Your moment of Zen - Yellowstone edition (a photo essay)

sfallon1.jpg

As one of the world's best job perks, I get the opportunity to visit Yellowstone National Park and its surrounding areas every year. Living and working in Washington DC, I sometimes forget how much of my daily view is taken up by concrete, until its not....

And the wildlife has always cooperated on these trips. Each year I have been able to see grizzly bears, wolves and much more, but every visit provides some kind of new experience and this year was no exception. Below are some highlights:

sfallon2.jpg

I've seen plenty of grizzly bears on previous trips, but I'd never seen them doing this.

(Photo credit Joel Reynolds)

sfallon3.jpg

We got to watch a gray wolf feeding on a bison carcass. (Photo credit Divya Singh)

sfallon4.jpg

It's not every day you get to crawl into (and then out of) a wolf den. (Not currently in use!) (Photo credit Divya Singh)

sfallon5.jpg

And while I'm partial to the wolves and the bears, it's not just the large carnivores that inspire and delight. (Photo credit Divya Singh)

sfallon6.jpg

(Photo credit Divya Singh)

sfallon7.jpg

Finally, I have hiked high up above Yellowstone's Slough creek before, but I still gasped when I got to this amazing view.

There is just nothing that can replicate the crisp clear air and wide open space that can be found in the Northern Rocky region. It helps wipe those concrete slates clean and reminds me that one of the important reasons that I work to keep wildlife protected in the west is because they, like us, depend on places like this.