On our trip into Jackson, WY, on our way to meet my daughter and the grandkids, Kathy & I came around a bend in the road and found many cars parked along both sides of the road. We quickly learned that this meant there was something to view/photograph in the vicinity. This time, it was a herd of buffalo – maybe 30 – grazing alongside the road and on the road at times.
We were on the opposite side of the highway from the buffalo and Kathy – who was driving – stopped behind the string of parked cars. Before I got out she set the ground rules for this photo shoot. I was to keep the car between me and the buffalo at all times! I eagerly agreed, grabbed my camera, a beanbag support, and out the passenger door I went. I laid the beanbag on the hood of the car and proceeded to fill my camera’s memory card. At first I shot general pictures of the herd, but quickly moved to focusing on profiles and closeups of individual animals.
I was totally focused on what I was doing when I heard loud banging on our car’s windshield. I looked up and Kathy was frantically pointing to a buffalo that had crossed the road and now there was nothing between it and me. I needed no further persuading. I grabbed the beanbag and camera and quickly crawled back into the car. We were amazed and quite worried that so many of the people were out of their cars and walking much closer to these animals than they should have. We left before anything bad happened. 
I really like this picture of one of the “elders” of the herd. Buffalo are such majestic animals. We saw many buffalo during our time in the Yellowstone area. They always commanded the right-of-way when they were on or near the roads. Awesome.
Yellowstone seems to have just about every landscape type – mountains, rivers, meadows, forests, canyons, hot springs, geysers, volcanos. It is just fabulously amazing to drive around the park. What a national treasure.
