Trillions of microscopic organisms thrive in the hydrothermal waters of this spring. While invisible to the eye, en masse they appear as varied colors. Colorless and yellow thermophiles grow in the hottest water. Orange, brown, and green thermophiles grow in cooler waters.
Gibbon Falls drops 84 feet over a remnant of the Yellowstone caldera rim. The caldera was created by a massive volcanic eruption approximately 631,000 years ago.
From the brink of the lower falls, the Grand Canyon is a study in color, rainbows and the large fields of snow that are slow to melt.
A steep but short trail leads to the brink of the powerful 300 foot lower fall where up to 60,000 gallons per second crash.
A grizzly sow, nicknamed Snow because of light coloring, leads her family along the woodland's edge, just above Lake Yellowstone.
A young grizzly mom enjoy some fun playing with her two rapidly growing cubs.
Daughter of another popular Yellowstone grizzly, Raspberry, this light colored grizzly is nicknamed Snow.
Snow leads her young family of two yearling cubs, from the woods to the large grassy meadows, again and again, back and forth.
A red-tailed hawk prepares to take flight.
Herds of hundreds of bison dot the Lamar Valley, giving rise to the valley's apt reputation as America's Serengeti.
The sweeping breadth of the green Lamar Valley in early spring, with its massive herds of bison and other wildlife is a sight to behold.
A badger scurries toward its den and her young babies.
Badgers are amazing burrowers, digging for rodents on which they feed and the dens where they live.
Only a few minutes old, this baby bison stands for the first time as mom cleans her baby.
Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone’s largest hot spring, is 200-330 feet in diameter and more than 121 feet deep.
The brilliant colors of this spring are dramatic.
On this June morning, a family of grizzlies forage in a grassy flat near Lake Yellowstone.
A grizzly nuzzles one of her yearling cubs.
Nicknamed "Snow," and the daughter of one of Yellowstone's most well known grizzlies, a beautiful grizzly spends a few moments nursing her two growing cubs. She has spent the morning grazing and digging for roots and rodents in this meadow along with her cubs. After nursing the family will retreat to a nearby shaded woodland for a morning nap
A grizzly sow nurses her two yearling cubs.
A grizzly flees into the woods.
A young grizzly digs for tubers in a field of grasses in Hayden Valley.
Coyotes often follow the large herds of bison, especially in the spring when they give birth. If they get too close, they are sometimes reminded that they are no match for a healthy adult bison.
Ponds of water reflect the blue skies above in the months after winter's snow have melted.
A panoramic of Lamar Valley.