January 17, 2009
Today is our last travel day. We leave the tiny Bozeman airport with it's 5 gates and fly to Denver. I've always heard to avoid the Denver airport because of all the weather issues slowing down flights, but I have to say that this is a very well put together airport. There is free wifi which is always good. Plus there is a lot to eat and do. The signage here is wonderful. It's not such a bad place to have a layover. We're here for 6 hours, but so far we've stayed pretty busy. After all our flight delays traveling to Tulsa back in December, I was well prepared for delays for this trip. We traveled through 3 different airports that receive freezing temperatures and snow, but haven't had a single delay. All our shuttles and flights have been as scheduled.
When we were checking into Southwest at the Denver airport I was reminded of checking in with Delta at the Hayden airport a week ago. Delta, or at least Delta at Hayden had the most inefficient way of checking in baggage that I've ever seen. We arrived with a short line and they told us to put our luggage down in the line, leave one person standing with it, and the other walk over to the kiosks to check in. Since we were checking bags, they needed to see our ID. Well, Mark was over standing with the luggage. So, the Delta attendant found Mark and checked his ID. Then, I had to go to the ticket counter to actually get the luggage tags and they had to come get the luggage. It was insanely inefficient. Luckily at the time we were in no rush, but just shook our heads and laughed. Later, after walking around a bit, we saw the the line to check in to Delta was a mile long and there were piles of luggage stacked up in the zigzag part of the line blocking everything. What a mess.
Tomorrow we'll be getting back to normal life. It's been a very long vacation for us and we are thankful to be able to use it to travel. Though Monday will be hard, I think we're probably both ready to get back to work and sleep in our own beds for sure. Thanks for reading our blog and stay tuned for pictures.
http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Winter Wonderland
January 16, 2009
Well, our vacation is coming to an end. We've been having a great time. I'm actually getting used to the snow now and bundling up to go outside. I love Yellowstone in the winter time. The views are just breathtaking. The landscape changes every day making taking photographs so much fun. I just can't get enough of this place. I would estimate that I've taken about seven gigs of photos in Yellowstone alone. That's approximately 1400 photos. And I could still take more. Plus there are so few visitors in the winter that we feel like we have the whole park to ourselves. We don't have to fight the crowds to see the mud volcano. The geysers and hot springs are so much more impressive in the winter as the steam billows out in the freezing temperatures. Plus you can see exactly where the ground is hot due to the brown patches surrounded by snow. The rivers that are fed from thermal waters run freely in the snow covered wilderness and steam as they travel. There is no traffic on the roadways except for the guided tours, so there are no traffic jams and less vehicles for the park to worry about. The number one killer of all animals in Yellowstone is the cars. You can find complete silence almost anywhere. The animals are much easier to spot with the snow on the ground. Not only can you see where they've been due to their tracks, but also they stand out against the white backdrop. Besides the wildlife, my next favorite thing to photograph and marvel at are the ghost trees. These are the trees that are covered with ice and frost formed from the thermal steam. They are white from afar and when you are close up, you can see all the ice crystals forming.
In fact, as we woke up today we saw that the whole park was covered in ghost trees. It was a perfectly sunny day and the clouds were low in the morning freezing to the trees in the form of hoarfrost. Or at least I think that's what happened. Beautiful. We took our last walk around Old Faithful and covered a much larger area seeing many of the hot springs and geysers in the basin. It hasn't snowed in several days and the snow is well packed along the boardwalks and pathways that foot travel is not a problem. The hardest part was not tripping in the holes caused by the bison crossing over the boardwalk.
Sadly it was time to go and we took the express Bombardier out to West Yellowstone. It was a quick ride. Along part of the way we traveled at the same speed as an eagle flying by. We watched the trumpeter swans swim in the Gibbon River and we even saw Elk grazing in a meadow. i definitely recommend visiting Yellowstone in the winter time. It is an amazing experience and a wonderful vacation.
We had about an hour to kill in West Yellowstone before we were picked up by the Karst Stage Shuttle, so we walked over to the Grizzly Discovery Center to watch the wolves howl in song and the Grizzlies play with tree limbs. (Grizzlies don't need to hibernate in the Center because there is enough food for them) The Discover Center was empty except for only a couple other people. It was a perfect way to end our journey.
Our Karst Stage Shuttle picked us up and we traveled into the night to the tiny town of Belgrade. Belgrade is the tiny town next to Bozeman that holds the airport. The Country Kitchen next to our hotel was still accepting dinner guests, so we didn't have to eat only potato chips and Cliff Bars. =) Tomorrow we will leave and encounter the normal world full of people and the bustle of life.
Below you'll see pictures of a plant covered in hoarfrost, Canadian geese, Mark and Joanna with some ghost trees, and a wolf at the Discovery Center.
http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
Well, our vacation is coming to an end. We've been having a great time. I'm actually getting used to the snow now and bundling up to go outside. I love Yellowstone in the winter time. The views are just breathtaking. The landscape changes every day making taking photographs so much fun. I just can't get enough of this place. I would estimate that I've taken about seven gigs of photos in Yellowstone alone. That's approximately 1400 photos. And I could still take more. Plus there are so few visitors in the winter that we feel like we have the whole park to ourselves. We don't have to fight the crowds to see the mud volcano. The geysers and hot springs are so much more impressive in the winter as the steam billows out in the freezing temperatures. Plus you can see exactly where the ground is hot due to the brown patches surrounded by snow. The rivers that are fed from thermal waters run freely in the snow covered wilderness and steam as they travel. There is no traffic on the roadways except for the guided tours, so there are no traffic jams and less vehicles for the park to worry about. The number one killer of all animals in Yellowstone is the cars. You can find complete silence almost anywhere. The animals are much easier to spot with the snow on the ground. Not only can you see where they've been due to their tracks, but also they stand out against the white backdrop. Besides the wildlife, my next favorite thing to photograph and marvel at are the ghost trees. These are the trees that are covered with ice and frost formed from the thermal steam. They are white from afar and when you are close up, you can see all the ice crystals forming.
In fact, as we woke up today we saw that the whole park was covered in ghost trees. It was a perfectly sunny day and the clouds were low in the morning freezing to the trees in the form of hoarfrost. Or at least I think that's what happened. Beautiful. We took our last walk around Old Faithful and covered a much larger area seeing many of the hot springs and geysers in the basin. It hasn't snowed in several days and the snow is well packed along the boardwalks and pathways that foot travel is not a problem. The hardest part was not tripping in the holes caused by the bison crossing over the boardwalk.
Sadly it was time to go and we took the express Bombardier out to West Yellowstone. It was a quick ride. Along part of the way we traveled at the same speed as an eagle flying by. We watched the trumpeter swans swim in the Gibbon River and we even saw Elk grazing in a meadow. i definitely recommend visiting Yellowstone in the winter time. It is an amazing experience and a wonderful vacation.
We had about an hour to kill in West Yellowstone before we were picked up by the Karst Stage Shuttle, so we walked over to the Grizzly Discovery Center to watch the wolves howl in song and the Grizzlies play with tree limbs. (Grizzlies don't need to hibernate in the Center because there is enough food for them) The Discover Center was empty except for only a couple other people. It was a perfect way to end our journey.
Our Karst Stage Shuttle picked us up and we traveled into the night to the tiny town of Belgrade. Belgrade is the tiny town next to Bozeman that holds the airport. The Country Kitchen next to our hotel was still accepting dinner guests, so we didn't have to eat only potato chips and Cliff Bars. =) Tomorrow we will leave and encounter the normal world full of people and the bustle of life.
Below you'll see pictures of a plant covered in hoarfrost, Canadian geese, Mark and Joanna with some ghost trees, and a wolf at the Discovery Center.
http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Day of the Bison
January 15, 2009
We had a full day canyon tour today from 8 to 5 that took us around the lower loop of the Yellowstone roadway system. We were excited to get off the road between Mammoth and old Faithful as we've now done that road a number of times. Unfortunately, the full day tour was in a Bombardier which is less comfortable than the snowcoaches. There were 5 of us paying customers, 2 employees taking the tour with us, and our guide. In addition to our vehicle, another Bombardier set out on the same tour.
Today was the first day that we got into some bison traffic on the road. The first time we encountered bison on the road, there was a park ranger on a snowmobile near us, so he gave us some info while the photographers like me popped out of the 3 hatches on top of the bombardier so we could take close up photos of the bison. The bombardier's are pretty neat because they have these hatches so we don't have to get out to take photos or look around. The second time we encountered bison, there were 2 on the road galloping towards us. Thankfully we were in our tank-like vehicle, but I've heard from snowmobiliers that in a small snowmobile the bison are quite intimidating up close. It is odd to see the bison running in the winter. While they can run pretty fast, in the winter usually they limit all their body movements to conserve the much needed energy they need to survive the winter. In fact, it is very important, especially in the winter, to not get so close to the wildlife that they are forced to move away unnecessarily and use those extra calories just to get out of our way. Our third roadway bison encounter included another herd of bison crossing the roadway. In this herd we saw a bison with (for our UT friends) it's horns pointed down. Apparently it's not so rare to see bison with other than the normal two horns pointed up. The employees with us have seen bison with more than 2 horns and horns pointed all different directions.
