Winter in Wonderland: Yellowstone

Every year, over four MILLION visitors travel to Yellowstone, the world's first National Park. It's no wonder - the park is a beautiful landscape of mountains, meadows, lakes, geothermal features, and abundant wildlife. But the downside is that all those people mean lots of traffic and pollution, parking problems and blocked views.

It was c-c-c-cold!!!

But in the winter, Yellowstone gets fewer visitors per MONTH than it does during a busy summer day. The figure-8 road that runs through the park is closed to the public, and only snow coaches and snowmobiles can make it to the heart of the park. The landscape is covered in a thick layer of powdery snow, so cold and dry that individual flakes stay separate. Trees are coated with snow and rimefrost, the frozen ice from the condensation spewed out by the nearby geysers and fumaroles. It's sublime.

Rimefrost near Steamboat Geyser

Ever the willing adventure partner, Anil flew out to come with me. We stocked up on gear (plenty of long underwear, thick socks, and handwarmers!) and headed out to Bozeman, Montana on the first day of Winter Break.

Flights always seem to get in late (after midnight) to Bozeman, so we found a nearby hotel and took the shuttle bus into the park the next day. Bozeman was cold, but at 2,000 ft higher elevation, the entrance to Yellowstone was much colder. Thank god for snow gear!!
The Yellowstone area has been used by humans for at least 11,000 years. The first white explorers, members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, came in 1805 and observed at least one geothermal area - a place described as "fire and brimstone" that most people thought were a myth. It wasn't until 1871 when the Hayden expedition, including photographer William Henry Jackson and painter Thomas Moran, reported to Congress and convinced the government to set aside the land under federal protection. In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed The Act of Dedication, creating Yellowstone National Park. The vast majority lies in the state of Wyoming, but three percent is in Montana and one percent is in Idaho.

The main reason why Yellowstone is such a remarkable geologic area is because of the supervolcano lying underneath. The Yellowstone Caldera is the largest volcanic system in North America, around 40 miles long and 20 miles wide.
Three major eruptions have occurred - the most recent being 640,000 years ago, which produced 240 cubic miles of pyroclastic material (over 1,000 times greater than Mount St. Helens). The others were 1.3 million years ago, and 2.1 million years ago (the most violent at 588 cubic miles of material). Ash from that first explosion went as far South as Mexico and as far east as Illinois. Each explosion probably led to the extinction of many species and caused significant changes in weather patterns.

With over 10,000 hydrothermal features, Yellowstone is the most active spot on earth. The current geothermal activity is because of the magma chamber lying close to the earth's surface under the Yellowstone Caldera. Molten lava heats up the underground aquifer, and depending on the underground plumbing system and makeup of rock, one of four geothermal features can be present.
 

Fumaroles at Roaring Mountain

Cistern Spring, Norris Geyser Basin

All hydrothermal features need water, heat, pressure, and a plumbing system. The difference between geysers, hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles depends on the amount of available water, the makeup of the surrounding soil, and the plumbing system.

Mud Volcano

Vixen Geyser, Norris Geyser Basin

We did get to see all four features - mostly at Norris Geyser Basin, but we also visited West Thumb, Hayden Valley, Lamar Valley, and we stayed for four nights at the Upper Geyser Basin (and Old Faithful).


We started the trip at Mammoth Hot Springs, with three days exploring the northern part of the park. It was especially interesting to see the travertine terraces, whose hot water keep it from being covered in snow. Different bacterial thermophiles live in the springs, turning the waters different colors based on the temperature and type of bacteria. Hotter waters generally grow deep blues and greens, while cooler temperatures foster oranges and yellows. The terraces are formed when thermal waters dissolve calcium carbonate in the limestone bedrock as it travels to the surface. When it reaches the surface, carbon dioxide is released from the water, causing a precipitation of the calcium carbonate.

 With most of the park closed to public vehicles, dozens of snowmobile tour groups come in from West Yellowstone just for the day. Looks fun, but we saw two different accidents (and the people looked SO cold!)





