Pine Creek, Wyoming

Pine Creek, Wyoming, is one of my favorite locations for winter photography.  Linda and I went there with our neighbors, Connie and Larry Hymas, today to see what our frigid weather had created. We had a good lunch at Blondie's in Cokeville then headed for the creek.

Pine Creek is in a deep canyon that gets very little sun during the winter.  The sunlight in this photo was striking high on the canyon wall and reflecting in the creek.

Deep in the canyon, the light shifts toward blue, so sometimes photos are much more pleasant in black and white.  Droplets of water splash onto rocks and freeze quickly, then more droplets add to the ice until fantastic, delicate formations are created.  Some of these formations hang over the waterfalls that created them.

The moving water of the creek brushes against snow covered branches and creates ice plates that spread over the water's surface.  All of these delicate ice formations disappear very quickly when there is a day or two with temperatures above freezing.

There are a lot of small cascades along the creek, and this is the largest waterfall with a drop of about ten feet.

When a big tree falls across the creek, the tangle of snow covered limbs tells an interesting nature story.

A frosted tree and a waterfall make a nice winter scene.  Just a little wind would destroy this delicate frost.

To take these photos, I used a tripod and set the ISO to 100, which is as low as it will go on my camera. This allowed me to use slow shutter speeds to blur the moving water in the creeks and waterfalls.  It was very cold, so I kept an extra battery in an inside pocket.  High boots were needed to climb down banks and through deep snow. I have trouble using gloves with camera controls, so I had to stop to warm my hands frequently.

We had a great time with Connie and Larry, who are active members of our camera club.  I can't wait to see their photos.