I've seen a lot of relatively unexplored country in my time as a biologist and wildland firefighter, but rarely did I ever have the time to go and back really get to know a place that I visited.
The exception to that is Yellowstone, where I used to spend between a few weeks to a month at the end of each summer. I was there when the infamous grizzly named Hercules buried an elk on the banks of the Yellowstone River, I've watched foxes play for hours, and there's not a wolf pack in the park I haven't watched. I've been there for the rut, I've been there for calving season, and I've travelled from Mammoth to the south entrance in the middle of the night and barely made it before they closed the gates.
I always stay in my truck and sometimes it's 70-degrees during the day and comfortable at night. Other times it's 17-degrees below zero and never breaks into the positive range. Even the worst of times could hardly be called suffering. The wildlife I've seen there is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Watching an elk calf run from wolves between Grand Prismatic and Biscuit Basin until it was so tired that its tongue was hanging out before momma stepped in and chased the wolves off was paradigm shifting. Catching 20-inch Yellowstone cutthroat in Soda Butte Creek, or chasing well-educated cutthroat in Slough Creek at the end of the season are some of the most peaceful days I've had on the water. My daughter decided she wanted to be a ranger after watching rangers chase tourons off rutting elk in Mammoth.
Yellowstone holds a ton of memories for me and has helped to shape my view of the natural world, but I've never stopped long enough to paint there. One day soon I expect that to change, but for now I'm content rifling through old images and videos for reference, but not for inspiration - for that I need no images on a phone or from a camera. Yellowstone lives freely in my heart as do the few other places where I have been fortunate enough to spend enough time to get to know the land and call it a friend.
