Yellowstone Coyotes
November 21st, 2022
I spent a week exploring the snow covered areas of Yellowstone National Park. Our workshop was led by Moose Peterson I have never been to Yellowstone in the winter. I was struck by the beauty of this park covered in snow as well as the animals we found.
Moose knows the park well and was able to show us many beautiful locations and opportunities for mammal photography. The landscapes appeared beautiful with the blankets of snow. The animals were more accessible as they were brought closer to the roads by the weather. There are several challenges to being in the park including the snow, the cold, and other vehicles in the park.
There was snow everywhere you looked including on the roads. The roads presented hazards to the unwary if you travel too fast or incautiously. We did travel in a 2 wheel drive van and were fine the entire time, but a 4 wheel drive might be helpful. Every time we stopped, the deep snow was everywhere on the sides of the roads. This snow offered challenges in terms of several times feet sunk deeply into the snow when I stepped off the road. Many of the pull offs were covered in snow and we had to be careful to not get stuck. We were lucky to have Moose’s knowledge to keep us from getting stuck.
The cold was a challenge with temperatures and wind keeping us to around 0 to 10 degrees while we were there. I was glad for the cold weather gear that I invested in. This included a North Face down jacket, Duluth fleece lined pants, insulated books with doubled smart wool socks, and multiple layers of shirts. This kept me warm and I was able to shoot for several hours standing in the cold without being uncomfortable.
Other vehicles were everywhere in spite of the remoteness of the park. Some of the drivers were unfamiliar with the snow, but how do you know so we learned it was best to keep back from the roads to avoid getting hit. Not because people were being incautious but because of the road conditions.
The first story I want to share with you about my trip is the Coyotes and dead elk meal. We saw the elk frozen in the river as we passed by earlier in the day and made a note of it. The elk had apparently died in the middle of the river with only part of it showing above the ice. When we came back, there were Coyotes feeding off the elk. We had several hours of photography capturing the Coyotes taking turns feeding off the elk. An enjoyable memorable part of the trip.
