USA 2024: Bison, Geysers, Karl and One Overslept Sunrise

Yellowstone. Canyonlands. Golden Gate Bridge. Jackson Hole.Just a few words are enough to bring me straight back to spring 2024 – my third journey to the United States, packed with places that are hard to forget.

When Plans Get Washed Away by Rain and a Blizzard

The beginning was anything but smooth. The original plan was to beat the worst jet lag with a two-day stopover in New York. That plan didn’t last long. The city was drowning in an all-day downpour – the kind you really don’t want to experience while walking endless avenues.

So instead of easing into the trip, we found ourselves running across the airport to catch a connecting flight from JFK further west, having seen nothing of NYC except transfer halls and heavy rain streaking down the airplane window. Exhaustion later ruined our chances for a proper visit to Olympic National Park, and when the forecast started warning about a blizzard, we had to scratch both the Cascades and Glacier off the list. The trip had officially begun in full improvisation mode…

The photo story starts in Seattle, the capital of Washington State and home to the iconic Space Needle. I had both luck and bad luck at the same time – the sky lit up in beautiful shades of purple, but Mount Rainier shyly hid behind the clouds. As a bonus, the batteries in my remote shutter died, and Nikon’s mobile app (as usual) refused to cooperate, leaving me with just thirty seconds per shot — not nearly enough time to properly blur the movement of the clouds. The result is a bit of a compromise… but still very enjoyable.

During the forced drive across Washington State toward Yellowstone, the highlight for me turned out to be the Vantage “Medal of Honor” Bridge over Wanapum Lake on the Columbia River. In the photos, the weather looks absolutely perfect — but don’t be fooled, the wind was just insane!

Driving across Washington State was a surprise in itself. Endless lanes of fields, isolated houses scattered across vast open space — the sheer emptiness of the landscape was strangely fascinating. The later drive through Idaho and Montana, with forested mountains rising around us, was just as beautiful. Unfortunately, I don’t have many photos from this part of the journey — most of it was experienced from behind the steering wheel.

Encounters with Bison and Bears

Uncooperative weather cost us two planned national parks, but in return it bought us the luxury of extra time in Yellowstone. And for that, I was genuinely grateful. My first visit to the world’s oldest national park completely blew me away. We arrived just as nature was waking up after winter — only a few days earlier, Dunraven Pass Road had reopened, and patches of ice were still floating in the bays of Yellowstone’s lakes.

And most importantly – wildlife everywhere! :)

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I thought we might see one or two bison and that would be it. I certainly didn’t expect a massive herd to charge across the road right in front of us. And encountering a grizzly bear? That was a whole different league.

While the first day welcomed us with sunny spring weather, the second felt like April at its finest – snow, fog, wind, sunshine, rain. All that was missing were thunderstorms and hail to complete the set. The changing weather gave some places an almost mystical atmosphere: Grand Prismatic Spring, wrapped in mist during a snow squall, only hinted at its grandeur, just like the entire Midway Geyser Basin. Old Faithful, on the other hand, lost a bit of its visual punch against the grey sky… if that’s even possible.

Mountains, Lakes, and the Perfect Morning I Slept Through

Heading south to Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole was the cherry on top of an already incredible Wyoming experience. The majestic Teton Range rises abruptly along the western edge of the park, forming a massive natural wall that feels both intimidating and incredibly elegant, overlooking breathtaking Jackson Lake and the endless meanders of the Snake River.

If I ever make it back to the U.S., Wyoming will be very high on my wishlist. There’s just one small regret – that on one morning, under absolutely perfect photographic conditions, I couldn’t drag myself out of bed for sunrise shooting. And one more thing to fix next time: we didn’t make it to Jenny Lake, which definitely deserves a visit of its own.

Red Rocks, Vol. I – Canyons and One Unforgettable Sunrise

It wouldn’t be a proper trip through the national parks of the American West without visiting the Colorado Plateau. Never heard of it? Practically all national parks in Utah and Arizona known for their red rock landscapes belong to this geomorphological region.

This time, we chose Canyonlands National Park, specifically the Island in the Sky district, along with Dead Horse Point State Park. Both offer breathtaking views of rock formations carved over millions of years by the Colorado River — with the Green River joining from the right and playing an equally important role in shaping the surrounding landscape.

We were lucky with the weather: crystal-clear visibility with stunning views of the La Sal Mountains to the east and the Henry Mountains to the southwest. The experience was crowned by evening photography at Dead Horse Point, where I had almost the entire canyon to myself. Well… at least the part I was standing in. A few hundred meters away, a romantic sunset wedding was taking place – but even that remained pleasantly low-key.

The next morning, I managed to find the energy for sunrise photography at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands, one of the top highlights of the entire trip. Choosing the best shots was painfully difficult – it was simply fantastic.

Red Rocks, Vol. II – “Three Years, Two Months…”

Continuing south into warmer landscapes brought us to Monument Valley, on Navajo Nation land. I have to admit I’d been here before, and I was surprised by how much more commercialized it had become over the past ten years. Where a punk wooden sign once marked the place where Forrest Gump finished his more-than-three-year run across the United States, there’s now a parking lot and rows of souvenir stands.

