Yellowstone National Park in the Winter — Day 1: Moving on to Yellowstone National Park — Welcome and orientation

The start of four days in Yellowstone National Park

January 2014

After skiing Bridger Bowl and Big Sky, it was time to move on to the next part of the trip — a four-day guided tour of Yellowstone National Park.

The drive from Big Sky

It was sad to leave Big Sky as we had a great time skiing.

We drove from Big Sky along Route 191 to Bozeman to catch the ‘Yellowstone bus’ from Bozeman Airport to get to Yellowstone. The drive out was stunning as it took us back out along the Gallatin River and down a very picturesque ravine. A nice drive.

Wild Joe's Coffee Shop, Bozeman, Montana

We stopped at Wild Joe's Coffee Shop, Bozeman, Montana, for a coffee and a snack. I had a pretty good latte and a chocolate brownie.

Getting the bus from Bozeman Airport to Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, Yellowstone National Park

To get to the hotel — Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel — for the start of our Yellowstone National Park tour, we decided to catch the ‘Yellowstone Bus’. The bus leaves Bozeman Airport once a day.

We had been told that it was not possible to drive to the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel — hence the bus. However, we later discovered that the road was open to private cars as far as the hotel.

The bus wasn’t the warmest or the most comfortable way to start the trip, and I wished we had taken the car.

We were lucky on the bus ride to the hotel, as we pretty much had the coach to ourselves. There were four passengers, including ourselves. Our driver was chatty and friendly and gave us a ‘mini-tour’ by explaining things along the route.

I would imagine that the coach would feel quite crowded if it was full for the 2.5-hour transfer from Bozeman Airport to Yellowstone.

The coach was not the most comfortable of rides. There were no seat belts, but at least we were treated to stunning views.

We stopped for a ‘comfort break’ after about 90 minutes on the drive.

(Note the geese taking flying in the middle of the shot.)

The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, Yellowstone National Park

The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, Yellowstone National Park, was an interesting place.

The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel was a US Government built hotel that, on our visit, was leased out to a company. The place was perfectly serviceable, but it did have that feel of government design and build.

Yellowstone National Park was founded on March 1, 1872, and was initially run by a civilian service. But, this didn’t work, and the US Army took over running the park in 1886 and ran it until October 31, 1918, when it was handed over to the US National Park Service (founded 1916).

In 1886, the US Army established a fort at Mammoth Hot Springs, called Camp Sheridan, and later renamed it Fort Yellowstone in 1891. Mammoth Hot Springs area still has the look and feel of an army fort — see the above photo.

The rooms were small but functional.

Our room had an enclosed bathroom with a shower and a sink added to the corner of the room at a later date. There is also a communal male and female toilet and shower in the hallway.

The corridors at Mammoth Hot Spring Hotel reminded me of a film. I kept thinking of “Red Rum” from The Shining.

The hotel was warm and dry but felt odd.

Mammoth Hot Springs

A few minutes on foot from the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel are the Mammoth Hot Springs.

I had visited the springs in the summer, and they took on a whole new feel in the winter. It was odd being there without the crowds.

The large rock structure on the right was thought to be the stone figure of a buried giant. It is, in fact, the remnants of an old hot spring that deposited the rock and no longer flows.

The trees have not grown in the spring, but instead, the spring has emerged near the trees. The spring will have killed the trees through heat and the minerals in the water being taken up. The minerals then crystallise, killing the tree and giving the ‘white socks’ at the base of the trunk.

These now snow-covered walkways would be teeming with visitors during the summer months. It felt extraordinary to be there with no other people.

Dinner at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, Yellowstone

Well, dinner at the hotel was interesting.

The dining room (or hall) was not in the hotel but another building.

Dinner was served in a large open-spaced room (see below), which had quite an odd feel (there was a bar down one end). Another US government design? It reminded me of staying at holiday camps in the UK (e.g., Butlins) back in the 1970s.

The food was OK (although we had to send back a cold starter), but it was an odd and soulless place.

In a chat with a bartender, we discovered that the place was to undergo a significant internal remodelling. From what I could gather, the staff that had seen the plans were not impressed with the new design. Surely, the new design would be an improvement on the current?

Evening Briefing

We had our trip briefing session and met our guide in the evening. The session covered the programme of events and a clothing and equipment review. Followed by a question and answer session.

We were all set to go — next stop, the morning briefing and then into the park.