Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Landscape Photography Locations => Topic started by: John Hollenberg on June 12, 2016, 01:45:17 pm
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I will be returning to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons in a few months for my second visit, flying into Jackson Hole. My two choices this year are Sept 16-23 or Sept 23-30. For those who live there or have been there many times, which week would you select in hopes of best Fall Color. I know it can vary widely, but assume that one of those weeks has a higher percentage chance of hitting peak color than the other. Which week would you pick this far in advance?
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you could look at the weather history for date of first good freeze and count days from then. i don't know what temperature triggers the change for foliage up there, but here anything around 28-30 will cause the color to start changing in a couple weeks.
www.wunderground.com is a good source.
https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KJAC/2015/9/8/WeeklyHistory.html?req_city=Grand%20Teton%20Natl%20Park&req_state=WY&req_statename=&reqdb.zip=83001&reqdb.magic=1&reqdb.wmo=99999
First light freeze looks like week of July 26 last year and first at 28 F week of Sept 6th..
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I recommend calling the park rangers for info. I visited in late September a couple of years ago and they were already closing some roads for construction and there were controlled forest burns in Grand Teton, which interfered with the views. They were trying to squeeze in maintenance between the summer crowds and the first snows.
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As alluded to above, the smoke from forest fires may be your biggest worry. They have been impacting that area for the last few years more or less regularly during late summer and early fall. As for fall color, either of the weeks you mentioned are reasonable bets--it comes a bit earlier in Yellowstone, which is higher. Do take note that some Yellowstone Park campgrounds and lodging close down at the end of September, and some services get sparse/limited a little before that as the summer hired help starts exiting the area.
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In 2014, i did both from Sep 19 thru 26th. u can checkout my images at https://www.flickr.com/photos/muralin/albums/72157647725414140