The valley itself, however, has lost none of its character. It remains just as imposing, majestic, and overwhelming. Photography conditions weren’t great this time – just as the evening light started turning warm, a mild sandstorm rolled in and wrapped the landscape in a beige haze. So we packed ourselves into the car and continued swallowing mile after mile of endless American roads.

Red Rocks, Vol. III – A Small River, a Big Hole

To conclude the red rock loop, a stop at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon was unavoidable – a place almost everyone has heard of at least once, and one that truly deserves to be seen. You don’t have to be a geology enthusiast (which I definitely am not 😃) to be fascinated by the Earth’s “tree rings” revealed in rock layers carved by a relatively small river.

The Colorado River is usually only about 60–100 meters wide in the Grand Canyon. The destruction it left behind, combined with erosion, is… yes, exactly – a breathtaking hole carved straight into the Earth.

I photographed the Grand Canyon in the late afternoon on the eastern side of the park and then rushed toward Horseshoe Bend for sunset. There, another unpleasant surprise awaited us. Roadside parking had been replaced by a massive parking lot, a once punk desert trail turned into a concrete walkway… and worst of all, photographing the cliff edge with a handful of enthusiasts had become a full-on crowd fight with a bazillion people pressing against the railing.

Tripod? No chance. All that was left was shooting handheld and hoping for the best. It worked only partially – at 100% zoom, sharp-eyed viewers will notice blur in the foreground. But honestly? Given the conditions, I’m still happy with the result.

Moonlike Landscapes and Endless Roads

After a mandatory stop in Las Vegas and a quick test of luck at the casino (no, I definitely didn’t win the jackpot 😅), we headed into sunny California. Our first stop was the moonlike landscape of Death Valley – a fascinating park that feels like another planet. No wonder scenes from Star Wars were filmed here.

Because of the nature of our trip, I couldn’t stay overnight to experience the legendary absolute darkness, but I still brought back a number of shots that make me very happy.

We started on the western side of the park at Zabriskie Point, overlooking salt flats, wrinkled badlands, and a massive mountain wall on the opposite side of the valley. We couldn’t skip Devil’s Golf Course (a place I’d hate to search for a lost golf ball), nor Badwater Basin – the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. And on top of all that, it was still 105°F (40°C) in the late afternoon.

After driving Artist Drive and stopping briefly at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, as shadows stretched longer and longer, we continued west, out of the park, along endless straight roads through the desert…

Spring, Golden Light, and California’s National Parks

As the trip slowly approached its end, we couldn’t skip the national parks of the Sierra Nevada. After more than a week among rocks and barren landscapes, the idea of walking through lush vegetation felt like a balm for the soul. And besides – missing the largest tree on Earth would be a real shame. The giant sequoias are truly impressive; it sends a chill down your spine when you realize that the oldest of them started growing at the end of the Bronze Age.

After Sequoia came Yosemite and its legendary valley, where on my second attempt I finally got to see massive waterfalls and a spring landscape freshly awakened from winter. Just like in Yellowstone, we were lucky – Glacier Point Road reopened after the winter closure only a few days before our arrival.

From a photography point of view, these parks were among the weaker parts of the trip — most of the time we were there during very harsh light.

Ironically, the best photos were taken while leaving the park toward the west, when golden sunlight flooded the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and I just kept shooting and shooting…

The Most Beautiful Bridge and Karl on Vacation

Karl likes me. At least, I think he does (and I knock on wood so I don’t jinx it). Never heard of Karl? As a friend of mine who lives in San Francisco explained, it’s the name locals gave to the fog that often rolls into the city. He’s so famous for his hiding skills that he even has his own Instagram 😅. And he absolutely loves blocking views of the Golden Gate Bridge – the most beautiful bridge in the world.

I’ve been lucky enough to visit the city twice, and both times I enjoyed fog-free sunsets over the bridge. Apparently, Karl decided to take some time off 😃.

On this trip, we did all the proper tourist things: rode the famous cable cars, drove up to Twin Peaks, visited the sea lions at Pier 39, and bought way too many souvenirs 😃. The end of the journey was getting closer…

Before the final dot on our West Coast adventure, we couldn’t miss Baker Beach and Battery Spencer, capturing that red steel beauty from every possible angle. (Damn, how I love that bridge!) And then… packing up, and off to the airport.

The Big Apple and Another Missed Photo Opportunity

To finish the trip, we squeezed in a stopover in New York, originally planned for the very beginning of the journey. On the first evening, I was pulling my hair out after leaving my camera gear in the hotel room and then standing at Brooklyn Bridge Park, watching dramatic evening skies over Manhattan’s skyline with nothing but my eyes.

From a final sunlit walk through Manhattan, I brought back plenty of snapshots for the family album – there was no time left for serious photography. After three weeks of traveling, accumulated exhaustion took over, along with the good feeling that the trip had turned out great.

Epilogue

Back home in the Posázaví region, I browse through the downloaded photos, and thoughts of the next journey slowly start creeping in. It’s been a year and a half since we returned, and life has been spinning at an unbelievable pace ever since. One thing is clear – next time, I’ll give myself more time for photography, even if it means seeing fewer places.

I’m drawn to the Pacific Northwest: the national parks of Washington State, Oregon’s Pacific coast, maybe even Canada and Vancouver Island. I’d also love to return to Wyoming – autumn there must be incredible.

Hopefully soon…