Bumpus Butte, Yellowstone National Park

Bumpus Butte, Yellowstone National Park
16" X 8", oil on canvas on panel
Copyright: Laura Marie Anderson 2009

First painted in August and then revisited on September 2nd, I spent the night in Yellowstone waiting for the sun to rise. In the morning, I made the climb up the hill. The trail is very steep to begin with, but levels out and the view from the top is spectacular. About a mile on the trail and I was almost stopped by the blue mountains to the North. One ridge after another, fading off into the distance. I will paint here again one day. I found my perch, high above the river on an outcropping. This kind of painting reminds me of Thomas Moran, in the day before there were so many signs and fences. "Don't walk here. Don't step there." Barriers, barriers and more barriers. Off the beaten path in Yellowstone is the way to go.

Painting across and passed Calcite Springs, looking back down the canyon, the morning sun steadily climbs its way up the canyon wall. About mid-morning a hiker came and stood on the grassy null above the basalt columns on the right side of my painting. I couldn't resist putting him in. The scale he adds to this Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is wonderful.