Yellowstone/Grand Teton, Stillwater NWR, Ruby Lake NWR, Great Basin NP, Antelope Island SP – Fall 2012

The trail for me that wandered from the West Coast through the Great Basin to the Yellowstone ecosystem had many serendipitous encounters along the way. A warm and dry start to the Fall season, characterized by dry soil and parched grasses, had many species up higher in elevations which translates into not so deliverable sightings of wildlife as one would expect. By deliverable, I mean you have to find them in more remote canyons and higher elevations as they are not by the road in the low valleys.

The rains would come followed by the first snowfalls. Rain doesn’t deter me as I literally look for the rainbow at the end of an event. Water was also necessary to repair the long summer’s heat. The saturation in the land is also amplified through the lens of a camera. Wildlife instinctually feels the loss of daylight and the change in climate. Migration is under way… Whereupon I hope to intersect some of these species and events. To see for myself the change from the summer’s warmth and blazing sun to the penumbra of Autumn’s storms that signals change has come. The new year’s offspring will find independence. Food sources will dwindle up and it will become a challenge to find reliable sources. Nature’s wrath has little pity for the weak. Only the strong, experienced and protected will survive the harsh transformation into winter.