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Silent Beauty: Yellowstone In Winter Makes For Hardy Trip

Photo by DOROTHY SMILJANICH

Bison forage for food in the snow-covered lands of Yellowstone National Park.

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By DOROTHY SMILJANICH

Tribune correspondent

Published: March 1, 2009

The bone-chilling cold of a Wyoming winter has tightened its icy grip on Yellowstone National Park. The bison, conserving heat and energy, stand perfectly still in the meadows, up to their bellies in snow.

Once in a while, one lowers its massive head and slowly, methodically swishes it back and forth, looking for something to nibble beneath the white drifts.

Iconic animals at the park, along with the bears and the wolves, the bison are so much more obliging: willing to be seen, yet every bit as wild.

Over Firehole Canyon, seven trumpeter swans, an imperiled species with wingspans as wide as 8 feet, fly in formation against the gray winter sky, and a lone coyote slinks along the tree line not far from the Old Faithful geyser. A herd of elk seeks food on the side of a rocky meadow, and two pronghorns graze not far away. The evergreen pines under their blankets of snow look like postcard Christmas trees, and little children go round and round on the tiny ice rink at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. In the geyser basins, the mud pots bubble and burp; the fumaroles smoke and hiss; and the geysers belch scorching water and steam into the sky.

The temperature climbs to 20 degrees during the day — "Downright balmy," the locals declare — and sinks below zero during the long night, with darkness descending early in the afternoon and slow to give way to light in the morning. Day after day, night after night, snow falls on the park and everything in it: the animals, the plants, the geothermal features and those visitors and workers hardy enough to show up in wintertime.

For travelers like us from the Sunshine State, Yellowstone in winter is a revelation of beauty and silence. My husband, Terry, and I traveled during Christmas week 2008 with my sister Laura Spelman; her husband, Charles; and their 11-year-old son, Will. Although we had been to Yellowstone twice before, those were summertime visits. In winter, the park is an entirely different place, mostly because of the snow and ice and brutal cold, but equally because visitors are not falling all over each other.

It was Will's first sight of snow — a big sampling for a first bite!

A winter visit is a challenge, which should not necessarily deter Floridians. It does demand forethought, though. This is not a casual destination, where you can just throw some T-shirts and jeans in a suitcase and head out. No, Yellowstone in the winter is not kidding and, if it is to be enjoyed, you must be prepared for it on its own terms, which include the marrow-chilling, teeth-chattering cold that can be deadly for the unprepared.

A quick checklist of considerations and tips for making the visit fun:

First Things First

A warm coat is not enough — not nearly enough. Think three or more layers of clothes every time you step outside. Start with thermal underwear (tops and bottoms), add a wool shirt (cotton will not do), add on top of that a warm vest or heavy sweater, button everything up around your neck, and then put on the coat, which should have a hood.

You will need snow boots, heavy socks, thick gloves and a warm hat (yes, even though the coat has a hood). In balmy Florida, with the temperature at 75 degrees, it's hard to believe all that gear is necessary. It is — unless you want to spend your Yellowstone vacation indoors, staring out at the wilderness.

A word to the wise: The airline lost our luggage both going to Montana and returning home. Fortunately, we had our coats, gloves and hats with us when we arrived, but we did not have our thermal underwear, snow boots or warm socks until the next day. Pack those essentials in your carry-on bag, if you can.

Getting Around

Leave the driving on heavy snow, ice-covered roads and in extreme winds to someone who knows how.

We flew from Tampa to Denver and then into Bozeman, Mont., where we had arranged with Karst Stage to ferry us from the Bozeman Airport to the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and then back to the airport a week later. The two-hour drive was in a van (forget the fanciful notion of anything remotely resembling a stagecoach) and much of it is along an interstate, but it was not a drive we flatlanders wanted to hazard.

Lodging Choices

During the winter, the only lodging options in the park are the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and the Old Faithful Snow Lodge (not to be confused with the famous Old Faithful Inn, a cavernous, drafty, wooden hotel that is locked down tight for winter). Because lodging space is limited, make your reservations early (we booked in June). After flying into Bozeman, we spent our first two nights at Mammoth, then went down to the Snow Lodge for three nights and then back up to Mammoth for a final night before heading home.

The Mammoth hotel and its across-the-street dining room are usually accessible by automobile, but the Snow Lodge is deep in the heart of the park, near its namesake geyser, and is accessible only by snowmobiles (think jet skis on a frozen tundra) and snow coaches (odd-looking vehicles that sit high over the frozen roads and move on metal treads like tanks). Only 50 or so miles separate the lodges, but the trip can take two hours or more. Depending on snowfall, icy conditions and whether the National Park Service has groomed the roads, the ride can be bumpy and the going slow.

