WINTER IN YELLOWSTONE

FEBRUARY 2018

                I’ve known about the yurt camp at Yellowstone for several years, aimed at cross country skiing and snow shoeing.  Park roads are not open to the public during the winter.  Numerous tour companies operate outside of the park taking people in for day trips and only two of the Park hotels are open.  The Park operates its own shuttles for guests.  The yurt camp has contracted to operate in the Park for 35 years and is the only other form of lodging.

                This was the year for me.  It took months of planning as I have no equipment and the gear list is quite extensive.  Good friends that are knowledgeable came to my rescue and loaned me nearly everything I needed.  (Thanks Laura, Jane D, Jane S., Pam and Eli).   It was suggested I come end of February when the days are a tad longer and weather milder (huh!).  Bozeman temps were showing around 10° for weeks and that is what we planned for.

                So, if not a skier, why go?  The big animals that survive the winter are something to behold.  Watch the “Great Yellowstone Thaw” on Netflix, produced by BBC, while you stay warm indoors.  Gil shuddered at the thought of a snow trip and my sister-in-law Darlene jumped in to go with me instead.

From Lihue to Seattle (to visit nieces and play with their dogs), to Bozeman (to visit an old friend and play with her dogs).  Met up with Darlene and took the shuttle to Mammoth Hot Springs.  The idea was to get acclimated to both altitude and cold.  SNOW, SNOW, SNOW.  I grew up in Denver but snow melts quickly there.

Ripley – Seattle  Not really a BIG animal but its a start

Bozeman airport

The one and only Elinor Pulcini

IN SEARCH OF MOUNTAINS AND BIG ANIMALS

BOZEMAN TO GARDINER AND INTO PARK

                A medium sized bus took us from Bozeman into the Park (white arrow on map). It is gorgeous country and I was mesmerized by the snowy mountains.  This was not a tour bus but just transportation.  Funny, transportation turned out to be a huge feature of the entire trip.  There was a bison herd milling around the edges of the town of Gardiner, the north gate of the Park, but it was another world once the buildings were gone.

Darlene, the adventure begins

An elk herd, one I didn’t expect to see until the end of the trip.  They move to lower elevations during the heavy winter

A ferocious wind at park entry, UH OH!

                Yellowstone is, of course, known for being a volcanic region of massive proportions with extraordinary geothermal features.  Much of the magic of the winter is that among all of that pristine white, warm to boiling water elements are readily seen.

Bison crossing, we followed the steaming Gardiner River  for miles

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE AND LAMAR VALLEY

                Longer days were not long and the light was getting low when we got checked in at Mammoth Hotel.  Our first shock was walking over to the lower terraces that are a phenomenon anytime – to find only a small bit exposed – the rest buried under snow.  My fingers did not work, my camera didn’t seem to work – it was all we could do to get back to our room.   It was 15° below zero. 

Sunset pink, frozen fingers and phone

                We set our alarms for our early excursion to Lamar Valley next day – the valley where the most animals are spotted.  The 7am ride out to the Valley was a wonder of mountains, snow, trees and bison.  The haze is due to geothermal activity; warm water, cold air, (pink arrow on map).

The bison were ever fascinating.  We had both distant and up close and personal glimpses every day over the next week but kept in mind these were never the same animals, but many, many different ones.  Individuals with similar physiques and habits.  The untouched (by humans) landscape would often display trails made by four legged creatures. 

This was called The Wake up Tour for good reason, these guys are still down

And these guys just waking from snow bed (ruffled snow foreground)

Our first Bald Eagle

Lamar Valley - surreal

A timely stop, nice of someone who used a shovel on our behalf

Back on the bus

Not the first time I would say, this is what I came here for

Different guy, what a beaut

Coyotes napping – where they have a good view.  See arrow.

Mating season had begun or they would not have been in a group, there are actually four here.  If I had had doubts about my camera, this close up quenched them

                A number of other animals seen at one location in the distance: three moose, a bighorn sheep and a bull elk.  It was too cold to fool around outside much, I had to use a chemical hand warmer to get feeling back into my fingers.  We later learned it was 37 below zero out in Lamar Valley – a notorious spot for harnessing the cold. 

