Yellowstone National Park & Grand Tetons

I got back last night from an absolutely amazing week away with my friends, Linda and Tony. Believe it or not, this was only my second holiday in about 30 years! Some of you may just remember that when my Brother in England died almost two years ago, several of my long-time friends who lived in the same city all stepped forward and helped me deal with everything long distance, from my Brother's funeral to finding everything possible in the house a good home (sold or donated). All my parents' belongings were there, too, so it was a mammoth task to go through everything and put aside every single personal item or document, which were then shipped to me here. Just one of the priceless things was when Linda went through all my Father's old movies, picked out every inch of them that she thought I would want to have, and then took them to be copied to DVD. Of course, everything was done thoughtfully and lovingly - and it still has me shaking my head that anyone could spend so much time doing SO much for someone else. There are still a few things that Linda is seeing to! Anyway, to cut a very long story short, Linda told me many months ago that she and Tony were coming to Canada again and Linda really hoped I would join them for a week getting down to Yellowstone National Park and back. Because I hadn't been away in so long, I was extremely hesitant : ) However, I did go and had the most wonderfully enjoyable (and spectacular!) time going to not only Yellowstone, but also Grand Tetons, Glacier and Waterton! Can never thank Linda and Tony enough for this! I've known Linda since she was a baby (she's about four? years younger than I am, around my Brother's age), so we had a week's precious time to "catch up". I'd only ever met Tony once, when they came to Canada for a holiday six years ago. He deserves a medal for putting up with me for a whole week!! And now I have over 2,500 images (plenty of repeats, though) to go through, lol, so please bear with me, especially when it seems that all I have to post are these holiday shots! Gosh, I miss my friends' company already! I seem to be having problems with uploading my photos this morning, and have had to post one at a time. We saw quite a lot of wildlife during our week down south, including many Bison (some distant, some much closer). This one was seen in Yellowstone National Park, on 13 September 2012.

I got back last night from an absolutely amazing week away with my friends, Linda and Tony. Believe it or not, this was only my second holiday in about 30 years! Some of you may remember that when my Brother in England died almost two years ago, several of my long-time friends who lived in the same city all stepped forward and helped me deal with everything long distance, from my Brother's funeral to finding everything possible in the house a good home (sold or donated). All my parents' belongings were there, too, so it was a mammoth task to go through everything and put aside every single personal item or document, which were then shipped to me here. Just one of the priceless things was when Linda went through all my Father's old movies, picked out every inch of them that she thought I would want to have, and then took them to be copied to DVD. Of course, everything was done thoughtfully and lovingly - and it still has me shaking my head that anyone could spend so much time doing SO much for someone else. There are still a few things that Linda is seeing to! Anyway, to cut a very long story short, Linda told me many months ago that she and Tony were coming to Canada again and Linda really hoped I would join them for a week getting down to Yellowstone National Park and back. Because I hadn't been away in so long, I was extremely hesitant : ) However, I did go and had the most wonderfully enjoyable (and spectacular!) time going to not only Yellowstone, but also Grand Tetons, Glacier and Waterton! Can never thank Linda and Tony enough for this! I've known Linda since she was a baby (she's about four? years younger than I am, around my Brother's age), so we had a week's precious time to "catch up". I'd only ever met Tony once, when they came to Canada for a holiday six years ago. He deserves a medal for putting up with me for a whole week!! And now I have over 2,500 images (plenty of repeats, though) to go through, lol, so please bear with me, especially when it seems that "all" I have to post are these holiday shots! Gosh, I miss my friends' company already! I visited Mammoth Hot Springs and the rest of Yellowstone National Park 30+ years ago, when my kids were very young. Loved Mammoth Hot Springs, so was thrilled to get the chance to see this fascinating area again. The photo above shows part of the Main Terrace, taken on 12 September 2012. "Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine in Yellowstone National Park ... It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate (over two tons flow into Mammoth each day in a solution). Although these springs lie outside the caldera boundary, their energy has been attributed to the same magmatic system that fuels other Yellowstone geothermal areas... A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Hot_Springs For a diagram of the Hot Springs layout: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MammothHotSprings.JPG Map of Yellowstone National Park: hfc.nps.gov/carto/PDF/YELLmap2.pdf

Did a very quick search on Google last night, but need to continue as soon as I have a chance. Not sure, but I think this might just be a new Ladybug for me. Taken in the Grand Teton National Park on 15 September 2012, while on holiday for a week with dear friends from England, Linda and Tony. Thanks for the arm background, Tony : ) Thanks, Art (LeapFrog!) for the ID!

There were several of these large, bronze figures on display at the Moose Visitor Centre, in the Grand Teton National Park, US. I really liked two of them, this boy with his pair of binoculars and a man holding an old camera. Taken on 15 September 2012, while on holiday for a week with dear friends from England, Linda and Tony.

On two mornings, we were lucky enough to see several beautiful Elk on this narrow strip of land rising out of Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, US. This stag was the only male, along with his females. Taken on 13 September 2012, the third day of a week away with dear friends from England, Linda and Tony, in Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Teton National Park, and Glacier-Waterton Peace Park. If anyone is interested in reading about the background to this wonderful trip, the following link will take you to a photo I posted yesterday. www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/8000425580/in/photostream/

We hadn't seen a single Moose on our week's holiday to Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Waterton-Glacier until day five, when we were lucky enough to see this female a short way off the Moose-Wilson Road, near a place called Moose : ) The sunlight was extremely harsh, but luckily two or three of my photos came out better than the rest.

Can't for the life of me think what these ducks are! Seen swimming in the river in Yellowstone National Park on 13 September 2012. Could they be Northern Shovelers? If anyone can help with the ID, it would be much appreciated - thanks!

Fascinating features in every direction - that's what you find at Mammoth Hot Springs, in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, US. I think this was taken at the Main Terrace. Terrace features can change rapidly. "Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine in Yellowstone National Park adjacent to Fort Yellowstone and the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District. It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the springs cooled and deposited calcium carbonate (over two tons flow into Mammoth each day in a solution). Although these springs lie outside the caldera boundary, their energy has been attributed to the same magmatic system that fuels other Yellowstone geothermal areas." From Wikipedia. www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/mammoth.htm

These two Grizzlies were on a very distant hillside (so, fully zoomed and very heavily cropped and obviously posted for interest, not technical quality). At least you can tell that they were Grizzlies - they were feeding on a Bison carcass, along with Common Ravens (though a lady standing near me insisted that they were Vultures, which they most definitely weren't, lol). These Bears returned on other days, too. Some of the time, one Grizzly would be feeding and the other would approach fairly closely and then disappear, coming back a short time later, and then repeating the process. On the one day, we also saw a Wolf approach the Bears and manage to get a mouthful or two - will post another photo later that shows the Wolf there, too, just for the record that we were so lucky to see Grizzlies and a Wolf..