Yellowstone in Winter

 














Bison, elk, coyotes, snow, ice, warm water, big skies, and not very many humans--that was Yellowstone for us last week.  Many animals travel on the roads to reduce their need to plow through snow, so there--all over the place--they are.  At the Gardner River, we yielded to the bison to cross the bridge.

 

 

 

Bison along the trail from Tower Junction to Tower Fall made us keep our distance and led us to change our route near Tower Fall.  In the photo below, three bison dig through snow to graze and Donna plans a retreat. 

 








We also saw bison at Mammoth Hot Springs

and, in the Gardner River canyon, we saw first one coyote and then another feeding on a bison carcass.

 
 








During five days in the Park we saw lots of bison, some coyotes, and also some herds of elk.  We saw one large elk many times over several days; he seemed to have found his favorite forage in one area along the road; he was easy to locate precisely from a distance because of all the cars, tripods, cameras, and giant lenses--classic elk jam elements.

Except for those bison near Tower Fall, our animal sightings happened along the roads on our way to and from the trailheads. 


We skied on beautifully groomed trails that follow unplowed roads in the northern part of the park.   




 


The trail into Tower Fall passes views of columnar basalt 







and the Yellowstone River valley.  A strong smell of sulfur rises here from hot springs along the Yellowstone River just below.

Tower Fall had a husk of ice with water visibly falling within it.  One day we were here all alone, and, on another other day, we stood watching the waterfall with only one other person--very, very different from the summer Tower Fall experience achievable with a brief walk from a packed parking lot.


The sun smiled and the winds blew on the day we skied Blacktail Plateau.  What huge views off to the north 
in the film clip above
 







and to the west!   

One morning, after a snowfall, we were the first to ski on fresh grooming at the Upper Terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs.  The southern part of the loop has a hill where we played and played, up and down, over and over.

And here, also on the Upper Terrace Loop, is Orange Spring Mound.

 















 



On the way home from Yellowstone we spent a night in Pray, MT, at Chico Hot Springs, enjoying the historical, quirky, down-to-earth atmosphere of the place and the warm (98 F) and warmer (103 F) water in the two pools.  The air was colder!  

Eric says now that he finally gets the pleasure of outdoor hot-spring soaking--feeling warm and cold at the same time, depending on what's in and what's out of the water, and taking part in the social scene.  There were young guys getting out of the pool to sit in the snow-filled poolside chairs and throw snowballs, older people in blissed-out reveries, and children toodling around on float toys.  People relaxed together.  A smiley woman said to smiley me, "If you aren't happy here, you won't be happy anywhere."  

 

      We were very happy--



comfortable room, delicious food, 
welcoming and friendly staff who made us a feel a sweet mixture of being special guests and also wonderfully at home, 
and a beautiful setting, too--
Emigrant Peak in the background!



With Chico and Yellowstone behind us, we are feeling lucky to have been out in the wild, out on the planet, out in the winter.  We have soaked it all in.

Kenneth Rexroth was writing about fall in the Sierra Nevada when he quoted scientist and mountaineer John Tyndall appreciating the planet and its seasons, but the "chain of dependence" works for winter in Yellowstone, too:

 "'Thus,' says Tyndall, 'the concerns of this little place
Are changed and fashioned by the obliquity of the earth's axis,
The chain of dependence which runs through creation,
And links the roll of a planet alike with the interests
Of marmots and men.'"

Thanks to Sally and Fred for the Rexroth book, and thanks to Eric for driving home safely in the falling snow and over the snowy, icy roads.  We're back to the home grill.