Our most exciting wildlife encounter was as we were driving through a typical meadow and found 3-4 wolves napping in the distance. We stopped and pulled out the scope to view them. We figured they had probably eaten recently as they were lounging around. They were close enough to show up in my 200mm zoom as wolf-shaped pixels and close enough to notice with the naked eye. So, that was neat. We spent a lot of the trip searching for otter as we drove along a river that had otter in it. In fact we saw many many otter tracks along the river, but never did spot those otters. We saw some eagles, lots of bison, trumpeter swans, Canadian Geese, and other birds. I don't think we saw any elk. The most exciting part was when the sun came out for a good percentage of the time lighting up the landscape with interesting patterns. Sunlight and the shadows that result change the snow-covered landscape drastically. All of a sudden the snow has definition. During a cloudy day, it is so hard to determine what is going on with the snow. Many times we can't even tell if the snow in front of us has a footprint hole or a slope or what. It's like walking on a lumpy blanket in the dark.
We did get to see both the lower and upper falls in the Yellowstone Canyon. The lower falls were about halfway frozen making interesting ice patterns on the sides of the canyon. Actually, when it "freezes," it is really just an ice cover on the waterfall that freezes, at least at these falls. The mist from the falls freezes underneath the falls as a huge snow-covered lump of ice. It is really quite amazing that a force so strong can freeze over. The upper falls had ice cover on the two sides of the canyon, but the majority of the falls in the center was still moving.
We made a stop at Yellowstone Lake, which covers 136 square miles of area and is the largest body of water in Yellowstone. In the winter, the whole lake freezes over! It's incredibly to look at. The difference between Yellowstone in the summer and Yellowstone in the winter is amazing. It's like a whole different park. Shortly after our stop at Yellowstone Lake, and while the sun was setting in the distance, our Bombardier made a strange noise.....emitted a burnt rubber smell....and then stopped. Hmmmmmm. We are still over an hour away from Old Faithful on a road that is not traveled very often. Luckily we had just seen the second Bombardier in front of us a minute ago, so we radioed them to turn around. After a good thirty minute break, they determined that one of the fan blades was breaking off, and the mechanic on the radio told us they'd send a vehicle out to tow us in. Meanwhile, all us paying customers jammed into the working Bombardier and we went back to Old Faithful just a little late. Later in the evening, we saw the employees that had to be towed in arrive about 2 hours after we did. Over-snow-vehicles do not travel very fast, but we guessed that we got all the way up to thirty miles an hour coming in to Old Faithful in the Bombardier. The snowcoaches only go around twenty and many times we are going about ten miles an hour. I think that these slow speeds are the best way to see the park because there is time to look around and watch what is going on outside. I never did get tired of riding in the snow vehicles and just looking outside the window.
Pictured below, you'll see a few of the Bombardiers, bison, and a view of one of the creeks we passed over.
http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
We had a full day canyon tour today from 8 to 5 that took us around the lower loop of the Yellowstone roadway system. We were excited to get off the road between Mammoth and old Faithful as we've now done that road a number of times. Unfortunately, the full day tour was in a Bombardier which is less comfortable than the snowcoaches. There were 5 of us paying customers, 2 employees taking the tour with us, and our guide. In addition to our vehicle, another Bombardier set out on the same tour.
Today was the first day that we got into some bison traffic on the road. The first time we encountered bison on the road, there was a park ranger on a snowmobile near us, so he gave us some info while the photographers like me popped out of the 3 hatches on top of the bombardier so we could take close up photos of the bison. The bombardier's are pretty neat because they have these hatches so we don't have to get out to take photos or look around. The second time we encountered bison, there were 2 on the road galloping towards us. Thankfully we were in our tank-like vehicle, but I've heard from snowmobiliers that in a small snowmobile the bison are quite intimidating up close. It is odd to see the bison running in the winter. While they can run pretty fast, in the winter usually they limit all their body movements to conserve the much needed energy they need to survive the winter. In fact, it is very important, especially in the winter, to not get so close to the wildlife that they are forced to move away unnecessarily and use those extra calories just to get out of our way. Our third roadway bison encounter included another herd of bison crossing the roadway. In this herd we saw a bison with (for our UT friends) it's horns pointed down. Apparently it's not so rare to see bison with other than the normal two horns pointed up. The employees with us have seen bison with more than 2 horns and horns pointed all different directions.
Our most exciting wildlife encounter was as we were driving through a typical meadow and found 3-4 wolves napping in the distance. We stopped and pulled out the scope to view them. We figured they had probably eaten recently as they were lounging around. They were close enough to show up in my 200mm zoom as wolf-shaped pixels and close enough to notice with the naked eye. So, that was neat. We spent a lot of the trip searching for otter as we drove along a river that had otter in it. In fact we saw many many otter tracks along the river, but never did spot those otters. We saw some eagles, lots of bison, trumpeter swans, Canadian Geese, and other birds. I don't think we saw any elk. The most exciting part was when the sun came out for a good percentage of the time lighting up the landscape with interesting patterns. Sunlight and the shadows that result change the snow-covered landscape drastically. All of a sudden the snow has definition. During a cloudy day, it is so hard to determine what is going on with the snow. Many times we can't even tell if the snow in front of us has a footprint hole or a slope or what. It's like walking on a lumpy blanket in the dark.
We did get to see both the lower and upper falls in the Yellowstone Canyon. The lower falls were about halfway frozen making interesting ice patterns on the sides of the canyon. Actually, when it "freezes," it is really just an ice cover on the waterfall that freezes, at least at these falls. The mist from the falls freezes underneath the falls as a huge snow-covered lump of ice. It is really quite amazing that a force so strong can freeze over. The upper falls had ice cover on the two sides of the canyon, but the majority of the falls in the center was still moving.
We made a stop at Yellowstone Lake, which covers 136 square miles of area and is the largest body of water in Yellowstone. In the winter, the whole lake freezes over! It's incredibly to look at. The difference between Yellowstone in the summer and Yellowstone in the winter is amazing. It's like a whole different park. Shortly after our stop at Yellowstone Lake, and while the sun was setting in the distance, our Bombardier made a strange noise.....emitted a burnt rubber smell....and then stopped. Hmmmmmm. We are still over an hour away from Old Faithful on a road that is not traveled very often. Luckily we had just seen the second Bombardier in front of us a minute ago, so we radioed them to turn around. After a good thirty minute break, they determined that one of the fan blades was breaking off, and the mechanic on the radio told us they'd send a vehicle out to tow us in. Meanwhile, all us paying customers jammed into the working Bombardier and we went back to Old Faithful just a little late. Later in the evening, we saw the employees that had to be towed in arrive about 2 hours after we did. Over-snow-vehicles do not travel very fast, but we guessed that we got all the way up to thirty miles an hour coming in to Old Faithful in the Bombardier. The snowcoaches only go around twenty and many times we are going about ten miles an hour. I think that these slow speeds are the best way to see the park because there is time to look around and watch what is going on outside. I never did get tired of riding in the snow vehicles and just looking outside the window.
Pictured below, you'll see a few of the Bombardiers, bison, and a view of one of the creeks we passed over.
http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
Skiing on a Lake
January 14, 2009
The snow-covered landscape never ceases to amaze me. Each day can be completely different from the day before depending on how much snow was added, or how it was packed or groomed. Plus, visiting a feature on a cloudy day versus a sunny day is like visiting two totally different features. Even more interesting is the story the snow shows giving me information of what has been here before me. It's very easy to see where the bison were, or where a rabbit had fun hopping around. I can see where a fox or a coyote has been. I can see where a squirrel played happily in a tree. I can tell where people skied or where they walked. Each day brings new tracks and new things to watch and look at.
So, even though we've walked around Old Faithful before, walking around it again is still interesting. This morning we took our rented snowshoes up to Observation Point that overlooks the Old Faithful area. It was only a .6 mile hike up the side of a hill, but in snowshoes, we travel about 1 to 1.3 mph depending on how long we stop for photos. It takes longer to get anywhere in the snow. Even in shoes, it is harder to move around because the surface can be slippery, uneven, have deep bison footprints in it, or have deep places where your foot sinks down to your knee every so often. We followed a well-beaten path up to the point cutting switchbacks every now and then just because we can. With the snow on the ground, we aren't limited to the trail. We can pretty much go where we want. It's so much fun to break new snow, too. At the top we watched Old Faithful erupt from a birds eye view and then headed back to the lodge for the start of our ski trip. Just before we hit the lodge, we nearly walked into a herd of bison moving our way. Luckily they were not on our trail, so after some pictures, we could keep going.
