Fall Photography in the National Parks - Day 13

September 24th, 2025

I had planned to leave early in the morning to take sunrise footage of the Devil’s Canyon, but then I decided to take another look at the marshes where I had been seeing the Moose.
I am glad I did.
There were a few of them, busy with different things.

After these few days observing them, I came to realize that they go out even earlier in the morning than I expected.
By the time the sun is barely coming up, they are already moving back towards the forest, looking for the trees’ coverage.
Some of them stay in the marsh, but, from what I have seen, most go back into the shadow.

In any case, I saw another family slowly walking their way from the marsh to the forest, a couple of calves crossing the road and heading in the same direction, and a cow heading towards the deeper side of the marsh.

The sun wasn’t even out yet, but I managed to get a shot with an incredibly orange background of the sunlight just hitting the mountain and the moose crossing through it.
Loved it.

Happy that I had spent some more time with the moose, I then started driving south through the canyon and stopped at a few places to take drone shots.
I didn't take any pictures; I only took videos. The lighting was not as good as I had hoped for, but I think I captured some decent imagery.

Once I reached the bottom of the Canyon, I headed towards Cody, where I went to do some errands: empty the RV tanks, buy a new Leatherman Wave+ multi-tool, fill up the gas and the propane, and say bye to Russell, who was so kind to drive and meet me in town to say hello.

My original plan was to drive the Chief Joseph Highway again and camp there for the night, but when I created the route in Google Maps, I didn't notice that it was taking a different, shorter route.
When I realized it, it was already too late to go back, so I proceeded to Beartooth Pass.

The views were absolutely incredible, something I had never seen before. The scale of the landscape really makes you feel small and humble.
I love mountains.

Eyes of the Wild RV on Beartooth Pass

I decided to find a campground and stay overnight to attempt an early shoot at sunrise.
The campgrounds were all closed for the season, which was really annoying.
In the Bighorn forest, at least, they left the access open, but here they had them gated out.
So I took a forest road and found a fantastic spot to camp for the night.

I took a shower and did some work, then taught my class from 7 PM to 10 PM, and I went to bed.

Fall Photography in the National Parks - Day 12

September 23th, 2025

After it had rained and snowed lightly all day the day before, the sky was clear and beautiful yesterday.
The morning light was perfect, and I was determined to get some good shots of the moose.

Once again, I headed out early, and this time I managed to see something moving in the distance that seemed like them.
I got ready and walked all the way through the marshes and was confirmed right: a whole family of moose right there, in front of me.
I was still pretty far away, but they heard me and knew I was there.

I had to approach slowly but consistently to avoid having them walk away before I got my shots.
In about an hour, I managed to get closer and captured some great shots and footage.
I was delighted, and as the light grew dimmer and the moose began to move away, I walked back to the RV.

As I was walking in the Meadows, I noticed the head of the tripod had gotten loose. I reached out for my Leatherman Wave+ multi-tool, but I didn’t find it.
Oh no! I lost it while getting through the willow patches. It must have been clipped on one and fallen on the ground.
My attempts to find it were useless, as it was too difficult to locate in such dense vegetation.

I was really disappointed because I had had that tool for over 10 years, and it had numerous marks from my expeditions and adventures.
Too bad, but better than losing my wallet, which was also in the same side pocket.
I usually move everything in my cargo pockets and zip them up, but taken by the moment and too keen on not losing the shots, I must have forgotten.

I went to have some coffee and downloaded my images and videos. Did some work and then decided to go for a walk in the meadows to see if I could find more moose.

A view of Bighorn National Forest mountains from my RV

I prepared my backpack, put on my boots, and there I went.

Unfortunately, after two hours of walking, I could still not see anything, so I decided to return to the RV. I was very sweaty because it was warm outside, and walking in the willows is difficult. After almost 4 km of walking, I was done.
I cleaned myself up and had dinner.

Later, I drove around a bit more to see if I could spot any other moose, but I saw nothing.

I had great shots in the morning, so I was not too upset, though I would have loved to have had some more in the evening since the light was great.

As the sun disappeared behind the mountains, I went back to the campground, got some more work done, and then went to bed, tired but satisfied.

