Crawling out of a cozy sleeping bag into the sub-freezing temperatures of pre-dawn is not fun. In fact, some might say it’s rather idiotic.
But when you have visions of bison in the mists of Yellowstone National Park, it changes things. I’d had this idea kicking around my head for days and couldn't quite shake it. How cool would it be to get the mists of the valley floor surrounding a bison or two? I actually was getting more excited about it as the days passed.
So there I am at 5AM, doing just that, get out of that nice warm safe sleeping bag. I shrugged on my pants, boots, a few layers and grabbed my camera, tripod and headed across the campground to the nearby Madison River, headlight marking my way.
Hiking in the cold is one thing. Stopping and waiting in the cold is another.
But it was worth it. While I was standing on top of the rise, a herd of bison, not just one or two, came wandering down the riverside, up the hill and on past me as the sun just began lighting the sky. The mists began to rise and then the magic happened.
Some numb fingers and toes were totally forgotten once I sifted through the shots I'd gotten!
