Daily Archives: October 14, 2024
Yellowstone! Pika!
Pika: Sheepeaters Cliffs, Yellowstone National Park, September 2024 — Coming back late in day from our first day in Yellowstone, we decided to check Sheepeater Cliffs one more time for Pika. We had seen none on our morning visit, but we knew they were there. There is a very rough kind of trail off the left of picnic tables at the foot of the talus slope that climbs up to a little amphitheater like bite out of the cliffs. Though I really should not have, considering my heart, I climbed up there with Ken and Teresa Bonner, since we were still not seeing Pika down by the parking. It is a magical place with the basalt columns rising up on three sides, brushed with the last rays of the sun. And there were Pika. At least 4 that we saw. The scramble back down was even more difficult than the scramble up, but I made it…only to find that Robert Wilson had been photographing Pika at his feet while sitting on a picnic table. 🙂 Pika: Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zooms at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Cliffs with the Sony a5100 and Sony E 10-18 f4 at 27mm equivalent. Superior Auto. Processed in Photomator.
Yellowstone! Lower Falls and the Canyon
Though Yellowstone National Park is mainly known for Old Faithful and its other thermal features, and for wildlife, mainly the American Bison and Wolves (and maybe Grizzly Bears), the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Yellowstone Falls are also major attractions. This is Lower Falls, from the Lower Falls overlook and Inspiration Point and the canyon in that area. The Yellowstone River has been cutting the canyon for 100s of thousands of years through the thermally weakened rhyolite left over from the formation and infilling of the caldera. The falls themselves, Upper Falls at 109 feet and lower at 308 feet, are there because the rock at their lips is just a bit harder than the rhyolite of the canyon. Except for the close-up of the falls, which was taken with the Sony a6700 and Tamron 50-400 at 126mm equivalent, the other shots are from 15 to 27mm as needed for framing with the Sony a5100 using Superior Auto with Landscape Scene Mode selected. Processed in Photomator.