Back at Mammoth, Darlene and I both got books by the winter keeper of Yellowstone, Jeff Henry.  We decided to mail them home (I also sent some clothes back so I could shut my suitcase without sitting on it).  We had a roomy room but the toilet and shower were down the hall.  That will all change this year as renovations will make all rooms ensuite.  We finally got the heater regulated so that we were warm enough the second night.  The restaurant has a great menu considering everything is trucked in from Bozeman.

View through the ice on the inside of the window in our room

Hotel built 1937

Post Office.  I liked the chubby bears standing guard

PASSAGE TO OLD FAITHFUL

                We took the early shuttle south, from Mammoth to Old Faithful, to stay in a cabin at Snow Lodge. (blue arrow on map).

Darlene ready to continue the adventure.

               

The four hour trip was again through the winter wonderland – albeit in a warmer bus.  Bison still the prevalent animal, the birds were a treat – eagles and trumpeter swans.

Rhyolite – the yellow volcanic stone that makes it “Yellowstone”

Winter wonderland

Geothermal activity below

Some more guys waking up.  The local wisdom is that it easier for them to get to the grass where the water and soil are warm, however, the silica laden plant material wears their teeth down and they die younger.

Bald Eagle

Golden Eagle

Another Bald Eagle  (these were miles apart, mind you)

Trumpeter Swans - looks like an adult and a cygnet sleeping

                Warm water streambeds draw critters as they host life, so we scrutinized the edges for activity. 

Steamy bison

Bison and a coyote

We watched him/her cross the road and jump down to the river's edge on the other side

Elk cow

Trumpeter

Bison and river, constants throughout the park

                While the Park shuttle between Mammoth and Snow Lodge was not a tour bus and we didn’t stop for animals unless they were in the road, we did stop to see Beryl Spring and Gibbon Falls in route.

Vehicles waiting for bison in road, frequent and A-OK

Beryl Spring

                The magic of the steam was its effect on the snow and ice.  The surrounding trees are called ghost trees and we would see this again at Norris, but so hard to describe. 

Ghost trees

Ice collage – formations on the posts around the feature

I'll freely admit it, I was fascinated by the ice.  It looked like some sort of fantasy fabric.

True flocking                

We also trekked the rim to see the falls – quite gorgeous, though I lost one of my Italian fleece gloves handling cameras at one of the stops.  Shoots.

Gibbon Falls

There was considerable traffic at Madison Junction, where north/south and east/west roads cross.  After the solitude, we were not ready for how many tours come into the park, either bringing skiers to the hotels, or day trippers, or guided groups of snowmobiles (at least the Park requires 4 cycle machines that are quieter).  There is quite an etiquette among drivers sharing the fairly narrow plowed roads.

Passing buses

Snowmobile tours are limited to ten, but several groups are out and about at the same time and everyone stops at Madison Junction for warm flush toilets, warm hand wash, and maybe a hot chocolate, coffee, or a microwave burrito.

 SNOW LODGE AT OLD FAITHFUL

                At last we reached the Snow Lodge Hotel and got directions to our cabin a good walk away.  The charming Old Faithful Inn is not open during the winter and likewise, Snow Lodge only operates during the winter.  We had the choice of pulling our luggage on a sled or having it delivered.  Darlene opted to have them delivered.

Cabin 716

The bellman who delivered our bags was Bonnie

                I went for a walk, the boardwalk not visible except where it has rails; I had a couple dead ends and turnabouts. After a late lunch we chilled out in our cabin and did some light laundry.  I hoped for sunset or sunrise at the geyser; no sunset, just snow.

Firehole River

Ice just above warm water

Firehole River (the dark horizontal line 1/3 down is a bison herd)

One of the bubblers or geysers, couldn't really tell where I was

Road to nowhere

I nearly reached the herd 

So glad I had cleats (ice trackers) on my boots

Old Faithful erupting (seen from the side)

Next morning at dawn I went to check out the early light and found pink snow in every direction.

Snow Lodge

                The bison herd had moved in toward the closed Old Faithful Inn – the boardwalk passed within feet of them.  When I first saw them, they were still down – just waking up.  Then, one by one, they got up and walked slowly, but purposefully, away.

