Yellowstone Lake photo possibilities?

[Henry Ambrose]

I'm going to be in Yellowstone National Park in about a week. One day I have a chance to be on Yellowstone Lake in a fast boat. Is anyone familiar with what is accessible from the water? What areas should I be sure to visit for photos?

[Kerey]

Hmmm. The Lake is huge and largely surrounded by burned lodgepole forest, which can make things challenging. I hiked around it last year (well, at least the un-roaded portion ;), from the E entrance road to Lewis Lake, and struggled to find interesting subjects. But I'm learning! The Terrace Pt. area is nice, as meadows drop fairly quickly to the lakeshore in that area (just north of the inlet in the SE Arm). And the Thorofare (Yellowstone River above the lake) is a beautiful hiking area, particularly if you can avoid the lengthy hike from the road. I've not explored the lake from a boat, so I can't comment on the SW portions of the shore. Some of the offshore islands (Stevenson, Dot, Frank) and rocky points are probably worth checking out. There's something called Pelican Roost just off Steamboat Pt. (east of Fishing Bridge) which sounds promising. The sunrises over the Absarokas can be spectacular depending on the weather conditions, so that's something to keep your eye on.

From the road, the shoreside thermal areas at Grant, Fishing Cone (near Grant), and possibly Gull Pt. (near Bridge Bay) are all worth attempting too, either early in the day or late. I've been hoping to get down along the western shore before the ice breaks up in late spring, as the sunrises across the water and ice sheets can really be something. And of course, who knows what lurks in some of the rarely-visited bays and arms between Grant and the South Arm. Maybe the find of the year!

Good luck and have fun! I hope to be over in the Geyser Basins (Madison > Old Faithful) next week at some point with my camera myself... maybe we'll cross paths!

Kerey