Fall Photography in the National Parks - Day 11

September 22th, 2025

I found a great campground last night.
In this National Forest, even though they are officially closed for the season, some campgrounds remain open for dispersed camping.
It offers a broader range of options to people who go out during the off-season. I wish all the campgrounds did that, but I suppose people could make a mess, and it would be a big problem with all the animals that wander around.

The day started very cloudy. The weather forecast was predicting rain all day, and I knew that would have been pretty much a lost shooting day.
Of course, I still went out to see what I could find since it wasn’t raining yet.

There was some nice, warm light hitting some interesting rocks, so I took a few pictures there. Then, I headed towards the marshes.

Some warm light gets through the clouds lighting the hills

After some walking and tracking, I found a cow moose walking in the deep willows.
It took me a while to get close enough walking through those, but in the end, I managed to find a decently clear shot and got some excellent footage.
She seemed pretty okay with me watching her eat, and even if the light wasn’t great, it was still a decent shot and another great memory.

The RV parked on the road while I am going in the meadows

Well, that sums up the day pretty much, since shortly after that, it started raining quite a bit. It quickly turned to snow, which I was excited about.
I decided to drive to see if I could capture any good compositions with the snow, but the light was terrible, and I didn't like much of what I saw.

The snow coming down while I am working in the RV

I decided to stop at the campground and stay in the RV to get some work done.

Fall Photography in the National Parks - Day 10

September 21th, 2025

Last night I slept in a place that I found on iOverlander.
It was essentially a parking lot, but it did the job well, and there wasn’t much noise.
I left at 6:00 AM to head to Grand Horn National Forest.

To get there, one has to go through a couple of little towns, but the views of the plains are great. There are a lot of rock formations that make you think about alien forms.
Once at the feet of the mountain, the climb begins, and the views become even better with rocks billions of years old, canyons, rivers, marshes and whatever comes to your mind.

A off-road picnic area in Bighorn National Forest

Once on top, I saw two moose. Too early in the morning, barely any light. Got some footage of them anyway and moved on.
”Well, I already saw two moose!”, I thought.

I stopped at the Visitors Center to ask for a few information. The young guy at the reception was great and informative, and told me also some hot spots for viewing the moose.
He mentioned that the best time is really July and August, and that there was no guarantee of seeing them this time of the year.
But I knew I would find them, given that there are over 600 of them in this area.

I then began exploring the area, and as the sun rose, I found another moose lying down in the meadows.
It was far away, but the back-lit shot was nice, and I captured some good footage.
I had time to experiment with my 400mm f2.8 TC VR S and the 1.4X and 2.0X Teleconverters, which was also valuable.

I couldn't find much more, so I stopped in a fisherman's parking area on a dirt road to have lunch and plan my next steps.

The fisherman's parking area in Bighorn National Forest

I drove around for a while but didn't find anything else to photograph. Then, I started looking for campgrounds as the sun was hiding behind the mountains.

I was already deeply impressed by this place.

Fall Photography in the National Parks - Day 9

September 20th, 2025

Yesterday morning, I left the campground early to see if I could get some bear shots while most people were sleeping.
It turns out I did.
As I was driving, I saw a grizzly down the road, and I managed to get some decent footage of it scavenging.
The light wasn’t great, but it worked out.

My Nikon Z9 capturing the grizzle bear

Eventually, people saw my rig parked and me shooting just down the bank, and they started stopping.
After a few cars had parked, the bear got annoyed and left quickly.

The RV parked on the side of the road while looking for Grizzly bears

This is the problem with these parks: too much traffic.
I love what happens here in terms of wildlife activity, but there are way too many people to do really professional work, which requires time and dedication.
These parks give opportunities, but when it comes to dangerous predators, I have better shots when I am in the National Forest on my own. I take the risks, but they pay off, and I don’t have to deal with crowds and rangers.

I had another encounter on the road with a black bear mom with two cubs. Again, many rude people who don’t even look around to see if they are in front of your camera, and the rangers managing the situation.
I had some decent shots and footage, but I wish I could have moved around a bit more.

I then went to Mammoth village to do a load of laundry, and there was a decently sized bull elk sitting on the grass. While I was shooting, I started talking to an older man, Russell, about what I do, where I was going, and so on.
He suggested that I go to Big Horn Mountain to photograph moose, and, without hesitation, I planned to go right away.

