Yellowstone National Park in the Winter — Day 4: West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Lake and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Last day in Yellowstone National Park

January 2014

The day started with dropping our luggage at the reception in the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. Next, we attended a quick morning briefing on the plans for the day. Our host, Amy, expressed some concern about a storm coming in and said plans might have to change.

First stop, the Continental Divide.

Continental Divide

The Continental Divide is an interesting feature and something that I first came across on a summer visit to Yellowstone.

The Continental Divide is a line on the map. But the significance of the line is that rain that falls on one side of the line flows to the Pacific Ocean, while rain that falls on the other side flows to the Atlantic Ocean. And the divide runs through the park, so we stopped for a look.

Admittedly, there is not much to see apart from a big sign saying “Continental Divide” (not photographed). However, what did impress me was the emptiness of the roads. When I stopped at the Divide during the summer, the above photo would have been full of cars driving around the park and cars parked up for visitors to take their photos at the divide.

West Thumb Geyser Basin and Yellowstone Lake

From the Continental Divide, we moved on to the Thumb Geyser Basin and Yellowstone Lake, but we stopped for a quick warm in the hut before we entered the basin.

Seeing such a large hot stove was great.

But you had to take the warning seriously. That is hot!

From the hut, we moved down to the basin.

Again, the views were stunning.

Snow covered the walkways. The rails on the slide, which in the summer had come up to my knees, or a little higher, were now at ankle height. Note the tall poles to the side of the walkways so you know you are on safe ground if the snow gets any deeper.

And then we spotted them. Two wolves are just out there on the lake near a patch of open water.

It was thrilling to see two Yellowstone wolves in the wild. A real treat.

The walkway runs along West Thumb, which is part of Yellowstone Lake. And it is surprising to see the thermal features pushing out into the lake.

Even in the extreme cold and steaming water environments, life was growing in the hot water.

The above photographs show bacteria and alga growing in water running from one of the geysers.

And down by the lakeside, alga was growing in the water.

The views along the waterfront were stunning and constantly changing with the storm coming in.

The image below shows a classic white sock on a tree.

The hot spring only appeared after the tree started growing. The tree did not begin growing in hot water. The hot water and the minerals from the spring killed the tree. The tree takes up the dissolved minerals, which crystallise to give the tree a white sock.

The presence of white sock trees shows how the thermal features change and move. On this trip, I saw a couple of walkways closed since my last visit due to thermal features appearing below the walkway, making them unsafe.

The steam from the vents often created some astonishing ice sculptures on the walkways and railings.

And the poles marking the path were encrusted with thick ice formed from the steam from the vents blowing past in the wind.

A magical landscape.

Across the Yellowstone Lake, we saw the first hints of the storm coming in that had our guide worried.

We had a great time visiting the West Thumb Geyser Basin, and to see two wolves was thrilling.

Next stop, Fishing Bridge.

Fishing Bridge

The road to Fishing Bridge was very snowy and slippery, even with Mattracks ‘wheels’ on the mini-bus.

We stopped at the General Store at Fishing Bridge. It felt extraordinary being there in the winter, as nobody was around. When I was there in the summer, it was so crowded it was difficult to find somewhere to park. This time, we parked in the middle of the road.

On the road again

As we left Fishing Bridge for Hayden Valley, I saw a Bald Eagle. I had never seen one in the wild. A magnificent bird. Sorry about the awful photo.

Further down the road, we saw some bison. There was a big male on his own.

And a group lower down in the valley.

As we went along the road, we gained some height, and we could see signs of the storm getting closer.

We stopped to look at the Yellowstone River, and as we stood there looking at the river and the incoming storm.

An otter popped out of the river with a fish.

Yellowstone Grand Canyon

Finally, we arrived at our last stop of the day and the tour — Yellowstone Grand Canyon.

The scenery was fantastic and to see such a powerful waterfall nearly frozen was amazing.

The drive back to Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel

As we left Yellowstone Grand Canyon for the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, the weather started to close in. The wind got up, and it began to snow. Pretty dramatic stuff. It made me appreciate how quickly the weather could change in the park. Some deep drifts started to form on the roads, and the visibility was poor.

Back at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel

We got back to the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel OK, but my luggage didn’t. It was out in the storm. The hotel was in-touch with the truck via radio. They told me the drivers were experiencing some wild weather.

One of the things you have to consider when in Yellowstone during the winter is the weather. We had sun, calm, wind, clouds, snow, driving snow, and almost whiteout conditions on our last day. We managed to get over one of the passes out of the park just before it closed. My luggage, which had taken an easier route, was stuck in white-out conditions on the road.

The luggage arrived late evening.

Summary for day 4

There was no way that day 4 would beat day 3, but it came close.

It was another wonderful day in the park. We experienced all the types of weather the park could throw at us; we visited some fabulous places and saw some wildlife.

What struck me about the day was how quickly the weather could change. At times, we could see it coming in across the lake, and sometimes, it seemed to arrive from nowhere. One minute it would be sunny, and in a very short time, the wind would get up, and you would be in white-out conditions. Scary.

Another great day.