remember one year in Yellowstone with Niala Branson there were areas closed off due to nesting and the low numbers of birds in the area.
The trumpeter swan is a species of swan found in North America. The heaviest living bird native to North America, it is also the largest extant species of waterfowl with a wingspan that may exceed 10 ft.
Widespread destruction and degradation of wetland areas also decreases the suitable habitat areas for the trumpeter swan.
In the early 1900s, the trumpeter was hunted nearly to extinction for its skin, feathers, meat, and eggs. Passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 gave protection to trumpeter swans and other birds and helped curb illegal killing.
In 1932, fewer than 70 trumpeters were known to exist worldwide, at a location near Yellowstone National Park. This led to the establishment of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in 1935. Red Rock Lakes is located in Montana's Centennial Valley and is part of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Nearly half of the known trumpeter swans in 1932 were found in this area. The area's system of hot springs provides year-round open waters where trumpeters, as well as other wildlife, find food and cover even in the coldest weather.
Over the years, the Red Rock Lakes refuge flock served as an important source of breeding birds for reintroduction efforts in other parts of the country, primarily on other national wildlife refuges in the Midwest.
In the early 1950s, a fairly large, previously unknown population of trumpeter swans was discovered in Alaska. Today, estimates show about 16,000 trumpeter swans reside in North America, including some 13,000 in Alaska, which winter on the Pacific Coast; more than 1,600 in Canada; about 500 in the Midwest; and more than 500 in the tri-state area of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana (including the Red Rock Lakes refuge flock).
Trumpeter Swan #2
Trumpeter swans grow rapidly. By 8 to 10 weeks of age, young trumpeters have reached half their adult size and are fully feathered. They retain their gray juvenile plumage until the second winter.
Average age at first flight is 14 to 17 weeks in Alaska and 13 to 15 weeks in other areas of their range (some of the cygnets may not survive to flight stage). Trumpeter swans fly with their long necks and legs fully extended, rather than tucked. They swim with their necks erect, in contrast to mute swans, which swim with their necks in an "S" curve.
The trumpeter swan is vulnerable to illegal shooting, collisions with power lines, and predators such as snapping turtles, great horned owls, raccoons, and minks that steal the eggs and attack the young.
Studies have also shown that trumpeter swans may develop lead poisoning by ingesting lead shot and fishing sinkers during feeding. A relatively recent ban on lead shot for waterfowl hunting has helped significantly decrease this threat in that no new pellets are being deposited in the environment, but old pellets may remain in the sediment of lakes and wetlands for several decades.
Rufous Morph Red-Tailed Hawk #1
On another day in Yellowstone, we headed out to hike and photograph Mystic Falls which is part of the Biscuit Basin. After hiking to the falls we continued to explore the area when we noticed a couple of people fly-fishing in the Little Firehole River Flats. There was a Trumpeter Swan feeding in the river and oblivious to the fisherman and they were really close to her. We stopped to photograph the Swan when we were joined by a lady who told us of a hawk in the nearby picnic area. I figured it was staying in the area because folks leave food droppings which attract small critters which make easy prey for the hawks, but this is just my guess. We drove over to the area and she joined us in photographing the hawk. Although it flew from tree to tree in stayed in the area which gave us the opportunity to photograph it. This is an adult Rufous Morph Red-Tailed Hawk. These birds are distinguished by reddish-brown on the chest with a dark belly. For this series of images, I used my Nikon D500 with a Nikkor 200-500mm lens. I shot with an aperture of f/7.1, a shutter speed of 1/3200 second, and to accomplish this I used an ISO of 500. I probably didn't need this much shutter speed but I wanted to compensate for my shaky hands while holding this lens. I could have increased the f-stop which would have increased my depth-of-field while lowering the shutter speed but I usually don't drop below 1/2000of a second when trying to capture birds in flight.
Osprey #1
I got a lot of great wildlife and landscape shots on my recent trip to Yellowstone and loved being there in the snow, but this is special to me because it is my first Osprey and I got it in flight. It could be sharper but he/she was quite far away.
Was seriously endangered by effects of pesticides in mid-20th century; since DDT and related pesticides were banned in 1972, Ospreys have made a good comeback in many parts of North America.
Osprey #2
The osprey or more specifically the western osprey — also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk — is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than 60 cm in length and 180 cm across the wings.