Sleepy guys 

What a handsome young bull

Darlene waited patiently for me while Old Faithful went off behind her.  She didn’t quite trust the big guys.

Before going in for breakfast, we watched two Park workers use a steel cable to slice away the snow on the roof of the gift shop .

                Packed and out of our cabin we waited for the old girl to erupt once more from the visitor center.  At about the predicted time she had many false starts and some of the very few spectators left.  A ranger said when it does that – it will go really high.  She knew her stuff.

Visitor center, nice and warm, nice displays, nice bathroom

The tallest eruption of 2018 so far!  Little hard to distinguish water from steam in photo

VEHICLES

                So while we waited for our ride to the yurt camp, we took serious note of the variety of vehicles used in the winter.

Tourist delivery

Food delivery

Not so sure?

Sleds to pull luggage to cabins, skis to get around

Snowmobiles to get around faster (but exposed?!)  Like Darlene said, a quick ride might be fun but some of these people are out for days!

TO YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITIONS CAMP

Finally heading to the yurt camp, we felt acclimated to both cold and altitude. 

(yellow squiggle on map, N/NE)

We were surprised to have my pal Erica pick us up herself.  This snow coach is named Hayden and we would get to know it well over the next 5 days. 

She brought us lunch and we stopped at scenic Biscuit Basin to eat, then on to Lower Geyser Basin for a walkabout.

 

Erica gave us a running talk on geological/historical phenomena in the Park directly related to what we saw.  Her being a ranger there for 30+ years kicked in and her knowledge bubbled out.  Yellowstone is a truly dynamic place with molten lava pushing up like a balloon that steams, boils, shoots, and moves.  All of these features change constantly with internal earthquakes and external fires and seasonal extremes; it is earth alive. I loved having Erica and Darlene meet - my kindred spirits.

                Small tracks in the snow seemed like a fox but when I zoomed it up, it was another coyote, that little trickster.

He definitely found a warm spot - new meaning to comfort zone

The most simple things can be so gorgeous

Another swan

NORRIS BASIN 

                Near Madison Junction, we switched drivers as Erica had to get back to home base.  We met Ben, a camp guide.  He stopped at Norris, one of the highlights of the trip for me.  We walked through the little open structure and then went down, down, down into fairy land.  The three of us were the only people there.

Looking back up at the “museum”

The basin

Ben & Darlene and the ghost trees

More ghosts

The boardwalk at right, but not today

FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE GRAND CANYON OF THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER

                One more stop before camp, the famous Yellowstone lower falls in failing light.  Here we met up with some of the folks that had arrived earlier to the camp.

The rim walk, not even sure I was picking up color – the cameras were really fussy in the cold

The magnificent Lower Falls 

308’ cascade of water – some frozen but some thundering down

CAMP

                Assigned Yurtlet 2, we took a quick look around before heading to the “head” (pit toilets in a relatively heated building) and to the dining yurt for dinner.  While each space had heaters, we didn’t linger without heavy clothes.

Home sweet Home

The dining yurt
If Christmas lights are on, the generator is running and we can charge devices (every other night)

A morning read with coffee.  The second mug is for brushing my teeth.  Odd to have my swimsuit hanging but there was rumor of a sauna.  Everything on the shelf is frozen.

SNOWSHOE DAY ONE

     A very quick lesson on technique, “just walk a little wider than you usually do.”  Wow.

We were driven to a designated spot and took off over unbroken snow.  The front person was the trail breaker and we all followed in the same track to maintain the immaculate surface as much as possible.

Wisconsin Tom sent me this captured moment 
(dressed in borrowed and appreciated snow duds)

            The group of nine sorted itself early into groups.  I was in the front group but kept stopping for pictures so there was a group of four that moved ahead and another group of stragglers behind and I had the quiet to myself much of the way.  The clothes themselves and the poles and shoes are squeaky, less noise was better for me just to soak in the scenery.  (This is another of Tom's contributions as he dawdled at the back for to catch the scope of the landscape.)

I was surprised to notice that down in the holes from the ski poles, the snow was blue.

