Winter in wonderland: adventures in Yellowstone’s sublime season

A bison in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley (photo by Beth Pratt)Last week, avid wolf watchers gathered in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley despite the negative 38F temperature, gazing through binoculars at a wintry landscape that crackled with life. Elk danced over the snow to escape predators, and bison displayed their white masks from foraging for food. As the sun rose and the light penetrated the cold air, it created an endless display of sparkling white diamonds on the snowy ground.

This week temperatures soared to above freezing and visitors walked through a fairy-tale terrain in the Upper Geyser Basin. Steam from the thermal features floated through the air, covering the basin in a lazy mist. As Old Faithful erupted into the clear blue sky, its plume gave birth to clouds that hovered over the ground.

Yellowstone in winter is full of wonder. Whether snowshoeing at the Mammoth Terraces, cross-country skiing in the Upper Geyser Basin, or taking a snowcoach tour to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, exploring the park in winter is a memorable experience that provides spectacular scenery and excellent wildlife watching.

Yellowstone National Park Lodges offers a variety of packages for winter adventures, such as the Winter Wildlife Expedition, and is currently featuring a $49 per night room special at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. The non-profit Yellowstone Association teaches an array of excellent field seminars and private tours as well, including the upcoming Wolves in the 21st Century and Winter Ecology.

View a slideshow of Yellowstone’s winter wonderland below:

Below Zero in Yellowstone: A Photo Essay

This last week we've experienced below zero temperatures in Yellowstone. While I certainly vote for warmer weather, the intense cold emboldens the landscape and paints it a glistening color that vibrates with life. Below are some photos from Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner.

Yellowstone Winter (Of My Discontent!)

Please Don't Make Me Go Outside!I am quite possibly the only person in the entire Yellowstone area not happy about the recent development in the weather (see below for the horror filled forecast). You can take the girl out of California, but you can't take....

Last week the press coverage centered around how Yellowstone's winter season lacked enough snow in areas for even skiing. Perhaps Mother Nature likes a last minute challenge as this weekend's storm should remedy the situation. Please pay special attention to the windchill forecast for this evening (yes--that's 20 to 30F below zero).

As I write, the temperature outside registers at a balmy 6F compared with the predicted low. Just for fun, I've bundled up in my long underwear and Patagonia parka for a stroll outdoors. Why not? I need to embrace the horror.

Oh, the Weather Outside Is FrightfulWinter Storm Warning
Statement as of 10:54 AM MST on December 13, 2008

...Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 11 PM MST this evening...

A Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow and blowing snow remains in effect until 11 PM MST this evening.

Snow...blowing snow...and dangerously cold wind chills will occur today through this evening. Snow will continue...heavy at times...through early this evening with total snow accumulations of 4 to 6 inches. However...6 to 11 inches of snow can be expected over and near area mountains. Northerly winds of 15 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 mph today will decrease this evening. The strong winds will combine with the falling snow and snow on the ground to create occasional whiteout conditions with near zero visibility into the evening. With temperatures falling to near zero this afternoon the gusty winds also create wind chills of 20 to 30 degrees below zero by late this afternoon.

A Winter Storm Warning means significant amounts of snow are expected. Strong winds...blowing snow...and bitterly cold conditions will occur as well. This will make travel very hazardous or impossible. Those with vulnerable livestock should take precautions to protect them from the bitter cold.

April is the Cruelest Month, Part II

I think this photo says it all. So much for frolicking in sunny meadows with bluebirds.

I SURVIVED THE WINTER OF 2008! SPRING HAS ARRIVED!

"It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!" Mark Twain

"Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day." W. Earl Hall

Living in California for the past few years, I had forgotten the utter surge of joy and wonder that accompanies that first true day of spring.

In two-season California, except for at the higher elevations, winter never really arrives and most of us live in a perpetual, extended spring and summer; the seasons exist, but winter is pretty lazy in the sunshine state and summer never fully retreats. I love the California climate, but coming from New England I had a hard time calling a season winter when I could wear shorts and sandals.

Winter is not shy in Montana and Wyoming. This past week I had a bleak moment of despair. I had hopefully donned a pair of shorts for a run one afternoon when the thermometer reached 42F. On the last mile of my run snowflakes fell on my bare legs.

I began to think spring had deserted us here up north, perhaps a result of climate change. I began to feel regretful about every light I hadn’t turned off when I left a room or every time I forgot a reusable shopping bag when I ran errands. Surely this was a punishment for my occasional environmental lapses.

Today, spring arrived, a poem of blue skies, warm sunshine, fluttering butterflies, and blossoming flowers. The temperature rose to 58F and even the southwestern wind blew warmly.

