A Beautiful Day on Fawn Pass - Yellowstone National Park

I started this hike on Fawn Pass in Yellowstone National Park in the darkness before sunrise. Red clouds from an approaching thunderstorm filled the sky, with lightning flashing and thunder rolling in the distance. Then daylight began to arrive, and the whole character of the morning changed. Sandhill cranes were calling across the landscape, grouse appeared in the vegetation, and farther up the wet trail I came across more cranes and a huge bull elk. As I climbed higher toward Fawn Pass, the country opened up. Wildflowers were everywhere, clear little streams crossed the landscape, and the views looking toward Bighorn Pass were incredible. I passed quiet ponds, watched elk lying peacefully out in the open, and came across a fresh-looking grizzly dig along the way. Eventually I stopped for lunch among the wildflowers, surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery Yellowstone has to offer. Later came a hawk, more elk, and a group of tourists traveling through the backcountry on horseback. I followed behind them for quite a distance as the day began to change once again. Then the rain came down hard, and the sound of thunder returned. From darkness and thunderstorms to cranes calling in the morning, clear mountain streams, elk, wildflowers, and the wide-open country of Yellowstone, it was a beautiful day spent in God's beautiful creation. Yellowstone Solitude: True Wilderness Encounters by Stan Mills ➡️ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GNKXHY2Q