Storm Trail at Sunrise

 

 

One of the first days we were at Yellowstone, we hiked Storm Trail.  A ranger had told me that there were some nice wildflowers there, and there were (more on them later!)!  It was really peaceful on the trail, too.  We were there at sunrise, and we had the trail all to ourselves!  We only saw another group of hikers when we were just about back to our car.  Great!  And, there were also some great nature and landscape shots to be had.  Take a look –

 

The trail wound around a little point of land that jutted out into Yellowstone Lake.  This first image is of some ducks that were heading out for a morning swim.  I loved the peaceful feeling of this.  The sun was just starting to make it presence known, with some gentle rays.

Here’s another image of the sun’s rays just rising up into the sky.  We were a bit higher on the trail, so we got a nice view of part of the shoreline.  Even tho I got some lens flare from the sun (the circles and streaks of light), I felt like it sort of added to the image as it felt like the sun was beginning to rain down on us!

Well, isn’t this a handsome guy?  Jeff saw him with his binoculars from a ways back, and I started snapping photos of him.  He stayed on that rock until we were just underneath him.  This image is my favorite, as it seems like he’s posing for me, and giving me his “best side”!  What a little ham!

We went down to the shoreline at one point to check out a little geyser, and noticed these paw prints along the shore.  Jeff thought they were wolf prints.  If so, that was the closest we got to seeing a wolf in Yellowstone!  I just liked the feeling they created on the shore – a solitary explorer, if you will.

 

Here’s that tiny baby geyser – or maybe a geyser to be.  Right now, this is just a steam vent.  I thought it was rather picturesque next to all those lovely stones in the water on the shore.  Of course, if one thinks about it much, this could be rather disconcerting – after all, Yellowstone Park is in the center of a giant volcanic caldera, and the volcano is overdue to erupt.  Yikes!  I sort of figured oh, well – if I’m meant to go now, at least I spent my last days in a beautiful spot! 

Enjoy!