Yellowstone
& Grand TetonSteam, Stone and Still Water

The opening views move from stars above dark treetops to the Teton skyline. At West Thumb, Yellowstone Lake forms a blue horizon behind steaming pools and mineral cones. The clear shallows around Fishing Cone bring the scale down from mountains to the lake's edge.

The Firehole River links a wooded gorge with quieter bends through grass and forest. Lone Star Geyser rises as a pale cone in a clearing. Smaller encounters sit alongside the broad views: a ground squirrel among fallen logs and a Canada jay beside wildflowers.

Tall plumes alternate with still pools and low terraces. Beehive and Castle give the geyser basin its vertical shapes; Heart Spring and Crested Pool hold deep blue water. At Grand Prismatic, yellow and orange microbial mats spread outward from the spring's blue centre.

Gibbon Falls and a forest campsite interrupt the sequence of thermal ground. At Norris, backlit steam softens the outlines of trees and mineral flats. Steamboat sends up a dense plume, while the scattered fumaroles of Roaring Mountain extend the scene across a whole hillside.

Open meadow gives way to Mammoth's bright terraces. Hot-spring water deposits travertine here, building rounded mounds, ledges and shallow pools. Wide views show trees standing among white stone; closer frames follow wet rims and reflections. An elk is partly concealed among the branches.

A bison shares the road with a line of cars. Beyond the forest, the Yellowstone River cuts through pale canyon walls, with Lower Falls dropping into the gorge. The sequence opens out again into a golden meadow occupied by a scattered herd.

Clear shallows, a small island and weathered wood give the lakes distinct foregrounds. Mount Moran rises across Leigh Lake; elsewhere the frame tightens around a red squirrel among pine branches. Forest and meadow lead the eye back to the jagged mountain skyline.

Pink cloud reflects in quiet water, and firelight warms a forest clearing. The final lake and mountain views return to daylight beneath low cloud: a stony shore, rippled water and rocky spires appearing through the shifting white.