Yellowstone

Elks are not afraid of humans--at least not in the park.

I was told that a bull elk has many female partners. This claim is consistent with the elk herds that I have seen in the park.

Bison are known to have killed obnoxious tourists. I have been in close proximity to several bison and still live to tell the story. Maybe I am not obnoxious enough as a tourist.

It is my first time seeing an American bald eagle in the wild.

It is also my first time running into a bear in the wild. Luckily the bear was more interested in the wild berries than the meaty tourists.

Is it a pronghorn or a mule deer? I am such a city snicker.

Wild goats also want to share the spot light.

I wanted to study every leaf and every rock. But the immensity of nature's beauty had overwhelmed my senses.

Fall colors in Yellowstone is not so shabby.

Beauty and peace are amalgamated into a unified sense of esthetic pleasure.

Beauty is not a necessity for basic survival but a luxury that pleases our senses. Nature does not require beauty to function. Is beauty an indirect proof of the existence of God?

Following the same line of reasoning, here may be another example of an indirect proof of the existence of God.

Gibbon River near Norris Geyer Basin. There are many creeks and rivers like this in Yellowstone.

Norris Geyser Basin is full of many small but spectacular geysers.

Hot springs are everywhere. This one is the biggest and deepest.

The different colors of a hot spring come from the thermophiles (heat loving micro organisms) and minerals. Alternatively I can just say that God makes everything beautiful.

Old Faithful is the favorite and most spectacular geyser in Yellowstone. The water can shoot up to more than ten floors high.

Wild flowers blooming on the hillside are just amazing.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone can be a cure for acrophobia and atheism.

There is magic in being one with nature. Wyoming has the motto of "being committed to the land." Even though I was in Yellowstone for only a few days, I did feel bonded to the land.