We skied along DeLacey Creek out to Shoshone Lake for our first cross country (x-c) ski. Our group was around 10 people total and all the rest were well-seasoned x-c skiers. Our guide was amazing, though. She was a x-c ski instructor as well, so she was able to help us out on the more technical parts. We had asked the day before if first-timers could make the ski and were assured that we could. Well, the very first thing we had to do was side step up a small hill, and then go down a longer hill. Down should be easy, right? We just came from downhill skiing and this would be a flat downhill if we were on our downhill skis. Well x-c skis are like toothpicks compared to downhill skis. Only the toe of our shoe was attached and the ski was as skinny as the boot. We had no control. Or at least not the control we are used to. So, that downhill felt long and I fell over multiple times getting down. Luckily snow is soft. =)
It was a beautiful day for skiing. We started out in a forest of the logdepole pines. The pines looked like they were sprayed with snow. In fact, to me, they looked very similar to sprayed concrete. Mark didn't relate to that description either. The wind is usually very strong in this area, so the snow is mostly on one side of the tree as it was blown that direction. We fell pretty far behind the other skiers, but that made it neat because it was only us in the middle of nowhere in the snow. It was so silent when we stopped and the landscape was gorgeous. the creek was mostly frozen over, but we saw some wind-blown cornices along the creek every now and then. We didn't see any wildlife except for a few birds and that made it feel even that more remote. Our group had split into about 3 groups and our guide went back and forth between all of us. She gave us a lot of information about snow. We learned that snow is warmer next to the ground and hovers at the 32 degree mark while on top it is the temperature of the air. The small rodents like mice make tunnels along the ground in the snow staying warmer and scurrying around. Then, the foxes walk along the top, listen to the mice and make that signature jump to collapse the mouse tunnel system briefly trapping the mouse, so it can serve as a meal for the fox. We also learned that on a frozen lake, there are 3 layers of snow on top. On top of the ice is snow, then a slush layer, then more snow. So, if you are skiing on a well frozen lake (2 inches or more), you might see that slush layer behind you and become concerned that you are about to fall in. In fact, there is snow under that slush. We did make it out to Shoshone Lake and actually ski around on the lake itself.
We both had a lot of fun on our 6 mile ski adventure. I know why more people ski in the backcountry rather than snowshoe. You can get further faster. However, we definitely need more practice on x-c skis before we go off on our own. We arrived back much earlier than our eight pm dinner reservations, and they were nice enough to seat us early. We had been quite amused at setting dinner reservations months in advance of our trip. we were told that it was needed, but while at Mammoth Springs very often we were either the only ones there, or one of maybe two or three groups. It turns out that many people had canceled their vacations recently due to the recession. At Old Faithful, the dining room was very often filled, so, yes the reservations were needed. Apparently, though, if we showed up at 5:30p, we could get seated early. any other time would have been hard.
We bumped into our friends from our Mammoth Springs and found out that he keeps a travel website too. He's over at johnwise.com. When their vacation is over it'll be interesting to see what kinds of pictures they managed to get.
http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
Below you'll see a picture of us at Observation Point and also one of us on Shoshone Lake.
The snow-covered landscape never ceases to amaze me. Each day can be completely different from the day before depending on how much snow was added, or how it was packed or groomed. Plus, visiting a feature on a cloudy day versus a sunny day is like visiting two totally different features. Even more interesting is the story the snow shows giving me information of what has been here before me. It's very easy to see where the bison were, or where a rabbit had fun hopping around. I can see where a fox or a coyote has been. I can see where a squirrel played happily in a tree. I can tell where people skied or where they walked. Each day brings new tracks and new things to watch and look at.
So, even though we've walked around Old Faithful before, walking around it again is still interesting. This morning we took our rented snowshoes up to Observation Point that overlooks the Old Faithful area. It was only a .6 mile hike up the side of a hill, but in snowshoes, we travel about 1 to 1.3 mph depending on how long we stop for photos. It takes longer to get anywhere in the snow. Even in shoes, it is harder to move around because the surface can be slippery, uneven, have deep bison footprints in it, or have deep places where your foot sinks down to your knee every so often. We followed a well-beaten path up to the point cutting switchbacks every now and then just because we can. With the snow on the ground, we aren't limited to the trail. We can pretty much go where we want. It's so much fun to break new snow, too. At the top we watched Old Faithful erupt from a birds eye view and then headed back to the lodge for the start of our ski trip. Just before we hit the lodge, we nearly walked into a herd of bison moving our way. Luckily they were not on our trail, so after some pictures, we could keep going.
We skied along DeLacey Creek out to Shoshone Lake for our first cross country (x-c) ski. Our group was around 10 people total and all the rest were well-seasoned x-c skiers. Our guide was amazing, though. She was a x-c ski instructor as well, so she was able to help us out on the more technical parts. We had asked the day before if first-timers could make the ski and were assured that we could. Well, the very first thing we had to do was side step up a small hill, and then go down a longer hill. Down should be easy, right? We just came from downhill skiing and this would be a flat downhill if we were on our downhill skis. Well x-c skis are like toothpicks compared to downhill skis. Only the toe of our shoe was attached and the ski was as skinny as the boot. We had no control. Or at least not the control we are used to. So, that downhill felt long and I fell over multiple times getting down. Luckily snow is soft. =)
It was a beautiful day for skiing. We started out in a forest of the logdepole pines. The pines looked like they were sprayed with snow. In fact, to me, they looked very similar to sprayed concrete. Mark didn't relate to that description either. The wind is usually very strong in this area, so the snow is mostly on one side of the tree as it was blown that direction. We fell pretty far behind the other skiers, but that made it neat because it was only us in the middle of nowhere in the snow. It was so silent when we stopped and the landscape was gorgeous. the creek was mostly frozen over, but we saw some wind-blown cornices along the creek every now and then. We didn't see any wildlife except for a few birds and that made it feel even that more remote. Our group had split into about 3 groups and our guide went back and forth between all of us. She gave us a lot of information about snow. We learned that snow is warmer next to the ground and hovers at the 32 degree mark while on top it is the temperature of the air. The small rodents like mice make tunnels along the ground in the snow staying warmer and scurrying around. Then, the foxes walk along the top, listen to the mice and make that signature jump to collapse the mouse tunnel system briefly trapping the mouse, so it can serve as a meal for the fox. We also learned that on a frozen lake, there are 3 layers of snow on top. On top of the ice is snow, then a slush layer, then more snow. So, if you are skiing on a well frozen lake (2 inches or more), you might see that slush layer behind you and become concerned that you are about to fall in. In fact, there is snow under that slush. We did make it out to Shoshone Lake and actually ski around on the lake itself.
We both had a lot of fun on our 6 mile ski adventure. I know why more people ski in the backcountry rather than snowshoe. You can get further faster. However, we definitely need more practice on x-c skis before we go off on our own. We arrived back much earlier than our eight pm dinner reservations, and they were nice enough to seat us early. We had been quite amused at setting dinner reservations months in advance of our trip. we were told that it was needed, but while at Mammoth Springs very often we were either the only ones there, or one of maybe two or three groups. It turns out that many people had canceled their vacations recently due to the recession. At Old Faithful, the dining room was very often filled, so, yes the reservations were needed. Apparently, though, if we showed up at 5:30p, we could get seated early. any other time would have been hard.
We bumped into our friends from our Mammoth Springs and found out that he keeps a travel website too. He's over at johnwise.com. When their vacation is over it'll be interesting to see what kinds of pictures they managed to get.
http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
Below you'll see a picture of us at Observation Point and also one of us on Shoshone Lake.
Back Home
We are back in Houston. It's warm here at 61 tonight and there is no snow on the ground. The air smells like a city as well. I guess we got too used to the clean mountain air. It's good to be home, though. The bunnies had a great time with the bunny sitters, but they were happy to see us again. It looks like everything in Houston stayed the same, pretty much.
I've got a few more journal entries to post and I'll add some pictures to them tomorrow. Hope everyone has a good MLK day.
I've got a few more journal entries to post and I'll add some pictures to them tomorrow. Hope everyone has a good MLK day.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Old Faithful
January 13, 2009
Our time in Mammoth Springs was short, but sweet. Today we took a snowcoach tour back to Old Faithful. I would have loved to spend at least one more day here in Mammoth, but many of the tours we want to take are out of Old Faithful. For the third tour in a row, we were joined by the couple we met yesterday. In fact we were the only four people in the snow coach again today. We left Mammoth behind in the early morning and actually had partly cloudy skies all the way down. This meant that the sun came out often to give us photographic light and we took advantage shooting off many pictures again today. The wildlife was not as abundant today and we only had a few spottings. However, for most of the way we traveled along the Gibbon and Madison Rivers providing many opportunities to photography the trumpeter swans, dippers, and Canadian geese. Also, the river, fed by thermal water, created many beautiful cornices over the water. A cornice is the shape the snow makes as it hangs over the water with it's shape defined by the wind, water, and steam coming past. Our tour guide quizzed us on information we had learned on the other tours and also provided additional information. Each guide is expected to do their own reading and research for the tours so each guide provides a new tour.
