Yellowstone In Winter

One of the interesting aspects in setting up this blog as well as my photography web site, is the opportunity to revisit places that I have been before. In many cases places that I have revisited and hope to visit again.

This year's Super Bowl is over. Here in Thailand it was this morning, 2 February starting at 6:30 in the morning.

I caught a little at the start of the game - unfortunately it included the National Anthem. I know that I should be kind and gentle regarding Jennifer Hudson because of her personal tragedy last year BUT IT'S THE NATIONAL ANTHEM OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! National anthems are supposed to be hard driving renditions in the realm of "God Save The Queen", the Soviet National Anthem, not an ethnocentric "cat a wailing" as presented to the world at the Super Bowl. It sounded very much like the two neighborhood cats here that were in heat last week. But to be honest, I was not surprised at either the choice of the performer nor the rendition of the anthem.

The last time that the Steelers were in the Super Bowl, 2006, I returned to my house from my trip to Yellowstone National Park just in time to watch the game.

Yellowstone is one of my favorite destinations. When I encounter people from foreign lands that are planning to visit the United States, Yellowstone is one of my strongest recommendations for them to visit. I discourage people from visiting the large cities especially New York City and Washington D.C.

My lack of enthusiasm for New York City isn't entirely due to my disliking of the Yankees, Knicks, and Rangers. I don't even recommend Boston to foreigners. My prejudice is against large cities. Most cities in America have a counterpart elsewhere in the world. Most these foreign cities have more to offer than the comparable American city. American large cities don't really offer much uniqueness to them. Skyscrapers dominate the skylines of all large cities in the world. Given the rise of Asia in the past 50 years, the relatively newer skylines of Asia are more unique and interesting than New York. Paris has better food than any US city. Paris and London have better museums than Washington. Hong Kong has better shopping than New York with the advantage of not having to deal with New Yorkers. New Orleans is an embarrassment. San Francisco, although dirty, is interesting but to me there are much better places to spend your time and money - the US National Parks.

What America has that is unique and precious is our natural beauty exemplified by our superior National Park System.

Yellowstone is one of my favorite National Parks. I typically visit the park in early June before the schools let out for summer. The first time that I visited Yellowstone in the Winter was in 2004. I read an article in the newspaper about touring Yellowstone in the Winter. Three weeks later I flew up to Bozeman, Montana. One trip in the Winter was all it took - to convince me that the Park is even better in the Winter.

I returned to Yellowstone in January and February 2006 to look for wolves. I signed up for tour with the Yellowstone Association. I was driving up to the Park so I allowed a couple extra days to tour the Park on my own - a great decision.

Road access in the Winter is limited - basically the northern Mammoth Springs part of the Park . There are few people in the Park during the winter are researchers or serious photographers or hard core tourists. This establishes a much greater sense of camaraderie than in the Summer when hordes of people with their children clog the roads in their over sized campers.

In the Winter the only congestion that you find on the roads are herds of bison using the semi plowed road for ease of travel. At pullouts along the road, you will find "professional" wolf watchers all too willing to share their knowledge about the Yellowstone wolves with you, latest sighting information, and a peek through their specialized spotting equipment. At other pull outs, as you eat your lunch in the peaceful solitude of a snow covered countryside, you may encounter University or federal researchers studying creatures such as elk, bison, coyotes, wolves, or mountain lions. They are also willing to share some of their time and knowledge.

The hardships of survival are more apparent in the Winter. Buffalo and elk carcasses provide the necessary nutrition for crows, coyotes, wolves and other animals to survive. The strains of winter survival are very visible on the elk and bison. As a part of our tour with a bonafide naturalist we were brought to the site of a recent wolf kill. We also used snow shovels to imitate the winter grazing efforts of the bison. The tour provided a greater understanding and appreciation of the ability of the park's wildlife to survive. All this plus wonderful natural beauty with very few people.

We hope to tour the USA starting this June. Naturally Yellowstone is towards the top of our list - just below family to see.