It is 400km from Yellowstone, which would put me further away from Glacier National Park, my next on my plan, but it seemed like I should have seen this place.
They didn’t have laundry at the village anyway, so I decided to head to this new destination right away.

I go through the Yellowstone North-East entrance and then proceed on WY-296, also known as Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.
I have never seen such a majestic landscape before. This highway was hands down one of the most beautiful I have driven on, and I couldn’t help but feel extremely tiny while I was observing the gigantic mountains going by.

a view from Chief Joseph highway

I stopped in Cody, where I did my laundry, emptied my RV's tanks, and bought some groceries, knowing that I would be entirely off the grid for a few days in the mountains.

My heart was filled with incredible views, and it was surely one of the most spectacular sights I have ever witnessed.
I enjoyed that drive so much that I will be driving back instead of cutting through the main highway north, on my way to Glacier.

Fall Photography in the National Parks - Day 8

September 19th, 2025

The last couple of nights had been cold. I turned the heat on in the RV to stay a bit more cozy.
The cold nights bring frost and with it interesting images.
In the early morning, I saw a bison half asleep. He was lying down like a rock, and he had a bunch of frost on him.
I am not sure if he was cold or not, but he didn’t seem too active.
I got a couple of shots of him until he got up and moved away.

As I continued driving, the sunlight came up and I saw these two very mild pronghorns in the fields. I got closer and they didn’t seem to mind, so I got some pictures and footage of them in the nice warm morning light.
One of them sat down and looked at me, giving me one of my favourite eye-to-eye shots.

Later in the morning, I saw two grizzly bears on the shore in front of where I was driving. I stopped and looked carefully at the map to see if I could find a good trail to get closer to them.
Indeed, there was a way, and I started walking.
The area was clearly bear territory, with multiple bear tracks and poops. It is pretty intense when you know there are bears around.
Every step is a careful look around you. Every sound makes your heart beat faster.
I walked all the way into the trail, and I got eyes on the shore, but I couldn’t see the bears.
I then walked back and realized that I was actually just above them; they had moved closer to the bank, so I could no longer see them from my vantage point.
Knowing their position, I managed to triangulate them and found an excellent positioning with my camera.
I was still a bit far from them, but I loved the footage. It was a mom with a cub, looking for clams or whatever else to eat on the beach.

Grizzly bears foraging on the shore

A funny thing that happened is that, as I was observing the bears, I heard loud music and two girls came from the other side of the trail and are now heading towards the beach. If I didn’t stop them, they would have been face-to-face with the bears. I think I saved them from a terrible day.
I told them that the bears were right there and told them to go back up slowly and go away.
Can’t make this shit up.

I repositioned myself a couple of times, then the bear came up the bank, moving towards where I was.
I quickly gave them distance. She had already smelled me and seen me, and she knew I was not a threat. They kept moving through the bushes, and I decided that they had given me enough for the day, so I went back to the RV.
I found a nice place to stop and have lunch before continuing the search.

The lake I stopped at to have lunch

It had already been a good day, but I wanted to try the notorious Pelican Valley Trail—a beautiful trail with a very high concentration of Grizzly Bears.
As I got to the trailhead, in the parking, there was a big male Grizzly right there. I didn’t have the proper positioning, and a few cars were looking at it. He left quickly, and I missed the shot.
In the parking lot, I met a guy who managed to spend about 15 minutes with him.
These are the lucky events that can give you some fantastic shots. Too bad I was late.

We decided to hike the trail together for a while. The sun was setting, and the trail was supposed to be closed at 7 PM.
We did not see any bear, but on the way back, the big grizzly was again in the parking lot. Once again, I didn't have a clear or good enough shot, which really annoyed me.
But all is good, just seeing these creatures is a great experience every time, especially that close.

The guy I met while hiking the Pelican Valley Trail

As I headed back to camp, I enjoyed a beautiful open sunset that made this day that much more special.

An open sunset view of the Yellowstone Lake

Fall Photography in the National Parks - Day 7

September 18th, 2025

I started my photography day with a hawk posing, side-lit by the early sun, against an almost black background.
Surely makes for a nice image, and I also got to shoot some footage of it.
He was too far away for a good closeup, so I mostly shot video.

