28 BELOW

Words By Blake

Once roaming the continent in vast herds with numbers far into the millions, the American bison was culled off to just 541 animals by the end of the 19th century. Over the last hundred years great efforts have brought their numbers now to over 30,000 and they once again roam free in several large regions of the continent. In my search for an image that defines the bison, one of the most iconic animals in the West, I knew there was no better place to look than in Yellowstone National Park during the harshest days of winter. During these winter days the great valleys known by casual tourists and wildlife watchers alike turn into white-out deserts, seemingly devoid of life. Instead we would head into the area with the largest concentration of geothermal features in the world, the Upper Geyser Basin. On the coldest of nights the bison are known to adopt a spectacular and rare behavior, taking refuge in the warm mist of the parks most famous thermal springs. With great luck and persistence, one can find them enveloped in the drama of the steam or blanketed in a thick frost. Access here is touch, requiring special transport via a vehicle capable of driving over the snow to allow us to travel deep into the otherwise inaccessible interior of Yellowstone. On the coldest day of the year we left long before the sun came up, traveling the distance in the dark and nearly unable to see out of the fogged windows. We arrived in the basin, splitting up and quickly searching the thermal areas before sunrise when I new my chances would be over knowing that the warm rays of the sun could melt any frost on a bison in just a few minutes. My team and I had nearly given up, though just as the sun was peaking over the forest I found this incredibly large bull bison taking refuge in the warm steam of a large thermal spring. He stood up and stared me down, even taking a few steps toward me before turning off into the forest. I clicked the shutter and immediately knew I had something very special and had just achieved exactly what we had come for. Among my team of two great friends Jeramey Hutchinson and Kate Oschman, we joyfully cheered and laughed that now we just needed a name for the image! In that moment Kate responded that the temperature was currently 28 below and as soon as she said it we all knew that would be the name.