We visited five national parks and monuments, beginning with Badlands National Park where we had a long look at a number of desert bighorn sheep. These two were so young you can still see their umbilical cords. 3rd in Nature Prints, N4C, Sept 2018.
We also stopped briefly at Devil's Tower National Monument. A walk through a prairie dog town was closely attended to.
Old Faithful, at Yellowstone National Park. HM in Travel Prints, N4C, Sept 2018.
Castle Geyser erupts twice a day; each eruption lasts 30 minutes or more.
Castle Geyser from a distance.
A killdeer at Mammoth Hot Springs. Ranchers are apparently competing for water from the aquifer that supplies Mammoth Hot Springs. The volume of water flowing from the springs is much reduced; the color and steam is markedly less than it was when I visited just three years ago.
Gibbon Falls, 3rd in B&W Prints, N4C, Sept 2018.
Grand Prismatic Springs
Rainbow in the mist at Upper Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Frosty Spring Morning. 2nd in Nature Prints, N4C October 2018
Bison in Lamar Valley
Elk in the grass
For two hours, a mother black bear and her three cubs foraged and wandered along the roadside.
The mom and cubs attracted considerable attention.
The Tetons reflected in Jackson Lake. The Tetons rise abruptly from an elevation of 6,770 feet at the lake; the highest peak - Grand Teton- is at 13,776 feet.
The view from Oxbow Bend of the Snake River.
Snake River Overlook, a view made famous by Ansel Adams.
The Moulton Barn on Mormon Row (likely the second most photographed barn in the U.S., after the Jenny Farm in Vermont).
At a visitor center in Rocky Mountain National Park a silk moth perched quietly outside the restroom door.
Roaring River in the Rocky Mountains.
Marmots playing
Elk were abundant.
This young elk took an unusual interest in two moose feeding in the water nearby. Here and in the next photo, he is apparently trying to smell the nearby moose.
The Canada Geese were just getting out of the way.
The two moose didn't seem to want anything to do with the elk ...
... and eventually fled the scene.
A bull moose.
We were able to watch this male and a female browse in the willows for an extended time. When they finally had their fill, they walked to a nearby stream and crossed.
Long's Peak in the distance, framed by rocks in Rock Cut.
Sunset at Rock Cut on Trail Ridge Road, at an elevation of roughly 12,200 feet.
Tetons