We arrived at Old Faithful at noon, put our luggage on the provided sleds and trekked out to check out our cabin. We are the last cabin in a long row of cabins, so we've got a great view out the window. The summer time accommodations at Old Faithful are not insulated, so we are in the snow lodge and snow cabins. The cabin is surprisingly large. I was expecting a tiny cabin much like the one we stayed at in Mammoth Springs when we were there in 2002. However, we've got a nice long room with a table and dresser even. After lunch we took a small siesta before heading out on our rented snowshoes. The snowshoes here are very different from the ones we rented in Steamboat. I'm not sure which are better for which kind of snow, but these worked great here. The snow is very different than Steamboat as it compacts more and is not the powder that Steamboat has. As a result, we did not sink quite as much into the snow as we snowshoed into the forest on a trail looking for a little hot spring. It was fun to go off road through the trees and we often did. We were out until sunset blazing new trails through the snow chasing animal tracks. The animals were surely long gone, but it was still fun.
Tonight was the first clear night we've seen and we took advantage. After dinner we hiked out to Old Faithful to see it go off in the dark. It turns out that we were 2 of 6 people that decided to go out. Unfortunately the almost full moon did not make a presence (we were too early for moon rise), so I couldn't get a shot of the geyser going off, but it sounded amazing in the dark. I was able to get some star pictures, though.
Be sure to visit http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com/
Our time in Mammoth Springs was short, but sweet. Today we took a snowcoach tour back to Old Faithful. I would have loved to spend at least one more day here in Mammoth, but many of the tours we want to take are out of Old Faithful. For the third tour in a row, we were joined by the couple we met yesterday. In fact we were the only four people in the snow coach again today. We left Mammoth behind in the early morning and actually had partly cloudy skies all the way down. This meant that the sun came out often to give us photographic light and we took advantage shooting off many pictures again today. The wildlife was not as abundant today and we only had a few spottings. However, for most of the way we traveled along the Gibbon and Madison Rivers providing many opportunities to photography the trumpeter swans, dippers, and Canadian geese. Also, the river, fed by thermal water, created many beautiful cornices over the water. A cornice is the shape the snow makes as it hangs over the water with it's shape defined by the wind, water, and steam coming past. Our tour guide quizzed us on information we had learned on the other tours and also provided additional information. Each guide is expected to do their own reading and research for the tours so each guide provides a new tour.
We arrived at Old Faithful at noon, put our luggage on the provided sleds and trekked out to check out our cabin. We are the last cabin in a long row of cabins, so we've got a great view out the window. The summer time accommodations at Old Faithful are not insulated, so we are in the snow lodge and snow cabins. The cabin is surprisingly large. I was expecting a tiny cabin much like the one we stayed at in Mammoth Springs when we were there in 2002. However, we've got a nice long room with a table and dresser even. After lunch we took a small siesta before heading out on our rented snowshoes. The snowshoes here are very different from the ones we rented in Steamboat. I'm not sure which are better for which kind of snow, but these worked great here. The snow is very different than Steamboat as it compacts more and is not the powder that Steamboat has. As a result, we did not sink quite as much into the snow as we snowshoed into the forest on a trail looking for a little hot spring. It was fun to go off road through the trees and we often did. We were out until sunset blazing new trails through the snow chasing animal tracks. The animals were surely long gone, but it was still fun.
Tonight was the first clear night we've seen and we took advantage. After dinner we hiked out to Old Faithful to see it go off in the dark. It turns out that we were 2 of 6 people that decided to go out. Unfortunately the almost full moon did not make a presence (we were too early for moon rise), so I couldn't get a shot of the geyser going off, but it sounded amazing in the dark. I was able to get some star pictures, though.
Be sure to visit http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com/
Yellowstone Wildlife
January 12, 2009
I'm not sure which was the more exciting event today, seeing a bull moose up close, the clear skies, or meeting other travelers similar to us. Our first tour this morning was called Wake up to Wildlife and it was wildlife we saw. We met at an early 6:45am so we could be in the Lamar Valley when the wildlife were out at dawn. The sun doesn't rise enough to provide light for pictures until about 7:30, so the first part of our journey was in the dark. We had a very knowledgeable guide who talked the whole time giving us all kinds of information while we drove around stopped for various animals. The first animals we saw were 2 bull elk laying right next to the road. It was too dark for pictures, but they were wonderful to see. One of our wildlife sightings included stopped to talk with Bob Landis on the side of the road as he was out shooting his next video. He's very famous for many of his wildlife videos in Yellowstone mostly about wolves. He's working on a bear video now, but he's out there every day with his video camera just shooting hoping for anything to come along. He had radio contact with some of the wolf watchers and directed us across a turn to a group of wolf watchers. All of them had their scopes out pointed at a very distant group of hills. our guide set up his scope, but while we waited we used someone else's scope who was nice enough to allow us to have a peak. This was definitely nothing I could see with my bare eyes and the scope put the wolves right in front of me.
We left the wolves in search of a moose that someone claimed to have spotted. our guide mentioned that moose were moving down to the Tetons and out of Yellowstone over the past several years so even he doesn't see moose in Yellowstone very often. So, when we rounded a bend and found a moose right next to the road, our guide could not contain his excitement. Well, the whole car load was pretty excited. Not only was it a moose, but it was a bull moose, and it was right next to the road. All the photographers in the van were taking millions of pictures. It was actually pretty funny to hear the click click click click of all the cameras going off. Our guide who is into photography himself was kicking himself for not bringing his telephoto lens, but we were close enough that his wide angle even worked. We parked around a bend, all jumped out and fired off more shots as the moose walked towards us, then crossed the road, then moved into a trio of bison lounging on the side of the road. What an experience! Our guide said, okay, tour over. =) Not really though. The sun was coming out and we found many more places to stop and watch wildlife. On the way back we even found the bull elk next to the road and posing for us as well.
We weren't sure if our afternoon could top our morning. As it turned out, another couple that was on our morning tour was also on our tour to Norris Geyser basin for the afternoon. It was only the four of us, so we were able to cater the tour to our liking. The other couple was very similar to us. He is an avid photographer and they both love to travel as much as possible mostly to national parks to hike, take pictures, and enjoy as much of the vacation outside as possible. They also tend to take advantage of every second of their vacation time to do anything and everything. Sound familiar? =) They were very happy to meet us as they had been scoping out all the guests at the hotel to see who would be on the tour with them. They wanted other active people so that we could all take a long tour of Norris. And that we did. We had time to see just about all of the Norris Geyser Basin with its multiple geysers, hot springs, boiling mud, and thermal activity. There were many ghost trees here too (all iced up and white from the steam drifting through the trees and freezing.) I think next to the wildlife, ghost trees are my favorite subject to photograph. Much of the trail was still unbroken snow, so we almost needed snowshoes. We were hiking on boardwalks that were covered with a couple feet of snow. At one point our guide pointed out a mound of snow and said, "Don't trip over the park bench." We walked over it instead.
It was another wonderful day in Yellowstone and we are still just getting started. I love this park in the wintertime. We find ourselves very lucky to be visiting in a week where the highs are in the 20s and sometimes near 30 as opposed to some of the typical winter weather that gets down to 30 below zero! There aren't many people here at all which makes the park and it's popular spots all that much more enjoyable. The silence and solitude of winter here is amazing.
Be sure to visit http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com/
I'm not sure which was the more exciting event today, seeing a bull moose up close, the clear skies, or meeting other travelers similar to us. Our first tour this morning was called Wake up to Wildlife and it was wildlife we saw. We met at an early 6:45am so we could be in the Lamar Valley when the wildlife were out at dawn. The sun doesn't rise enough to provide light for pictures until about 7:30, so the first part of our journey was in the dark. We had a very knowledgeable guide who talked the whole time giving us all kinds of information while we drove around stopped for various animals. The first animals we saw were 2 bull elk laying right next to the road. It was too dark for pictures, but they were wonderful to see. One of our wildlife sightings included stopped to talk with Bob Landis on the side of the road as he was out shooting his next video. He's very famous for many of his wildlife videos in Yellowstone mostly about wolves. He's working on a bear video now, but he's out there every day with his video camera just shooting hoping for anything to come along. He had radio contact with some of the wolf watchers and directed us across a turn to a group of wolf watchers. All of them had their scopes out pointed at a very distant group of hills. our guide set up his scope, but while we waited we used someone else's scope who was nice enough to allow us to have a peak. This was definitely nothing I could see with my bare eyes and the scope put the wolves right in front of me.
We left the wolves in search of a moose that someone claimed to have spotted. our guide mentioned that moose were moving down to the Tetons and out of Yellowstone over the past several years so even he doesn't see moose in Yellowstone very often. So, when we rounded a bend and found a moose right next to the road, our guide could not contain his excitement. Well, the whole car load was pretty excited. Not only was it a moose, but it was a bull moose, and it was right next to the road. All the photographers in the van were taking millions of pictures. It was actually pretty funny to hear the click click click click of all the cameras going off. Our guide who is into photography himself was kicking himself for not bringing his telephoto lens, but we were close enough that his wide angle even worked. We parked around a bend, all jumped out and fired off more shots as the moose walked towards us, then crossed the road, then moved into a trio of bison lounging on the side of the road. What an experience! Our guide said, okay, tour over. =) Not really though. The sun was coming out and we found many more places to stop and watch wildlife. On the way back we even found the bull elk next to the road and posing for us as well.