A very distinctive fish-hawk, formerly classified with other hawks but now placed in a separate family of its own. Along coastlines, lakes, and rivers almost worldwide, the Osprey is often seen flying over the water, hovering, and then plunging feet-first to catch fish in its talons. After a successful strike, the bird rises heavily from the water and flies away, carrying the fish head-forward with its feet. Bald Eagles sometimes chase Ospreys and force them to drop their catch. In many regions, landowners put up poles near the water to attract nesting Ospreys.
American Bison #1
The American bison or simply bison, also commonly known as the American buffalo or simply buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed North America in vast herds.
Symbolic animals of the Great Plains. They are formidable beasts and the heaviest land animals in NOrth America.
Females (cows) and adult males (bulls) generally live in small, separate bands and come together in very large herds during the summer mating season. Males battle for mating primacy, but such contests rarely turn dangerous. Females give birth to one calf after a nine-month pregnancy.
American Bison #2
These large grazers feed on plains grasses, herbs, shrubs, and twigs. They regurgitate their food and chew it as cud before final digestion.
Bison once covered the Great Plains and much of North America, and were critically important to Plains Indian societies. During the 19th century, settlers killed some 50 million bison for food, sport, and to deprive Native Americans of their most important natural asset. The once enormous herds were reduced to only a few hundred animals. Today, bison numbers have rebounded somewhat, and about 500,000 bison live on preserves and ranches where they are raised for their meat.
American Bison #3
Bison stand some 5 to 6.5 feet tall at the shoulder, and can tip the scales at over a ton. Despite their massive size, bison are quick on their feet. When the need arises they can run at speeds up to 40 miles an hour. They sport curved, sharp horns that may grow to be two feet long.
Kepler Falls
Kepler Cascades is a waterfall on the Firehole River in southwestern Yellowstone National Park in the United States. The cascades are located approximately 2.6 miles south of Old Faithful. The cascades drop approximately 150 feet over multiple drops. The longest drop is 50 feet. The cascades are located very near to and visible from the Old Faithful to West Thumb road.
Moose Falls
Moose Falls is a 30-foot plunge type waterfall on Crawfish Creek in Yellowstone National Park. The waterfall was named in 1885 by members of the Arnold Hague Geologic Survey for the plentiful moose found in the southern sections of the park. The falls are just west of the south entrance road via an easy trail that begins north of the south entrance station.
This is a beautiful waterfall that is easy to get to but you can pass right by it if you are not looking for it. There is a trail that will take you right to the base of the falls.
Aspens
John D. Rockeffellow, Jr. Memorial Parkway from the south entrance of Yellowstone National Park towards the Grand Tetons. It connects visitors to 24,000 acres of wildlife which includes grizzly bears, black bears, and moose.
In 1972 Congress dedicated a 24,000-acre parcel of land as John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway to recognize his generosity and foresight. Congress also named the highway from the south boundary of Grand Teton to West Thumb in Yellowstone in honor of Rockefeller.
In the field of conservation, Mr. Rockefeller's contributions to national parks are no less important. He purchased and donated thousands of acres of land to parks using finances or foundation grants. For example. through the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, he donated $5 million to buy private lands in the Great Smoky Mountains "in the beautiful spirit of my mother." Acadia, Shenandoah, and Grand Teton national parks also received generous donations of land from Mr. Rockefeller. In the 1920s, when commercial loggers threatened to destroy large stands of sugar pines adjacent to Yosemite, he provided more than $1 million to save 15,000 acres of forest. Mr. Rockefeller financed the construction of museums in Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone national parks. In 1972 Congress honored his contributions by creating a memorial parkway between Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, which bears his name. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Coyote #2
This image was captured 5 miles outside of West Yellowstone. He was hunting for rodents. There hearing is exceptional and they can lock on to moles burring under ground.
Madison River Sunset
Taken on October 8, 2019 at 6:52 PM with a Nikon D850 and Nikon 20mm f/1.8 lens. This image consists of two images blended together, one was exposed for the sky and the other for the foreground. Both images were shot in TIF, I set the Picture Control to Standard then adjusted the settings to +1 sharpening, +1 clarity, +1 contrast, +1 brightness, and +1 saturation. This is a technique of Chris Balmer of the Yellowstone Camera Store in West Yellowstone. This works great if you don't want to post process. Just download and print. In hind sight I would not add a +1 to the brightness nor the contrast. This made recovering the highlights an issue. Shooting in TIF creates huge files, this one was 133MB and by the time I got done with it, yes I further processed it in Photoshop, it ended up being 2.97GB in size. Crazy.
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