A visit from former President Donald Trump and a high-profile political take-down. Floods, and elsewhere, drought. Wyoming’s frozen landscapes, intrepid rail lines, spectacular skies and many animals. 

In 2022, WyoFile’s photographers captured political passions and intra-party divisions, the state’s idiosyncratic characters, its natural wonders and the players behind the biggest headlines. Here, in no specific order, are our photographs of the year.

Strands of a spider web hanging off a buck and pole fence near Clark look more like a string of jewels as they sparkle with hoarfrost. (Kathy Lichtendahl)

WyoFile readers submitted a host of frigid-feeling photos to our Cold Snap challenge. Their images captured the cold blues and pink hues of a Wyoming winter, the hardy animals enduring frigid temperatures and people venturing out on the landscape. 

Dorrene Brown Butterfield takes photos from her deck south of Alpine for her blog. In late November, she captured this great gray owl, which hung out in her yard for two days. (Dorrene Brown Butterfield/theviewfromourdeck.blogspot.com/)

Some even sent us archival shots.

The early morning sun catches on hoarfrost crystals in Shirley Basin in 2006. (Bob Luce)

WyoFile sent a team to cover the legislative session in Cheyenne. Reporters couldn’t help but notice sartorial flares among the Capitol halls.

Rep. Karlee Provenza

As her spat with former President Donald Trump grew more public, the eyes of the nation turned to Wyoming’s incumbent U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney. 

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney speaks at an event in Jackson on March 22, 2022. (Angus M. Thuermer, Jr./WyoFile)

Attention also turned to Cheney’s challenger, Cheyenne attorney Harriet Hageman, whom Trump endorsed.

Harriet Hageman meets a voter at a rally in Jackson. (Angus M. Thuermer, Jr./WyoFile)

Trump himself paid a visit to Wyoming for a rally that drew thousands of state residents.

An attendee of the Save America Rally snaps a selfie with a kiddo on his shoulders on May 28, 2022 in Casper. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

Those in the political spotlight weren’t the only ones to draw WyoFile’s attention. We shared stories of reclusive potters, young voters, musicians, conservationists, storied citizens and artisans reviving old crafts. 

Byron Seeley gazes out the window of his haphazard pottery shop in Jeffrey City. (Sofia Jeremias/WyoFile)
Kelby Eisenman, 17, grabbing coffee in downtown Casper. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)
Jay Halford, owner of Backcountry Cobblers in Lander, operates an industrial-strength sewing machine in October 2022. (Katie Klingsporn/WyoFile)
Camille Montoya and Samantha Sanders spread information about safe drug use, do community outreach and put together kits for those who use drugs in their community. (Sofia Jeremias/WyoFile)
Luke Bell in Meeteetse during the making of the music video for “Where Ya Been?” The Wyoming musician died in August 2022. (Mike Vanata)

Four hunters, a checkerboard pattern of ownership and a heated debate over what constitutes trespass were the makings of one of WyoFile’s top 2022 stories. Reporter Angus M. Thuermer, Jr. diligently followed the still unfolding issue through the courts, including a jury trial in Rawlins.

Carbon County Circuit Court Judge Susan Stipe confers with a clerk while 58 members of a jury pool were excused from a temporary courtroom where they were being questioned for bias during the jury selection process in April 2022. (Angus M. Thuermer, Jr./ WyoFile)

Historic floods in June devastated major regions of Yellowstone National Park and its gateway communities, sweeping away road sections, obliterating bridges and choking waterways. The park closed for nearly two weeks as a result, and visitation decreased over 2021.

Gardner River floodwaters have obliterated many stretches of the Yellowstone National Park’s North Entrance Road, which runs from Gardiner, Montana to Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming (National Park Service/Kyle Stone)

On the other end of the water spectrum, the shoreline of Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Wyoming-Utah border steadily receded over the summer as the Bureau of Reclamation opened the floodgates to help maintain critical water levels 500 miles away at Lake Powell.

Buckboard Marina owner Tony Valdez stands next to a stake that indicates the extent of lowering water levels at Flaming Gorge Reservoir Sept. 26, 2022. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)

As a locomotive engineer for more than a quarter-century, Alan Nash has spent countless hours traveling the vast landscapes of Wyoming, rail and firmament unfurling before him. The hobby photographer, who has a keen eye for shooting, shared some of his best with WyoFile.

A coal train rounds a bend as a cumulonimbus cloud turns orange on the horizon. (Alan Nash/@alannash59)
A graffiti-covered boxcar rests on the rails. (Alan Nash/@alannash59)
Rail lines extend into the horizon. (Alan Nash/@alannash59)

His were only a few of the shots capturing the wildly varying landforms and features of the state. 

Early snow dusts Mount Moran on Sept. 23, 2022, seen here from Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park, following a fall storm. (Timothy C. Mayo)
Yufna Soldier Wolf and Big Wind Carpenter with the Wyoming Outdoor Council and Amanda Castañeda with the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office hike on the Killpecker Sand Dunes in the Red Desert in October 2022. Boar’s Tusk is visible in the distance. (Katie Klingsporn/WyoFile)

Finally, be it bears, birds or bison, Wyoming wildlife proved robust, often elegant and always entertaining.

A black bear cub peeks from behind splintered wood in Yellowstone National Park in June 2022. The adult sow was bedded underneath an aspen while her two cubs played on this nearby downed tree. This cub appeared to be eating beetle grubs. (Justin Binfet/Wyoming Game and Fish)
Wildlife biologist Mike Lockhart admires a golden eagle after trapping, sampling and fitting the raptor with a GPS device in June 2022. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)
A bull elk hunkers down amid snow near the Gros Ventre River in Grand Teton National Park. (Timothy C. Mayo)
Griz shaking After swimming across the Snake River, one of bear 399’s subadult offspring shakes off excess water on May 3, 2022. (Mark Gocke/Courtesy)

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