A Simple One Day Journey Through Yellowstone National Park
By A. R. Massengill Photography
Worth the Journey
© 2010 Arnold Richard Massengill
1st edition
Introduction
This one day journey starts along the Madison River about fifteen miles inside
the park. The Madison River winds along the valley floor while crisscrossing the
road that runs from the west entrance into Yellowstone National Park to an inter-
section with the Gibbon River and the Firehole River.
I traveled down from Montana along highway 287 to the town of West Yellow-
stone, Wyoming. I entered the park mid morning on a rainy overcast day the first
week in June 2010 for a one day trip through the southwestern section. Highway
287 enters at the west entrance and exits on the south side of the park at the
Grand Teton National Forrest.
This grand park is spectacular in its
natural beauty. I am glad to have made
the journey and seen it first hand. I am
also glad that, in the past, there were
people of power and influence with the
foresight to protect areas such as this for
future generations to enjoy.
Yellowstone National Park is near the
top of my list of places to visit. If you
like the outdoors it should be on your list, as well.
A place of natural beauty that is definitely- Worth the Journey.
“I stand along the edge of the winding river and I look in awe at
the surrounding natural beauty; the gently flowing water, the
fields of green along its bank, and the lush forest that reach to-
ward the mountain tops.”
“I look and feel some pangs of fear at the thought of being there
in the distant past and maybe not knowing how to face nature
and survive.”
“Then I look and feel lasting regret at not being the first to see
this powerful natural beauty.”
Arnold Richard Massengill
The River
“As a proclaimed civilized world I don’t think we
should be judged by what we achieve, collect, and con-
quer, but by the natural wonders we preserve for the
sake of humanity’s future.”
Firehole Falls
The Firehole Falls is on the Little Firehole River south
of the intersection of highway 287 and highway 89 at
Madison. Firehole Canyon Drive is one way and leads
off the main road and goes to the falls. It loops back to
the main road that goes on towards Old Faithful.
The roar of the falls and the river rushing through the
canyon drowns out all other sounds in the immediate
area. On this day there were not too many folks at the
falls. The wind was blowing and even though it was
June it was cold and damp.
Upper part of Firehole Falls
Yellowstone National Park is abundant with water falls.
But, like most of the national parks across the country
it takes an effort to reach the falls if you want to cap-
ture images. I feel fortunate in my quest of pictures to
see the ones that I have happened upon.
To reach some of the other remote water falls in the
vast area of Yellowstone would require a lot more
planned time and resources. My one day trip through
the park is enough for now, have to see what the future
brings.
The bison was the only large animal I saw during my one day
journey through the park. I would have to think that in June the
bison are more visible due to the fact the calve are born during
the spring and grazing is better in the valleys along the rivers.
Bison has made a tremendous come back due to the efforts of
both the Department of the Interior and the private sector. The
national parks provide safe havens for the remaining wild herds
and the private sector purchases the excess beyond the capacity
of the parks for food and other ventures.
You look at a bison in the wild and it is sad to think that the
number was as low as 1000 before folks took a real interest in
saving the species.
Bison roam the park and mostly ignore the hundreds of vehicles
that pass through. They seem to be docile but I would not bet my
life on it and make the mistake of getting to close. In June the
calves were aplenty and that would sure make getting close much
more of a risk. My telephoto lens allowed me to capture several
pictures without facing real danger from protective moms. The pic-
tures I shot were of a small herd roaming along the Firehole River.
It’s hard to imagine that there were millions of these amazing ani-
mals roaming the country. Now the truly wild ones are confined to
parks and managed for preservation of the species.
The young bison calves
get to enjoy lunch.
Bison are undoubtedly the
most photographed animal
in the park simply because
they graze pretty much all
day, they are out in the
open, and are not easily
spooked by tourist.
The bison live in the park and survive as they have long before the migration of man to the west. Of all the
tools of the white man to blame for the near demise of the bison, the railroad would be near the top. Rail-
roads opened up the land to the mass slaughter of large herds of bison that roamed free.
Yellowstone National Park is known for Old Faithful and that
seems to be the destination of most visitors, that is if the num-
ber of vehicles in the parking lot is any indication. In fact, it
appeared to me from the number of vehicles passing me on the
road that a lot of folks drive hurriedly toward the site of Old
Faithful. Once I got passed the site of Old Faithful traffic was
less and folks were driving slower.
Along the way to the famous geyser are numerous areas where
the steam is rising up from the ground. I took pictures at a few
hot springs along the way. My day trip would not include a
stop at Old Faithful, on this trip I did not care to stand or sit
around with a group of people waiting for an eruption of hot
water to shoot up out of a hole in the ground. It’s nice to see
once, which I did on a previous trip. This trip was more about
taking pictures with fewer folks around.
Yellowstone Lake is the largest body of water in the park. It sets
nestled in the mountain range at 7700 feet above sea level and
is 430 feet deep. I drove along the section of the lake referred
to as West Thumb. The pictures I took are of this section. The
mountain range in the back ground is snow capped at an eleva-
tion above 9,000 feet.
I was making my way toward the south entrance of Yellowstone
National Park and on toward the Grand Teton National Park.
The temperature was dropping down into the low forties as the
day wore on even though the elevation was below the 9,000
foot mark.
A person could spend a life time in Yellowstone National Park
and never run out of natural beauty to photograph.
The road leading out of Yellowstone on the south side of the
park runs partially along the Lewis River. The cold crystal
clear water flows through the valley all during the year and
spreads out across the valley floor as the snow melts. The
Lewis Lake captures some of the flow as it moves down from
the higher elevations. One smaller water fall (Lewis Falls) is in
view from the road.
I’ve seen this magnificent park on two separate one day occa-
sions knowing that it has been photographed by many that have
gone through it before and also know it will be photographed
by many in the future. I made this one day journey through the
park knowing my photographs could never be duplicated, since
no two people can capture the same image. The images I pre-
sent are what my eyes where able to view through the camera
on this particular day.
South of Yellowstone National Park is the north end of Grand
Teton National Park. The view from highway 287 is of the
beautiful high peaks that run down to Jackson Lake. There are
other lakes in the park since the park has glaciers to feed the
streams, rivers, and lakes, but my trip would not include scout-
ing much off the main road. I chose to include the pictures of
Jackson Lake in this book due to the beauty so close to the
south end of Yellowstone. I felt it was fitting since this moun-
tain range would be the last one I would see on the way back
east.
Looking out from my windshield I see the mountains looming
as I travel south through the Wyoming countryside.
Do I continue tracking south as the miles I keep consuming
or bypass the park and head east, it’s a long and boring ride.
The sun was moving closer to sitting in the west
so I make a real decision to stop to clear the night.
Since vision grows much dimmer putting eyesight to the test
decisions come much clearer as the darkness turns to light.
Reaching morning makes the yearning ever stronger
and so south I will surely go.
To reach the looming mountains was no mystery any longer,
looking forward to the sightings with my equipment all in tow.
Made my journey through the landscape stopping so to claim the sights,
captured image after image for to show.
Made the journey going southward, still shots with perfect light
last forever never fading, alas, future faces all aglow.
The day yielded pleasure, new places I did see
made my journey everlasting, least the worry ends.
Time to reach forward, place this day in the past for me
let the road lead me eastward till the yearning comes again.
Journey Looming
The long road heading east toward home...
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