We weren't sure if our afternoon could top our morning. As it turned out, another couple that was on our morning tour was also on our tour to Norris Geyser basin for the afternoon. It was only the four of us, so we were able to cater the tour to our liking. The other couple was very similar to us. He is an avid photographer and they both love to travel as much as possible mostly to national parks to hike, take pictures, and enjoy as much of the vacation outside as possible. They also tend to take advantage of every second of their vacation time to do anything and everything. Sound familiar? =) They were very happy to meet us as they had been scoping out all the guests at the hotel to see who would be on the tour with them. They wanted other active people so that we could all take a long tour of Norris. And that we did. We had time to see just about all of the Norris Geyser Basin with its multiple geysers, hot springs, boiling mud, and thermal activity. There were many ghost trees here too (all iced up and white from the steam drifting through the trees and freezing.) I think next to the wildlife, ghost trees are my favorite subject to photograph. Much of the trail was still unbroken snow, so we almost needed snowshoes. We were hiking on boardwalks that were covered with a couple feet of snow. At one point our guide pointed out a mound of snow and said, "Don't trip over the park bench." We walked over it instead.
It was another wonderful day in Yellowstone and we are still just getting started. I love this park in the wintertime. We find ourselves very lucky to be visiting in a week where the highs are in the 20s and sometimes near 30 as opposed to some of the typical winter weather that gets down to 30 below zero! There aren't many people here at all which makes the park and it's popular spots all that much more enjoyable. The silence and solitude of winter here is amazing.
Be sure to visit http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com/
Connected to the internet again
Our trip is nearly over. We had a glorious time in Yellowstone. While we did not have access to the internet there, I still wrote up daily journal entries. Unfortunately, you will have to wait a few more days for me to get pictures posted as I've taken hundreds and have not started weeding through them. We are sitting in Bozeman with internet access and I'll take the opportunity to post our activities from the past week. Here is the first of a few posts.
January 10, 2009
Today was a travel day. We took the Alpine Taxi (shuttle service) from our condo in Steamboat to Hayden Airport, flew to Bozeman with a connection in Salt Lake City, then were shuttled via the Karst Stage Shuttle from the Bozeman airport to West Yellowstone. Luckily all our travel worked out as scheduled and we had no problems.
January 11, 2009
We arrived in Yellowstone today and it is just as pretty as I imagined it would be. The thermal features are steaming in the cold air and all the trees in the steam are iced over with what's called hoarfrost that turns them completely white covered in ice and snow. Now they are ghost trees standing on the edge of boiling mud pits and bubbling geyser basins.
This morning we took the Xanterra express snowcoach from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful. We rode in what's called a Bombardier and is pretty hard to describe. It's almost like a very small and aerodynamic tank that sits on snow tracks. There is a luggage rack on the roof to hold our suitcases, and we sat in side on benches that lined the walls of the interior of the Bombardier. Eight of us fit inside, and we might have been able to squeeze in 2 more if we were forced to, but it was cozy with 8. Since this was an express shuttle, we went straight to Old Faithful with no stops. There were about 4 photographers on board including myself and I was the least equipped. The others had a tripod or two, and full camera backpacks full of lenses. The hardest part of travel for me is deciding how much photog gear to bring and I usually try to minimize it as much as possible because it is less to haul that way. We took photos as our snowcoach bumped along noisily through the park's entrance road. Hopefully I got a few non-blurry shots.
We arrived at Old Faithful just in time to see it erupt so we trekked out to have a look. We took a less-traveled path and ended up thigh deep in snow. Thankfully we found the traveled path and continued in on foot. The day was overcast and the steam was pouring from the blowhole. We could tell there was some water shooting up, but mostly we saw a mixture of clouds and steam. It was still spectacular, but the photo-op was less than perfect. There will be many other opportunities, however. We strolled around the Old Faithful area on the boardwalks finding it easy to stay on the path because of the foot-trampled snow in front of us. There are lots of signs warning us not to travel off the path, but in the winter the boardwalk covered in snow looks exactly the same as the thermal area next to the boardwalk covered in snow. Finally we were cold and hungry, so we went back to the Old Faithful Snow Lodge for lunch. Did you know that the historic Old Faithful Inn that we all see pictures of is not equipped to handle winter guests? Apparently the people who built it figured that no one would be brave enough to come into the park during the cold winter months, so the Inn has no insulation. It's closed. So, we are in the somewhat adjacent Snow Lodge that has winter services. Our next snowcoach was picking us up soon, so we borrowed some books from the little library cart they had and read about Yellowstone while we waited.
The four hour snowcoach ride from old Faithful to Mammoth Springs was excellent. We pulled out and walked around the area of the Painted Pots where we got to see a lot of ghost trees and bubbling mud. We also stopped for any wildlife on the side of the road that we wanted to capture on camera. Our guide was really nice about stopped anywhere for us. We got to see lots of bison in the distance digging their massive heads into the snow. They dig down to the Earth to hopefully find grass to eat. When they rise from their digging hole, their heads are giant white masks of snow. We also saw lots of Canadian geese, trumpeter swans, other ducks, a couple eagles, ravens of course, elk, and of course lots and lots and lots of snow. The snow here is white and untouched and when it blankets an interesting landscape full of rocks, downed trees, thermal features, and more, it is really quite beautiful to look at. Many of the streams here are fed by thermally heated waters so they do not freeze over, but move briskly through the snow-covered canyons and meadows. At the end of our journey it not only started snowing to almost white-out conditions, but it also got dark, so when we spotted a carcass a ways off the road, we could only imagine what it must look like in the non-hazy conditions. There were ravens and even an eagle eating their dinner.
we can't wait for our tours tomorrow when we'll see even more features and wildlife.
Be sure to visit http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com/
January 10, 2009
Today was a travel day. We took the Alpine Taxi (shuttle service) from our condo in Steamboat to Hayden Airport, flew to Bozeman with a connection in Salt Lake City, then were shuttled via the Karst Stage Shuttle from the Bozeman airport to West Yellowstone. Luckily all our travel worked out as scheduled and we had no problems.
January 11, 2009
We arrived in Yellowstone today and it is just as pretty as I imagined it would be. The thermal features are steaming in the cold air and all the trees in the steam are iced over with what's called hoarfrost that turns them completely white covered in ice and snow. Now they are ghost trees standing on the edge of boiling mud pits and bubbling geyser basins.
This morning we took the Xanterra express snowcoach from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful. We rode in what's called a Bombardier and is pretty hard to describe. It's almost like a very small and aerodynamic tank that sits on snow tracks. There is a luggage rack on the roof to hold our suitcases, and we sat in side on benches that lined the walls of the interior of the Bombardier. Eight of us fit inside, and we might have been able to squeeze in 2 more if we were forced to, but it was cozy with 8. Since this was an express shuttle, we went straight to Old Faithful with no stops. There were about 4 photographers on board including myself and I was the least equipped. The others had a tripod or two, and full camera backpacks full of lenses. The hardest part of travel for me is deciding how much photog gear to bring and I usually try to minimize it as much as possible because it is less to haul that way. We took photos as our snowcoach bumped along noisily through the park's entrance road. Hopefully I got a few non-blurry shots.
We arrived at Old Faithful just in time to see it erupt so we trekked out to have a look. We took a less-traveled path and ended up thigh deep in snow. Thankfully we found the traveled path and continued in on foot. The day was overcast and the steam was pouring from the blowhole. We could tell there was some water shooting up, but mostly we saw a mixture of clouds and steam. It was still spectacular, but the photo-op was less than perfect. There will be many other opportunities, however. We strolled around the Old Faithful area on the boardwalks finding it easy to stay on the path because of the foot-trampled snow in front of us. There are lots of signs warning us not to travel off the path, but in the winter the boardwalk covered in snow looks exactly the same as the thermal area next to the boardwalk covered in snow. Finally we were cold and hungry, so we went back to the Old Faithful Snow Lodge for lunch. Did you know that the historic Old Faithful Inn that we all see pictures of is not equipped to handle winter guests? Apparently the people who built it figured that no one would be brave enough to come into the park during the cold winter months, so the Inn has no insulation. It's closed. So, we are in the somewhat adjacent Snow Lodge that has winter services. Our next snowcoach was picking us up soon, so we borrowed some books from the little library cart they had and read about Yellowstone while we waited.
The four hour snowcoach ride from old Faithful to Mammoth Springs was excellent. We pulled out and walked around the area of the Painted Pots where we got to see a lot of ghost trees and bubbling mud. We also stopped for any wildlife on the side of the road that we wanted to capture on camera. Our guide was really nice about stopped anywhere for us. We got to see lots of bison in the distance digging their massive heads into the snow. They dig down to the Earth to hopefully find grass to eat. When they rise from their digging hole, their heads are giant white masks of snow. We also saw lots of Canadian geese, trumpeter swans, other ducks, a couple eagles, ravens of course, elk, and of course lots and lots and lots of snow. The snow here is white and untouched and when it blankets an interesting landscape full of rocks, downed trees, thermal features, and more, it is really quite beautiful to look at. Many of the streams here are fed by thermally heated waters so they do not freeze over, but move briskly through the snow-covered canyons and meadows. At the end of our journey it not only started snowing to almost white-out conditions, but it also got dark, so when we spotted a carcass a ways off the road, we could only imagine what it must look like in the non-hazy conditions. There were ravens and even an eagle eating their dinner.
we can't wait for our tours tomorrow when we'll see even more features and wildlife.
