The parents are in the midst of making the move to Tucson, so I had to forgo any overseas trips this year so I could help. A couple of weeks ago, we headed out to Craters of the Moon National Monument, followed by 4 days in Yellowstone. Drove back to Salt Lake & headed out the next morning for Flaming Gorge for another 3 days, this time kayaking and rowing.

These are all taken with a new camera I'm still testing to see if I really want to keep it.

Craters of the Moon:





Truly the ass end of nowhere. And quite hot in the summer.



Lots of lava tubes & lava created caves to explore, both on the trails & off.



Afternoon moon.



Yellowstone:

Looking out at the Grand Tetons. I made a number of panoramas, but they were too massive to view on a screen, and shrunk down to fit won't do them justice.



























All the traffic was stopped & the roads were blocked. All one can do is fall in line with the rest of the tourists and take a typical tourist shot.



The obligatory Old Faithful shot.









We had enough time to stop at every single stop/roadside attraction in the park. I was impressed with this one of a petrified redwood tree. Hard to imagine redwoods once covered so much of the west.



We only had time to take one hike off the beaten path. Only about 6 miles, but a backcountry ranger we met on the trail said grizzlies were spotted in the area only a couple hours before. Armed with 5 seconds of bear spray each, we pushed on.





Flaming Gorge (the Utah portion of it):

She rowed, I kayaked.



Hanging out on the porch of a cabin we stayed at.







On the way back to Salt Lake, we stopped & had a look at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, for a few hours.

nice pictures.
thanks for sharing

simply stunning!

Steve,

Nice pictures. I've been to most of those places and everytime I visit them again, there's always something different. I'd say keep the camera, those pictures are outstanding.

Jon

Superb pictures. It's been over 20 years since I last was in Yellowstone and these remind me why I should go back. But now I feel old!

I'd say keep the camera, those pictures are outstanding.

Thanks. I'm still kind of torn with the camera because the lenses available are all pretty slow, which means I have to use some of my other fast lenses which are fast, but huge on the camera (camera is the Olympus E-M5). I might keep it for backpacking/hiking, then also pick up a nice full frame or APS-C DSLR. One of the problems with the Oly is that it uses an electronic viewfinder, which I do not like whatsoever. But, it is small & weather resistant, which is my chief requirement.

Superb pictures. It's been over 20 years since I last was in Yellowstone and these remind me why I should go back. But now I feel old!

I know the feeling. Last time I was in Yellowstone was about 12 years ago (pre-digital for me, meaning crappy pictures scanned from slides). But, that's more intentional than not, because I am just not a fan of massive crowds in natural settings. Still, it is one of those parks that is absolutely worthy of a visit. And I have to say that sleeping in 40 degree weather was a fantastic change from all the heat we've been having.