This final set of images taken this year in Great Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks are of the wide variety of wildlife found in these parks, beyond the bison, bears, and moose. There is much more here and plenty to see such as Golden and Bald Eagles (above) and Great Horned Owls (below).

The most exciting sighting for me, was my first ever close-up encounter with wolves. This wolf below was one of a pair spotted in the Tetons. It is fairly rare to see them in this park, most wolf sightings occur in Yellowstone, so this was a particular treat.

There are small creatures here as well, and the weasel below showed a curiosity that created a nice pose and time enough for me to get a quick photograph.

You just can’t beat the Tetons and Yellowstone for photographic opportunities of a wide variety and quantity of wildlife. These parks provide a lot of long lasting memories.

It would be hard to find another area in the lower 48 states of the U.S. with a higher concentration and variety of wildlife than the Great Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. It is certainly my favorite area to photograph wildlife.  From the iconic Bison above, to Moose and Pronghorn pictured below, this area provides constant observations of animals in the wild.

The Lamar Valley in the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park is known for its wildlife and one of the valley’s most frequent visitors is the Grizzly.  I was very fortunate one afternoon to see four of these bears in the valley within just a few miles.  It really felt like “Grizzly central”.

One of the most interesting characteristics to me was seeing the variation in color and markings on the individual bears.

The bear below displays a radio collar and an ear tag.  This allows the park rangers to monitor and track this bear within the park.

Grizzlies are not the only bear found in Yellowstone.  The Black Bear is here as well and in higher numbers than the Grizzly.  The Black Bear below is using its tremendous strength and its claws to rip off the bark from a stump in search of insects, like termites, to eat.

Stopping for a look at some of the geothermal features at West Thumb, I was treated to a small group of female Elk with a number of calves in the group.  Headed back to the car to grab the 600mm lens and got some nice shots of the youngsters and the interaction with mom.

The calves are born with white spots which they lose by the end of summer.

The Old Faithful area in Yellowstone National Park displays continual geothermal activity.  The photograph above is not of ground fog but rather steam from the superheated water that works its way to the surface in the form of hot springs and steaming fumaroles. Below, more steam with a backdrop of a rainbow which appeared after a fast moving thunderstorm moved out of the area.

The water that boils to the surface creates run off, leaving minerals and thermophilic microorganisms that form interesting patterns and colors.

After spending the morning in Grand Tetons, I headed up to Yellowstone to watch the sunset at the Great Fountain Geyser located in the Midway Geyser Basin area. The show in the sky was awesome.

One of the more popular places in Grand Tetons National Park to photograph in the early morning is this view of the Tetons off of Schwabacher Road.  This morning was calm with a great reflection of the mountain range on the water.  Another iconic view of the Tetons is photographing the barns located on Antelope Flats Road with the impressive mountains in the background.

From the Antelope Flats area, if you drive east out of the park along Gros Ventre Road, you will drive by Lower Slide Lake.  Within the lake there are groups of dead trees and by using a long lens you can isolate some nice graphic patterns.