Natural Bridge Falls and Boulder River panorama

Natural Bridge Falls is located in Montana as part of a National Forest Day Use Area. A natural bridge above the waterfall gave the area its name. The original bridge collapsed in 1988, but the stream flows through an underground passage that still qualifies as a natural bridge. It's just much less obvious.

This picture shows the Boulder River emerging from the passage below the brink of the falls and then continuing downstream in a wide meander. During high water, the river will flow over the falls and through the passage. 

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Pronghorn Antelope feeding at north Yellowstone, close up

When we entered Yellowstone National Park from the north, from Gardiner, Montana, we saw a herd of about 14 pronghorn antelope grazing right by the road. Some other antelopes not part of this herd were grazing on the other side of the road close to the town of Gardiner. When we saw them and watched for a while, they approached the buildings of the town and even crossed over a parking lot to search for edibles. We took pictures of them in that position, but didn't think to include them in our blog, since you could see roads and buildings in the image, along with the animals.

Rick used his Canon PowerShot to get this 24x zoom image, with an ISO setting of 400, f8, 1/1000 second.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Pronghorn buck at the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park

During our recent trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone, we encountered a herd of 14 pronghorn outside the North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana.  This buck seemed to notice the lenses we had aimed at him for photography, so we got this head-on shot.

Pronghorn are unique to North America.  Like other horned animals, their horns have bone at their core, but unlike others ungulates, their horns are covered in sheaths that they shed every year, much like antlered animals shed their antlers annually.

Pronghorn are the fastest land mammals in North America capable of hitting 55 miles per hour.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Entering Yellowstone National Park...Yay!

So we're happy to enter Yellowstone's western entrance and give that a thumbs-up.

But then when it's time to leave, we give that a thumbs-down and wish we didn't have to go.

We took these twin-selfies, using a Samsung Galaxy S III on a selfie stick, in August 2016 at West Yellowstone at the entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

Bison grazing at the National Bison Range, Montana

The American Bison once sustained the Plains tribes, but their numbers were dramatically reduced by a capaign of extermination. They have a few places where they are holding on, and many tribes have established small herds on their reservations. In Montana, the Federal Government has set aside land for several species of grazing animals, including the bison at the National Bison Range.

This bison is showing his summer fur, where the back half of the body is uncovered to stay cooler. As winter approaches, the entire body will be covered in fur in order to stay warmer. We drove through the National Bison Range in June of 1994 on our way between Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. This image was taken while in the safe confines of our car. We also saw pronghorn and deer.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!