Photo Fun: Tetons and Yellowstone Wildlife

My husband Don and I took a walk on the wild side recently. But we didn’t go bar-hopping or get crazy and shake our groove-thangs. Instead, for the first time ever, we vacationed in the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone wilderness area.

We were blown away by the vastness and variety of God’s creation—mountains, rivers, waterfalls, valleys, lakes, canyons, geysers, hot springs, wildflowers, sage brush, and the list goes on—but the opportunities God gave us to view wildlife were unparalleled for us thus far in our lives.

What a treat to head out each day with my trusty camera and see what wonders—and memories—I might get to capture through photos. During this last week of Summer Photo Fun, I’m thrilled to give you a taste of wild-side living like no other. Hope you enjoy!

About thirty minutes before we reached Jackson, we spotted our first wildlife of the trip. This pronghorn wasn’t alone, though. There was a small herd with him!

On one of our days in Yellowstone, we got to watch a herd of buffalo in Hayden Valley while we sat in our car and ate our lunch. A once-in-a-lifetime experience, huh?

Elk enjoying a rest in the early evening hours near the Madison River at Yellowstone.

We got to watch pelicans on the beautiful blue waters where the Yellowstone River empties into Yellowstone Lake. These three liked to hang out together :)

 

And there they go. The three buddies flying off to parts unknown. By the way, I discovered that pelicans fly fast! I was happy to capture a shot of them in flight.

 

Don was the first one to spot this buck (a mule deer). When passersby saw me snapping pictures, they stopped and hurried to take photos of their own. We caused quite a stir! :)

One night as we left the park, this Yellow-bellied Marmot stood at attention as we drove by. He must have been saying, “When will these people ever leave!” :)

Here’s an elk finding available food in a burned out section of the forest in Yellowstone. Along with the wildlife, I loved all the wildflowers throughout the Tetons and Yellowstone.

What fun seeing some of the babies of Yellowstone. As we drove through Hayden Valley again one evening, a buffalo herd was spread out across the road. This little guy was intrigued by our car :)

 

With just two days left of our time in the area, we finally saw what we’d been longing to see all week. Moose! This guy was huge!!

The next day (our last day) we saw a mother moose with twins! Another once-in-a-lifetime experience, I’m sure. They were feeding along the Gros Ventre River in Grand Teton National Park.

This nest of Osprey sat on top of what looked like an abandoned telephone pole not far from our condo. I didn’t even notice it until I saw another woman taking a photo.

And finally as we left the Jackson area and headed home, we spotted this momma and baby pronghorn and stopped one final time to take more photos. What a treat!

Hope you’ve enjoyed a peek at our wildlife adventures. I think they were my favorite part of the trip. Well, that and the mountains . . . and the wildflowers . . . and the lakes and the . . . Yes, I loved it all! :)

“I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.” Psalm 9:1

What’s the most interesting wild animal you’ve ever seen?

*You can see more of my vacation photos on Facebook. If we aren’t FB friends yet, what are you waiting for? :) Connect with me at www.facebook.com/ckbarker — just be sure and tell me you’re one of my blog readers if I won’t recognize your name.

*Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, came out last week. It’s not too late to receive it. Sign-up is free and to the right!

Comments

  1. How exciting, Cheryl! I didn’t see baby anythings or any moose when I was in Yellowstone, but my goodness, there is so much wildlife. Bearjams, buff-jams, lots and lots of traffic jams, and all worth it.

  2. Jana, yes, it was very exciting. So glad we got to go. I was hoping to see a bear — from a long distance or from our car! — but no such luck. Two people were killed by bears in Yellowstone last year, though, so maybe we were lucky after all! :)

  3. What a fantastic holiday! I would love to do something like this. :)

  4. Wow…great pics. That is a wonderful area to visit. I remember camping in Yellowstone when I was very young. Beautiful country, as they say. Looks like a fun trip. : )

  5. These are terrific photos Cheryl. I’m glad you had such fun, but just a tad envious. Maybe sometime you could post some of your photos on my last page. And maybe you would allow me to paint from them sometime. I’m particularly liking the pelicans. The other animals are very interesting, and neat to see. But the pelican photo, where they’re on the water, also has such great composition. At least I think it does. All last week I tired to take photos of geese taking off from, or landing on, this little lake that’s behind the house here in Lexington. They’re faster than you would think too, so I can relate. You got a great shot though.

  6. Yes, Maureen, Kay, & Jeneal, this was a wonderful trip. So thankful we got to go.

    Jeneal, so glad you like the photos! I’ve got an entire album on my Facebook page so you’ll have to look at those, too. And sure, I’d love to have some of them appear on your LastPage and also would gladly let you paint from them. Sounds exciting! :)

  7. Oh my goodness these photos are just awesome!! Sounds like you had an amazing time.

  8. The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone are on my list of “must-see” places in America. Hope to see them someday. Your pictures are amazing, and it sounds like you had a lovely time, Cheryl. You really saw lots of wildlife. Two years ago we saw a black bear playing in a meadow in Smokey Mountains National Park. My eldest boy still talks about it. Thanks for sharing your vacation photos with us.

  9. Alicia & Mairead, yes, we had an amazing time. Couldn’t believe all the opportunities for wildlife viewing.

    Mairead, hope you get to go to the Tetons & Yellowstone soon. You will love it. I think we’ll be going to the Smokey Mountains next summer as my extended family may be planning a reunion in that area then. Maybe I’ll get to see a bear!! :)

  10. I am new to your blog, Cheryl. Thank you for sharing these lovely photos.

  11. Lori, thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. I’m so glad you enjoyed the photos! Hope you will come again!

  12. I will definitely come by again, Cheryl. I’ve bookmarked your blog.

  13. Thanks, Lori!

  14. Oh, WOW! You saw some terrific sites when you were in WY – I love the baby bison and the moose!!!!

  15. thanks for sharing.

  16. Lynn, you are right — I think all the wildlife was the highlight of the trip for me. Amazing sights for sure!

    And Anonymous, you’re more than welcome. I was happy to share!

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