A steamy sunrise in one of Yellowstone's most alien landscapes.
This was a deeply memorable morning for me, October 1, 2013. I'd been shooting in the area (Yellowstone and Grand Tetons in general) for almost three weeks, and I'd originally planned to leave the park on the 2nd.
You may recall that October was the start of the Congressional shutdown of National Parks in 2013. Some sort of budgetary politics. I was staying in the park, but I didn't know whether I'd be expected to leave, or alternatively, not travel within the park, the next day. I was also somewhat concerned about some icy conditions that I expected to develop overnight. I woke around 4am, and decided that if I could get out and into the landscape sooner rather than later, it might be to my advantage, so off to the Norris Basin it was.
As I headed South from Mammoth Hot Springs, I did notice black ice, and persisted at a greatly lowered rate of speed. I'm not joking which I say that I was probably averaging 15-20 mph in most areas. I wasn't annoying anyone, I had time, and I kept traction pretty easily. About halfway to Norris, however, I came across a truck on its side in a ditch on the other side of the road. I slowed gently to a stop, listened carefully, and was about to leave, thinking that the emergency blinkers had been left from what was a much earlier accident, when I heard a voice. I pulled off the road, again, gently, and waddled over.
The road was in one place slick enough that I had difficulty walking on it.
The gentleman in the truck was okay, but hadn't gotten out of his vehicle, he didn't appear to be in shock but was clearly adrenalized. I helped him out of the truck, went up the road a bit to Roaring Mountain where I had a cell signal and called in the rangers, and waited with him until they arrived. Again, the gentleman was in good shape, so the rangers sent me on my way.
I was definitely wide awake by this point, and very close to Norris, so I continued to my destination. The very cold morning created wonderful plumes of steam, and the first blushes of sunrise light were an wonderful pink. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, and I've seen quite a few beautiful things!
A few hours later, I finished up in the area and decided the trip was over, I wasn't likely to surpass the images I'd gotten that morning, and the combination of political and weather conditions suggested it was time.