A few notes. Janie and I grew up on the same street and graduated in the same high school class so you could say we’ve been lifelong friends. She had fallen on ice recently and I mentioned that I had purchased a product, YakTrax, for my wife who had also fallen. They are elastic adaptations for your shoes that have tiny spikes to keep you from slipping. When it’s icy, she won’t leave without them. And, yes, they are available via Amazon. This is her travel story:
There are two important things you need for a trip to Yellowstone in the winter. One is proper clothing. That includes snow pants, a warm coat, a neck gaiter, a warm hat, heavy gloves, thermal underwear, snow boots, and sunglasses. I also found it was a good idea to have ‘Yaktrax,’ a device that straps over boots to help with traction on ice. The second thing you need for the trip is a flexible attitude. On our trip we found ourselves stranded in vehicles twice, once due to a mechanical problem and once because our snow coach slid into a ditch. The winter weather was extreme, with blowing snow and bitter cold, and there was also a widespread power outage in Jackson when we were in Wyoming. The trip is one that is likely to throw a few curves at you due to the weather. If you need luxury or gourmet food, this isn’t for you. If you’re willing to endure some inconvenience and bad weather to see Western wildlife in its natural habitat, some spectacular scenery, and some beautiful Western art, you’re likely to find all that on this trip.
(Photos provided)
My husband Bill and I flew to Bozeman, Montana, on January 22, a day before our week-long tour was due to start. After almost missing a cruise departure once, due to airport delays, we now always arrive a day early for tours. We were traveling with Tauck, a company we had used twice previously and liked very much. Their small group tours are never more than 24 people and we had only 17 for this particular one. Yellowstone in wintertime had been enthusiastically recommended by family members, and lifelong friends were joining us for the occasion: Peggy and Ray from Georgia, and James and Marilyn from California.
We were met at the Bozeman airport by a Tauck representative who took our bags, arranged to have them delivered to our van, and located our driver for us. Our destination was Chico Hot Springs Resort, 50 minutes away in Paradise Valley. The resort has a rustic Western style and consists of several buildings connected by paved paths. The main building, where we checked in, was quite charming, with a welcoming fire crackling in a freestanding fireplace.
Marilyn, a big San Francisco 49ers fan, was eager to watch the playoff game that afternoon. Our bags were delivered to our room for us so after checking in, we headed straight to the saloon where we found Peggy and Ray and met Julie, our guide for the week. After the game, we had dinner in the resort’s restaurant, touted as the best in Montana, with a chef that had been nominated for a James Beard award. Reservations were required, and James had made ours weeks ago. The food was perfectly fine but didn’t live up to expectations. Bill is an amateur chef who loves giving dinner parties and thus the pickiest eater in our group. He ordered prime rib, which he usually loves. He didn’t love this one. Ray liked his pork chop and my beef tenderloin tips were fine. The flaming orange I had for dessert was a disappointment. It looked impressive, lit dramatically tableside, and flamed up with gusto. But it was better entertainment than the food. Or, in Bill’s Montana metaphor, “it was all hat and no cattle.” When we got to our room, we had two queen beds, the water pressure was good, and everything looked clean. It was nothing special in terms of décor but I was perfectly happy with it.
Our tour didn’t start until the next evening. Bill passed the time that day with a short hike, to check out some Conestoga wagons up the hill. They are available as campsites in summer. Ray went for a dip in the outdoor pool, filled with water from the hot springs that give the resort its name. I enjoyed a day of leisure and reading. That evening our tour group met in the conference center. After drinks and dinner, Julie gave us specific information about our itinerary, answering questions and generally piquing our enthusiasm. She was friendly, fun, and well informed, boding for a good week to come.
