August is typically a pretty slow month for photography in Yellowstone.  While I don't hang up my camera gear, I usually change the focus of what I do.  For example, this past weekend was spent doing several non-photography related things. 

We rented a boat from Bridge Bay Marina and spent several hours out on Yellowstone Lake.  This is a great way to see the lake from a different perspective.  The boats are fairly reasonably priced.  The marina also offers guided fishing or touring in Grady Whites as well.  Those are more expensive but provide a bit of luxury on the lake, if that's something more important.  For me and my budget, the outboard motor boat was perfect.

After that, we took a horseback ride out of the corrals at Canyon.  Of the horseback rides offered in the park, I prefer the Canyon area.  The trails are beautiful with some really nice scenery.  The chance for wildlife adds interest, and we saw a lot of elk, including a nice size bull with his harem of cows.  Yes, the elk rut has begun.

Saturday was spent hiking to Union Falls.  This was the only photography of my weekend.  Union Falls is a spectacular waterfall in the Bechler region of the park.  To get there requires a 15 mile drive on a bumpy dirt road and then a 7.5 mile hike to the falls. 

Of course, from a photography standpoint, the bison rut continues.  A herd of bison visited the Lake area this past week with several large bulls putting on a show as they battled each other near the Lake Hotel.

I typically don't post a blog entry on the same day that I post the new photo of the week, but since this week's photo of the week was first posted here in my last entry, I thought I should update here too...

Photography in August can be tricky and, as far as photography goes, it's probably the least visited month for photographers.  That doesn't mean Yellowstone is quiet in August.  Quite the opposite is true as August is the second busiest month of the year for visitation typically.  August can also be a tricky month weather wise.  Yesterday saw high temperatures range in the 80's through most of the park which is in contrast to last Saturday, when a few snow flakes could be seen.

From a photography standpoint, the main event would be the bison rut.  Bison congregate in large herds though the park, but most notably in Hayden Valley.  Bison jams in Hayden Valley can some times take an hour or more to move through.  This is more due to cars stopped in the middle of the road than because the bison are actually on the road, but the result is the same... large traffic jams.  Bison can also be seen during the rut in the north part of the park, from Tower junction to Lamar Valley.  The highlights to photograph of the rut are sparring bulls, mating behavior, and bulls rolling in the dirt creating huge dust clouds.  This year's babies, as seen in the photo here, lose their orange coats and take on the adult chocolate brown coloration.

Other subjects for photographs this time of year are harder to find.  Most flowers are done for the year, though a few still bloom from now until September.  Elk are nearing their rut, but the elk rut is a September treat for photographers.  Bears are typically high in the mountains and out of sight, feasting on army cutworm moths.  Autumn color is still a month away.

Unlike the rest of the country, August is often a time of transition in Yellowstone.  Everyone else is experiencing 90 degree highs but in Yellowstone, cooler temperatures beginning reappearing.  There were even a few snowflakes on Sunday.  But the big thing going on in August is always the bison rut.

The breeding season for American Bison, aka buffalo, is always a big event.  Huge herds congregate in the valleys, typically with one of the largest in Hayden Valley.  Here, traffic can be backed up for hours as tourists stop and watch the large bulls woo a cow, or sometimes do battle over one.  Battles are short but intense, as the bulls charge each other with amazing power.  Sometimes a bull suffers wounds severe enough to kill him.  The traffic jams result as the bison move across the road, but not always.  Sometimes the bison can be nowhere near the road, but the spectacle of so many large animals causes people to stop and look regardless.

Other news...

President Obama visited the Old Faithful area this past Saturday.  I chose to stay away from that area as the crowds were far worse than normal. 

The road from Norris to Madison is now closed for the season.  This closure is due to a bridge being built across the Gibbon River.  Part of the logic for the re-routing of this road is because of rockslides that occur, but I've never seen a higher number of rockslides along that stretch of road compared to any other.  More information on the road closure can be found at http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/09065.htm .

Finally, July visitation set another record.  Over 900,000 visitors entered the park in July.  That's an 11% increase over last year, according to the NPS.  Visitation year to date is over  1.9 million visitors, which is more than a 10% increase over last year.  More information on July visitation can be found at http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/09063.htm .

With last night being the final performance of the summer season of the Lake Hotel String Quartet, it gave me reason to pause and think about all the great reasons to visit that area of the park:

5.  See the oldest hotel in any national park.  Opened in 1891, Lake Hotel is 12 years older than the Old Faithful Inn.

4.Close to major attractions.  A short drive gets you into Hayden Valley for great wildlife viewing opportunities.  It's also just over an hour to Old Faithful, or daytrips to the Tetons (going south) or up into Lamar Valley (to the north) are possible.

3.  Great wildlife opportunities.  Grizzlies in the spring, bison and mule deer in the summer.  Beavers along the Yellowstone River, wolves in Hayden or Pelican Valleys.

2.  Performances by the Lake Hotel String Quartet through the middle of the summer season.  It's hard to beat listening to the quartet in the hotel sunroom with views of the lake out the windows.

1.  Yellowstone Lake sunsets.  No matter from where, it's hard to beat the lake area for some of the best sunsets in Yellowstone!

Here's an article on the Canyon wolves that drew so much attention this winter around Mammoth:

Since their visit to Yellowstone National Park's headquarters this winter and spring, wolves in the Canyon pack have been "model citizens," said Doug Smith, the park's wolf biologist. The pack of three males and one female caused quite a stir with their trek from Canyon, 32 miles away by car, to the residential confines of Mammoth, Wyo. They were visible next to the road and even killed a cow elk near the park's grade school. To move the human-habituated wolves away from the small community, Smith shot at them with rubber bullets and cracker shells when they ventured too close. The park even roped off a portion of the hillside just outside Mammoth this spring to keep curious tourists away when the pack's lone female denned to give birth to pups. It was believed the pack picked the small area between other packs because of the abundance of elk. Once the elk dispersed in spring, the pack moved, too, traveling back to the Hayden Valley near the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone in the park's interior.

The rest of this article, from the Billings Gazette, can be read at http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_f0c774c0-7b2a-11de-a205-001cc4c002e0.html

From a personal basis, I never really saw the Canyon wolves causing any trouble.  They, as far as I saw or heard, had not approached people.  They were hunting in an area where there were plenty of elk and no other wolves.  It just happened to be in and around Mammoth Hot Springs.  This isn't the first time wolves have hunted at Mammoth.  Several years back a kill occurred on the steps of the Mammoth Dining Room, leaving quite a mess for visitors on their way to breakfast.  The photo above is of the Canyons before anyone really had any idea who they were.  The image was made at Blacktail Ponds.