Meditations on Yellowstone
Part III: “Cenery Superb.”
For Earth Day 2026, a visual celebration of the beauty of the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.
“Cenery superb.”
The ubiquitous yellow tufts of Arrowleaf Balsamroot were still in bloom when I arrived in the Tetons mid June, 2024.
On my way into Yellowstone from the Grand Teton Entrance, I stopped by the Lewis River Canyon to find my next Christmas card!
The not-so “Hidden Falls” near Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park. I arrived at the trailhead at around 5:00 a.m. just so I could beat the crowds, but beware the crowded return journey!
A patch of lupine in the aptly named, “Lupine Meadows,” in Grand Teton National Park at sunrise. I was the only person here!
I was still able to find some Mule-Eared Sunflowers in Grand Teton National Park.
Mammoth Springs at moonrise in Yellowstone National Park.
Grand Prismatic Spring at sunrise in Yellowstone. In the summer, the sun rises at around 5:30 a.m. I arrived at 5 and still was only the third person there!
A visitor on a trail in Grand Teton National Park.
*Samuel Hauser was a successful Helena banker and business partner of Nathaniel Langford, who led the first official (white) expedition into the Upper Yellowstone in 1870 along with General Henry Washburn and Gustavas Doane. Hauser eventually became the first territorial resident to be Governor of Montana, though he may have been barely literate. This quote of masterly understatement was written in his journal of the Washburn-Doane-Langford expedition. Side note: Hauser was born in Falmouth, Kentucky!