#66 take a really great trip with jared

jared and i have always wanted to go on a snowmobiling trip to yellowstone.  he called me one day from work and told me about this deal that he found.  it happened to be perfect and coincide with our anniversary so he booked it for us.

yellowstone is absolutely amazing in the winter!!  everyone should experience this at least once in their lifetime.  i want to go again next year.

the only way into the park is by some sort of snow machine.  this is what the main road into the park looks like.  this is the only shot i got of any snowmobile.  we were in a group of 10 snowmobiles including our guide.  you can't get into the park without a guide.

this is just one of our views as we traveled along on the snowmobile.

it was very cold, but the snowsuits they gave us to wear were awesome!  i didn't get cold once.

this is one of the hot pots.  our guide took us out around the boardwalks and told us all about the park.  it was quite interesting and mindy was full of information.

these are some of the mud pots.  the nice thing about yellowstone in the winter is you realize where it is safe to walk.  if there is no snow, don't go.

right behind this beautiful tree is a very large hot pot.  our guide told us that across the main road from this hot pot was an old hotel.  they used to pump warm water from this hot pot to the hotel for the baths.  in the 1920's when the economy was not doing well the company that owned the hotel sold it to another company who was going to tear down the hotel and use the materials to build another one somewhere else in the park.  right before the demolition, the hotel burned to the ground and the new company was conveniently issued a insurance check.

this was a perfectly melted heart right in the middle of the snow.  it was sweet.

they are everywhere.  these bison were walking within 20 feet of our snowmobiles.

old faithful before it erupted.  i wish i had taken a picture of the boardwalk.  the ranger was telling about 150 of us that in the summer there are 5000 to 8000.  part of the charm of winter is the amount of people in the park.

you always have to have a picture of old faithful erupting when you go to yellowstone.  there is quite a bit of smoke with the winter that sometimes it is harder to see the eruptions as well.

this was toward the end, jared said to me look at the smoke.  so i took a picture of it.

me at old faithful after the eruption.  the little speck of gray at my feet was the bench that you can sit on in the summer to watch the eruption.

jared at old faithful.

these were some of the funny little snow vehicles that took people around xc skiing and snowshoeing.  people sat in them sideways facing out to see out of the windows.

this was a funny snowbus.  

we went to kespler cascades.  these falls were just past old faithful.  i have never been there.  the guide was telling us that back in the stage coach days, there would be many stage coach robbery's in this area because the stage coach could not turn around.  the robbers would hide in the trees then jump out at their victims and rob them.  they would get quite alot of loot because you had to be quite wealthy to even be able to visit yellowstone in those days.  one day they robbed 17 stagecoaches and made off with more than $3000 worth of stuff before the first stagecoach could get to canyon and telegraph back about the robbers.

this pool was beautiful and the guide told us it is quite deep.  the bluer the hot pots are the hotter they are, you can tell by the steam.

we saw this elk in the river on the way out.  the bummer of the trip was that we were not able to go up firehole canyon.  firehole is my favorite spot in all of yellowstone even in the summer.  i was so bummed we weren't able to see it in the winter.

this is another one of the funny snow vehicles.  the trailer is meant to carry all of the people's gear.  the bummer of the trip was that we were not able to go up firehole canyon.  there was a snowcoach stuck up there and it was from the company who took us into the park.  firehole is my favorite spot in all of yellowstone even in the summer.  i was so bummed we weren't able to see it in the winter.

this picture was horrible and it made me wish i had my other lens.  there is a bald eagle in the nest in the tree.  i think it liked the attention, it just kept looking at us from up there.  when we left, he left with us and followed us for a while.  it was beautiful to see him fly.

there is so much snow in the little town.  this is one of the snowbanks.

they don't plow the streets, they groom them.  the streets are just packed down snow that everyone drives on.  there is even a snowbank median in the middle of the road on the wider roads.  most people it seems travel by snowmobile.  

another snowbank.

that is a picture of our hotel.  the snow on the left was all the way up to the second story balcony.

this was on our way home.  the road was covered with snow and ice.  it was somewhat nerving to drive on this.

although it had me on the edge of my seat, it was beautiful.

at one point we were going along and came upon a car in front of us going about 10 to 15 mph.  the lady kept braking and jared told me that when he had to brake behind her, he just started sliding along.  i am so glad i didn't feel it.

another nail biting experience came as we were almost out of island park.  at the front of the traffic coming towards us was a pickup truck who was swerving all over the road.  luckily he managed to gain control just as he was coming upon us.  it was weird because he was followed by four other cars and a semi truck who seemed to be traveling along just fine.  

this was what the road was like for about 2 hours of our drive.  it wasn't too bad until we got to ashton, id where it was so white.  jared kept asking me if i could see the road.  it was kind of scary especially because it was two way traffic.

we thought this sign was funny because we had no idea what it meant.  i thought maybe it was to warn us that as the semi's went by they would have huge snow dust follow them and take over your car.  this didn't happen as much when we saw the signs though.  now that i am looking at this picture i am thinking it is because it is flatter here and when it get windy the snow blows across the road and makes it harder to see.

anyhow, all in all it was an awesome trip!!  i can't wait to go and do it again.  next time i think we might have to take a couple of extra days and go over to canyon and see the waterfalls.