snow machines!!

Snowmobiles are controversial in Yellowstone. This year 318 are allowed in, but you must be with a guide; you can't just show up at the gate and drive in on your own machine. Environmentalist want to limit their impact on the air and the wildlife; on the other side are people that point out that park is "for the people," not just the people that can afford a guide.

In the park, the snowmobile tours won't go if it's -20 or below. Walking to breakfast at 7 a.m., the temp hovered around -20. My eyelashes froze on the way to the lodge and kept sticking together. By 8 a.m. it had warmed to -15 so we were good to go. It was so cold that our helmets kept freezing over, not that I could see anyway with my frozen eyelashes--good thing Steve was driving.

Our first stop was at the West Thumb warming hut, and we all crowded around the wood stove and shoved extra warmers in our boots. Guests have seen otters here recently, so Steve went off to look for them (though sadly, he didn't find them.) Our guide told us that as we passed over the Continental Divide it was -20, -50 with the windchill.


The sun came up as we made our way to Lake Yellowstone. What a difference a week makes--the lake is now completely frozen over.


And Mr. and Mrs. Marshmellow posed for a picture


The outfit works better when you're actually on the machine


The sun was out and the sky was blue and we zipped through the forest


before coming out onto the frozen Hayden Valley.


There was a large herd (200+) of bison grazing in the valley


Before we stopped for lunch we made a detour to the Lower Falls. Last week it was so overcast we couldn't see much, but today the falls and the canyon were clear



We stopped at the Canyon warming hut for lunch, and then traveled West towards Madison

As we rounded the final stretch towards home, we stopped to watch the bison that were still making Biscuit Basin their home (and the small coyote that was running around behind them.)