Exploding geysers… bubbling pools of steaming mud . . . frozen waterfalls and vast snow-covered meadows. This is Yellowstone National Park in the middle of winter, a surreal land of extremes that leaves you breathless and provides endless photo opportunities.

Sitting on top of an enormous ‘supervolcano’ (20 x 30 miles in size), forces far beneath the earth have shaped the land, as evidenced by the steam rising through the air from the many geysers and fumaroles, coating the trees in a layer of rime and hoarfrost. There are dozens and dozens of geysers and thermal pools in Yellowstone, one of the greatest concentrations in the world. The most iconic of these is Old Faithful, the geyser which erupts regularly about every 30 minutes, shooting over 150 feet into the air. The eruption only lasts about a minute which means if you want to capture the image, you have to be quick.

Under Barbara and John Gerlach‘s direction (our professional photography instructors), we position ourselves to get the best possible shot. Nearby, bison forage for grass, ignoring both the geyser and the human observers. Some miles away the Grand Prismatic Spring sits in the Midway Geyser Basin. The colors of the deep turquoise pool of steaming hot water, surrounded by acres of multi-colored bacteria growing in the mineral-rich water, are startling.

Nearby the Fountain Paint Pot is a large thermal area with geysers as well as a boiling mud bath of brown, yellow, red and blue. It resembles an immense witch’s cauldron filled with a hissing, spitting, gurgling brew that seems alive and moving.

Yellowstone is also a land of waterfalls (over 290), some dropping hundreds of feet into deep canyons filled with soaring pinnacles and masses of rock. Snow-covered evergreens precariously cling to the rocks. The most magnificent of these are in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, 900 feet deep and half a mile wide — the Upper Falls and the Lower Falls — where the Yellowstone River cascades through the chasm. Most of the falls are frozen, creating magical ice castles along the sheer sides of the cliff.

As we drive our snowmobiles through the twisting, winding Firehole Canyon Drive, dark rhyolite cliffs rise above us. Elk and bison wander through the area where Firehole Falls drop 40 feet into the valley below. The winter silence is broken only by the roaring water. On the hillside, dead tree trunks stand like silent sentinels observing the intruders. These are all that remain after severe forest fires swept through the park in the summer of 1988, scorching and burning over 1.2 million acres. Beneath them, a new cycle of life takes root as small evergreens grow, the result of the forest naturally reseeding itself.

The weather in Yellowstone changes constantly. Our days could start in blazing sunshine only to end in driving blizzards and whiteout conditions. On one day trip to the Hayden Valley, the snow stops long enough for us to photograph a solitary tree, dwarfed by the immensity of the sky and the whiteness of winter with only the sound of the wind whipping across the land. Nearby trumpeter swans gracefully glide down the river, searching for food, oblivious to biting cold.

As we drive out of the park after dark, in the middle of a raging blizzard, a necklace of red tail lights curving through the snow and Barbara’s unfailing sense of direction are all that guides us through this land of contrasts and extreme beauty.

In our week in Yellowstone, we cover over 300 miles by snowmobile and yet we barely scratch the surface, leaving the rest for future explorations in this land where the fire meets ice.

IF YOU GO
Barbara and John Gerlach run several winter photography workshops in West Yellowstone every winter. They may be contacted at http://gerlachnaturephoto.com, email barbara@gerlachnature photo.com; Tel 208-652-4444.

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