Springtime in Grand Teton National Park

Sunrise Over Colter Bay

I've always found that sunrise is the best time to photograph in the Tetons, and the morning that I took the photo above treated me with generally clear skies in the east, along with a bank of clouds over the Teton Range.  On this trip, we stayed in a log cabin inside the park at Colter Bay on Jackson Lake.  This photo was taken from a pebble-lined beach that serves as the picnic area for the campground and cabins.  (I also took additional photos of the remainder of the range to allow me to produce a panoramic image of the spot above.  Perhaps I'll post an additional panorama view later.)

Tech info:  Canon 5D Mk II, 50mm lens

Wildflowers #1

While I had previously photographed Grand Teton National Park in the Summer and the Fall seasons, this was my first trip to the Tetons during the Spring.  We were there from June 10 to June 14, and I was pleased to find that wildflowers were blooming profusely in the park at lower elevations.  This was a lucky break for doing photography, because the skies were generally overcast for most of our visit this year, and some color in the foreground was helpful to avoid boring compositions.  While I'm no expert on identifying wildflowers, my spouse informs me that these yellow flowers are called balsam root.  They were the most widely found variety in the valley during our mid-June stay in the park.

Wildflowers #2

Another reason that I'm glad the wildflowers were blooming in the park during our stay was that my previous favorite spot for doing photography in the park, Schwabacher Landing, was closed due to the budget cuts associated with sequestration.  When I first read about this closure in the park newspaper, I was definitely not a happy camper, and spent a few hours considering sending a nasty letter to my congressman blaming him for messing up my vacation.  My anger over the politics of this situation gradually subsided with each successive find of good patches of wildflowers.  I found this patch was along the inner park road that goes past Jenny Lake.

I have a great many additional photos to sort through from this visit, so stay tuned for some additional posts over the next few days.  I hope you enjoy viewing these shots of this fine park!

Bill 

Wildflowers of the San Juan Mountains - Part 3 (Gold King Basin Area)

Fireweed at Gold King Basin
     Gold King Basin lies on the Telluride side of Ophir Pass.  Despite the fact that it is not frequently mentioned as one of the most prolific producers of wildflowers in the area, during my visit there I found it to have one of the better stands of wildflowers.  I suspect that this may be due to its tendency to shade heavy snowpacks for much of the day, and perhaps this spot was  one of the later areas to melt out during this unusually hot and dry summer, hence the better stand of wildflowers that remained relatively late in the season.

Tech Info- (all images)  Canon 40D, 18-55 IS lens.

 I found the wildflowers to be abundant at this spot- the biggest difficulty in photographing them was keeping from sliding down the relatively steep inclines of the sidewalls of this basin.  More than once I got all set up, only to slide down the hill before I tripped the shutter!

 Paintbrush- Gold King Basin

 During my visit to Gold King Basin, I had the entire basin all to myself.  No worries about people walking into the frame of my photo as I was preparing to shoot.  Sometimes I really enjoy photographing in seclusion- just me, the mountains, and the flowers.  However, at my next stop (Alta Lakes), I did run into several photographers who had not been to Gold King Basin yet, and I was happy to recommend it to them as a worthwhile spot for finding stands of wildflowers.

Pond at Alta Lakes
      Alta Lakes are located only a short distance from Gold King Basin (or perhaps I should say vice-versa, as there were quite a few people busy fishing and camping at Alta Lakes during my visit there.)  I've seen a nice image taken at one of the Alta Lakes, with a clear blue sky and a mountain peak reflecting in the clear blue water.  During my visit there, it was windy and the sky was overcast, but I found the nice group of flowers above beside one of the small ponds, leading me to capture the above image.

Wildflowers of the San Juan Mountains (Part 2- Imogene Pass)

 Wildflowers below Imogene Pass

   I had reserved a spot on a tour to Governor Basin, but no one else signed up for this tour, and Brandi at Switzerland of America 4x4 tours in Ouray recommended that I try their tour to Imogene Pass instead.  Since I'd been well satisfied with the previous tour I did with them, I agreed.  Despite the fact that Imogene Pass has seldom been mentioned among the list of best spots for wildflowers in the area, this turned out to be one of the better spots that I saw on my trip.  The driver and guide, Michael, took us on a small side trail just off of the main trail to Imogene Pass that had some nice flower displays, as pictured above.

 Indian Paintbrush below Imogene Pass

Larkspur below Imogene Pass

Group of Paintbrush

Paintbrush and Columbine- below Imogene Pass

Bluebells and other (unidentified) wildflowers below Imogene Pass

Wildflowers below Imogene Pass


   Thanks again to Brandi, Michael (tour guide) and the rest of the fine folks at Switzerland of America in Ouray for a great tour!  I'd highly recommend them- and they are nice folks too!


Stay tuned for my next post, which will cover my (long) hike to Ice Lake Basin.