The lodgings could not be less alike. Mammoth is a stately old inn, some of it dating back to 1913, with major additions in 1936. It has wooden floors, high ceilings, radiator heat, claw-foot bathtubs and a relaxed style that seems focused on animal watching. Situated within the confines of the U.S. Cavalry fort established in 1886, the Mammoth wears its distinguished years with charming gentility.

The Snow Lodge, on the other hand, is a contemporary, stylish resort with a focus on action, including snowshoeing, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. Although those activities are also offered at Mammoth, the Snow Lodge has more of a go-go spirit.

Head to either place, though, with a sense of adventure. At Mammoth, we had a high-ceilinged room that the radiator heat could not quite warm up, and ice formed on the inside of our windows. At Snow Lodge, we were awakened about 4:30 a.m. on Christmas Day by a blaring fire alarm that sent guests in various stages of undress and discomfort into the frigid outdoors until the fire department arrived and determined there was no fire threat (on departure, a fireman said burning bacon in the kitchen had triggered the alarm).

As different as they each are, both lodges are managed by the Xanterra Parks and Resorts under contract to the park service. They're meticulously maintained and comfortable — and comforting, too, after a day spent in the frigid outdoors. Their front desks and dining rooms are staffed by eager, friendly folks, many of them college students playing one form of hooky or another.

The dining room menus include imaginative dishes built upon sustainable foods, such as farm-raised Montana trout and bison. One or more vegetarian entrees are offered at each meal (corn cakes over black beans and rice. Delicious!); thick hot soups; and — ah, yes — huckleberry ice cream, a big hit with nephew Will. Meal prices are reasonable: $6 or $7 for soup and salad at lunch and $16 to $25 for full dinners. Breakfast fans should not miss the blueberry pancakes for about $5. The Snow Lodge also offers a casual grill with hot dogs, hamburgers and the like, but it's small and can get swamped by snowmobilers and skiers visiting en masse.

Both lodges have inviting lobbies with big stone fireplaces roaring with gas-fired logs and surrounded by over-stuffed chairs and hassocks. It's a nice place to settle in with a good book and a soothing cup of hot tea — or something perhaps more bracing (hot buttered rums are only $5).

What To Do

The Xanterra company has put together a nice selection of group tours that leave from the lodges, including ski tours, photo safaris and a wildlife-watching tour from Mammoth that we waited too long to try to join. It was booked solid.

Instead, we went on a guided half-day walk through the Norris Geyser Basin from Mammoth and then on an all-day, guided snowmobiling tour out of the Snow Lodge.

The issue of snowmobile tours in the park is controversial. President Bill Clinton tried to shut them down, and President George W. Bush opened them back up.

Conservationists argue that the noise and pollution degrade the environment and stress the animals, already enormously stressed as they struggle to survive winter's harshness. Proponents say they contribute less noise and pollution than the throngs of summertime visitors and that they help keep roads clear for use by animals.

Persuaded by the conservationists in the abstract and my own experience on our visit, I would never take a snowmobile tour again. The snowmobiles in our party were often traveling at 30 mph or more over icy, rutted roads, so the driver dare not take his eyes off the road for so much as a second without running the danger of leaving the road altogether or colliding with the vehicle in front. So much for spotting wildlife or enjoying the passing scenery!

The ride was so difficult — the snowmobiles tilt and slide precariously on the icy, rutted roads — that one woman abandoned hers altogether and had to be ferried along by the tour guide. Another rider was reduced to tears. We almost tipped over more than once, and I was terrified much of the time. Most everyone seemed thrilled to return to the Snow Lodge in one piece.

As a method of getting riders between two points, snowmobiles are efficient enough, but they're loud and ugly and smell bad. Some of the people who use them, just like the people who use jet skis on Florida's lakes, have no higher interest than feeling the power of a gas-driven engine between their legs and roaring around the place. One of the great beauties of Yellowstone in the winter is the primal silence — but not with groups of snowmobilers thundering around.

A Final Note

A trip to Yellowstone in the winter requires a moderate level of physical fitness; after all, the brutally cold climate stresses your body and the icy sidewalks and pathways are potential hazards. However, when you stand in the midst of all that beauty and watch Old Faithful erupt; or when you are tucked warm in your bed at one of the lodges and think of the vast, cold wilderness; or when you pause on a snow-covered trail to listen to the incredible silence of the place, then you know it was a fine and wonderful thing that President Ulysses S. Grant did.

It was Grant who signed the legislation that made this wonderland a national park, and it is both a great responsibility and a great honor to see that it is protected and preserved — always.

IF YOU GO
To inquire about lodging and transportation for your winter getaway:

•Xanterra Park and Resorts, P.O. Box 165, Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. 82190-0165; toll-free 1-866-439-7375; travelyellowstone.com

•Karst Stage Inc., Bozeman Airport, 1-800-287-4759; www.karststage.com

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