Be sure to visit http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com/
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Last day in Steamboat
January 9, 2009
It's another snow day. We woke up this morning to find a winter wonderland outside and the snow was still falling. I would guess that about 5 inches fell overnight. We bundled up for our last day skiing and headed out into the snow. Since we had a day off yesterday, we started out on the Christy Express which goes up the lower part of the mountain. I was a little concerned that after the warm day yesterday, the skiing would be icy, but with all the snow it was fresh powder. In fact on the sides of the slopes it was quite deep. When our skis took us into the embankment, we were about shin deep in the snow. After a couple runs on lower mountain, we got on the gondola to head up to the top to take the 3 mile green trail down the mountain called Why Not. When we got off the gondola, it was almost a complete white out. There seemed to be a little less people on the mountain today and we had a good ski down the mountain. For a change of pace, we had lunch at the base of the mountain at a place called Gondola Pub and Grill where Mark ate on the first day. There was no wait for a table which was nice and we had a glorious meal of hamburgers. The fifth day of skiing this week was taking it out of us and gravity held us to our seats like glue.
Somehow we managed to unstick ourselves and give our table to some other hungry skiers and we went straight up the gondola. It's colder on the top of the mountain, and the first run down Spur Run to the ski lift was chilly. Plus the snow was falling harder and harder. While on the lift that took us back up the mountain to the gondola we started getting a little buried in snow. =) Not really, but we were covered. We did one more run down Spur Run and Joanna started to take some of the steeper sections. Finally it was time for the last run of the day. On the way back to the gondola we entered even more of a white out than earlier. In fact we could hardly see the building we were headed towards. Joanna took a short blue run that linked up with the green run that Mark was headed on. The blue run didn't look so intimidating because in the white out I couldn't see the bottom and see how long and steep it was. Our last ski of the day was through some of the hardest snow we've seen yet and Joanna's hair iced up and froze. We took some pictures of ourselves covered in snow that you can see below.
At the bottom of the mountain the Music Fest that had been going on all week in the evenings was in full swing in the afternoon and we walked through the snow covered crowd and turned in our rented skis and boots. I was very glad to give up those ski boots. Our clunky hiking boots always feel so light and airy after taking off our ski boots. Plus with the hiking books we've got a range of motion in our ankles. =) Imagine if we had tennis shoes! To finish off the day we headed to a cafe for a hot cookie each. The hot cookie was about as big as my hand if I made a jazz hand and it was gooey and yummy and hit the spot after all the day's activity.
The rest of our day was pretty boring as we are just hanging out in the condo watching tv, doing laundry, and being generally lazy. Tomorrow we head out to Yellowstone. We won't arrive in West Yellowstone until late at night and while in the park we won't have any internet unless we are really really lucky. So, we'll go on a posting break and let you know how it all went in a week. We head back to Houston on January 17th. If you can't see the pictures be sure to visit: http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
It's another snow day. We woke up this morning to find a winter wonderland outside and the snow was still falling. I would guess that about 5 inches fell overnight. We bundled up for our last day skiing and headed out into the snow. Since we had a day off yesterday, we started out on the Christy Express which goes up the lower part of the mountain. I was a little concerned that after the warm day yesterday, the skiing would be icy, but with all the snow it was fresh powder. In fact on the sides of the slopes it was quite deep. When our skis took us into the embankment, we were about shin deep in the snow. After a couple runs on lower mountain, we got on the gondola to head up to the top to take the 3 mile green trail down the mountain called Why Not. When we got off the gondola, it was almost a complete white out. There seemed to be a little less people on the mountain today and we had a good ski down the mountain. For a change of pace, we had lunch at the base of the mountain at a place called Gondola Pub and Grill where Mark ate on the first day. There was no wait for a table which was nice and we had a glorious meal of hamburgers. The fifth day of skiing this week was taking it out of us and gravity held us to our seats like glue.
Somehow we managed to unstick ourselves and give our table to some other hungry skiers and we went straight up the gondola. It's colder on the top of the mountain, and the first run down Spur Run to the ski lift was chilly. Plus the snow was falling harder and harder. While on the lift that took us back up the mountain to the gondola we started getting a little buried in snow. =) Not really, but we were covered. We did one more run down Spur Run and Joanna started to take some of the steeper sections. Finally it was time for the last run of the day. On the way back to the gondola we entered even more of a white out than earlier. In fact we could hardly see the building we were headed towards. Joanna took a short blue run that linked up with the green run that Mark was headed on. The blue run didn't look so intimidating because in the white out I couldn't see the bottom and see how long and steep it was. Our last ski of the day was through some of the hardest snow we've seen yet and Joanna's hair iced up and froze. We took some pictures of ourselves covered in snow that you can see below.
At the bottom of the mountain the Music Fest that had been going on all week in the evenings was in full swing in the afternoon and we walked through the snow covered crowd and turned in our rented skis and boots. I was very glad to give up those ski boots. Our clunky hiking boots always feel so light and airy after taking off our ski boots. Plus with the hiking books we've got a range of motion in our ankles. =) Imagine if we had tennis shoes! To finish off the day we headed to a cafe for a hot cookie each. The hot cookie was about as big as my hand if I made a jazz hand and it was gooey and yummy and hit the spot after all the day's activity.
The rest of our day was pretty boring as we are just hanging out in the condo watching tv, doing laundry, and being generally lazy. Tomorrow we head out to Yellowstone. We won't arrive in West Yellowstone until late at night and while in the park we won't have any internet unless we are really really lucky. So, we'll go on a posting break and let you know how it all went in a week. We head back to Houston on January 17th. If you can't see the pictures be sure to visit: http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
Glorious day for a snowshoe
January 8, 2009
We woke up today to sunny skies. It was a beautiful day, so we took the day off skiing and rented some snowshoes. Most of the parks in the area are not accessible easily by the free city bus, so we headed over to a city park and ski area called Howelson Hill. It seems to be more of a small ski area for the locals. They train many Olympic athletes here and are open for night skiing. They have ski jumps, tubing, and for us today, nordic trails. We snow showed on the side of the cross country ski trails through a meadow area and them up the mountain almost to the top. It got up to about 32 today, so we were very warm and put our jackets in our packs and just wore our fleece. As long as we were moving we were comfortable if not warm. The sun was out and so were the people. We encountered many people cross country skiing, or just out jogging through the snow with their dogs. The skiers had their dogs with them as well. I don't think we saw any dogs on leashes, but they were all very well behaved. With a clear day, we took the good camera out with us and got some good landscape shots. For the most part we stuck to the groomed trails, but had fun going "off roading" too. The snow here is so soft and powdery. Even in snowshoes we sink down to our knees. Without the snowshoes, I'm sure we'd be buried past our waist. It is also gorgeous snow because it sparkles like glitter in the sunlight. That's the Steamboat Springs Champagne Powder.
In order to be home in time for the BCS football championship game, we left the hill and headed back to the condo getting back by 6pm. It's been a tiring week and a tiring day traipsing through the snow so we were happy to collapse in the condo. However, I manged to get up to get some night pictures. Steamboat tonight was very different from the rest of the days. The day was so warm that the snow had melted from the roads and the sidewalks had melted and were refreezing into ice. Everything was now dirty instead of the pure white snow we'd been seeing. But it was still a perfect night for photos because the almost full moon was out, the sky was clear, and it wasn't crazy cold out.
If you can't see the pictures be sure to visit: http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
Night shot of our condo:
We woke up today to sunny skies. It was a beautiful day, so we took the day off skiing and rented some snowshoes. Most of the parks in the area are not accessible easily by the free city bus, so we headed over to a city park and ski area called Howelson Hill. It seems to be more of a small ski area for the locals. They train many Olympic athletes here and are open for night skiing. They have ski jumps, tubing, and for us today, nordic trails. We snow showed on the side of the cross country ski trails through a meadow area and them up the mountain almost to the top. It got up to about 32 today, so we were very warm and put our jackets in our packs and just wore our fleece. As long as we were moving we were comfortable if not warm. The sun was out and so were the people. We encountered many people cross country skiing, or just out jogging through the snow with their dogs. The skiers had their dogs with them as well. I don't think we saw any dogs on leashes, but they were all very well behaved. With a clear day, we took the good camera out with us and got some good landscape shots. For the most part we stuck to the groomed trails, but had fun going "off roading" too. The snow here is so soft and powdery. Even in snowshoes we sink down to our knees. Without the snowshoes, I'm sure we'd be buried past our waist. It is also gorgeous snow because it sparkles like glitter in the sunlight. That's the Steamboat Springs Champagne Powder.
In order to be home in time for the BCS football championship game, we left the hill and headed back to the condo getting back by 6pm. It's been a tiring week and a tiring day traipsing through the snow so we were happy to collapse in the condo. However, I manged to get up to get some night pictures. Steamboat tonight was very different from the rest of the days. The day was so warm that the snow had melted from the roads and the sidewalks had melted and were refreezing into ice. Everything was now dirty instead of the pure white snow we'd been seeing. But it was still a perfect night for photos because the almost full moon was out, the sky was clear, and it wasn't crazy cold out.
