THIRD PLACE Scanning for wolves Yellowstone National Park Joanie Christian Colville, Washington Nikon D610: 1/640 sec, f/8, ISO 560 M y husband and I travel to many places to view wildlife and scenery. Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park are among our favorite destinations, and we travel there from Washington state once or twice a year. We have looked for wolves at various locations during our trips, but haven't been successful at seeing one at close range. On this particular day we parked, camped out in chairs and scanned the Hayden Valley where a pack had been spotted in the evenings. We spotted a wolf shortly after this image was taken. As we watched both sides of the road a lone wolf came down the hillside to the edge of the river and ran a perimeter along the shore. We were able to watch it for 5-10 minutes. It was a thrilling thing to see a wolf in its natural habitat. I got some decent images of the wolf, but my favorite image was of my husband scanning the valley for wolves with the green, rolling hills against the backdrop with storm clouds brewing. Wyoming Wildlife | 41