On our third day we took a drive up to Many Glacier, it is a nice little drive just north of the east entrance of the park and is just as beautiful as the rest of the park if not more so. I mean this park is just beautiful, mountains and lakes and streams everywhere you look. It would take a lifetime to see everything this park has to offer.
On day two of our trip we drove over to the east side of the park and hiked the Sunrift Gorge area. With all the snow melt the streams were really flowing which made for some great photo opportunities. Later that night we stopped to get some photos of wild goose island. I used a long shutter with a neutral density filter to get the clouds to have a soft flowing look to them.
Monday my buddy Matt and his brother and I went on a float trip down the Ashtabula River. With the thermometer in the car reading 22 degrees we loaded up the kayaks and fly rods and headed up to Ashtabula Ohio. When we got up there the snow was flying and the wind was blowing, but we geared up and pushed off down the river. The day started off slow with all the chunks of ice and slush flowing down the river making a nice drift a difficult task. Before too long we were on to the steelies and Matt's brother hooked into the nice one above which gave him a good fight. I was able to land two out of the three I hooked and Matt hooked a couple but they got the better of him, which happens way too often. If you have never caught a steelhead you would not believe the power these fish have, they can strip the line off your reel in seconds.
After our time at Madison Junction we drove up to Canyon Village and made a stop at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It is a beautiful spot that I just loved. I used a split grad filter to get the great clouds and bright sky to the same exposure as the darker canyon. Without the filter either the sky would have been blown out or the canyon would have been to dark. 
While we were out driving around enjoying the sites, we were lucky enough to spot some wildlife. Next to Madison River we watched as a coyote was on the hunt for some food. He would stalk his prey slowly and then when the time was right take a leap in the air and pounce on his meal. We watched Bison grazing on grass and lounging around, and just before dark we saw a nice Bull Elk eating dinner. I wish I was back there right now!
After a day of fishing on the Hernys Fork of the Sake River, where I hooked a beautiful 23 inch cutthroat trout, Yellowstone had finally opened the roads up without any snow chain restrictions. So we headed in through West Yellowstone and to Madison campground and set up camp. We then headed down the road to Grand Prismatic Springs, but instead of walking the boardwalk right next to the spring, we headed over to the Fairy Falls trail. It was a nice little hike down the trail and took a little detour up the side of a small hill that over looks the spring. After slipping and sliding up the snow covered hill we were treated to an indescribable view of Grand Prismatic Spring. The sun was shinning through at our back and there were some beautiful dark snow clouds in front of us. The colors in this spring are just crazy! We were given just a brief window of time to snap some photos before the clouds blocked the sun and started to drop hail and snow. I could have spent the whole day there just sitting and taking it all in!
Soon after the beautiful sunrise the clouds came in and covered the top of the Tetons. So we jumped in the car to drive around and see the sights. We stopped at Leigh Lake to enjoy the reflections of the mountains in the crystal clear lake. Then headed on down the road toward Oxbow Bend.
By the time we got to the Bend the clouds had move on and we made some lunch and took it all in. The fall colors were not as good as I was hoping for in the rest of the park but Oxbow had some still had some color. I'm not really sure which photo I like better, there is just something about the black and white photos that catch my eye.
A little further on down the road we saw a nice patch of trees with lots of color and a great backdrop. But still I am drawn to the black and whites. Either way I can not think of a more beautiful place to spend a fall day!
On the 10th of October I flew out to Bozeman MT to start my week long photo and fly fishing trip of the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. When I landed it was 19 degrees and starting to snow. Now I knew it was going to be cold this time of year but I was not expecting 19 degrees for the daytime high, and single digits for the night time lows. Camping was going to be nice and chilly! So after my friend Matt got into town I called the Yellowstone road hot line to find out the road conditions in the park, and the conditions were not good, snow tires required on all park roads. So we had to change our route and off to Jackson WY we headed down through West Yellowstone and into Idaho. From Idaho we took the Teton Pass into Jackson. The pass was a beautiful drive and we stopped at the top to get some photos. As you can see from the photo above the pass was covered with snow, and we hiked around to take in the sights. We then headed down into town grabbed a bit to eat then headed over to the National Forest by Shadow Mountain to find a place to camp. On our drive over to the forest the Tetons were not visible because of cloud cover, but we were hopeful that tomorrow would bring better weather and a chance to see the Tetons.
It turned out to be a great morning! When we woke up we could see the Tetons off in the distance so we headed over to Schwabacher Landing to get some sunrise photos.
The sun shined through briefly to light up the peaks of the Tetons and give us some nice photos.
It was a great morning and we were excited to see what other treasures we could find in the park.
Tuesday I got up dark and early to make the hour and a half drive over to Volant PA to do some fly fishing on the Neshannock Creek. It is a beautiful stream filled with some beautiful trout. It was a great day with landing 5 trout, 4 rainbow and one brown. I was nervous wading in the water over slippery rocks with my camera, but I really wanted to get some photos of the beautiful spots and colors of these fish. It was well worth the risk! I can't wait to get back over to PA and explore more of the many trout streams they have to offer!
Last week I went on a backpacking hiking trip in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness up in the U.P. of MI. It was about a 13 hour drive from Apple Creek, and we got up there just in time to start hiking down the trail at 3am. I was with some old friends from high school, and we had a blast! The weather could not have been better. The worse part of the whole trip was all the damn mosquitoes and black flies, there must have been a billion of them. At time we could not even stop to rest because they were so thick. I counted 20 on my right hand alone at one point. By the end of the trip it looked like I had chicken pox with all the red bit marks. But the views made up for the pesky bugs. It was a beautiful place to hike and camp, the old growth forest was full of huge hemlocks and beautiful streams. I didn't get nearly as many photos as I would have liked but those bugs were just so annoying flying into my eyes and ears and anywhere else they could get. All in all it was a great trip!
After checking out all the wildlife, I took a drive up Mt. Scott. Which was pretty cool, I never really thought of Oklahoma as having mountains, but they do. The clouds were coming in and the wind was blowing hard on top of the 2,464 ft peak, which is the third highest in OK. It has some beautiful red granite boulders that I tried to use to frame the last two photos, which I did one in color and one in Black and white. I'm not sure which one I like better. Luckily I was able to finish taken photos just before the rain let loose.