Breakfast was in the main dining room the next morning, a buffet of cereal, granola, yogurt, sweet rolls, scrambled eggs, and toast-your-own bagels with two kinds of cream cheese. The coffee was okay, but not up to our Seattle standards (of course!). We had a full-size coach for our tour that day and plenty of room to spread out. In the little town of Gardiner, Montana, we picked up Amanda, a guide from Yellowstone Forever which is a nonprofit partner of Yellowstone National Park. Amanda and her assistant were both naturalists and experts in the area’s wildlife. We headed out into the Lamar Valley, in the remote northeast corner of Yellowstone, for a day of wildlife spotting.
Wildlife was all around us as soon as we entered the park – herds of buffalo and elk on both sides of the road. There are approximately 6,000 bison in Yellowstone and I think we saw them all. There are fewer elk, under 4,000, but we saw several herds that day, including one huge one. There are thought to be only 95 wolves in the park itself so it was exciting when we saw three of them. I never would have identified them had it not been for Amanda. She had two high-powered telescopes which she set up when we spotted something interesting on the side of the road or when we got to a place known as a good spot for seeing a particular animal. We looked through one lens with the naked eye and the other had a camera attached which magnified what we were seeing. The wolves were sleeping and looked like big black stones to the naked eye. However, with the high-powered lenses, we could see their pointed ears and the colors of their coats.
There are fewer than 700 mule deer in the park and we saw a couple of herds. We also saw whitetail deer, which are scarce in winter. We spotted bighorn sheep, one herd fairly close to the road, another lone sheep at some distance but easily seen moving across a ridge with Amanda’s telescopes. We spotted a bald eagle or two. Coyotes are abundant in the park but, nonetheless, we saw only three of them. Both bore little resemblance to the scrawny creatures I had seen on other occasions. These were beautiful animals, well-fed, strong, and healthy, bounding through deep snow.
We didn’t see a bear but we did see where one was hibernating. Amanda pointed out the hollow log where the bear’s head or rump had been seen. No such luck when we peered through her telescope that day. I could easily see the dark hole at the end of the tree but nothing inside was distinguishable as an animal. It was snowing heavily at the time which might have been the reason we didn’t get a glimpse of the bear.
The only downside to the day was that our motorcoach broke down around lunchtime. The problem was mechanical and our driver, a fun, friendly woman who reminded me of Melissa McCarthy, said we were going to need a new ride. There is absolutely no place to get food in the valley so Julie had box lunches for us. She brought out our food, the bus still had heat and we ate in comfort until Amanda showed up with our alternate buses which were much smaller and less plush but perfectly adequate.
We finished our day of wildlife viewing at a refuge for bison that wander out of the park. The errant beasts are rounded up and kept in quarantine until they can be transported to Native American tribal lands as far away as Alaska, Kansas, and Wisconsin. Hot cocoa and coffee were brought out as a treat. We sat around a big table and Amanda showed us two pelts that had been taken from animals that died naturally in Yellowstone. One was the pelt of a big white wolf, an alpha female who lived to a ripe old age before being killed by other wolves. There are eight wolf packs in the park and she has descendants in all of them. I was surprised at how big she was, especially compared to the pelt of the coyote we examined.
Back at Chico that night, we had a group dinner again in the conference center, with a presentation by MacNeil Lyons, a wildlife photographer, and Yellowstone naturalist. MacNeil was a charming man who had been at Yellowstone for 20 years, guiding tours, and photographing the park’s animals. He had a slideshow for us that included amazing images and interesting stories to go along with each of them.
Our second day of touring focused on geothermal features. We started at the top of Mammoth Terraces and hiked down a series of boardwalks leading past steaming fumaroles and hot pools surrounded by snow. The Yaktrax came in handy there. The sun glowed behind a veil of clouds and the steam from the surrounding area gave the landscape a surreal aspect. Our hike, which was just under a mile, ended at the Liberty Cap, a 37-foot tower of travertine created by a spring that was active in that area for hundreds of years.
