Birthday in Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park (YNP) has very strict rules regarding winter travel on its roads. Basically, the roads are closed to all travel except Yellowstone-permitted snowmobile or snowcoach commercially guided tours. Snowcoaches, or slowcoaches as I like to call them, are vans whose wheels have been replaced with tracks for over-snow driving. They work great, but the tracks prevent them from exceeding speeds of 25 mph. Hence, slowcoaches. One other way to enter the park during the winter season is on XC skis with a National Parks pass. And that's it, unless you win the lottery. Beginning in 2015, YNP began a non-commercially guided snowmobile program that allows a person like you or me to guide a group into the park. A total of five snowmobiles are allowed in each group and only one permit is granted per day to each of the park's five entrance gates months in advance. In other words, only five of these permits are given out on any given day for the entire park, and I got one for February 5th- my birthday! I figured it to be a truly special experience and wanted to share it with my partner Kimi and someone else special to me, but who? Yellowstone's winters, especially in early February, can be finger-freezing, toe-popping, mind-numbing cold, so I knew it had to be someone hearty. Someone tough and not a complainer. Marilyn, I thought, Kimi's 70 year old mom. She would be perfect. And she was.

With temperatures hovering around 5 degrees, we set out for Firehole Falls and Old Faithful from the west gate. Despite the cold temps, the day looked to be a stunner. Being cold is expected, what you're hoping for is blue skies and visibility, and it seemed we just might get it.

Firehole Falls is a popular 40 ft falls, and we had it mostly to ourselves. Often, that's the case with Yellowstone in the winter; the crowds aren't there, but as we made our way to Old Faithful, traffic picked up. Suddenly, the three of us were surrounded by fourteen hundred pound animals in every direction. My heart, like I imagined their hooves would should they decide they no longer cared to share the road, pounded in my chest. One kept turning her head back and throwing us dirty looks. Eventually, Kimi and I recognized the look and started to laugh. It was the same exact look our beagle gives us when we're late with dinner or to go to bed. It was the look of annoyance. I think that's when I knew we'd be okay. Our presence may have been annoying them (or at least one of them!), but it certainly didn't appear to threaten them. 

Some, such as the one below, even took a nap. 

Cute, but also problematic. Old Faithful was due to erupt in an hour and we needed to make that eruption in order to get the snowmobiles back to the rental shop in time. From Old Faithful, we could expect an hour and a half ride to the west gate, and that's without bison jams, elk, wolves, or whatever else might present itself in this most magnificent place. That said, we did not appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. With temperatures in the negative 30s the past few nights and daytime highs of 10, these animals were not about to pass up the afternoon sun for us. So, there we sat amidst the snorts and the snores. Just one of the herd.

Because of the bison, we did miss Old Faithful and Marilyn was understandably disappointed. Old Faithful is arguably the most famous feature in the park, and the one we grow up hearing about, but in terms of eruptions, it's not the most impressive. I checked my phone for the time. We'd be cutting it close, but we had to stop. "Sometimes," I told her as we parked our snowmobiles at Fountain Paint Pots, "the most impressive geysers are here." The prettiest too.

And there, past the mud pots and blue pools, were two geysers blowing water 20-30 feet into the air as if trying to outdo each other.

And no one was there to watch them but us. Fountain Geyser, above, according to YNP literature, is one of the most unpredictable and beautiful geysers in the park, and after seeing it blow, I entirely agree. 

The stormtrooper returns to her ship after exploring the other world.

My story ends there, but the pictures don't. Keep scrolling to see a little more of winter in Yellowstone, and what I think is the best season in the park.

Bison napping along the Madison River. 

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. 

Elk make some of the best subjects in the park. Even a Royal Bull Elk (note the six points) will give you a smile, 

look toward the camera,

and give you his best side. 

What a great birthday! Thank you Yellowstone, Kimi, and Marilyn!

Two Top Loop

I knew the day would be a good one when I let the dogs out and saw Lionhead Mountain lit with morning sun.

Choosing the Two Top Mountain loop as our destination, we followed the trail into West Yellowstone's winter wonderland.

But our adventurous side got the best of us, and we soon said good-bye to the groomers and headed for the trees...

The ghost trees, that is. 

All winter, the wind blows snow into these trees freezing them into what I call

West Yellowstone's own Stonehenge.

After Two Top and its ghost trees, we stop for lunch with views into Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park. Somewhere out there the bison are trying to survive the harsh and unforgiving winter and the grizzlies sleep. 

Meanwhile, at one of our favorite pull-outs just before town, a moose drinks from a stream, and I think: this is how it should be. The moose drinks, the bear sleeps, the bison, and all of us, survive. This is, of course, not up to the moose, the bear, or the bison. It is up to us. Only us. I understand- the weight of this responsibility is enormous. But so is the alternative.

Later, the way good experiences often go, we take the long way home. We pass Hegben Lake and the Trumpeter Swans who call it home. The cold is beginning to set in; I can feel its edge creeping through my gloves and under my jacket. As I crank up the hand-warmers on my snowmobile, I'm again awestruck by the animals who call this place home in winter.

Including these two… 

Happy day! 

Snowmobiling and 3 Haikus

A landscape blended-

Rainbow clouds and snowmen trees,

Strangers become friends 

Black river golden,

Ducks upside down search below

for food and drowned dreams. 

Draped in winter's cloak,

the faithful but forgotten

dream of spring again.

Full Throttle Nature

This is just a fun post from a memorable week on Mt. Hood with two of my favorite people. 

It's doubtful there will be anything thought-provoking.
And I have no idea what happened to my spacing.

