Well, it's finally snowing in Yellowstone.  It snowed most of the day today, though the snow that accumulated is less than an inch.  Dunraven Pass is currently closed.  Fishing Bridge to West Thumb is still closed due to damage done to the road from the Arnica Fire.  The Arnica Fire, now that the snow has come, is almost just a bad memory.  Though it's a memory that's left it's scar on the landscape.  The area in the photos from my first post on the Arnica Fire have, reported to me from someone working on the fire, been burned.  That area won't look the same in my lifetime.  In any event, the fire crews have left and mother nature is tending to itself.

With less than a week to my season here in the park, I haven't had much chance to take photos.  Other than the black bear on Dunraven, and a few elk here and there, I haven't heard of any exciting wildlife sightings.  But with cooler weather here, the wildlife could start to be more visible again soon.

Here's the latest on the Arnica Fire.  Information from the National Park Service can be found here and here. 

The wind changed direction today and is now coming out of the southwest, which is typical.  Unfortunately, by doing so, the fire is now being driven back to the Lake/Fishing Bridge area.  The Grand Loop Road was closed for a good part of today, between Fishing Bridge and West Thumb.  It did reopen late this afternoon.  Winds have picked up considerably but are expected to quiet down after sunset (which is right now).  Fire crews are stationed in the Lake Area with additional fire fighting crews enroute.  Crews in the Lake area have been removing deadfall and other debris around the buildings near Lake Hotel.  A water line has been created from the Lake employee housing area, extending to the Bridge Bay area.  With the prevaling winds, it's not unrealistic to expect the marina and campground at Bridge Bay to come under threat of fire some time tomorrow, but that's just opinion, there's no official word stating such.   I'll post more as it happens.

Update: Not much to report today.  The winds weren't as bad as forecasted so the eastward movement of the fire wasn't as significant as thought.  Fire crews continue to work to protect structures in the Bridge Bay and Lake Hotel areas.  Helicopters are dropping water on the leading edge of the fire, near Bridge Bay Marina.  The fire did burn across the Grand Loop Road today, causing the road to close at 1:30 pm.  Damage to the road was significant enough to keep it closed through the night tonight.  It's uncertain when it will reopen at this time.  Right now, the winds are out of the north, so the smoke plume is going south again, which is good.  It's pretty cool outside, so the fire activity has subsided for the time being, until it warms back up tomorrow.  If winds continue out of the north, the Lake area should remain ok, especially with snow and rain in the forecast starting late Tuesday.

This image was today's Photo of the Week on my website here .  This image shows the smoke plume lit up at sunset from just south of Pumice Point.  It was near here where the fire burned across the road today.  This image was made with a wide angle lens.

This image was made last night from Lake Butte Overlook looking back towards the west.  The sun is setting through the smoke plumes as the wind blows the smoke to the west.  Stevenson Island is in the foreground.  This image was made with a long telephoto lens.

This image shows the smoke plume billowing over Yellowstone Lake at sunset from near Sedge Bay.  It was made with a wide angle lens.

The Arnica Fire is a recent fire that started by a lighting strike a few days ago.  I don't remember any lighting in the area a few days, but that's what's being reported anyway.  It's approximately 250 acres in size now and will probably grow larger over the weekend.  It's located about 5 miles west of Bridge Bay Marina, according to the NPS website.  It's close proximately to the road made it very visible today when it flared up pretty significantly.  Flames were visible from some areas along the road down towards West Thumb, where I had gone to photograph bull elk.  I got some decent elk shots, but ended up getting some great shots of the smoke plume, especially at and after sunset.  There's easy viewing of the smoke plume, at last this afternoon, anywhere between Lake and West Thumb.  It can also be seen up into Hayden Valley and up towards Craig's Pass.  For more info on this fire and others, please see these two NPS releases here and here.

The fire made for some nice photo opportunities last night.  I had intended to drive down to the Tetons early this morning, but with the fire burning close to the road and winds forecasted for today, I didn't want to get down south of the burn and then not be able to return home this afternoon.  So I didn't go to the Tetons today as planned.  I have heard however that the aspens and cottonwoods are at or very near peak right now.  So it is a good time to get down that way if anyone is wondering.  This afternoon I'll either head north over Dunraven and towards Mammoth in search of elk and bears, or I may head back towards West Thumb for the elk down there and additional fire images.  According to the latest update on the fire, found on the NPS website, here, the fire is moving south, towards the Grand Loop Road and helicopters are dropping water on the southern edge of fire to detour it from the road.  Winds continue to be breezy and out of the north.  No road closures are anticipated, but anyone who's been in Yellowstone know weather can change at the drop of a hat, and this can dramatically impact a fire.  More to come later as things change!

Update:  NPS update can be found here.  The fire is now over 1200 acres.  The road between Lake and West Thumb was closed for most the afternoon and will probably be closed all day tomorrow (Saturday) as it looks like the fire will cross the road.  Right now, no developed areas are threaten.  Where are those September snows?

Yellowstone's Grizzlies have been added back to the Endangered Species List.  Today, a federal judge ruled to place the bears back under federal protection

The judge ruled that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service did not address the many habitat challenges facing Greater Yellowstone's grizzly bears when it delisted them in 2007. The agency also failed to take into consideration the continued decline of the whitebark pine, a critical grizzly food source threatened by pine beetles, blister rust and climate change.

This is important for all Yellowstone's grizzlies.  Bears require a large territory in order to find enough food to sustain them through the winter hibernation.  Bears, even those within park boundaries, often need to travel beyond the park to find enough find food.  Providing protection outside of Yellowstone is critical for grizzlies to survive.  Food sources continue to change.  As mentioned, the whitebark pine crop, an important late season food source, is slowly disappearing.  Army cutworm moths provide another high calorie food source late in the year, but these could be threatened by pesticide use in the insect's summer range.  Cutthroat trout populations have been in decline in the park and bears seldom use fish spawns any more as a food source.  Hopefully, renewing this protection for the great bear will allow it to continue to be successful in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.  More information about the grizzly listing can be found at USA Today here.

Fall color is still slow in coming.  But wildlife viewing is improving.  Bison are still visible throughout much of the park, mostly in Hayden Valley and the Lamar-Tower area.  Elk are active in their rut with nice bulls visible at Mammoth and down near Grant.  Neither area is especially photogenic, with all the buildings at Mammoth and the burned trees around Grant/West Thumb.  Pronghorn should be nearing their rut too, though I haven't been up north to see if there's much activity.  I have heard of some moose sightings in the Tetons recently and I hope to head that way soon to look for moose and also to check on the fall color.

I have heard of some bear sightings, finally.  My photo of the week this week shows a fat black bear near Dunraven Pass.  I've heard of other bears up in that area recently.  There's also been a grizzly in the Lake Butte area, but that one hasn't been seen for the past several days.

In wolf news, the park service released some information about distemper and wolf pup mortality.  The article can be found here .  Basically the article states that in the past, it was believed the high mortality of wolf pups in 1999, 2005, and 2008 was due to parvovirus but that a new study shows distemper may be the actual cause.

With cooler temperatures forecasted for next week, hopefully fall color will improve and wildlife sightings will continue to get better.