I had spent the afternoon looking for the elusive Great Gray Owl in Grand Teton National Park.

It was late fall, a few weeks after the aspen foliage had disappeared and the first snow was on the ground.  

Hours of driving and, eventually, hiking around in the aspen forests yielded zero owls. Another day of no decent wildlife image made. Even in an amazing place like the Tetons in Wyoming, more often than not, wild animals are absent. Or, what happens more frequently perhaps, I don't find them in a situation that is very photogenic.

You may get all excited when you finally spot a moose, only to find out that he or she is moving away from the road at a rapid pace. Sometimes the animals seem to take a cruel pleasure into just showing you their butt. Patience is not always enough; some days things just don't come together.

On this particular day, I hiked until the sun disappeared behind the Tetons. As I was heading out of the park towards my campsite in the National Forest, the cloud cover broke ever so slightly.

A few minutes later, relaxed and driving with good background music on (I believe I had a CD of Willy Nelson on), I looked at the sky. I couldn't believe my eyes.

A great sunset for me has clouds. If you're lucky and the cloud cover doesn't stretch to the horizon, the sun illuminates the clouds from the underneath and turn them all orangy. (not sure if that's a word ... but moving on)

The sun had broken through the clouds behind the tetons and shafts of light appeared around Mount Moran.  I couldn't believe my eyes!

I turned the car around and drove to one of the scenic vistas in the park: Oxbow Bend. Usually lots of people are there to photograph the amazing views; this time, perhaps caused by how late it was in the season, I was all alone. I snapped a few pictures with my high megapixel camera.

All the warm colors in the shafts of lights and the reflections onto the water at Oxbow Bend: it was one of the most amazing sunsets I ever witnessed in the Tetons!