Gorgeous day, the shadows so distinct they become another entity separate from their source

I crossed the tails of my shoes and fell forward once and was able to get back up on my own. It took a lot of focus on the feet.  When that didn't work, someone had a steady hand to help get untangled. Much aloha among the group.

Geothermal steam visible, we were following the contour of the hill at left to reach the steamy spot for our picnic.  I was flying solo again, just the pace that worked.

               We had made our lunches just after breakfast, I had turkey on marbled rye with mustard and horseradish, carrots, peppers and tomato slices on the side, chocolate, and hot tea (well only warm now).  

                My phone (camera) had quit in the first ten minutes.  Too bad, not only easier to grab, it is better for close shots.  By the time we stopped I only saw ice crystals through the viewfinder on my regular camera; this was with having it under my coat next to my body.  I put them both into a zip lock with an activated hand warmer and hoped for the best.  After eating, we went on to check out the thermal features before heading back.  It was only four miles total, it felt good, I was never cold just worried about my cams.  

That dot toward the right is a person.

                On the return we followed a river known for its wildlife.  The camp had hosted Planet Earth III crews while they did otter studies.  Can’t wait to see it.  They all knew this little ham.

What a show off

                One more stop before camp, we went to Artist Point on the other side of the canyon to see the lower falls from the angle the famous painting was done from. 

Crossing back over the Yellowstone River, we jumped out to see it from the bridge.  Oh, yeah, we stopped for gas, too.

Yellowstone River

SNOWSHOE DAY TWO

                My group headed straight out from camp to hike (do you say hike in snowshoes?) to Cascade Lake.  This was a hike I remembered well from autumn five years ago.  Not sure why it was so vivid but I remembered osprey, red tail hawks, a single bison, and a burnt log in the forest edge that looked like a bear.  What a difference with the snow covering everything and the birds having found fairer weather somewhere. Our sun was gone and it never stopped snowing. This was not a place to stop and fool with the camera too much, so pics were few and far between.

The trees provided some wind protection.  We crossed the warm little stream on a “snow bridge,” which means trust.

The layering of snowfall was just fascinating, not sure it can really be captured

Crossing the meadow was wicked.  I had polarized glasses for the snow glare and a face mask with holes for breath to escape.  Anything you breathe through gets really soggy. With the mask, the glasses fog up.  Choose: deep breathe icy air or protect your eyes.  

Our single bison, we crossed his path a couple times

This is why I was here, seeing him in his element

Another shot I have of him clearly shows his ribs - they lose about 1/3 of their weight in the winter (that is 500 lbs for a 1500 pound big boy)

                We stopped for lunch out of the wind and Ben made us a snow picnic table.  It didn’t quite work.  Not wanting to take the gear off and put it back on, I put my feet up on the table and leaned back to eat.

Ben “Ledge”

Tom and Judy from Wisconsin 

The return trip.  It was probably only three miles total but we were happy to get back into a space that wasn’t blowing snow! 

These are where the guides and cook live all winter.  Far, far right there is a little yurtlet that says sauna.  I considered it but couldn’t reconcile getting undressed for it.

SNOWSHOE DAY THREE

     We packed 90%, pulled our sheets, had breakfast, and had moments of nostalgia. I didn’t catch everyone, notably Connie the outrageous cook is missing from pics.  I mentioned the great lunch but dinners were: really good chicken curry with a potato daal and naan, plus an excellent salad; pasta with either alfredo or putanesca and salmon filet, and another great salad; grilled steak or chicken with a caper sauce (yes Ledge stood outside and cooked), mashed potatoes, and stir fried mushrooms.  We had to battle the elements during the day to justify the great food at night.

Guide crew in the kitchen yurt: L-R  Ben “Ledge”, Elijah, Michelle, Ben “Cheetah” 

Chief cook Connie is missing here.  

               These guides' resumes consist of doing the entire Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Pacific Crest Trail.  That is a combined total of more than 8000 miles of hiking. When the camp closes in March they take a couple months off and then do guiding in Alaska – hiking, fishing, and kayaking.  They are hardy souls that deny doing rock/paper/scissors every morning to see who got stuck with the old timers (us).