Nothing meaningful happened after that until midday, when I saw a Coyote wandering around the plains. At that time, the sun is hot, and there is a lot of heat distortion that makes for not-so-good close-ups.
When that is the case, I prefer to focus on environmental shots and keep the angle of view pretty broad.

As I was driving the main road, all of a sudden, there was considerable traffic.
That usually means one thing: a Grizzly Bear on the road (or visible).
People parked everywhere, at every angle, were admiring the bear scavaging for food further away in the hills.

I found a decent vantage point at eye level and shot some video.
Nothing to be too excited about, but still decent footage.
That took a bit of time; I changed perspectives a couple of times.

An exampled of the traffic that forms when there is a grizzly bear visible from the road

Finally, I headed to a nearby city where I got some food (and a doughnut) and gas before heading to the campground.

Got myself a treat: a doughnut and a couple of chocolate chips cookies

I taught my 3-hour lesson online and then went to bed.

It is incredible how quickly time goes; it seems there is never enough of it to do what you want to.

Fall Photography in the National Parks - Day 6

September 17th, 2025

Yesterday was a slow day.
I drove out of the campground to head to Yellowstone National Park and had the chance to admire the Grand Tetons mountains once more.
They surely are magnificent.
There was a thick layer of low-hanging clouds cutting through them, and it was really beautiful.

The Grand Tetons mountains with low-hanging clouds in the early morning

I did not see any wildlife while driving, and I decided to head directly north.

Once I got to the South entrance of Yellowstone NP, I went looking for campgrounds in the area. The plan was to go to the east entrance to look for bears, but I wanted to have a look at the forest road where the dispersed camping is.
By looking at the map, I saw that the forest road would go pretty far. There was a lake-dam on the route and it wasn’t too far, so I decided to make that my arrival point.
Once I got there there was a group of guys camping in one of the sites. Super friendly, we had some laughs and a short chat.
They wanted me to take a picture of them in front of my rig, which they loved.
It is always fun to meet new people on the road, I hope they will follow me on Instagram and send me that picture.

The lake-dam on the forest road from Yellowstone south

There are dispersed campsites all the way through the forest road. Most of them were occupied when I was driving up, but empty when I was driving down. Probably most people camp there at night and then leave for the day to go explore the park.
Good to notice how busy it still is, though. Even in late September.

On the road, I found some Sandhill Cranes hanging down low in the bushes and spent some time with them. They were pretty tame.
I managed to get closer slowly and got some decent shots. It was a couple with a chick who could not fly just yet, so they were very protective of him.
They flew away once when I got too close too quickly, but surely they came back after a couple of minutes, while I was waiting there ready to shoot.

I proceeded to drive north-east and cut through the park.

I had read there was a bear with a carcass that was putting up a show (a common thing in Yellowstone NP), and while I was driving, I found the point from where they were looking at him.
It is pretty high and far away (I measured at about 100m line of sight, but it is more considering the elevation difference).
It is always lovely to see animals doing their thing, but that is not my kind of picture. Images taken at those distances and angles tend to be flat, and it’s not my cup of tea.
As you can see from my galleries, I prefer a more “intimate” approach, though I am not sure how intimate one should get with a Grizzly Bear of that size.
But that is why I go hiking and take the risks, because the rewards are also much bigger when it comes to good-looking pictures.

I kept driving out of the park, onto the adjacent forest, until I reached the campground, which, to my surprise, was pretty much empty.
And it also stayed empty overnight, which was an even bigger surprise. I thought people would come over later in the evening after taking pictures, but instead, nobody really came.

I have to say, so far, I prefer the Grand Teton landscape much more than the Yellowstone one. I don’t know this park well, though, and I will have to explore more to make a valid opinion, but to me, Glacier National Park is still the best one.
Yellowstone has always had a very touristy feel to me, though it is impressive for its own ecosystem, but the parks above seem to have a more “remote” or “wild” feeling to them.

