I made it to the eclipse... part 2

I'm not sure what they meant by no services, as I drove past a crowded rest area after about 50 miles. Maybe they meant gas and such.

I had hand written directions of which roads to take to Casper. It was Newcastle, to Lusk, to Orin, to Douglas Wyoming.

By the time I got to Douglas I could tell things were a bit different due to the eclipse. Rest areas were parked full and parking lots to businesses were filled with cars and people. It was definitely a happening.

I saw a couple who parked their car on the shoulder of the expressway and were standing next to a road sign in the ditch with their dog, kissing each other and taking a selfie. I stopped at a gas station/ truck stop, on the east side of Casper and still had quite a ways to go. 

I got gas, bought a coke, and asked the lady where the exit for hwy 20/26 west was. She gave me excellent directions and I was off to Shoshone and then Riverton Wyoming. It would be about 250 miles on two lane state highways with the potential for lots of animals on or near the road before I'd get to Moran. With a little luck it'd be no problem.

Here's what my notes say from five and a half hours later after making it to Grand Teton National Park.

"That was one hell of a long and tedious drive."

"Stopped at 3 or 4 gas stations and several times on the side of the road."

"It was tough."

There were a lot more people out and driving around than I'd normally expect to see at 3 or 4 in the morning in the middle of nowhere Wyoming. They too, must have been trying to make it to the eclipse.

When I got to the Moran gate of Grand Teton National Park and started to show my park pass and drivers license, the ranger told me that no entrance fee was required. They were doing things a bit differently to deal with the expected crowds. He also told me that I couldn't park at any of the nearby parking areas until 7am or something. That wasn't good.

I had planned to drive in and park at the Oxbow Bend pullout where I could photograph the eclipse and the Teton Range during the eclipse. He told me rangers had already kicked more than 200 people out of those areas, as people were sleeping in cars or whatnot.

"Whoa, whoa", I said. "I'm not planning to sleep in the car or anything, but I was hoping to do some night photography right there at Oxbow. Would that be OK?" With that he lit up a little and said he liked to take night photos as well and he thought it would be fine, as long as I wasn't in the car. I thanked him and drove the few miles to the Oxbow Bend pullout.

There were cones blocking each end when I got there and no cars. I drove around the cones and parked right at the end. I quickly got out and realized I needed some different clothes. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, as it had been 90 plus degrees when I left South Dakota the night before. Now it was about 35 degrees with clear skies and plenty of stars. "Good" I thought, at least I'll be able to see the eclipse.

I put on jeans, boots, and an extra shirt. A scarf, jacket, and hat, got my camera and tripod and walked down to the river bank. I put a camera on the tripod and made a few images of stars above Mount Moran.

Now these images weren't going to win any prizes, but I wanted something to show the rangers if they questioned me. I was pretty darn tired and fell to sleep for awhile there on the ground next to the river. 

By the time some color was in the sky to the east I was awake and ready to make some images.

It had been a few years since I was last in the Tetons. I was glad to be back. Though I was photographing one of the most photographed and popular views in the park, I actually had my little spot down on the edge of the Snake River all to myself. 

After whatever the appointed time was, the park service did allow others to fill the lot. Then again they placed cones at both ends and rangers stayed to keep newcomers out and the traffic moving.

I stayed down by the river and kept on shooting Mount Moran and the Teton Range.

Just as in South Dakota, there was a lot of smoke in the air making for different light conditions.

About 10am I realized the eclipse would be starting soon. After making the earlier photos, I had slept awhile more on the ground where I was and was feeling pretty good.

I went back to the car, got rid of the coat, hat, and scarf and got my cameras and tripods. The plan was to shoot the full eclipse with a 700mm lens and also take photos of the classic Oxbow scene with a smaller lens throughout. Hopefully the photos would clearly show how dark it got while the sun was hidden.

I moved to a different spot on the river bank and set up the tripod for the larger lens. As I went to set up the second tripod, I promptly knocked it over into the river. 

The good news. It was just a tripod and they can get wet no problem. The other good news. It reminded me that I was still pretty tired and was going to have to pay attention to make sure I didn't dump a camera in the water or make mistakes with exposure and such.

Just then I heard people above on the road saying the eclipse was starting.

I repositioned both tripods so I could easily work from one to the other without knocking them over and got the cameras ready. At that moment, I heard rustling about 80 yards away in the brush across the river.

I half expected to see a moose or elk, when an adult grizzly bear walked down to the bank directly across from me. "No way! That's incredibly lucky" I thought. As I watched the bear, two cubs ran out and started smelling stuff right at the edge of the water. It was then I remembered I had a large lens mounted on a tripod beside me and quickly made some images.

It was the middle of the day and the light wasn't great, but there were three grizzlies right across the river from me just as the solar eclipse started. Unbelievable!

They only stayed for a few minutes and then mom turned and walked back into the brush. Her cubs didn't follow right away, I heard her snort or grunt a couple times and the cubs quickly scrambled into the brush behind her. I could hear branches breaking and some more vocalizations for less than a minute before all was quiet and it was as if they had never been there.

After they left I looked around to see if any other people were visible or near me. I could hear people up by the road, but couldn't see them. Just then a couple walked down to river about forty yards away. I walked over to ask if they had seen the bears. The man was really friendly, and very disappointed that they hadn't seen them. He and his wife had just gotten off a bus with a group of people. They were the only ones to walk down. 