We had lunch in the little town of Gardiner, at the Wonderland Cafe. My hamburger and latte were delicious. Even Bill was happy with the food there. The cafe was filled with Western art and I enjoyed browsing around to look at the paintings and photos on display. After lunch, we switched from our motor coach to a snow coach. The only way to access most of Yellowstone in winter is by snow coach, snowmobile, cross-country skiing, or snowshoeing. The two snow coaches for our group were the size of a small bus, with enormous, low-pressure tires. The afternoon was spent on roads where we were usually the only vehicle. We were occasionally passed by a few snowmobiles.
Due to thermal activity, not all of the lakes and streams in Yellowstone are frozen over in winter. That afternoon the sky was laden with gray clouds, made luminous at times by a hidden sun. The light created beautiful effects on the snow and the unfrozen lakes. There were bison all along the way, ambling down the road, across the road, and over the bleak terrain. We stopped at Beryl Spring, named for the blue-green gemstone. The spring was dry but with just the right angle of light, I was able to get a photo of blue-green steam coming from the ground. The most impressive feature of the spring by far was the sound, a guttural roaring as steam poured out of the ground.
While we were often taken to heated restrooms on our tour, we also had stops at some that were unheated. It never took long for everyone to be back on the bus at those. That afternoon we had one of our chilly rest stops but nearby was a park ranger’s log cabin. We were welcomed in to stand by a roaring wood fire and look at more animal pelts, another wolf and coyote, along with the small, soft pelt of a fox to compare to the larger ones.
Afterward, we hiked a half-mile loop called the Fountain Paint Pot trail where we saw a variety of thermal features. Silex Spring is a beautiful aquamarine blue from the silica in the volcanic rock that dissolves in the hot water. In the same area, we saw the Red Spouter, a bubbling pool of red-brown mud. We again had a lowering sky punctuated by patches of luminous light. The landscape would alternate between bleak and beautiful with the shifting steam and the changing clouds.
We stayed that night at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge inside the park. I had hoped we would be staying at the iconic Old Faithful Lodge until I learned that it is neither heated nor cooled and, thus, closed in winter. The Snow Lodge lobby was punctuated with fireplaces and log columns, and pleasantly warm. Plenty of natural light is provided by large windows. Our room, on the third floor, was quite comfortable. Just as at Chico, there was no television. Cell phone service was spotty for our entire tour. That night Bill tried prime rib again in the lodge’s restaurant which is where we had our meals for that stay. He didn’t like it any better than his prior one. My spare ribs were fine. Everything seemed to be set up for groups of four, though, and we were disappointed at having to split up our party of six.
Bill was happier with breakfast the next morning. I slept in and had lunch instead, a bratwurst with sauerkraut which was quite tasty. Julie had scheduled a snowshoe hike for the afternoon. I sat in the restaurant at lunch watching the flag snap in the wind and the snow blowing sideways so I passed on snowshoeing. Peggy and Marilyn did the same so just the guys braved the elements and hiked through a surrounding section of woods. Bill enjoyed himself in spite of the weather and I was a little sorry I hadn’t gone, but not a lot. There wasn’t much to do inside so I spent the afternoon reading. When Bill got back, I suited up and we went on the short walk over to see Old Faithful erupt. We had seen it in the summer and frankly, it was more impressive then. The world that day was completely white with snow; white ground, white sky. We could see the steam of the geyser as it spewed skyward but there was no background for contrast.
Both James and Marilyn were not feeling well the next morning and opted to stay at the hotel. I wished later that I had done the same. Our driver announced right away that we should keep our seat belts on at all times because of road conditions. Our trip took us past Yellowstone Lake, beautiful in summer but just another expanse of white in winter. We slid and lurched along the roads, though it didn’t seem to bother anyone in our coach. We stopped at the Continental Divide sign to make pictures. Then more driving. The goal for the day was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, another place that is both impressive and beautiful in summer.
It was almost lunchtime when our driver suddenly shouted, “I’m going off the road!” The vehicle didn’t go far but it was listing enough that we had to brace ourselves to stay in our seats. The driver dug out a place to open the door and help came from the lead bus to make a path through the deep snow so that we could walk to the road. There wasn’t enough room in the lead bus for all of us so a few people stayed behind with Julie and our driver until the bus could return for them. It wasn’t very far to the park building where we were to have lunch but I wasn’t having a lot of fun at this point.