I got to the campground in the afternoon, I think around 4 PM. I was pretty tired.
The days add up when you are constantly on the field doing things, and even if people think that it is the greatest thing in the world, one gets tired and needs a break every so often.
So I decided to take it easy, do my weekly cleanup in the RV, and get everything nice and tidy, which is really important in small spaces.
Driving and camping inevitably bring some dust inside. Add to that dirty shoes from the trails and maybe rain, etc., and you can see how things can get messy quickly.

I also cleaned up my cameras and lenses and downloaded my images to make everything ready for the next day.

Later in the evening, I had to teach my online class for the University for 3 hours, after which I went straight to bed.

Fall Photography in the National Parks - Day 5

September 16th, 2025

I drove out of the campground a little bit later than usual, as I had to keep up with some development work.

On the road, there was a massive herd of bison, and with the sun just coming up, I surely had to stop and shoot.

Bisons and horses in the early morning in Grand Teton National Park

I spent quite some time there, trying to find some good shots and testing the limits of the dynamic range of the Nikon Z9 and Z8.
Not exactly easy to shoot very dark animals, backlit, at first morning sunlight.
I only use a monitor when I do commercial work, and I rig my camera. But for this kind of situation, it would have been good since the contrast was so extreme.

A couple of days ago, Nikon announced the ZR, the first Nikon-Red combo camera, and everybody is raving about it. With a massive 4” screen at 1000nits, it would solve this problem quickly. I think it might be my next camera, dedicated to shooting video.
The problem with that is being unable to do both photography and video simultaneously, which would require a slight shift in workflow.
Switching lenses, especially long ones, is always a bit of a pain and using my 400mm 2.8 VR TC S lens for most of my work means I would have to choose which body to keep it on.
Plus, the video on the Z9 and Z8 is so good anyway that it might not be necessary.
We will see.

Once I had enough (footage) of the Bisons, I kept driving and went to explore some gravel roads around the park.
I stopped driving a few times to take shots of the random encounters you get in the park.
A coyote, in particular, took a poop right in front of me. Of course, I took pictures of it.
A few river otters were also playing in the river and on the shore, and it was a nice, fun shot they put up.

I like to explore every road I find. I have done that for many years, since I was a much younger man with a 1986 Suzuki Samurai.
On one of these roads, I found a pullout. There was no trail flagged and nothing really noticeable, but on my Gaia GPS map, I saw there were a couple of ponds and some marsh habitat; intuitively, I thought something would be there, so I started going through the forest until I actually crossed another trail.
In Grizzly territory, one is always a bit afraid when alone in the woods. I kept looking around me at all times, yes, to find wildlife, but also to make sure that if there were a bear, I would see it.
I also made the beginner mistake of bringing my heavy tripod with the video head and the 400mm 2.8 lens on it, which was heavy to carry around.

Sure enough, at the second pond, I found a massive bull elk with huge antlers. He was a beauty there in the pond, but he also was not very happy I was there.
I managed to get a bit of footage and a couple of shots, but shortly he left for the woods.
I tried to follow him, but he went too fast, and it was getting late anyway, so I decided to be wise, for once, and go back to the rig.

I finally went up a long road that ended at a very high lookout point.
Stunning view of the park and incredible sunset. But of course, I have to look for more, and I noticed a bunch of animal-made trails on the hill near the viewpoint.
So I took the camera and the tripod, this time the light one, and there I went.
I walked a bit with that incredible scenery in front of me, and I started seeing tracks and poops of something that seemed like a mule deer.
And in fact, after a few more meters, behind a hill, there he is, looking right at me.
The light was almost gone at this point, but I managed to shoot some video at high ISO, which I will use to test Davinci Resolve’s de-noise.
As I was shooting, I found there was another deer a little bit further, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more down the hill.

Running out of light and having to go back to camp in the dark, I decided to head back and sleep at the same place I slept the night before.

Fall Photography in the National Parks - Day 4

September 15th, 2025

The day started slowly yesterday.
I drove out of the campground and stayed on the forest road for a few KMs. It surely was a great view, and a lot of mud on the ground.

A view from the forest road that leads to Atherton campground

Eventually, I turned around and went towards the park.
I did not have a clear target for the day, so I decided I would explore.
I decided to take another forest road. At some point, a “Grizzly Bear Area” sign showed up, and I kept going. The road became more difficult and muddy with big washouts.