I hiked up the ridge (in shorts and a short sleeve shirt!) over Rescue Creek, stopping to examine the tiny white phlox flowers and the slender green leaves of the budding bitterroot. I also discovered wolf tracks, and while examining the canine footprints I watched an orange butterfly erratically flutter nearby. Bluebirds also flew overhead, landing frequently on the ground in search of a snack.

The resident ungulates also had spring fever. A herd of pronghorn antelope approached me on the trail, playfully trotting within twenty feet of me. They seemed to relish the sunshine as much as I did. Elk, bison, pronghorn and mule deer frolicked together in my front yard in a scene reminiscent of the peaceable kingdom.

April is the Cruelest Month....In Yellowstone

See my local forecast below. Someone has kidnapped the sun. Please send help!

Skiing on the Blacktail Plateau Trail

Yellowstone is truly a cross country skier's paradise. I glided on soft powder from last night's snowstorm while relishing the expansive views of the surrounding basin. I have no idea what peak is pictured at left--my guess from the topo map is Bunsen or Sepulcher.

The clouds rising over the white hills looked like the snow trying to escape into the sky. The rolling terrain appeared endless--the scale of the Yellowstone area is somewhat daunting as Yellowstone is almost three times the size as Yosemite.

During my ski, I waved as I passed several napping bison, and stopped to examine some coyote tracks. The sunshine and blue skies were welcome after the constant snowstorms we've been experiencing. I am also happy to report that after this trip I have officially adjusted to the cold. Even at 18F today, I skied in only my base layer with long underwear, and no hat--and I was hot!

When I arrived home, three mule deer greeted me in my driveway. Apparently the Ungulate Festival has not finished yet.

And here's the sunset over Electric Peak from my front porch tonight.

Dashing Through the Snow

You know you have a great job when part of your duties require you to travel to work through the interior of Yellowstone on a 2 ½ hour snowcoach ride. On Wednesday, I journeyed out to Old Faithful for a two-day trip to inspect the facilities. As snow covers all interior park roads in winter, the only way in is via snow transportation.

The trip to Old Faithful revealed a sublime winter landscape, rolling hills of white with steam from the geysers and hot springs drifting in the air like fallen clouds. We passed curious elk and bison, and waited many times for a bison jam to clear before proceeding. I admire the bison for their indifference to vehicles of any size.

The Old Faithful area in winter has an immense charm. Automobiles are notably absent, and visitors and park employees ski or snowmobile on the snow-covered roads. Stands of colorful skiis sticking out of the snow decorate the entrance to every employee dorm, and everybody wears at least three layers of clothes. Yet there is a quietude to the landscape—-the whiteness of winter stretches for miles in every direction.

I braved the cold after lunch one day and ventured out to watch Old Faithful. Insider tip: Old Faithful isn’t as trustworthy as her name implies. The current 90 minute or so interval between eruptions used to be as short as an hour. Earthquakes, and the resulting effects (shifting landscape, mineral deposits, changing water flow) can cause the interval between eruptions to shift.

When Old Faithful erupts, she pushes between 3,700-8,400 gallons of boiling water to a height of up to 184 feet. If you haven’t checked out the National Park Service’s live streaming webcam of Old Faithful, it’s worth a viewing (See my Yellowstone Webcam Links). I called the Yosemite Association staff when I arrived on site and waved to them while Old Faithful erupted. Technology is fun!

Before we left, I was also fortunate to receive an evening tour of the Old Faithful Inn, a grand park lodge designed by Robert Reamer and described by one historian as “rusticity gone berserk.” The lobby, constructed with beautifully finished log beams and supports, rises to 76 feet in height. As the Inn isn’t occupied in the winter, our footfalls echoed in the empty rooms. And yes, given the remote winter setting and the empty hotel, I had the inevitable thoughts of "The Shining." Luckily, no twin girls appeared, but I did utter redrum to my coworkers a few times.

This Day in Weather History

My 2008 weather calendar has entries for each day with fascinating weather history and ancedotes. Today's was not all that comforting given that I live close to Belgrade, MT!

"February 2, 1996: How cold does it have to get for school to cancel classes? The temperature fell to a record -40F at Belgrade, MT. The extreme cold caused Belgrade schools to cancel classes for the first time in seven years."

Cold as Ice

Forget Old Faithful! The best attraction in Yellowstone is the icicle forming outside my office window. It's positively lethal! Today I almost got frostbite from my walk to the post office.

The conditions in the park have been quite extreme, forcing the National Park Service to temporarily close most park roads to all travel, even for snowmobiles. Some visitors had to spend an extra couple of nights at the snow lodge at Old Faithful because of the closures. Not a bad place to be snowed in. I'll be making the journey, weather permitting, next Wednesday and Thursday. Look for me on the Old Faithful webcam!

