Bozeman - North Yellowstone

BOZEMAN - WEST YELLOWSTONE 

The eastern end of the Bozeman Valley.

Nothing planned after Idaho prior to going to North Yellowstone .

First job. Getting the pills, meds sorted. I usually get this scrambled, because we gain a day flying here from NZ which means an eight day week. This time two Wednesdays. Flying home we loose a day and have only a six day week. This is one of life's little challenges for me, always has been.

Back on message now.

The girls climbed to the big "M" letter on the side of the hill over looking Bozeman. It is similar to the Hollywood sign in LA. Photo above is on the way up.

A chimney fire at the house got us moving! It started halfway up the stack. Threw a fire retardant into the firebox and shut the door. Sent out an SOS. Tom and Alexis came over to check. Fire was out. Katie went up on the roof with a chimney brush, and reamed out the stack. Stack is going to be checked professionally for piece of mind and I dare say, to ensure insurance cover is not invalidated in case there is an issue.

The only day without snow on the roof, a brief heatwave of 4°c. Otherwise everyday day a blanket of snow.

A day later, a Weather Advisory Snow Storm grade 3 blizzard was in place.

On that day, Joanne and Katie decided to head out for a shop to Costco and Target. The weather seemed to be bypassing us, the clouds were moving away. However within 10 minutes of their departure it began bucketing down. 2-3 inches in the first hour. When they returned to the truck, to come home, there was an inch of snow. Up the hill, where we are staying, about 8 kms away, there was about 3". They got to within 100 meters of the house before losing traction. Katie fetched me. By the time we got back to the truck a couple of local lads were on the job. The easy fit chains took only a couple of minutes.  The blizzard eventually dropped 8" in six hours.

The guy under the truck is me, top photo. That's not a dead animal!

The upshot. It goes to show how quickly things can change here. Having all the gear in the truck has taken on a new meaning.

 

NORTH YELLOWSTONE

After the significant snow dump we were anxious about the road conditions to Gardiner... Optimistically we thought it would be well plowed, melted, and driven on, by the time we took to the road.

Yeah right! See photo below, I-90 no traffic 27/02

Normally four lanes packed with traffic. 

Accommodation in the area was chocker block as people parked up to wait out the blizzard.

Undeterred by  a bit of bad weather, "she'll be right mate", we pressed on to Gardiner.  We had  prepaid for the hotel. It was  beyond the refund cancelation period, we couldn't waste it!

Speed on the I-90, was at best 25-40 mph or  zero. There were a few nutters who went roaring pass. Went slowly over the Bozeman Pass through the Bear Canyon.

The truck passing is on ice. This was a rare moment when there was good visibility.

Livingston to Gardiner (near Yellowstone) via MT-89, a rural road, was also supposed to be clear. BS, needed chains! We saw six vehicles on this leg of 52 miles. Whiteout conditions. 

We are getting very efficient with  the snow chains. They have  automatic tensioners, which are a gamer changer. Joanne still had a lingering cough so she sat in the truck leaving us to get on with it.

Total drive time advised by Google 1 1/2 hours. Actual time 4 hours!

Later in the day the road was closed. Several accidents. I think we were one of the last ones on the road. We were grateful to have made it through to Gardiner in one piece.

Frozen ice on the truck quards.

Look carefully at the above photo. Nails, frozen icicles, snapped off from the snug top, refreezing on the back bumper as we were driving!

Before heading out of Bozeman, we had a cooked breakfast at the Western Cafe (downtown). Atmosphere was "old cowboy saloon". I had a steak, fried chicken style, 300 gm, eggs easy over, plus hash browns - great for my sodium intake... It was hard to leave!

Arriving into Gardiner spotted three mobs of elk hunkering down. They were outside the park to evade the wolves.

We flagged going to the Park as it had been a long taxing drive, so checked in at the Yellowstone Gateway Inn and enjoyed some Fireball whiskey 🤣.

Tucked up for the night.

The next day woke up to some early morning visitors, a family of three. Casually walking past our apartment. Elk.

As we drove to the Yellowstone it was clear the elk and mule deer had taken over Gardiner.

Supermarket Sign. "Come for the wildlife stay for the bourbon"! We complied.

North Yellowstone 

The Theodore Roosevelt Gateway.

Mammoth Hot Springs Yellowstone NP.

The road from the entrance to the information centre at Mammoth, was different. A year or so ago a massive storm  flooded the Yellowstone River, washing out a number of bridges and a lot of the road. The new road is very steep and windy with 10°+ inclines. Speed limit in the dry 10 to 15 mph, in snowy conditions who knows?

Information centre building inside the park at Mammoth. Great displays.

We were the only ones here. In October 2023 there was a cast of 1000s parked here!

Mammoth Hot Springs are spectacular to visit in the snow.

  

The real blizzard weather at Mammoth 50% of the time.

Lamar

The conditions were not ideal but the original concenus had been to make our way to the Lamar Valley to see bison and possibly get to Cooktown, near the Beartooth Pass. In the end no takers, the prospect going down like a lead balloon...

Wolves

However, we travelled a few miles up the road to Tower-Roosevelt Junction, in the hope of seeing some animals. About two miles in we stopped where a group of people had gathered on the side of the road.

They had sighted a pack of wolves! Unbelievable luck. There are only a 100 or so wolves in the park in 11 packs. Not many at all. The odds of seeing them are very long. The territorial range of each pack is around three hundred square miles or 81,000 hectares. To see them is as rare as rocking horse shit!  It was just as well we persevered to get  there otherwise we would have missed them. An opportunity of a lifetime gone.

The wolves could be seen clearly by the naked eye. At least nine plus pups.

The first video is brilliant and shows the distance from which these guys were spotted.

Hot Pool Springs 

Not wanting to test our luck any further to get to the Lamar Valley, we headed north out of the park, to the hot pools on the Yellowstone River, near Gardiner.

While soaking in the pools sighted another big mob of elk on a ridge above the valley. It was difficult to get out of the pools as you had to run a gauntlet of some 50 metres, to get the showers. Took a while to pluck up the courage.

Heading back to Bozeman we passed a number of large herds of elk.  As with the elk in West Yellowstone, they are not predated when outside the park. The only threat are humans.

Back to Bozeman