The sign showing entering the Grizzly Bear Area

The RV did great, but eventually I got stuck in a deeper mud hole that tilted the whole rig, preventing me from having any traction.
When I saw the road ahead of me, I knew it would happen. There was nowhere to turn around, and with a bit of rig, you are really limited in the kind of maneuvers you can do.
Having some experience and a bunch of recovery gear, I proceeded - and got stuck.

In the end, I had to use the winch to get the RV out of there. Thankfully, it worked great, and it didn’t have any problem pulling the rig out.
My winch is rated at 12000lbs, and the rig is about 5000lbs, so there is plenty of room.
I managed to get to the end of the road, where there was a camping area (by then I was already outside of the park boundary), near a stream.

The camping area on the forest road

I stayed there for a bit, nothing in sight.
So I drove back, disappointed for not seeing any bears.

As I was driving out of the campground, I heard a squeaking noise coming from the steering column rubber bushing, so I decided I would fix it also because I hate noises when driving, and in an RV, there are plenty, already.
I inspected the bushing and noticed there was dust in there, probably from my previous trip to the Arctic Circle.
It needed cleaning and lubrication, but I didn't have the right tool in my toolbox: no, the standard WD-40 doesn’t do it. I have noticed people making this mistake often. The oils in WD-40 are bad for rubber, and it will dry out the bushing, causing cracks.
What you need is silicone lube. So I went to ACE Hardware in Jackson and bought a can of WD-40 Specialty Silicon.
Cleaned up the bushing with some dish soap and water, then alcohol. Finally, I sprayed some silicon lube on it and made sure it stayed nice in there.
No more noise. Success!

It was about lunch time as well, so I decided to take a break and fill up with gas.
The afternoon was quiet, and I went exploring on a couple of dirt roads within the park.
Saw a few lovely birds, a couple of hawks and even a peregrine falcon. They are tiny and difficult to approach, especially in open fields like the one he was in. Also, it was raining pretty badly at that point. I got out of the RV, tried to get as close as possible and took some shots (if you want to see the final shots, follow my Instagram account @eyesofthewildca; I post the edited shots there, once I get them done).

Later in the afternoon, I decided I would go check out Jenny Lake. I had seen Moose there before, and it is a nice place.
As I am driving, I see a bull moose eating in the bushes. Pretty far away, tried to get closer, but he moved in deeper.
I couldn't leave the RV parked there because many areas in these parks have “No parking on the side of the road” restrictions, which are incredibly annoying.
So I had to find a place to park, and then I hiked into the forest. I followed the tracks, the poops, and everything that could help, and finally I found him—a young bull moose right there in front of me.
He was not startled, but it took a bit for him to get used to me. He kept coming closer to me as well, as I tried to keep the distance.
It was a very special moment, and nobody else was there. 
I only had the 400mm 2.8 TC VR S with me, as I wanted to be light on my feet and not spend too much time preparing the backpack.
I literally got the camera in my hand and went exploring.
I surely did not think I would get that close, and in the end, I got a bunch of close-up shots and enjoyed the moment.
It was genuinely great.

A shot of “Peter the moose” through my Z9 and the 400mm 2.8 TC VR S

I named him Peter. He seemed like a Peter to me.
I like to give names to the animals I meet because they have a special place in my heart. 

We kept looking at each other, and I was talking to him to make him feel at ease. He kept eating and doing his thing and didn’t mind me at all.

Eventually, he decided he had had enough of me, and he moved up in the forest, crossed the trail and disappeared.

Some days are slow, but sometimes, just like life, they have surprises for you when you least expect them. 
That encounter surely made the day special. 

Fall Photography in the National Parks - Day 3

September 14th, 2025

The day started early as usual. The weather was great, so I drove off from the campground while it was still dark.
I stopped on the way to take a couple of pictures of the beautiful landscape that never fails to impress me.