I saw that he had eclipse glasses and asked if he would give me a heads up when it was in totality. That way I'd have the whole two minutes to shoot directly at the sun. He told me I'd know when it happened by how dark it was. Then handed me a pair of eclipse glasses, told me had lots, and said this was his third total eclipse.

Again, unbelievable. I show up to an eclipse unprepared and with no glasses, and a friendly stranger hands me a pair of eclipse glasses just as it starts. 

I thanked him and asked if he was sure he had extras, he pulled another pair out of his pocket and put them on. I visited with him about the eclipses he had already seen, and took a few photos of the two of them with his phone. I tried the glasses he had given me, thanked him again and went back to my spot.

With the glasses, this eclipse stuff was pretty cool. I started to make images of the Tetons in between watching the moon move across the face of the sun.

Beautiful.

The light was funky and there was still a lot of smoke in the air from the fires out west.

As the eclipse reached totality the light was very different than any I had seen. It wasn't like shooting at night, it had an ephemeral quality to it. For a brief period of time it almost seemed the mountains had a glow to them.

I then switched to the larger lens and started doing what I could with the sun itself. You can see a ring as the moon almost completely covers the sun.

It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I kept saying "wow" out loud as I continued to work. "Unbelievable."

I was surprised just how cool it actually was, and really thankful I'd been able to get there to see it.  I couldn't believe the grizzly bears just across the river and was glad I had pictures, since I didn't think anyone else would believe it either. 

After totality, I was done so I lay back on the grass near the water and enjoyed watching the sun come back out.

When it was over, I was so glad I had made the effort to get out there. I had a huge smile on my face as I put cameras away and thought of all of the unlikely things that had happened. 

I was nothing but thankful as I went to find a shower and realized just how many people were in the park and trying to get somewhere as well. Well that's a story for a different day.

  

I took my camera.....

and spent a little time in northern Wisconsin.

 

I stopped near Pattison State Park to photograph these pumpkins for sale along the road.



 

For years I had been noticing this type of ornamental grass along Wisconsin roadways. Today I took the time to make a few images of what I think is feather reed grass.

 



 

 

 

Then I made my way to Little Manitou Falls in Pattison State Park.



 

Capturing the falls with some fall colors behind.

 

 



 

I took the scenic route via highway 13 along Lake Superior towards Bayfield. It was windy and overcast along the lake so I turned south at Cornucopia hoping for some light before sunset.

 

 

Lucky for me, the sun made it through somewhere near Siskiwit Lake and I was able to capture some colorful maple trees near the road.

 

 

 

 

 

As I continued south towards Washburn I stopped one last time to capture the well lit leaves just before sunset.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a day well spent.

Making do....

I was hoping to do sunrise at West Thumb Geyser Basin in Yellowstone Park, but got there a little late.

The sun was already cresting the horizon.

Things were moving fast and I felt lucky to find this lodgepole pine tree to use as a focal point for the images.

By changing my location and staying low I was able to take advantage of the beautiful color and light.

All and all I was pretty happy with what I did silhouetting the pine tree.

Just down the road I found some more trees, but the sun was getting pretty high by then.

Lucky for me, the steam from the thermal features really helped to make interesting images.

Finally, I worked my way further along the lake to one of my favorite views. I keep going back to these lodgepole pines year after year and they're always good.











Persistence.....

 

I didn't give up. Almost twenty years ago I made several images of wild horses silhouetted against an orange sky in western North Dakota.

 

 

 

I really liked how those pictures looked and every time I was out there I'd try to put wild horses against a colorful sky.

 

 

 

It didn't happen.

 

 

 

For almost twenty years I tried and failed to create any similar images.

 

 

 

But I never gave up.

 

 

 

And two days ago I did the unlikely. I was in Teddy Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota at sunrise and I made these images of wild horses.

 

 

 

I first approached a group of three horses on a ridge. By keeping them between me and the sun and placing the colorful sky behind them I got the silhouettes.

 

 

 

Once they walked around the hill and out of the light I focused on two horses standing in a shade filled valley below.

 

I slowly approached and was lucky they didn't mind me being there. By laying flat on the frost covered ground and quietly moving around I was able to isolate the horses with the rising sun behind them.

 

 

 

I only had about five minutes before the two horses I was with started looking up the hill towards the other horses.

 

 

 

I heard a horse running towards us.

 

 

 

I kept shooting and was glad I did. I only had a few seconds before the stallion that was one of the three horses on the hill came thundering down. He lowered and snaked his head letting the mare and yearling I was photographing know it was time to go. He snorted, circled them, and started moving them up the hill towards the other two horses in his band.

 

 

 

This last image is of the stallion posturing for my benefit, just before he chased his mares away.

 

My odds weren't good and the likelihood of any of this happening was almost none. But I persisted, and the unlikely happened on Monday in western North Dakota.  













Only Yellowstone....

It was 90 some degrees the day before, but only 29 degrees as I stood along the bank of the Yellowstone River waiting for the sun to rise in the Hayden Valley. 

The sun didn't disappoint. 

There were enough clouds to make the sky interesting and not too much fog rising from the river. It was another good morning in Yellowstone.

Smoke from forest fires outside the park made the light a little different, a little hazy.

Later in the day as the temperature again topped 90 degrees I thought wistfully of my chilly morning along the river. Only in Yellowstone.