Yellowstone Business Partnership

I do feel pity for the folks I left behind in California. You are missing the experience of arriving home at 9:00 pm after having driven through a sparkling snowstorm with high winds blowing "cold smoke" across the road, and then having to shovel the snow drifts off your stairway in 10F weather. O the joy!

A Yellowstone Business Partnership meeting today brought me for the first time to West Yellowstone, a western winter town in the truest sense--snowmobiles buzzed up and down the street during our visit. The low in West Yellowstone was -30F last night, and it didn't warm up much during the day as the windows on our car iced up on the inside even with the heat running full blast. For some reason, the ending of Jack London's famous story, "To Build a Fire" keeps occurring to me.

More about the Yellowstone Business Partnership (YBP)--a truly inspiring organization and I'm honored to now be a part of their training team. The council has done unprecedented work in greening businesses in the Yellowstone area with its innovative "UnCommon Sense" business leadership program. Businesses enroll in a two-year program that features five group workshops along with a learning team leader who offers resources, coaching, and an accountability check.

I carpooled from Bozeman with a great group from the environmental community: the Director of Environmental Affairs for Delaware North, the new Sustainability Program Manager for the YBP, and a manager for the Bozeman MacKenzie Pizza Company (my favorite pizza!) who transformed her company's culture as a result of her participation in UnCommon Sense. Other participants at the meeting included a retired physicist, the environmental manager for the Grand Teton Lodge Company, and a chemist developing products from potato processing by-products. I am really looking forward to working with this group!

History of My Home

Today I wandered into the Mammoth Hotel Map Room and became mesmerized instantly upon entering. A wood inlaid map, seventeen feet by ten feet tall, dominated one wall of the room. The 2,544 pieces on the map had been crafted from fifteen different types of wood from nine countries, and took five months to assemble. California’s puzzle-like piece is constructed of burl redwood, my home state of Massachusetts of Brazilian Rosewood.

The map, designed in 1937 by Robert Reamer, has an odd assortment of obscure cities that were once central to railroad routes. Kings Canyon is labeled as its original name, General Grant National Park, and the error of Maryland’s capital being labeled Baltimore, noticed by a visitor a few months after its installation, remains uncorrected to this day. (Mr. Reamer suggested a solution of moving the actual capitol to Baltimore to the insulted Marylanders.)

Coincidentally, Reamer, who is considered the early inspiration for the rustic style now known as “parkitecture”, also designed my home. In Yellowstone alone he designed the Old Faithful Inn, the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, and the Lake Yellowstone Hotel—just to name a few.

My home, the Lockwood Residence, was built for Yellowstone Park Transportation Company (the early concessionaire in the park) executives in 1926, and then Superintendent Albright found it “satisfactory in every respect.” One of my co-workers, Ruth Quinn, has written a fascinating book on Reamer, called “Weaver of Dreams: The Life and Architecture of Robert C. Reamer.”

Freezing, arctic weather update: this morning it was -13F.

California Dreamin' on Such a Winter's Day

Let me share the forecast for Yellowstone:

"Rest of Tonight--Partly cloudy early in the evening then becoming cloudy. A 50 percent chance of snow after midnight. Lows 7 below to 13 below zero. West winds around 15 mph after midnight. Wind chill readings 23 below to 33 below zero."

You read that correctly-33F BELOW ZERO!!!!!!!

This morning my car staged a revolt and made awful noises when I started it. And you know it's really cold when the bison standing in front of the Mammoth Hotel are coated in ice. I almost wept when I unpacked my shorts--I won't be needing them until maybe July.

Mission Accomplished!

I arrived in Yellowstone safely this afternoon and I'm posting this from my room at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. I arose early this morning to try and outrun the storm, but Mother Nature won that race handily. Most of my drive through Idaho was like being on the edges of a dream--an eerie whiteness surrounded me. At one point I could not see the road as the wind blew a river of snow under me. Oddly enough, when I crossed the Montana state line the snow abruptly ceased--the first exit in Montana was accurately named Snowline. Montana must have some deal with the weather gods.

Yellowstone is simply stunning in the winter (and wicked cold--it's about 7F here now). I am still astounded by the abundance of wildlife--in Gardiner this afternoon I saw several big horn sheep. Tomorrow I might take a drive to see wolves.

I just finished dinner at the hotel and In the it's a small world category of experiences, seated next to me was Barbara, a geologist who was on our wolf study course in November.

Please send your good thoughts to the driver of my moving truck--I hope he makes it through the storms!