First Light on the Firehole
There's something special about mornings along the Firehole River, especially when the temperature drops to something like -20 degrees. The air is so cold it bites, but the river is geothermally heated, so it's constantly sending up thick clouds of steam. I spent a while just watching this scene, waiting for the sun to rise high enough to hit the valley. When it finally did, the light caught the steam and created this incredible blanket of warm light. It was a beautiful contrast against the frozen ground and the frost-covered trees that were still in the cool morning shadow. It’s a quiet, fleeting moment that really defines winter in Yellowstone for me.