The building where we ate our box lunches was filled with snowmobilers trying to do the same. The meal was a bare-bones experience. We ate at picnic tables and I kept my coat on as it was pretty chilly. The room was heated but cavernous. At least the restrooms were inside. That afternoon was basically interminable driving again, past miles and miles of trees and snow. We finally got to our destination and took the short walk out to a viewpoint to see the falls. They were indeed beautiful, partially frozen, with water pouring past aqua-tinted ice. While spectacular, it wasn’t in my opinion worth the day’s driving. We stopped by another, much smaller, falls and then had a long drive back to the lodge. I would have enjoyed the day better if I had stayed at the hotel, with a hot breakfast and lunch. I could have booked a snowshoeing or cross-country skiing tour from the hotel gift shop. The wind was calmer that day and while it was definitely cold, it would have been fine for a couple of short outdoor excursions in both the morning and afternoon.
While we were out braving the elements, James began to feel decidedly worse and ultimately had to call an ambulance to go to the emergency room. I was somewhat surprised that an ambulance was available but it was. He was happy with the care he received and, thankfully, was feeling much better by that afternoon. He had a little trouble finding a ride back to the lodge but found people more than willing to help him when he asked.
The next day we drove out of Yellowstone, past heart-stopping drop-offs and some spectacular scenery. There are no guardrails on the roads in winter, by the way. They are all buried under drifts of snow. I got some tightening in my stomach looking at the dizzying depths at times but I felt comfortable enough with our driver.
Yellowstone Trip Part II
Outside Yellowstone, we had lunch at Dornan’s Spur Bar in Moose, Wyoming, on the boundary of Grand Teton National Park. Dornan’s is in a log building with big windows. Our mountain view was obscured by clouds but it was a cheery lunch, nonetheless. The food was casual but good. Bill and I shared a salad and a pizza. After lunch, we transitioned back into a big motor coach, with lots of room to spread out. We made a couple of photo stops on our drive to the National Elk Refuge where we had a tour in a horse-drawn sleigh. Our guide was Cole, a charming young man from Idaho who knew everything about elk and trained horses when he wasn’t working at the refuge. Our team of horses, Jasper and Junior, were big workhorses. Cole warned us that the sleigh would lurch when we started off. He said Jasper wants to pull the sleigh all by himself, every time. And Junior thinks that’s a great idea. So it takes a minute for them to get in sync.
The Elk Refuge was fascinating. The elk were quite used to the sleighs and paid us no attention. The bulls hadn’t lost their antlers and jostled each other about in half-hearted conflict. Mating season was over so they weren’t serious about their challenges. Just being guys. The weather was seriously cold that day, with a light wind and spitting snow. Marilyn opted out of the adventure but the rest of us were warmly dressed. Even Bill had his coat zipped and his hat and gloves on. You know it’s cold when Bill zips his coat! I had a neck gaiter pulled up over my nose and we had heavy blankets to put over our legs. I wasn’t uncomfortable but the blowing snow was an irritant and made it hard to get some of the photos I wanted. Cole was a wealth of information about the area and cheerfully answered our questions. He was one of the best guides we had on a trip where all the guides were very good. Leaving the refuge, we had the most impressive wildlife spotting of our entire tour. The elk cows and calves were moving from one feeding ground to another. They started to pass us while we were in the refuge and by the time we were leaving, there was a line of elk, in clumps, that stretched from horizon to horizon, a jaw-dropping number of animals.
Before continuing on to Jackson, our driver took us across the highway from the elk refuge to see the grounds of the National Museum of Wildlife Art where we were scheduled to have dinner and an after-hours private tour the next night. Julie wanted us to see the building’s exterior, inspired by the ruins of Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and constructed of Idaho quartzite. It blends in beautifully with the surrounding hills and has a trail with 20 large bronze sculptures of wildlife – elk, bison, bear, deer, sheep, and eagles – that dot the landscape.
