Yellowstone in winter. February 2008

This has been my second visit to The Grand Tetons & Yellowstone in winter. Most people prefer to visit in the Autumn/Fall when the colours are stunning however in the winter the park presents a totally different landscape.

My trip this year was with Paul Foley’s Spirit & Vision. Paul asked me if I would be a driver of one of the vehicles and I didn’t have to be asked twice at the opportunity to re-visit the park at this special time of year.

So – how do you get to Yellowstone? – In the winter it becomes more economic to travel as a group, this will become evident later. You firstly have to prepare for a long days travel via Heathrow or Gatwick – three flights later you arrive in Jackson Hole.

Jackson Hole is the main town in the Grand Tetons area and is a major skiing centre meaning there are numerous comfortable motels from which to choose where to stay. We stayed three nights in Jackson therefore having two days to photograph the area. If you get the conditions right this is just about the correct amount of time depending on your photographic style.

The scenery in this area is truly stunning however on this trip cloud cover was low and we could not see the Tetons hence no Tetons photos, but it does then encourage one to come back again. You are also more likely to see Moose in this area than in Yellowstone at this time of year so going on a Moose-hunt gets the adrenaline flowing.

On these trips you have to realise that we are only in the area for a short space of time and it is unreasonable to expect that we get the stunning light seen in other images from photographers who maybe live nearer and are able to visit more frequently. If you are one of the ones who hit the light just right then regard yourself very fortunate as, when talking to the locals on this trip, blue skies with cloud was only occurring approx twice a month.

After Jackson we travelled to West Yellowstone and if you want to see snow then this the place to be as they can have snow most days from the end of October through to late February/early March – yep, loads of snow – this is the area that requires travel either by snowcoach or snowmobile to get into the National Park - hire charges for a coach can be high and this is the main reason that travelling in a group is the best option.

Snowfall this year has been good – best since 1999 – the fact that we woke most mornings to 6 inches of fresh snow meant that the area was always “clean” with no dirty snow to hamper composition.

We spent 6 days travelling in from West Yellowstone but to call Yellowstone “a Park” is somewhat of a misnomer as it is approx half the size of Wales!

Going into the park every day we started out at 8:30 am - Once we are in, we are able to direct our snowcoach driver as to where to stop and for how long (not something you can do unless you hire the snowcoach for your own group).

The main drive in to Madison Junction is a wonderful scenic meander where we were able to photograph Trumpeter Swans along the Madison River, Bald Eagles in trees, Elk grazing and Bison foraging for any scrap of food that they can find. Anyone who was operating with a Canon system benefited here as I offered the use of my lens combination which I set up on my tripod allowing a closer shot than expected. Along this stretch there are also a number of areas affected by past fires – these unique scenes give rise to blackened dead trees against the snow with mountains as a backdrop.

Other places we visited were The Hayden Valley where we encountered frozen trees in the mist. These trees are amazing - geysers & springs shoot hot water up in the air and as it lands the surrounding trees are coated in ice and snow giving them a festive look. Only the strongest of trees survive this as the weight of the ice can make the trees buckle and break unless they are strong enough to withstand the weight.

Within the park there are many opportunities for fantastic photography. The countless trees and snow dunes make different shapes every day so it is a place that you can return to as the scenes change on a daily basis. It is also a common sight to view otters although we were not fortunate on this trip. However we were afforded good views of fox and coyote.

There is no way you can travel to Yellowstone and not visit Tangle Creek – especially when the conditions, as on this trip, were so good. Some days we had mist and others we had shadows. On another occasion Bison were among the trees and offering a pleasing composition in blizzard conditions. As a whole we were finding it difficult to find the best shutter speed to get the right effect with the driving snow but it was fun trying. Also I did not think that I would be photographing Canada Geese but we did here, looking fantastic in the snowy surroundings.

Another area we visited was Old Faithful. This is the centrepiece of the park, attracting the most visitors; however Black Sands Basin on the way is yet another area to explore with photo opportunities everywhere you look.

The one thing that I do like about Yellowstone is the warming huts – these are very welcoming on cold days and a portion of Chilli is just the job to warm the bits that other things don’t warm!

One of my favourite things that I did on this trip for the first time was to photograph in a near blinding blizzard. I reckon that Lee, the snowcoach driver, thought that we were mad as we were all outside in this blizzard for about half an hour the first time and even longer later in the day. His only response was to say that he now had greater appreciation when seeing the images in a magazine as to what the photographer had gone through in order to get the image.

There are occasions when taking the images is far more enjoyable than processing them or seeing them at a later time. This was such an occasion - the atmosphere was electric and although it was great to see the images later, it was nowhere near as enjoyable as taking them.

Today we also had sight of a situation that does not occur too often, seeing four Bison standing in an overflow of hot water whilst facing into a blizzard. They were clearly warming their feet. Don’t blame them as it was very cold.

After six days travelling in from West Yellowstone we next went around and began coming in from the North entrance near Gardiner – We had to take the long route round due to the inner road between Norris and Gardiner being closed due to snow.

We then visited Lower and Upper Terrace in the Mammoth area and then on towards the Lamar Valley. Here we found a Coyote who was struggling through deep snow. We later found an Elk kill which unfortunately was partially hidden by a tree. However it provided us with great excitement and enjoyment as at one time there were as many as 5 Bald Eagles on the carcass. There were also four Coyote (not at the same time as the Eagles) and a Golden Eagle feeding on the kill. After this excitement we pressed on and found a group of Big Horn Sheep. These were in a very pleasant area and afforded us with good habitat shots.

Not thinking of calling it a day we pressed on and found two Bull Elk munching on some shrubs in good light. Nearing 4pm in the afternoon I gave it one last shot and went to see if the Mule Deer and Pronghorn Deer were where I had seen them 2 years previously. And luckily they were – It was an excellent end to a fantastic day. Where in Britain can you go out for a day and see so many species to photograph?

This unfortunately was the end of our trip - apart from driving back to Jackson and flying home to the UK.

Well, that was it for this holiday but what a trip and one thing is for sure however is that we will be returning. So, if this has given you inspiration and you would like to join us in January 2010 please contact me and I will send you the information.

Happy snapping
© Mike Deverell – Wildlite 2008