[Sniz]

Just got back around 2am this morning. Can't say how much I love the Rockies....air is cleaner, the scenery is just breathtaking and the outdoor activities cant get any better.

I'm a lucky having my brother live there all year as a fly fishing guide!!

On to the pics

I realized on the plane back while editing that my sensor is dirty. I'll re-edit from RAW and clean them up if I plan on framing any....which i'm sure I will

All here: http://s138.photobucket.com/albums/q...view=slideshow

Me driving our Chevy Traverse....a surprisingly good vehicle...lots of good gadgets.



Big Sky, MT



the same river they shot ' A River Runs Through It'





Big Horn Sheep female



some beautiful Aspens in full color next to our house







Out fishing the Gallatin w my girlfriend

Nice rainbow I caught on a nymph



Nice one Veronica caught!! Cutthroat trout





Up hiking to Hidden Lakes......rather tough hike up to around 9,000 ft elevation in search of wild Golden Trout. So peaceful up there!





My brother looking back at Lone Peak in Big Sky...many miles away.



found em....such peaceful lakes. No one else up there at all! 1st mile was straight up hill and at that altitude it was very tough on the lungs for us sea level people.



John riggin up



1st one he caught......1st one Ive ever seen!

[Sniz]

We hiked up to an even higher lake and found a few monsters lurking around.....1 broke me off w surprising power. On 2lb test tippet you really cant muscle them out of the fallen trees

then I caught this beauty on a dry fly! My brother and all his guide friends have never caught a Golden this big....pushing 15"s!!





she was up on the cliff spotting the cruising trout for me, she loved it



----------------------------------

2 full days of exploring Yellowstone are not enough!!!!

a few select pics from the glorious areas we visited

The original entrance







Buffalo jam lol



We saw a forest fire off in the distance!!!







we climbed up on a huge hill and used a 60x spotting scope to look for Big Horn sheep and Mountain Goats....no luck





have to watch out for these guys w sandals on!!



Coyote





Yellowstone Lake



West Thumb hot springs were amazing













yes its full of water



Other geothermal areas, they are everywhere!! What a freaky place











We got SUPER LUCKY with the geysers, didnt have to wait more than 10 minutes at the 3 we visited!!!





Old Faithful





A young cowboy onlooker

[Sniz]

another





Elk up close....the big bulls werent in view, the weather was too nice and warm!! They were up higher away from the roads and she wasnt too excited about going hiking looking for them........bears were in the area and one of my brother friends just got his scalp ripped off by a grizzly the day before we arrived along w a finger.....







got an itch











Mountain Goat!!



another Coyote looking for something to pounce on



Got closer to the fire!!!





Planes dropping chemicals on the fire.....seems like a futile effort





-------------------------------

Last day went out on a float trip w my brother on the Yellowstone River in the Paradise Valley area.....such an appropriate name!!



Little did she know what this lure would do....



it would catch this....a fantastic 20" Brown Trout, the largest of our trip this year and by far the largest fish she's ever caught. I was so happy to see her hook this thing and was REALLY happy when I got it in the net.











Couple of local hippies enjoying the day





my brother





Paradise Valley is right





Hope you all enjoyed, I am still sitting here smiling thinking about the trip

[BillLee]

damn it you also have awesome trips. i need to visit Yellowstone one day.

[scollins]

Sweet pics! Well, except for the ones with your ugly mug in them.....



Thanks for sharing.

[Chewy734]

Nice pics man! I like the ones with the elk and the buffalo jam!

[PsychoSlug]

Great pics and nice fish!

I love Yellowstone, except the crowds. What few people know is that all you need to do is take a hike and you leave the crowds behind. 90% of the people there never venture far from their cars and the roads. I backpacked the Pebble Creek valley 12 years ago for 5 days and saw 2 people the entire time, and they were hiking together. I literally saw more moose than humans.

That lake you hiked up to looked like a perfect spot. Solitude and fishing.... ahhhhh.....

[PsychoSlug]

Originally Posted by BillLee

damn it you also have awesome trips. i need to visit Yellowstone one day.

Yes, you do. Much like the Grand Canyon, everyone should see Yellowstone.

[Sniz]

Originally Posted by dpratt34

Great pics and nice fish!

I love Yellowstone, except the crowds. What few people know is that all you need to do is take a hike and you leave the crowds behind. 90% of the people there never venture far from their cars and the roads. I backpacked the Pebble Creek valley 12 years ago for 5 days and saw 2 people the entire time, and they were hiking together. I literally saw more moose than humans.

That lake you hiked up to looked like a perfect spot. Solitude and fishing.... ahhhhh.....

I couldnt agree more....trying to work on the girlfriend to do more of that....she was pretty afraid of the bears. Way too many bad stories every single day we were there....

best time to visit Yellowstone is mid Sept - mid Oct.....less people every passing week and the weather can be beautiful, or it can snow 2 feet in a day.....luck of the draw.

Originally Posted by dpratt34

Yes, you do. Much like the Grand Canyon, everyone should see Yellowstone.

+11111111111111111

[remmib]

Beautiful scenery, and great pics and write-up.

[dcstep]

Nice pix. I particularly like the various trout, the scenics and your lovely lady. Your mug wasn't so bad that it offset the many good things that you shared. Thanks for sharing.

Some of your scenics are a little washed out, but easily fixed by pulling down just a little on the center of the RGB curve or applying an S-curve to the RGB. When you got haze, upping the contrast will sometimes reduce it. Shoot in RAW if you're not already and your images will stand up well to a little "adjusting."

[hipnotic]

beautiful pics

[Sniz]

Originally Posted by dcstep

Nice pix. I particularly like the various trout, the scenics and your lovely lady. Your mug wasn't so bad that it offset the many good things that you shared. Thanks for sharing.

Some of your scenics are a little washed out, but easily fixed by pulling down just a little on the center of the RGB curve or applying an S-curve to the RGB. When you got haze, upping the contrast will sometimes reduce it. Shoot in RAW if you're not already and your images will stand up well to a little "adjusting."

ha....thanks man, yes I shot those in RAW as well but havent edited any of the RAW copies. These were all edited on my flight back to ugly ass Maryland after I took a healthy dose of valium


also, the hazed look in a lot of the photos have to do with the forest fire, made things a bit less clear in yellowstone that one day.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Sniz

also, the hazed look in a lot of the photos have to do with the forest fire, made things a bit less clear in yellowstone that one day.

Yeah, I know what you mean. We've had a lot of that around here (Colorado) lately. Still, try pushing up the contrast and darkening a smidge. Amazing things sometimes happen.