Jackson Hole 2007 - Saturday, 2/24/07

The Best Tour Ever!

Today we toured Yellowstone and it was the perfect ending for a great week visiting Mimi, Frank, Melissa, and Michelle. We had so many great experiences that Alexa said it the best tour of her life. Then she amended herself to say she thought it was the best tour anyone in the world ever had. On the drive back from Yellowstone, I wondered how I could summarize our day for this email. But during dinner at the Sundog Deli and Cafe, Mimi suggested we each describe something we liked about the tour and this provided the organization I needed for this note.

Michelle said her favorite thing was being with Scott. Scott Carsley is the owner of Yellowstone Alpen Guides, and our driver and guide for the day. Scott towed Michelle sliding over the packed snow in her hiking boots. During our ski trip, Michelle returned the favor by alternating between helping break trail and by skiing so close behind Scott that her ski tips were under his boot heels, behavior only tolerated "because she's so cute." Scott also told excellent stories about the history of Yellowstone. One was about Jim Bridger, an early explorer, known for his tall tales. When he described the geysers and thermal basins of Yellowstone, he wasn't believed. It wasn't until an expedition that included a photographer and an artist (Moran and Jackson) brought back visual proof of the wonders, that Congress established Yellowstone as the world's first national park. Another fun thing, was using Scott's thermometers to measure the temperature of the various pools and geysers.

Mimi liked the wolf and the eagles building a nest. We dragged Scott out of bed for an early 7am start, but were rewarded within minutes of entering the park by seeing a wolf near an elk carcass by the side of the road. We stopped and had plenty of time to observe the wolf close up as he (she?) walked up the snow bank to the road, stopped to stare at us for awhile, then trotted down the road in front of us. The typical wolf sighting is hundreds of yards away and involves sighting scopes or binoculars, but we got to see this one close up with our bare eyes. Wow! Then a few minutes later we stopped to look at an eagles nest high up in a tree next to the road. Using binoculars we watched one bald eagle keep watch from a perch next to the nest, while the second bald eagle arranged sticks forming the nest.

Melissa got a kick out of a raven we saw stealing food from a snowmobile. The snowmobiles were parked near a geyser and the raven used its head to open the leather flap on the back of the snowmobile so it could pull out a bag of chips and other goodies. Ravens are very smart and have become so adept at stealing from tourists that there are signs posted warning that while going after your food, the ravens also carry away things like hats and cameras.

Nick (nature boy) liked all the wildlife. He especially liked the wolf (we all did) and the raven. He also enjoyed Scott's story about Jim Bridger spotting an elk and taking careful aim and shooting at it but missing. So he reloaded and tried again, again with no success. He finally realized that he was actually shooting at the reflection of the elk in a wall of obsidian and the elk was actually behind him. No wonder people didn't believe him when he described the wonders of Yellowstone.

Frank enjoyed his nap during the movie about geysers at the Old Faithful Visitors Center. He also really liked the two or three hours we spent cross country skiing past geysers, thermal pools, and little steam spouts (called thermules or something like that). We really got to explore a part of the park that almost no one sees during the winter. We saw geyser eggs, little round rocks that are spewed up from the geysers and form rings around the spouts, with the larger "eggs" closer to the spout and the tiny little geyser eggs further out. We saw pools surrounded by various colored rings; each color due to different bacteria that thrive in a different water temperature. We sat in the snow on a hillside overlooking one such pool and ate our lunches. The ski trip was certainly one of the highlights of the tour. Frank also liked Scott's recounting of the history of Chief Joseph leading the Nez Perce Indians through Yellowstone on their way to safety in Canada, only to be caught a few miles from the border and being put on a reservation.

Michael especially enjoyed seeing the Great Fountain Geyser erupt. We cross country skied past several thermal pools and little geysers. Just before lunch, we passed the Great Fountain and Scott told us that it only erupted every 12 hours or so. From the height of the water, he guessed it would probably be a couple of hours before it erupted again. In the summer, people come and sit for hours to see this geyser erupt, but we needed to push on if we were going to finish skiing and still have time to see Old Faithful. Resigned to missing the Great Fountain erupt, we skied on. Later, skiing back to the Bombadier, we passed the Great Fountain again and just as we approached, it started to erupt. So we stood and watched for 15 or 20 minutes as water shot 100 feet into the air. Our ski tracks were the only ones visible this far from the maintained winter roads, so it's possible we were the first ones to see the Great Fountain Geyser this winter.

Alexa liked the "Three Amigos" -- three bison that we spotted by the side of the road. While we stopped to watch them they climbed up onto the road and walked past us just a few feet from our Bombardier. We saw hundreds of bison during our tour, usually in large herds, but every time we saw three together we were sure it was the Three Amigos following us through Yellowstone. Alexa also enjoyed the Fountain Geyser (and here). This was a geyser we watched while walking around a boardwalk. Like the Great Fountain Geyser, it doesn't erupt very often. But it started erupting just as we walked up to it. We stood on the boardwalk, only a few feet, from the geyser and watched it repeatedly shoot many thousands of gallons of water high into the air. The spectacle went on for many minutes and was flanked by smaller geysers named " Twig" and " Jet". Twig was so cute I wanted to take it home and install it in my garden.

Julie thought the whole day was so special that she couldn't single out anything as her favorite experience.

Phillip agreed with Julie--there were so many special experiences--but one thing stood out as emblematic of this awesome day. Near the end of the tour Alexa saw a bald eagle perched in a dead tree. Scott pulled over so we could all get a good look at it. As I stood up and poked my head out the roof opening, the eagle flew right over my head giving me an uplifting view of its brilliantly white tail and head. It circled a few times before soaring out of sight. The beauty, the mystery, the power, the perfect timing of the moment seemed to sum up our day in Yellowstone, and I felt my spirit soar like the eagle. This was a day none of us would forget.

Tomorrow we fly back to Boston, with memories to keep us until next year's Wyoming adventures.