Autumn Passage

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to have more than a hundred bison suddenly appear outside your campsite?

We were spending the night in the northern reaches of Yellowstone, surrounded by the colors of fall, when a massive herd began coming over the ridge near our campground. There had been no plan to photograph a wildlife spectacle that evening. We were simply at camp when suddenly the landscape around us began to move.

I remember looking at my dad and saying, "Let's go down, they're crossing!" We made our way toward the river as more and more bison arrived. One after another, they entered the water and crossed to the other side, part of a herd more than a hundred strong.

This photograph isolates just one bison in the river, surrounded by the colors of autumn, but behind that single frame was something enormous. More than a hundred animals were moving together across the landscape, right beside the place where we happened to be spending the night.

Of all the wildlife experiences my dad and I have shared, this remains one of the most unexpected and unforgettable. Sometimes the moments you remember most aren't the ones you go looking for. Sometimes they come over the ridge and find you.