The view from the gravel road that goes to Bear Creek Campground in Montana

While driving on the gravel road, I spotted something moving on the horizon, and to my incredible surprise, it was three grizzly bears: a mom with two cubs.
She seems a bit stressed out, so I stopped the rig and let her get accustomed to my presence.
For a while, they walked freely in the forest and eventually got into a farmer’s field, from where they got kicked out, and then went back to the trees, where I was parked.
At this point, the sun was emerging out behind the mountains, the light was not great, and it was still dark, so the shots I got weren’t great.
It was, anyway, so lovely to see the trio looking for food and the little cubs jumping around. They were really following and imitating the mom closely.

Eventually, the three climbed a tree and decided to take a nap.
I would have normally stayed there the whole day to secure some good pictures and video, but I still had not reached Grand Teton, and so I decided to keep driving.

Still on the gravel road, but closer to the highway, a herd of pronghorns were roaming in the fields at a long distance. I took some shots and a short video, spent some time looking at them elegantly trotting around, and then kept going.

After much driving, I stopped in West Yellowstone to get something to eat. I went to the “Old Town Cafe” and they sat me down. But after 15 minutes, I still didn’t have any water or the menu in my hand, so I left.
I don’t like tourist places; they are always busy and messy, and West Yellowstone is no different.

I stopped at the gas station to fill up the windshield washer fluid and the gas, and not far from there, found another restaurant, “The Last Chance Bar and Grill”, with a nice view of the river, so I stopped there.
To my surprise, they did not serve breakfast, since it was past 11 AM (the website did not mention that). So I had a bison burger instead.
I don’t eat any vegetables or fruit anymore, and try hard to stay away from fries and deep-fried food, but the burger was excellent.

The awesome bison burger at "The Last Chance Bar and Grill" restaurant

With a full stomach and well satisfied by the lunch, I drove all the way to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
I had never been there before, but once again, it gave me the impression of a very touristy place. It is very cool and definitely worth a visit, but there are too many people for my taste.
I stopped at the visitor center, where I asked for information about campgrounds.
All the Grand Teton National Park campgrounds are reservation-only. This means you have to book months ahead.
I find this very wrong. There should always be at least 25% of spots available for first-come, first-served.
They do have National Forest campgrounds to accommodate all kinds of rigs and pockets right outside of the park, so I feel it works out well anyway.

The visitor center in Jackson Hole

Right now, I am at the Atherton Creek Campground, on Lower Slide Lake, and it is very peaceful and pleasant.

The campground stall in Atherton Creek campground

I got here last night, at about 7 PM. As I was going to my camp stall, I spotted something moving in the trees.
It was a red fox. She wasn’t bothered by the fact that I saw her, she looked at me like saying “And now? What?”, took a poop and left.
I managed to get a few shots of her, though I had limited visibility.
I love how wildlife here is literally everywhere.

It is now 7.20 AM. It rained all night and still is. Supposedly, the weather will improve later in the day. It is also getting colder.
I had initially planned to hike a trail behind the campground in the morning, but there was no point with such weather.
I am not bothered by it, actually; it gives me some time to catch up on my picture development and social media posts.
It always seems pretty challenging to find the time to do everything, but I can only try my best.

Fall Photography in the National Parks - Day 1 & 2

September 12th & 13th, 2025

I don’t seem to be able to leave my home base in Chilliwack before lunchtime, ever.
Even this time, I left Chilliwack, BC at about 2 PM, after emptying the RV tanks at the city facility (no, it’s not free. It costs 10$).
Although the RV is pretty much complete and all the quirks have been fixed, it still took me a while before I was ready to leave.
Eventually, I was on the highway.

The plan for this trip is to get to Grand Teton National Park as soon as possible, and then slowly come up through Yellowstone NP, Glacier NP and then back to Canada, going through Banff NP and Jasper NP.
I don’t usually manage to do all the parks in one go, but this year I will.

I really like the drive through Highway 3, the Crowsnest; it is very scenic and features beautiful colours, especially this time of year, when the fall colours start to take over.
I thought about stopping in Manning Park for the night, but I decided to drive further instead, and I stopped in Osoyoos.

Every time I go to the US, I end up crossing the border in a different city; this time, it was Midway, BC. It didn’t take me much to get there; in fact, I was there at 8 AM, and there was nobody else. I waited for the opening time at 9 AM.
The border officer signalled me to move on. They are often angry and harsh. By now, I am used to it, and it doesn’t bother me anymore.
He asked me where I was going, if I was alone, how long I would stay in the US, and when I had last been there.
He also asked me to open the RV door, check inside to see if there was anybody else, and finally asked me what that big white bag was that was on the ground. It is my 'Mariner 3 inflatable boat, I said. “I use it to take pictures on the lakes”. “Have a good day”, he said, and he let me go.
And there I was, once again, in the United States of America.

