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Nugget 28: A Winter Visit to the Park, Part IIWonderland in the Snow | |
To make my winter odyssey to Yellowstone complete, I took the snowcoach from Mammoth to stay a few days at Old Faithful Village. Snowcoach rides, available from Mammoth, West Yellowstone, or Flagg Ranch near the South Entrance, need advance reservations. These can be obtained through the park concessionaire Xanterra (http://www.travelyellowstone.com, toll-free 866-439-7375, or 307-344-7311) or through one of several private companies. | |
On my trip between Mammoth and Old Faithful, an outstanding sight was Fountain Paint Pots (at right), where the colors appeared more vivid than at any time I'd seen them in summer. |  |
Farther south, across the river from Midway Geyser Basin, we found a flock of ravens discussing what to do about a bison carcass. |  |
Old Faithful Village, blessedly quiet under two or three feet of snow, welcomed us as we checked in to the Snow Lodge. The historic Old Faithful Inn (always closed in winter) is nearing the end of its renovation period, with some work continuing in the wintertime. |  Early morning showed me the Inn tucked in for the winter (above). |
As I headed toward the geyser basin, | |
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Castle Geyser (right) erupted in double jets. Unfortunately, I didn't get a shot of its really high bursts. |  |
Although the snowcoach was noisy, bumpy, and rather uncomfortable, riding in it around the park's southern loop road was worth it for the beautiful scenery and the wealth of information imparted by our driver, Patrick. In fact, all our snowcoach drivers gave us lots of valuable information, showed us the best sights, and stopped for any wildlife or other pictures we wanted to take—sometimes shot through a hatch in the roof of the snowcoach. | |
The canyon and falls of the Yellowstone took the prize for scenery that day. Even on an overcast day the canyon colors were breathtaking, both from Grand View on the North Rim Drive and from Lookout Point, (shown at right). |  |
The Lower Falls was spectacular with its ice bridge and base cone of ice. |  |
Returning to Mammoth the next day, Electric Peak from Swan Lake Flat emerged from clouds at sundown to remind us all that we'll want to return soon. | |
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I heard the swoosh of Old Faithful Geyser erupting behind me (right). Notice how you can clearly see in the foreground where the ground is hot and where it's not.
Some links to Yellowstone wildlife Web sites: |
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