Yellowstone Afterimages

You know how, when you glance at the sun, then look away, you are left with a brief image of the sun?  Well, I spent most of my time in Yellowstone chasing critters.  As they are most active in early morning and late afternoon, I found myself at times glancing at an early morning or late afternoon sun.  On a few of those occasions, I was rewarded with the wonderful light that is available at such times.

Dawn in the Lamar Valley
I was up early, looking fruitlessly for wolves in the Lamar Valley.  The coral clouds were the first real color of the day.

Late afternoon in the Lamar Valley
The settling sun to the west changed the color of these peaks to the east.  In front of me was a bison wallow, really more of a mudhole than a flowing stream at that point, but the upper end still had nice edges.

A setting sun over Yellowstone Lake
Seeing a likely looking sky as the afternoon moved toward evening, I drove from the Fishing Bridge Campground to Lake View Butte, a parking lot at the end of a 1 mile side road.  I sat there and watched the sun drop down and change the color of the sky.

Looking south from the edge of Yellowstone Lake
Peeking through the distance at times, the peaks of the Grand Tetons, 100 miles away, were fading in and out of sight.  What really drew me, though, was the way the sky to the west filtered amber light onto the remains of the burnt out forest around me.

Yellowstone Lake Sunset
That ride to the end of the side road marked my last evening in Yellowstone, and did so magnificently.