We have enjoyed the pristine beauty of the Yellowstone National Park several times during summer months over the past few years. Famous for the mesmerizing geysers, lakes, mountains and wild bison, I thought we had seen it all, but as usual Somnath had something new planned for our mid-winter break outing.
We picked up our SUV rental which ended up being the sturdy black Ford Expedition in the afternoon and left after kids finished their swim practice on Wednesday, Feb 15th. Our goal was to reach Idaho for a night stay at Baymont Inn & Suites at Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.
Sleep came in easily since we checked in way past midnight. Mili had forgotten to turn off her 7am alarm and next morning, we scrambled out hurriedly out of the bed to turn off her rock music blaring at full volume. It helped us have an earlier than usual (after late night drive) breakfast and we chatted briefly with the Indian man at the reception who checked us in the previous night. He owns a tour company and conducts tours all over Europe during summer and is working at his friend's motel in winter. We set off around 9am on our travel through Idaho, Montana and Wyoming for our final destination, Cody, our base for the next two nights near the East entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
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| Beautiful morning at lake Coeur D'Alene, Idaho |
It was our first visit to Cody, and we checked into the charming Cody Legacy Inn & Suites. The hotel had lovely log cabin interiors with historical information on display. The firsts of Cody were particularly interesting with browned newspaper clippings about the first school and the first fire station in Cody. Somnath completed the paperwork as we walked around the tastefully decorated lobby area complete with a fireplace and cozy chairs.
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| The collage was awesome way to talk about Cody's historical past. |
Somnath mentioned that the hotel had good reviews as we walked to our room. We don't need fancy hotels on our travels, but we always appreciate the tastefully decorated rooms that we come across from time to time.
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| The lovely decor in Cody Legacy Inn & Suites, Wyoming |
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| The attention to detail for window furnishings and furniture really added a rustic charm to the room. |
Somnath told us that we had to leave the hotel at 6am and we woke up at 5am, which is quite a feat since none of us are morning persons. We started our adventure, and the first stop was the Yellowstone Snowmobile tours shop to pick up our gear. We had already put on 5 winter shirts, one Patagonia jacket and a Marmot jacket over it when we left our room. It was a beautiful start to the day as the sun was getting ready to rise and everything was serene. At the shop, we were handed a huge snowsuit, mittens and insulated snow boots. My first thought as I wriggled into the snowsuit with help from Somnath and Mili, was how I would manage restroom breaks during the day and especially in the honey bucket restrooms that I expected would be the only facilities available. After donning the gear, we felt like "huge marshmallows" (kids vocabulary) while personally I felt like an astronaut in a space suit.
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| Gorgeous Sunrise on a cold morning |
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Gear Pickup at Yellowstone Snowmobile Tour shop with the beautiful sunrise behind us.
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We then drove to Peheska Tepee where we met our tour guide for the day and the other folks in our snowmobile tour group. There were 6 in a family and two other couples in addition to us and the tour guide. The guide told us to start it easy on the accelerator, told us how much distance to keep from the snow mobile in front of us, not to turn the snowmobile handle while pressing the throttle in which case we would surely run into a snowbank and that was all the orientation provided before we set off for the East entrance of Yellowstone National Park. I was shaky in the beginning trying to trust the huge and powerful machine while having Mili has my precious pillion rider. And I was surprised at the speed with which the tour guide leading us immediately took off at - I wondered if he forgot that he told us to start slow. I believe those first few minutes were a bit terrifying and at the same time exciting for Mili - as for me, I kept trying to focus on the road ahead and leaned over the fogged-up visor trying to see the road ahead. By the time we reached the gate about 2mins ahead, I felt I got a hang of it and became more confident. Remember the marshmallow suits? We were glad we had those on because it was the coldest we had ever experienced (probably not Somnath who has been through Edmonton winters) and the wind blowing into our face added to the chill.
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Snowmobile pickup at Pahaska Tepee
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| Ranger checks for permits at Yellowstone National Park East Entrance |
The tour guide also used this opportunity to let us know if we needed to make any changes in how we were driving. I was asked to speed up on straight stretches and that's what I did. This was so that the group could keep close to each other and specifically whenever the guide spotted wildlife. It was thrilling once I got comfortable with the snowmobile and the heated handles kept the fingers warm. I couldn't believe that we were riding at 50mph and making a conscious effort to ignore the speed signs of 35mph which is the usual speed limit for vehicles on summer roads.
Our first halt was at the Lake Butte Overlook which was beautiful beyond words. We were blessed to have a beautiful and sunny day with clear skies and we could see all the beautiful mountain peaks. We couldn't have asked for a better day!
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| Lake Butte Overlook - beautiful beyond words |
As we drove on, the guide used the signal to slow down all of a sudden. We were driving past the beautiful snow-covered Yellowstone Lake, and it soon became clear that there was a bison couple on the road uncomfortably close to us.
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| You could literally read this young bull bison's mind as he assessed whether he should attack the humans on the shiny yellow snowmobiles that interrupted his rendezvous. |
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It was the two of them and us within a couple of feet away from each other and I belatedly realized that the guide didn't tell us what to do if bisons charged at us. Thankfully, they lost interest and we moved on.
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Our trip continued and to my pleasant surprise, we stopped at a warming hut. I realized just how pampered we are when we walked into the Fishing Bridge Warming hut which was hosted by a young lady ranger. She told us that she moved from Louisiana and had already spent 4 winters in Yellowstone. The coldest this year was -42 degrees Fahrenheit but because they had housing inside the park, she said the commute wasn't too bad. The day we toured, the temperature was -15 degrees, and I cannot imagine what -42 would have been. There was a surprisingly clean outhouse and I had to get out of the snowsuit in the warming hut before using the restroom. The whole gear was so heavy, getting in and out of it felt like weight training and cardio workout at the same time.
