The Blue Tetons

I was set up and waiting by the Snake river before the sun peaked above the horizon. I had been dreaming of making a photograph with a wonderful reflection of the Grand Teton Range in the blue pre-dawn light.  I was ecstatic to have found this perfect location with the water in this pond in the Snake River created by beavers as smooth as a mirror: perfect!  Then, to my left I saw the ripples of two beavers swimming up the river toward the pond leaving contortions on the water's surface that would ruin the scene if they scaled the dam they built to create the pond. It was fascinating to watch but heartbreaking to see them scale the dam and make their way up the river, breaking the surface of the water along the way.  Luckily, the pond settled back to the mirror condition you see here just before sunrise.  What good fortune.