If you can't see the pictures be sure to visit: http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
Night shot of our condo:
Powder
January 7, 2009
The skiing today was very different from yesterday because it snowed 16 inches yesterday and today we were skiing through the powder. This meant that first there were lots of people out to enjoy the powder, and second that with so many people making fresh tracks in the snow, humps almost like moguls were forming on the ski runs. It was a bumpy day if we skied straight, but it was also very hard on the knees to ski around these small moguls.
Steamboat is on a warming trend, being in the 20s today, so while on the lower part of the mountain, we were too warm. We left our fleece layer in our storage bin at the base, however it got a bit chilly up at the gondola. We went up to the summit again today, but ended up stopping at the warming hut up on the mountain for food and warmth. It's amazing that we can ski at the top of the mountain, but still find a place with food and facilities. It was a great idea to stop there for lunch as we had time to relax and warm up before we headed back out. By today we've already skied the green runs on the mountain, so we were just repeating what we'd done. However, it felt very different with all the fresh snow.
We stopped early and headed downtown towards Howelson Hill to watch a ski jump competition that was supposed to happen, but it was canceled at the last minute due to all the deep snow. It just wasn't safe for the jumpers. So, we had a yummy dinner downtown followed by ice cream at a candy shop. We got to wait for the bus while eating ice cream that was not melting at all as we stood outside. It was good ice cream though. =)
I didn't take many pictures today, but posted a few below. If you can't see the images, be sure to check out http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
The skiing today was very different from yesterday because it snowed 16 inches yesterday and today we were skiing through the powder. This meant that first there were lots of people out to enjoy the powder, and second that with so many people making fresh tracks in the snow, humps almost like moguls were forming on the ski runs. It was a bumpy day if we skied straight, but it was also very hard on the knees to ski around these small moguls.
Steamboat is on a warming trend, being in the 20s today, so while on the lower part of the mountain, we were too warm. We left our fleece layer in our storage bin at the base, however it got a bit chilly up at the gondola. We went up to the summit again today, but ended up stopping at the warming hut up on the mountain for food and warmth. It's amazing that we can ski at the top of the mountain, but still find a place with food and facilities. It was a great idea to stop there for lunch as we had time to relax and warm up before we headed back out. By today we've already skied the green runs on the mountain, so we were just repeating what we'd done. However, it felt very different with all the fresh snow.
We stopped early and headed downtown towards Howelson Hill to watch a ski jump competition that was supposed to happen, but it was canceled at the last minute due to all the deep snow. It just wasn't safe for the jumpers. So, we had a yummy dinner downtown followed by ice cream at a candy shop. We got to wait for the bus while eating ice cream that was not melting at all as we stood outside. It was good ice cream though. =)
I didn't take many pictures today, but posted a few below. If you can't see the images, be sure to check out http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
Snow Tubes
January 6, 2009
It's our first day skiing together without an instructor. Steamboat had a very large mountain for skiing. So far we've really only been taking a lift called the Christy Express that only goes up what is called lower mountain. Lower mountain is perhaps only 1/3 or 1/4 of the height of the summit. Now we know how to take the gondola up the mountain. The gondola goes quite a ways up the mountain, but still not to the summit. In fact to get to the summit, we skied down to another lift called the Sundown Express and took that up to the summit. There is only one green run from the summit back down to the gondola, and most people that come up here are coming up for the blue and black runs. So, our skiing today was fairly uncrowded and we were able to take our time. If it had been less cloudy today and less snowy, we would have had a great view of Steamboat Springs, but even so we had a lot of fun trying out the new trails. We had lunch up on the mountain at the gondola where there was a food court for all the skiers that stay up on the mountain rather than going back down to the base. In fact even further up from the gondola was another shelter with a food court and facilities in case you were higher up and tired.
In the evening we reserved a spot to go tubing at a place called Saddleback Ranch. They came and picked us up at the transit center and took us out to the ranch. As it turned out, the ranch was pretty far away, a 40 minute ride with the road conditions. The snow was really picking up tonight. However, this meant the tubing was fantastic. The ranch has a whole lift just for tubes! Last year I went tubing at a place downtown called Howelson Hill and we just rode a sort of moving walkway up a hill (called a magic carpet) with our tubes to come sliding down. At Saddleback Ranch tonight, however, their hill was twice as tall and the lift was specifically made for tubes. Each tube is just an inner tube like we use to tube on a river, but it is covered with fabric and has a hard plastic bottom and a handle. To drag the tube, just hold the handle and drag it along behind like a puppy. So, their lift was pretty easy. At the bottom we sat in the tube at the bottom of the lift. the lift consisted of a wire with straight bars that act as hooks. We simply sat in the tube, and the operator attached the handle to the hook and we were dragged up the hill. once at the top, we were automatically unhooked from the hook by sliding down a small incline. We had a fabulous time tubing. We had an hour and a half and we made the most of it. We usually raced each other down by taking a running start at the top and sliding down belly down on the tube. It was a blast. It snowed very hard the whole time too, so the course was nice and slick. Also as we were pulled up the hill we had a small pile of snow in our laps by the time we were at the top. We got so covered in snow. Not only from the falling stuff, but very often while tubing down, we'd slide through the sides and get covered in powder. I flew through some powder head first and came out looking like a snowman. It was cold, but hilarious. I've never been so covered in snow before.
I've added some pictures of us tubing and standing in the snow below. If you can't see the images, be sure to check out http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
It's our first day skiing together without an instructor. Steamboat had a very large mountain for skiing. So far we've really only been taking a lift called the Christy Express that only goes up what is called lower mountain. Lower mountain is perhaps only 1/3 or 1/4 of the height of the summit. Now we know how to take the gondola up the mountain. The gondola goes quite a ways up the mountain, but still not to the summit. In fact to get to the summit, we skied down to another lift called the Sundown Express and took that up to the summit. There is only one green run from the summit back down to the gondola, and most people that come up here are coming up for the blue and black runs. So, our skiing today was fairly uncrowded and we were able to take our time. If it had been less cloudy today and less snowy, we would have had a great view of Steamboat Springs, but even so we had a lot of fun trying out the new trails. We had lunch up on the mountain at the gondola where there was a food court for all the skiers that stay up on the mountain rather than going back down to the base. In fact even further up from the gondola was another shelter with a food court and facilities in case you were higher up and tired.
In the evening we reserved a spot to go tubing at a place called Saddleback Ranch. They came and picked us up at the transit center and took us out to the ranch. As it turned out, the ranch was pretty far away, a 40 minute ride with the road conditions. The snow was really picking up tonight. However, this meant the tubing was fantastic. The ranch has a whole lift just for tubes! Last year I went tubing at a place downtown called Howelson Hill and we just rode a sort of moving walkway up a hill (called a magic carpet) with our tubes to come sliding down. At Saddleback Ranch tonight, however, their hill was twice as tall and the lift was specifically made for tubes. Each tube is just an inner tube like we use to tube on a river, but it is covered with fabric and has a hard plastic bottom and a handle. To drag the tube, just hold the handle and drag it along behind like a puppy. So, their lift was pretty easy. At the bottom we sat in the tube at the bottom of the lift. the lift consisted of a wire with straight bars that act as hooks. We simply sat in the tube, and the operator attached the handle to the hook and we were dragged up the hill. once at the top, we were automatically unhooked from the hook by sliding down a small incline. We had a fabulous time tubing. We had an hour and a half and we made the most of it. We usually raced each other down by taking a running start at the top and sliding down belly down on the tube. It was a blast. It snowed very hard the whole time too, so the course was nice and slick. Also as we were pulled up the hill we had a small pile of snow in our laps by the time we were at the top. We got so covered in snow. Not only from the falling stuff, but very often while tubing down, we'd slide through the sides and get covered in powder. I flew through some powder head first and came out looking like a snowman. It was cold, but hilarious. I've never been so covered in snow before.
I've added some pictures of us tubing and standing in the snow below. If you can't see the images, be sure to check out http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com
Monday, January 5, 2009
January 5, 2009
Today was warm compared to yesterday! We could even pull down our face mask to breath the cold air. It was 8 degrees out when we started, but I forgot to check the temp when we left the ski area. We both took the level 4 ski school together. We had a huge group of 11 people. After a quick run down the short run, our class divided up in half and we took off to learn how to control our skis. In level 4 we learned how to control our skis while making turns. We were to keep our skis parallel and we learned how to control our weight distribution over the skis using technics like edging. Of course the big key to skiing is leaning forward, always. This is hard because we just aren't used to falling down a mountain. We all want to lean back and that's when we lose control. Yesterday we only took a lift called Christie III that took us about a quarter of the way up the mountain. In the afternoon today, we took the gondola up to the halfway point up the mountain. The elevation here was about 10,000 compared to the 7,000 at the base. Luckily there are still easy runs (green) at the top. Our ski instructor pushed us to move to the next level (blue runs) and half of our class was able to do the blue runs by the end of the day. Mark and I stuck to the greens. I don't know about Mark, but I'm okay with going slow and staying in control. I'm sure the blue runs aren't that bad, but from the top they look rather steep.
