Winter's Breath
Yellowstone National Park
One of my favorite things to see in Yellowstone during winter are the 'ghost trees.' You find them near the geysers and thermal pools, where the constant steam freezes onto their branches, coating everything in a thick layer of rime ice. It completely transforms them, giving each one a unique, almost sculptural quality. The air is cold and still, and the steam drifts around, sometimes hiding them and sometimes revealing them. I waited for a while with this particular tree, watching the steam move. For a moment, it parted just enough to frame the tree perfectly, with the sky just visible behind it. It felt like a quiet, fleeting introduction to one of the park's winter spirits.