To reach Grand Teton NP, it takes a lot of highway driving, so I made a point to drive the whole next day, which I did.
I decided to take a slight detour, though, to go around Coeur d’Alene Lake. I am glad I did.

The beautiful road coasting the Coeur D'Alene Lake

It was a fantastic sunset, and the lake is actually pretty interesting from a landscape perspective.
It was getting late, so I only had the time to drive around and take a couple of quick shots, but it was worth it.
There were also some incredible houses on the lake, like those one sees in books, questioning if they actually exist.
Well, I now know they do.

Coeur D’Alene at Sunset

The darkness was taking over, and I don’t like to find a place to sleep when it’s dark. I’m okay to drive at night; I actually like that. However, if I have to stop somewhere, I prefer to do it when I can see where I am going. It helps avoid hitting those trees that sneak up on you at night. They especially like a big rig like mine, I have been told.

I stopped at a Walmart in Smelterville, Idaho, sure that I would be able to sleep there.
To my surprise, there were “no overnight parking” signs in ALMOST all the parking lanes. I was a little annoyed because Walmart has always been like the last hope for a late-night stop.
I went inside and asked the Customer Service, and the gentleman told me, very politely, that “if there are no overnight signs, it probably means you can’t park overnight”. Genius.
I checked the Overlander, and somebody posted that the Walmart manager allowed a limited number of vehicles to sleep overnight in the lane near the ATMs, a bit further away from the store's main entrance. Good enough for me.
Given it was late in the evening and I was exhausted, I decided to take the risk of being woken up during the night and slept there anyway.
Nobody bothered me, and actually, quite a few cars were parked overnight in the parking lot. Probably people who work there, but rules are rules, aren’t they?
In any case, I slept okay, but there was a lot of noise, being the parking lot right next to the highway, as well as the local little airport. Jackpot.

At 5.30 AM, the alarm went off, and in a few minutes, I was ready to retake the road.
Once again, I decided to drive the whole day and get to Grand Teton NP by the evening. I almost made it, except I decided to stop at a Campground in one of Montana’s forests; it's about two and a half hours away from the National Park entrance, so I should be able to get there in the morning, which is perfect.

Montana has a very special place in my heart, for many different reasons. The landscape is always stunning, and the lighting scenes that happen here are incredible. All of a sudden, there was a pocket of rain on the dark horizon with some haze in the distance, so I stopped to take pictures. And then I saw another thing…and then another one. And then I had to find a place to stay because the sun was almost down, again.

Another amazing sunset to add to the trip, and I just got here.

My RV at Sunset in Montana

As a sidenote, when I am on the road during these trips, I am always scouting around for a good shot.
This means that I drive SLOW, because I need to have the time to look around without ending up in the ditch on the side of the road.
Today, I was driving about 80km/h, even less in some sections, but the speed limit is a whopping 70 MPH, which probably placed me as the slowest car on the highway today, or maybe ever.
I do not care, though. I am in no rush, pass me (next sticker for the back of the RV).

A herd of horses enjoying the Montana’s sunset

In the end, I stopped at Bear Creek Campground, from where I am writing right now.
It is not too busy, and I met a group of people who actually travel with their horses.
They park in these campgrounds that have space for horse trailers and also fences! During the day, they take the horses and go on the trails around the mountains. Horse-trail-riding, but with your own horse. Amazing.
I never even thought about using a horse to go around and take pictures, but that sounds brilliant, except for the logistics of it.
I had no idea this kind of campground existed. But what can an Italian guy know about these things?
The people were very friendly; we talked a bit about what I do and where I am going. I asked if I could pet the horses, and they gave me some horse cookies to feed them.

An evening view of Bear Creek Campgrund in Ennis, Montana

I love horses. I have loved them since I was a little kid. Maybe that is also why I love Montana so much: horses everywhere.
I will get a horse one day, mark my word.