During our final run down the mountain, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped as the snow rolled in. By the time we stowed our skis for the night, it was snowing outside. We walked in the snow for a while, but eventually came back to the condo to warm up, make spaghetti for dinner, and watch the Fiesta Bowl on the TV.
We are having a great time on vacation and want to say Hi to everyone back at home. We've still got the rest of the week here in Steamboat skiing before we head to Yellowstone.
If you have trouble viewing the pictures below, be sure to check out: http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com/
Today was warm compared to yesterday! We could even pull down our face mask to breath the cold air. It was 8 degrees out when we started, but I forgot to check the temp when we left the ski area. We both took the level 4 ski school together. We had a huge group of 11 people. After a quick run down the short run, our class divided up in half and we took off to learn how to control our skis. In level 4 we learned how to control our skis while making turns. We were to keep our skis parallel and we learned how to control our weight distribution over the skis using technics like edging. Of course the big key to skiing is leaning forward, always. This is hard because we just aren't used to falling down a mountain. We all want to lean back and that's when we lose control. Yesterday we only took a lift called Christie III that took us about a quarter of the way up the mountain. In the afternoon today, we took the gondola up to the halfway point up the mountain. The elevation here was about 10,000 compared to the 7,000 at the base. Luckily there are still easy runs (green) at the top. Our ski instructor pushed us to move to the next level (blue runs) and half of our class was able to do the blue runs by the end of the day. Mark and I stuck to the greens. I don't know about Mark, but I'm okay with going slow and staying in control. I'm sure the blue runs aren't that bad, but from the top they look rather steep.
During our final run down the mountain, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped as the snow rolled in. By the time we stowed our skis for the night, it was snowing outside. We walked in the snow for a while, but eventually came back to the condo to warm up, make spaghetti for dinner, and watch the Fiesta Bowl on the TV.
We are having a great time on vacation and want to say Hi to everyone back at home. We've still got the rest of the week here in Steamboat skiing before we head to Yellowstone.
If you have trouble viewing the pictures below, be sure to check out: http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com/
Below Zero
January 4, 2009
Today was a beautiful, clear day. It was a great day for skiing because Steamboat had just received about 8 inches of snow the night before making the conditions on the mountain much better. According to a local, this was the first snow in about a week and some of the runs were getting a bit icy. It was also a very cold day due to the snow. The temps stayed around -4 throughout the day. It was cold. Very cold. Cold enough to freeze your nose hairs. Luckily, Mark and I brought the right clothing, and we were able to completely bundle up to cover all exposed skin. Our faces are the hardest to keep covered, but we had the right gear for it.
Joanna took ski lessons at Steamboat last year, so she spent the day remembering how to ski on the easy runs. Mark took the same ski lesson that Joanna had last year so that tomorrow we would be at the same level. Due to the cold weather and end of the holiday week, the mountain was very empty. In fact, many times I found myself alone for a few minutes on the runs. With the clear skies we could see for miles and the snow covered landscape was gorgeous. Every other corner seemed prettier than the one before. I brought my little camera with me, so I was able to take a few pictures. Only a few because my fingers froze when I took them out of the glove to get the camera. =)
Mark had fun, too in his class. There were only a few people in the class, so they all got plenty of ski time in and by the end of the day he was at the same level as Joanna. At the end of the day we were sore and exhausted. We came back to the condo to spend the evening. Our condo is quite large. I would guess it's at least 600 square feet if not a little bigger. The bedroom has a king size bed, dresser, and plenty of room to move around. The kitchen is the size of a decent apartment kitchen with a bar area that leads into the dining area complete with dining table and chairs. The dining room opens into the living room which has a couch, a loveseat, a coffee table, fireplace, and TV. We feel right at home here. We ended up finding a marathon of House on USA and relaxed with our leftovers from last night for dinner followed by hot chocolate.
If you have trouble viewing the pictures below, be sure to check out: http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com/
Today was a beautiful, clear day. It was a great day for skiing because Steamboat had just received about 8 inches of snow the night before making the conditions on the mountain much better. According to a local, this was the first snow in about a week and some of the runs were getting a bit icy. It was also a very cold day due to the snow. The temps stayed around -4 throughout the day. It was cold. Very cold. Cold enough to freeze your nose hairs. Luckily, Mark and I brought the right clothing, and we were able to completely bundle up to cover all exposed skin. Our faces are the hardest to keep covered, but we had the right gear for it.
Joanna took ski lessons at Steamboat last year, so she spent the day remembering how to ski on the easy runs. Mark took the same ski lesson that Joanna had last year so that tomorrow we would be at the same level. Due to the cold weather and end of the holiday week, the mountain was very empty. In fact, many times I found myself alone for a few minutes on the runs. With the clear skies we could see for miles and the snow covered landscape was gorgeous. Every other corner seemed prettier than the one before. I brought my little camera with me, so I was able to take a few pictures. Only a few because my fingers froze when I took them out of the glove to get the camera. =)
Mark had fun, too in his class. There were only a few people in the class, so they all got plenty of ski time in and by the end of the day he was at the same level as Joanna. At the end of the day we were sore and exhausted. We came back to the condo to spend the evening. Our condo is quite large. I would guess it's at least 600 square feet if not a little bigger. The bedroom has a king size bed, dresser, and plenty of room to move around. The kitchen is the size of a decent apartment kitchen with a bar area that leads into the dining area complete with dining table and chairs. The dining room opens into the living room which has a couch, a loveseat, a coffee table, fireplace, and TV. We feel right at home here. We ended up finding a marathon of House on USA and relaxed with our leftovers from last night for dinner followed by hot chocolate.
If you have trouble viewing the pictures below, be sure to check out: http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com/
Arriving in Steamboat
January 3, 2008
Today we flew from Houston to Denver, then took Alpine Taxi (shared shuttle) from Denver to Steamboat Springs, CO. I was very prepared for all kinds of air delays due to winter conditions in Denver, but everything was perfect. We took off on time, we arrived early, and we got our lugage perfectly. We had about an hour to kill in the airport waiting for the shuttle, so we had lunch and ice cream. The Denver airport is very well labeled and has quite a large area with food and shops for people to hang out and wait. It reminded me more of a mall than an airport. Once on the Alpine Taxi with about 18 other people we found out from the driver that Steamboat Springs and the road called Rabbit Pass heading into Steamboat was getting quite a bit of snow. The normal 4 hour drive took 5 hours for the driver to get to Denver to pick us up.
Off we went west of Denver to Steamboat. Mark and I slept, watched some TV on the laptop, and watched the snowy landscape pass by. The drive wasn't too bad as the plows had come through Rabbit Pass already, so we could get through. We arrived at our condo (Rockies Condominiums) with plenty of time to get our evening errands done. We walked the half mile to the ski area to get our ski rentals, then we caught the free bus to downtown to eat a yummy Italian dinner. After dinner we bused back to the grocery store and stocked up for the week and then it was back to the condos and to sleep nice and early since we were bushed from the day of travel.
Today we flew from Houston to Denver, then took Alpine Taxi (shared shuttle) from Denver to Steamboat Springs, CO. I was very prepared for all kinds of air delays due to winter conditions in Denver, but everything was perfect. We took off on time, we arrived early, and we got our lugage perfectly. We had about an hour to kill in the airport waiting for the shuttle, so we had lunch and ice cream. The Denver airport is very well labeled and has quite a large area with food and shops for people to hang out and wait. It reminded me more of a mall than an airport. Once on the Alpine Taxi with about 18 other people we found out from the driver that Steamboat Springs and the road called Rabbit Pass heading into Steamboat was getting quite a bit of snow. The normal 4 hour drive took 5 hours for the driver to get to Denver to pick us up.
Off we went west of Denver to Steamboat. Mark and I slept, watched some TV on the laptop, and watched the snowy landscape pass by. The drive wasn't too bad as the plows had come through Rabbit Pass already, so we could get through. We arrived at our condo (Rockies Condominiums) with plenty of time to get our evening errands done. We walked the half mile to the ski area to get our ski rentals, then we caught the free bus to downtown to eat a yummy Italian dinner. After dinner we bused back to the grocery store and stocked up for the week and then it was back to the condos and to sleep nice and early since we were bushed from the day of travel.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Snow travel
Mark and I are starting off 2009 with a vacation to Steamboat Springs, CO and Yellowstone NP. We'll spend a week in each place starting on 1/3/09. On 1/10/09 we'll head to Yellowstone and we'll be back in Houston on 1/17. You can check out the weather in Steamboat here: http://www.weather.com/weather/print/USCO0370 . It looks like it'll be snowy, but not too too cold.
We hope to keep our travelblog updated at least while we are in Steamboat, so be sure to check back for updates. If you have problems viewing this, please visit http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com/
We hope to keep our travelblog updated at least while we are in Steamboat, so be sure to check back for updates. If you have problems viewing this, please visit http://markandjoannatravel.blogspot.com/
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