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| Our first warming hut - The Fishing Bridge Warming Hut |
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| The cold weather advisory stated were were at high danger with -15 degrees F temperature. |
We definitely felt better after a few minutes in the warming hut because while our entire body was warm while riding the snowmobiles, our toes were freezing since we had forgotten to carry toe warmers. Within a couple of minutes, we had another wildlife sighting. This time it was a young red fox!
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| Our group getting ready to leave the warming hut |
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| This young red fox was on the road and quickly darted into the lake where it spotted some prey. |
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| It was ignoring us completely and it was serene and quiet with just the beautiful snow all around us. |
After riding a couple of miles and stopping to click pictures at some more vista points, we arrived at the West Thumb Warming Hut. I think these breaks that allowed us to warm up, made the trip extremely comfortable and manageable. After warming up, we drove to the Continental Divide where the guide explained that the lake on one side of the divide flowed into the Atlantic Ocean, while the water on the other side flowed into the Columbia River and eventually into the Pacific Ocean.
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| West Thumb Warming Hut - these huts have a central heater with a huge warm fire burning and the guide signed us in at the logbook kept at the entrance. Everyone gathered around the heater to soak in the warmth from the fire. |
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| Mili at the Continental Divide |
Our next halts were at the Keppler Cascades waterfall, followed by the Black Sand Basin and Emerald Pool. The guide explained that the Grand Prismatic was covered with snow and not as spectacular as it is during Summer. It was awesome to see the hot geysers and warm water which were not affected by snow and it was no surprise that bison preferred to be closer to the warmer areas.
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| Keppler Cascades waterfalls |
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Mili pondering something or stretching while reading information about the Emerald Pool.
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| Black sand basin |
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| Bison near the geysers |
Time passed quickly as we rode and enjoyed the breathtaking scenery, and it was time to head to The Old Faithful where we were going to have lunch first and then meet at the viewing point to see the geyser erupt at 1:35pm. The guide asked us to get to the viewing deck about 10mins sooner since estimated times could sometimes vary by give or take 10mins. The Yurts seemed like luxurious dining because they were big, had many tables and a huge heater. We hungrily devoured our turkey wraps that we had picked up from Costco the earlier day and they have never tasted so divine!
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| Fine dining at Yurt#1 which was reserved for our group. |
After another exercise of getting out of the snowsuit and using the restroom at The Old Faithful visitor center, we got back to the Yurt to suit up again and walked over to the Old Faithful viewpoint at 1:18pm. We were just in time because Old Faithful decided to erupt at 1:18pm that afternoon instead of the expected 1:35pm and we were able to catch it all on video! The Old Faithful visitor center was packed with people, and it seems the lodge is open during winter. We saw many folks snowshoeing and doing backcountry skiing in the park and our guide explained that they were either staying at the Lodge or were part of winter tour groups since no other vehicles are allowed to enter the park from any of the entrances during winter.
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| What a beautiful day and such a splendid show - the Old Faithful never ceases to amaze! |
It was time to start our return journey and kids switched places and I had Neel as my pillion rider while Mili joined Somnath. We stopped a couple of times and saw herds of bison on the lake. Within a couple of mins, we slowed down again when the guide pointed out to a young coyote. We have been to a wildlife watching tour in Denali National Park and only saw mountain goats! This Yellowstone trip was totally worth it.
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| During summer, we find bison herds on the roads but this time around they seemed to prefer either the warmer areas near the geysers or the snow packed lakes. |
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| Coyote watching us as we watched it - this one was limping but seemed to be a young one |
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Our group had 8 snowmobiles and we would always park in the same order and ride in the same order. The guide, followed by the "inexperienced" Purkayastha family, followed by the "experienced" other folks - the family of 6 did this tour every year and the couple directly behind me were local to the area.
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| The sun reminded us that it was time to head back and call it a day. |
Some final shots from the return trip back and you could tell the kids were tired. They however had a fabulous time.
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| Fresh white powdery snowball fights were more appealing than watching any more Bison. |
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| Riding pillion was hard on the back and Mili just lay down a couple of times on the pillow soft snow. |
After riding 140miles within the Yellowstone National Park, our exciting snowmobile adventure ended at around 4:30pm. A load was lifted when we were finally able to return the snowsuits!
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| Lucky to have this man in our life who plans the awesomest adventures for us! |
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| Final goodbye to Yellowstone National Park on this trip. |
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| Sunset at Yellowstone National Park as we started driving back to Cody |
We drove back to Cody Legacy Inn & Suites and picked up some pizza from the good old Pizza Hut. The colds that were bothering Neel, Mili and Somnath were at its worst that night but with the adventure out of the way, all three of them surrendered, took a dose of NyQuil and went to bed.
We checked out of the Inn around 9am the next morning, stocked up on snacks and coffees at Albertsons and started the drive back home. Somnath never ceases to amaze me with his boundless energy for driving and after covering numerous winter conditions across three states, we reached back home safely at 10:45pm. Though there was snowfall in some places, thankfully we did not run into any road or pass closures. The whole drive was gray, rainy, and snowy all along and as we approached Washington state, it seemed to tease us with bright sunset and clear blue skies as if to say, "and you call WA rainy?!?"
