Yellowstone in the summer changed my life and teaching direction. Revisiting in the winter was like going back to an old friend’s house when all the ‘guests’ have gone home and you get to sit in the den and have long quiet conversations with the residents.
~Mike Leonard, an educator that attended both a summer and a winter field experience in Yellowstone with the museum
I had hoped to go to Pungo yesterday, but the weather had other plans for me. A day trip with all day rain just didn’t seem the thing to do. So, I sat home, did chores, and wished I was someplace else – with Melissa. She is leading a museum trip to our other special place – Yellowstone. Winter is probably my favorite season out there – so quiet, a living Christmas card, and the wildlife spotting is much easier against the snow. And so few people, relative to summer, it’s like having your own private park at times. She has sent a few notes about what they are seeing, and, today, the group heads to my favorite place – Lamar Valley. She said it has snowed every day. Not ideal conditions, since the landscape can seem so vast and sparkling when the sun is out, but not a bad way to spend your days – the softened sounds, the way the world seems to embrace you when it snows, everything (you, the wildlife, the scenery) all draped in a cloak of ever-changing white. And, she has discovered a new favorite thing – cross-country skiing. Guess I had better start getting in shape and practicing my balance for our next visit. As I sat reminiscing of past trips, I decided to share some images from our previous winter adventures to this special place in its special season.
Sunlight catches a lone, ice-covered snag at Mammoth Terraces (click photos to enlarge)
Sunrise at Canary Springs at Mammoth Terraces
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Struggling to stay above the snow
A weathered tree trunk
Edge of ice on the Yellowstone River
Melissa in deep snow at Canyon on a previous trip
Hayden Valley on a gray, snowy day
The majestic landscape of Hayden Valley
A coyote and shadow along the Madison River
Bison patterns
Bull elk in Lamar Valley
Pine Martin in Silver Gate
Moose in Silver Gate
The once-dominant Druid Peak pack in Lamar Valley
Bison snow plow
A low fog hangs in Lamar Valley, highlighting a lone Cottonwood tree along the Lamar River.
The incredible winter sky in Lamar Valley
Roads End Naturalist 
Wow.
Agreed, it is indeed a special place, even moreso in winter.
awesome photos of a very special place
Awesome photos!
Thanks, Betsy. Can’t wait to get back out there!
We were just there for a day trip on snowmobiles. Because of my trips with you and Melissa it has become one of my favorite places to visit. Thanks for sharing these images!!!
I love it that you keep going back. That makes us both very happy to have shared it with people that love it like we do.
I lived out in Jackson Hole one winter and you have really captured the winter magic of Yellowstone.
Thanks. That must have been an awesome winter. Jackson Hole and the Tetons are so beautiful.
Wonderful photos. I especially love the pine marten picture!
Thanks for sharing
Thank you. Friends of ours have Pine Martens frequent their yard in Silver Gate. Lucky them!
Beautiful, thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Rosa.
The image of the three buffalo is overwhelmingly powerful. All the images show like a piece of poetry. Thanks for sharing
Thank you, Nanette.