One of the highlights of the trip was the early morning 'Wake Up to Wildlife' tour, leaving before the sun rose. We went into the Lamar Valley to see the many animals that migrate there in the winter in order to forage in the open meadows.

Bison (also called buffalo), are an icon of Yellowstone. Over 5,000 bison roam through the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, but that number grew from only around 23 individuals in the 1800s because of poaching. Historically, bison roamed the American West in huge numbers - between 25 and 60 million - until they were hunted to near extinction. In the mid to late 1800's, they were down to 23 individuals, until the US Government stepped in by introducing a captive herd. Now, over 5,000 bison roam through the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

Can you spot the wolves?

The story of the Yellowstone wolves is just as interesting - they were purposely exterminated in the 1920's, back when the park believed that any carnivore was a 'bad' animal. When the elk population exploded, there was worry of plant die-off and land erosion. They then realized wolves were part of a healthy ecosystem, and in 1995, 41 wolves were reintroduced to the park. Today, around 100+ wolves help keep Yellowstone healthy. We were lucky enough to see two black wolves on our first full day in the park, bounding through the snow at Swan Lake Flats.

Often mistaken for wolves, coyotes are much more abundant in the park. With the white snow covering the landscape, it was easy to spot these canines hunting for mice under the snow.

Head-first diving into the snow!

A highlight was seeing moose, which aren't very common in the park (the fire of 1988 burned much of the moose habitat, and they are just slowly returning).

Did you know? Antlers - like on this elk - aren't permanent.
Animals like elk, moose, and deer grow new antlers every year.

Bighorn Sheep

One of the more interesting animals that we got to see was a river otter! Much easier to spot in the winter, playing in the snow.


We also saw many, many different birds - surprising, since it was SO DANG COLD! Did you know that a chickadee goes into forced hypothermia every night, shivering to keep warm? The trumpeter swan is North America's largest waterfowl, with a wingspan of 8 feet! Bald eagles, who normally feed on fish, eat a lot more waterfowl in the winter when their water sources ice over. And the unobtrusive American dipper is the only North American songbird that can swim underwater!

This bald eagle was feeding on fish.

Trumpeter swan

Staying at the Snow Lodge in the heart of the Upper Geyser Basin meant being able to see Old Faithful erupting at all hours of the day. The first time was during the day when hundreds of day snowmobilers were visiting, but the lodge only has 134 rooms so morning and afternoon/evenings are really quiet. When we went to Old Faithful at around 9PM, only 5 other people were out there and a red fox ran across the geyser base just as it started to erupt!

Staying at Snow Lodge also means getting the opportunity to wander around the Upper Geyser Basin, which gave us a close and intimate look at many of the features. We snowshoed around, which was a lovely way to enjoy the area.














On Christmas Day, we took an all-day excursion to snowshoe around the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We were able to follow a path by the river that doesn't exist in the summer, and it gave us a great vantage of both the canyon and the falls.

Firehole River

Another excursion we tried was the Lone Star cross country ski trip, a 5-mile journey skirting the Firehole River through some of the most beautiful landscape in the park.

We made it to the Lone Star Geyser just in time to see the 45-foot tall geyser erupting. It's a cone geyser, as seen by the mound of built up geyserite, which causes a steady jet to shoot up in the air (as opposed to a fountain geyser).











Another interesting thing in winter is seeing all the animal tracks. After several days of no precipitation, it snowed on Christmas Eve, leaving a clean white blanket that clearly showed new animal tracks. It was fun trying to figure out what animals had left their tracks.

Larger prints are coyote; smaller are mice, squirrel, and/or voles.

Vole on the left, squirrel on the right (see the tail track?)

But the best part of being in Yellowstone in the winter was just admiring the landscape. Amazing!















































It isn't an easy trek to get out to Yellowstone in the winter, but if you ever get the chance, its well worth the effort!