Kevin Palmer

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  • At the end of June I returned to one of my favorite places: Bighorn Canyon. Located on the Wyoming-Montana border, this vast canyon ranges from 1,000 - 2,500 feet deep. The remote location and dry desert air makes it a great place for stargazing. But capturing a canyon on a dark night can be a challenge. In pictures they only appear as a dark void, since very little light makes it's way down between the steep walls. But on this night I had the assistance of the crescent moon just out of frame to the right. The moonlight was bright enough to light up the cliffs, but not bright enough to drown out the Milky Way. This natural arch is set back against a steep hillside, which meant there was really only one spot to place my camera. After a hot day, I heard several rockslides echo from down below. And while walking back to my car, I met a baby rattlesnake who was not too happy I was there.
    Window to the Universe
  • The Bighorns contain quite a few deep canyons with towering cliffs like this one. I've driven past this canyon near Lovell before but had never stopped and explored it. I knew based on the name alone that there would be lots of color this time of year. Cottonwood trees grow next to creeks and rivers in otherwise dry areas, and turn a brilliant gold in the fall. They get their name from the cotton-like fibers that are shed in the spring. The fibers contain the seed which gets spread in the wind, and can look like snow at times. In the distance the Bighorn River can be seen, with another stripe of golden cottonwoods beyond.
    Cottonwood Canyon Colors
  • With a cold rain turning into accumulating hail, and lightning striking nearby it wasn't exactly the best weather for fishing. Park Reservoir, located at 8200' in the Bighorn Mountains was just barely reachable, with snow melting off of the rough road days earlier. But soon after arriving here, this storm started brewing before noon. I took shelter in my car to avoid the nearby bolts, but left my camera outside to shoot a time lapse. Lightning is not that difficult to capture at night, but during the day it's a lot harder. With the average bolt lasting for 30 microseconds, and using a shutter speed of 1/320 of a second, the chances of capturing lightning on camera were astronomically small. But after looking at the images later, I found that my camera had somehow captured a strike on the far left. The tree that was struck can even be seen going up in flames, but the rain put it out immediately.
    Striking A Tree
  • I've been to Bighorn Canyon many times, but never the northern part near Fort Smith. So I took advantage of the warm weather and paid it a visit. This area is well known for it's exceptional fishing, but there are no hiking trails. That meant I had to find my own overlook. Starting near the Okabeh Marina, I headed up a ridge, squeezed in between scratchy sagebrush, and descended to the edge of a cliff. Wind whipped across the water far below while the scattered clouds began to glow after sunset. Bighorn Lake stretches 71 miles from Montana into Wyoming and was created in 1968 after the completion of the Yellowtail Dam. As beautiful as it is now, I can't help wondering what the canyon looked like before it was flooded.
    Cliff's Edge View
  • There are no trails in this part of Bighorn Canyon, so I had to find my own overlook.
    Little Pine and Sagebrush