Jackson, Wyoming, is a picturesque little town of about 10,000 and is host to three ski areas. We drove past the town square, with its arches made of shed antlers from the elk refuge, to the Wort Hotel, a charming 55-room inn in downtown Jackson. If our other accommodations had been somewhat plain, the Wort made up for that with a lot of Western charm. The walls were covered with old photographs and beautiful Western paintings. Small Western-themed sculptures adorned tables and pedestals. Two big fireplaces, one upstairs and one in the main lobby, had fires going. Our room was charming, too, with aged leather chairs and tapestry fabrics. Even the shower curtain was tapestry. There was every amenity, including a tv, though it was integrated into a lovely cabinet that resembled an antique dresser.
James had made reservations at the Snake River Grill that night. It was just a short walk from our hotel which was a good thing as it was bitterly cold in Jackson while we were there. The restaurant was fairly small but we had a roomy table for 6. Bill was delighted to see foie gras torchon on the menu. We all shared a small platter of bacon-wrapped dates. My lamb tagliatelle was tasty. The food was generally good but our first courses were brought along with our dinner, a service faux pas that dampened our enthusiasm about the restaurant.
The next morning there was a widespread power outage in the Jackson area. The Wort had a generator but the outage caused some places to close and brought more people than normal to eat at the hotel. We had a long wait to be seated for breakfast but when we got our table, we had excellent service and good food. Both downhill and cross-country skiing were available nearby but it was bitterly cold so our plans were to explore our way through town, stopping into shops. After considering how many places were without power and closed, we opted to watch the 49ers in that day’s playoff game instead. The Wort is known for the Silver Dollar Bar which snakes along the length of their large saloon and is completely embedded with old silver dollars. The bar is definitely impressive but we opted to sit at a table instead. By the time the game was underway, the room was crowded with both Eagles and 49ers fans and the six of us had a very pleasant afternoon.
The lights went out in the hotel as we started back to our rooms to get ready for the evening but the hotel generator was soon on again. I began to feel unwell and, unfortunately, was not able to go to dinner at the museum. I encouraged Bill to attend but he decided to stay with me. He shouldn’t have. The kitchen staff at the hotel had problems getting the gas cooktops to light because of some complication with the generator so there was no hot food available that evening. Bill ate in the bar, then brought me a club sandwich. The bread was dry and it was pretty awful. When she returned from dinner, Peggy brought me sympathy and some note cards from the museum gift shop. She said the museum was beautiful and the art was amazing. I was really sad at missing out on what probably would have been a highlight of the trip for me.
Breakfast the next morning was in the Silver Dollar Grill again. We had no problem being seated and the food was, again, good. After we checked out of our room, we had to wait about an hour before it was time for our transportation to the airport. We sat by the fire in the downstairs lobby. The couch was comfortable, the fire was warm, my book was good, and the time went by quickly.
The temperature in Jackson that day was -23 degrees, yes MINUS 23. That’s real temperature, not wind chill. Our drive to the airport was gorgeous. The world was covered in brilliant white snow, sparkling in the sunshine. The sky was cloudless, an intense cerulean blue with the mountains etched in sharp, white detail against it. I realized what makes the trip I had just taken so incredible to so many people. Seen in sunshine, the winter landscape was breathtaking.
The Jackson Hole airport is small but very up-to-date, with large glass walls to show off the mountains which surround it. Near our gate was a huge fireplace, open on two sides, with large leather chairs ringing it. We grabbed a seat there and were very comfortable waiting for our flight. I have never been in an airport that pretty. I couldn’t concentrate on my book because I kept looking at the scenery outside. I quickly realized that staring wasn’t good, however, because it was easy to become snow-blind in the intense light.
I had a window seat on the plane and enjoyed watching Wyoming spread out below me as we took off and climbed. I said goodbye to what had been an interesting trip; not a perfect trip by any means, but definitely one with special moments to remember.
