Yellowstone National Park - North Loop

Yellowstone is divided up into what is more or less two loops, divided into a northern and southern section. 

This is one of the areas that was burned in the 1998 fires.  You can see that it has grown back nicely.  I really wanted to go visit the area right after the fires to see what it was like.  I think it would have been beautiful in a different way.

A bison outside one of the campgrounds.  This one ended up walking about 15 feet behind my car before crossing the road.

Another bison.

One of the picnic areas.  I don't recall which one, but it was south of Mammoth Hot Springs.  These piles of rocks can be seen a couple of other areas. 

Looking to the right of the previous picture.   You can see the stone structures along the river bank.

A beautiful vista.

This was a popular fishing area, if I recall.

A bridge heading north to Mammoth Hot Springs.

A bridge to the east of Mammoth Hot Springs.  I thought it was a beautiful structure.

Mammoth Hot Springs.

This was one of the turn outs.  I thought it was one of the most beautiful areas in the park.  It was very peaceful.  At the end of one part of the boardwalk there was a little dogleg with a bench.  Right behind the bench was a big rock which pretty much left you secluded from the rest of the boardwalk and parking area.  I sat there for a long time just enjoying the quiet.  This is the view from that area.

Another view from the area.

Another lovely scene.

A petrified tree.  There used to be 3 of them, but souvenir hunters destroyed the other two.  This one is fenced off to prevent it's destruction.


 

Another area that was burned in 1998.

People were stopped all over the area here because a black bear and her cubs had been spotted and they were trying to get pictures.  It had disappeared into one of the low areas here.

It is hard to see, but the rock structures seen in the picnic area are visible at the extreme right of this picture and ran along just below the ridge.

This deer walked towards the other visitors and myself with no fear.  We watched it for quite a bit while it grazed.

A waterfall.  The trail to the base of this has been closed.  I didn't get any closer than this. 

It was near this area where I pulled off and started talking to some people who were set up with a telescope and a spotting scope.  They were watching grizzly bears.  We saw a couple of them.  Near the top of the light green area, there was a pile of antlers one of the guys had found.  There were a couple of grizzlies and a black bear that seems like it was really torn up.  We also saw a few elk come from the treeline and work their way down the slope.  It was really cool.  There are a lot of people who go to the park to watch the wildlife and bring all sorts of scopes to see them with.

Looking north from the area where we were watching the bears.

Zoomed in a little.

Another beautiful sight.

While at the last waterfall, I got talking with a guy about my camera.  He recommended I try some of the settings I hadn't experimented with.  Here I tried and this was the result.  I really like way this turned out.

Sunset in Yellowstone.