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.