Sure-fire ingredients to a fun day.

Thanks to a crazy Inversion-type weather system that hit the Pacific Northwest last week, Portlanders were stuck with a climate typically found on the mountain this time of year- 25 degree days, even colder nights, and clouds. Lots of clouds. Meanwhile, us mountain folks enjoyed a week of stunningly beautiful blue skies and balmy temperatures that reached into the low 60s. Skis and snowshoes beware. This is sledding kind of weather. 

Meet Crash.

Some history: Crash is my sled. Crash earned her name last year when Kimi and I took our brand-spanking new machines out for the first time ever. At the end of the day when loading her onto the trailer, I, apparently, hit the throttle a little too hard and for a little too long. Unfortunately, I never gave the brake a thought as I flew through the front of the trailer and into the back of Kimi's truck. I was quickly thrown off the sled and face-planted in the parking lot. Oddly, my snowmobile was nowhere to be seen. I wasn't hurt, but assumed the truck and brand new snowmobile were toast. For a moment, I considered feigning injury to deflect attention from the sure-to-exist crash scene. I rolled over gingerly (just in case I had to fake cracked ribs) and saw that my sled was slightly on the trailer, but mostly it had climbed up the back of the 4 Runner. Its skis reached gallantly for the sky. It didn't look good, only, it didn't look entirely bad either. Surely something had to be broken though. After all, I just busted through the trailer. Yet, besides being the only ones in the parking lot, and certainly being the only ones in the parking lot with a snowmobile stuck on the back of their car, things looked okay. Somehow the two of us managed to get the thing off the truck and back on solid ground. As a testament to the Toyota brand, the 4 Runner barely had a scratch, and my snowmobile seemed in good shape too. The damage was minimal, possibly only cosmetic, and it started right up, which was a good thing because somebody still had to get it on the trailer. Little did I know, that somebody would be me. As it turned out, once was enough to crash through the trailer and into the truck. She loaded beautifully the second time around; however, she would never be nameless again. 

The present: Diana, straight out of Queens, New York and my best friend from high school, came to visit last week. Before this trip, she had never ridden a snowmobile. In fact, being from New York, she never even really plays in the snow. This was evidenced by her outfit for the week: ski pants she bought on the mountain the day before, a long, pretty coat with faux fur around the collar that she typically wears to her Emmy-winning job in New York City, knee high leather boots with a zipper on the side, and borrowed gloves, goggles, and ski helmet from me. Yes, it occurred to us that she would be riding with me, on Crash, without a rated snowmobile helmet, but I promised I'd take it easy. 

Diana driving Crash around the parking lot.

The parking lot? I didn't promise to take it that easy. Soon we were off to higher ground.

That's more like it.

Diana and I took the lead with Kimi right behind us. I started to feel good on Crash and couldn't believe it had been nine months since I'd last ridden. Diana, riding on the back of my sled on the jump seat, was my first passenger, and she was a good one. I could barely tell she was there. That's when it occurred to me to check to make sure she was, in fact, there. Not only was she in place, but she was smiling too. So, I gunned it a little, gave us some speed. We climbed up the butte, high into the sky, the two of us- longtime friends who always thought life was a little more fun on the edge. Or was it the ledge? I wonder because, soon enough, I misjudged a shelf, what some might call a small ledge, and rolled Crash over on its side. Diana and I rolled too, and landed in the snow. Luckily, landing in snow doesn't hurt! However, we didn't have the muscle power to pull it right side up and Kimi wasn't upon us yet. What else was there to do except get the camera out? 

As we waited for Kimi to arrive, someone else stopped by to assess the situation.

I bet you're thinking, "how cute and innocent." Yeah, that's what we thought too.

That is, until we got to the fire lookout and were relentlessly pursued by these predatory birds for our lunch.

It may have gotten a piece of my finger, but I'll be damned if it gets a piece of my sandwich! 

Finally, we retreated to the top of the fire lookout and to our surprise, found it unlocked. With the unlocked door came an unlocked view. 

But right outside the door, someone was waiting.

If Alfred Hitchcock didn't use the Gray Jay in his movie The Birds, he should have.

Finally, we escaped the nasty fowl and their merciless ways. I wanted Diana to experience driving a snowmobile more than around a parking lot, so later in the day, I handed her the keys to Crash. She and Kimi headed out on the sleds for a loop around Frog Lake; I walked to the snow-covered Pacific Crest Trail. I love full throttle nature and riding screaming adrenaline through the woods, but as I walked by myself on the PCT, I understood what makes my heart beat best. 

I wondered if Wisdom and I would make it this far north on the trail this summer. Will we pass Frog Lake sometime in August? Will I recognize this tree that held my helmet on a fun day way back in January when the sun was shining and my friend from New York came to visit?  

(Somewhere around mile 2098 northbound on the Pacific Crest Trail)

For now, those answers don't matter. For now, I've got this moment with two people and a mountain I love. For now, that's enough. 

(Driving home at the end of the day.)

The following two days we went back out and experienced some of the best snowmobiling to be had in Oregon- No rollovers, no getting stuck, no clouds, and best of all, no Gray Jays! Here are a few of my favorite scenes from those two days.

Mt. Jefferson, coming down from Grasshopper Butte.

Clear Lake in the late afternoon

 A cheap place to stay for the night -heat not guaranteed!

  Lunch and a snowball fight at Grasshopper Lookout.

Helmets on & ready for anything!

So, how do we get home? Just kidding.

From snow to sea.. 

next stop, Bora Bora