No U Turns: On the Road With the Steeles: January 2010

We are spending the winter in Jackson Hole, to be close to our daughter and to play in the snow, which by Wyoming standards, is a low snow year. The snow pack, at about 18 inches, compared with a 30-year average of 25 inches, is about 50 percent of normal. But that's still enough to play in. But with December and January being typically the drier months, there's still hope for a turn around.

I'm finding that learning to downhill ski at 61 is quite the challenge. But I just keep slogging on, making improvement in nano-increments, or so it seems to me. We've made some friends from New York who have been downhill skiing since they were 10 years old. And they're giving me a much needed boost in both my morale and technique. However, cross country skiing is more to my liking, especially for back country touring in the national parks.

However, today, we took the easy route: a snowcoach tour of Yellowstone National Park. Had a very good guide, who is a park ranger in the summer, so he is very knowledgeable about the geology, wildlife, etc. Yellowstone has been very seismically active this past month: there have been 900 earthquakes, ranging from magnitude 0.5 to 3.8 since January 19. Although most are minor and can't be felt, they have triggered some changes in the underlying plumbing of some geysers, with one, called Gigantis, becoming active after being dormant for years. It's also a reminder that Yellowstone sits atop the largest underground volcano in the world.

We saw a variety of wildlife: bison, elk, coyotes, trumpter swans, and bald eagles. Because the rivers are fed by the hot springs and geysers, they don't freeze over, despite temps that can drop to minus 20 to 30 degrees. This means that wildlife like bald eagles don't have to migrate to open water in the winter, they can hunt for fish all year. The swans come to Yellowstone from Canada to winter over in the waters as well. Wish we could have seen some wolves, but would need to get to the north part of the park for a better chance to see some.

We've been to Yellowstone in the winter before, but it just keeps calling us back. It is a very special place, and I recommend winter as the best time to visit.

Tomorrow, we will be heading to Victor, Idaho, where we are staying until the end of March. It's about a 30 minute drive--across Teton Pass--to Jackson, Wyoming, where our daughter lives.

The pictures are from today's trip. Wish I could have some good ones of the wildlife, but my camera, and my photo skills, prevent any real possibility of that.

This might be my last post for a while, as back in Victor, our cabin has no internet. (Gasp!)

Gigantis geyser