Cheetah’s mom and aunt - both skiers

The other skiers: Steve, Peter, Jeff, Jim, a few more missing

Finally we headed out for a short hike/snowshoe to the upper falls in the canyon.  This was only 1.5 miles round trip.

Along the rim at the upper falls 

Looking down into the canyon, "mind the gap" as they say on the British metro

This would be steep even if it was dirt, up and then back down, by now I had the snowshoe technique for hills, success!

Here it comes, innocently rolling along

BAM!  109' drop

                We had a nice surprise since not everyone had seen the lower falls from Artist Point we got to see that view one more time.

WOW!  you know it is not entirely frozen because of all the mist the drop is causing.  This  one is 308' down

Ciao Canyon!  We love you

                Packing complete, bags in the back we headed on to make the east to west journey from Canyon to West Yellowstone, outside the Park.  (green arrow on top map)

Aloha camp

                After passing by Gibbon Falls and Beryl Spring once more and going through Madison Junction for the third time, we started following the Madison River.  We pulled into a turnout knowing it was soon goodbye to the Park.  

Madison River

The driver didn’t notice when the leader of the pack from the left side of the river decided to move and one by one, the others followed her toward us. 

Up the hill to the road, she is so cool - a female with small horns (sometimes they curl or are asymmetrical)

There was a funny moment of panic as Michelle tried to round up the humans.  The bison so did not care that we were there – they just knew it was time for them to move.  Us too.

Canada geese

Our swan song

WEST YELLOWSTONE: POP 1400

A Tale of Two Girls and Three Bears

                So we were dropped at the Stage Coach Inn and I was so happy to see a laundry room.   After a hot shower I felt nearly urban in this small Montana town.  Surrounded with mountains, it has unusually bad weather and more than its share of storms.  We were scheduled next day for the last leg of our trip, south to the Tetons and elk reserve in Jackson Hole.  At breakfast that scenario went away as all roads going south were closed and the storm was not letting up any time soon.  We spent the next 4 hours rerouting our bus out and flights home from Bozeman instead of Salt Lake City. 

I figured this wolf would be the only one we would see.

                Erica met us for a late lunch that was surprisingly good (stuffed Portobello on arugula). Then she took us to the Grizzly/Wolf Discovery Center.  We never expected to see bears (they are hibernating in the Park) but had hoped to see one of several wolf packs while at camp – nada.  Now was our chance.

                 

Hard to tell where to walk or drive in this much snow.  That was the first discovery.

We got there just before closing so we just got a glimpse of feeding time for both the wolves and the bears.  The ravens were largely anticipating the event.  The bear food was hidden, the ravens knew where.

                 So I'm not sure what the story was with the two wolves but they were splendid to watch.  The one on the hill had no trouble stashing its food but the other one ran in circles, up and down hills, around trees before burying the chunky bone in a snow drift.  

                 Two of the three bears however, we did hear the story about.  Their mother had eaten a man.  She was killed but the two cubs brought here so the learned lesson from mom could not be repeated.  They are not in hibernation because they are fed.  The center is non-profit and is open entirely as an education project.  With time short, we couldn't absorb all they do.  But good for them.

                 Just a note, the color is really funny in these and other than it being almost 4pm and very cold and wet - I think the snow was blue.  Not to my eye but to both cameras.

                Darlene caught the evening bus to Bozeman to be sure to catch her 1:30 flight next afternoon to Seattle and then home.  I was waiting until morning as my flight out was later. As it turned out, I was on her flight.

Bye Bye

              My bus ride back to Bozeman went through the famous Big Sky ski resort.  A nice rest stop, we picked up a few more peeps for the airport.  The driver alerted us that big horn sheep were often seen up ahead and sure enough, I caught this guy, with my phone, through the window!


Gotta love it!  
            This adventure was about seeing the wildlife during the trying conditions they survive and it was fabulous.  Not likely to do it again, it was really a trip to another planet for me.

  After a few more snafus on my arrangements and a last minute change of planes in Seattle, I ended up at the same gate in Lihue that Gil was taking to San Diego.  Getting home a day early meant we had 5 minutes to visit!

Kauai - just a bit stormy