Welcome to my 20-somethingth year of trip reports! These are likely to be the only ones this year, since I won’t be coming out for my traditional spring trip. As always, you may be interested in tuning into my Instagram or Facebook accounts to follow the Stories (phone videos and snapshots) I’m sharing daily as a companion piece to these reports.
January 8, 2025
Less than two weeks since I left Yellowstone, I was heading back to the park.
That’s right, I was just here, but no trip reports. It was a lovely week spent with family over Christmas, and I barely made it into the park. Just a few forays, during which I scored a few nice Northern Pygmy-owl encounters, but that was about the only thing I photographed.
Photos weren’t a priority, obviously, perhaps because I knew I’d be returning soon. And seeing how 2024 wasn’t a great photo year, I was probably also ready for a reboot.
I was also waiting for the landscape to reboot. When we departed Montana at the end of December, everything was mostly brown, outside of our little pocket of paradise up in Silver Gate (yes, we got a white Christmas!). Driving through the park was rather depressing. It felt more April than December.
As my plane was about to land in Bozeman on Wednesday, I cracked the window open and immediately had to squint. It was my first clue that winter had finally arrived. Brown and beige fields were stark white. Traffic was slow on the highways and parked cars were covered in fresh snow.
New trip. New year. New outlook.
It was slow going with fresh snow on the ground. The closer I drove to the park, the more flakes gusted toward me, while the gray horizon became more and more opaque. But progress was safe and steady. After stocking up on supplies, I entered Yellowstone.
I never really enjoy late arrivals in winter. To get to our place we have to drive the whole northern road, and it’s inevitably getting dark by the time this trek starts. Add to that snowy conditions, and the fact that the beaten down, tire-track-cleared lane of road is heading out of the park rather than in, and it starts to feel a bit dicey.
This time at least, the journey passed without incident. I stopped to let a trio of coyotes pass me on the road near Hellroaring. Soon small herds of bison, shoulders adorned with thin snowy capes, gathered near or on the pavement, but there were no major jams. It was a lonely, quiet drive. In the Lamar Valley, a rare sight: a cottontail rabbit bounding up away from the road to the nearest clump of sage.
By the time I arrived in Silver Gate, I was hit with how drastically conditions had changed since my last visit. The road to our place was flanked by high snowy berms. And then I almost got stuck turning around in our driveway… four feet in four days, I was told!
I can’t deny it. I’m excited for the next 2+ weeks!
January 9, 2025
More fresh stuff on the ground (and the car), but eventually I was able to get safely onto the road and head into the park. The northeast corner had a pinkish-blue tinge, and morning color could be seen in pockets of clear sky behind the surrounding peaks.
I eased behind a stalled vehicle in Round Prairie and spied a few bull moose coming in our direction from across the creek.
Easing into the safe confines of a pullout just ahead, I watched as four bulls congregated in the willows… until the snow plow came along and emitted a few thundering honks to clear the cars still paused in the road. The moose skedaddled into the trees.
Down near the Confluence, I learned that otters had been seen a short while earlier, but they had disappeared rather quickly. I filed this away, as I was distracted by an approaching herd of bison.
This morning was opposite the norm: the nastier weather was down lower in the Lamar. The higher altitude northeast corner seemed like a paradise in comparison to the pounding snow and dull gray haze blanketing the bulk of the valley. Eventually I eased out of the soup, continuing west toward improved visibility.
At the west end of Little America, an odd sight greeted me. A lone bighorn ram was foraging in the flats at the bottom of Junction Butte. Suddenly it spooked, sprinting up the hill to the relative safety of the boulders and cliffs above. I looked around to see what had sent it uphill. A coyote appeared out of the long grass. Minutes later, after turning at Roosevelt, I glanced to my left in time to spy a coyote popping out near the gas station.
My main goal, as it was during the Christmas trip, was to find owls. No pygmies sighted this morning. So it was time for a walk in the woods, where I hoped to track down more elusive quarry. No luck there, either. In fact, all was quiet. The occasional woodpecker or squirrel I sometimes spy in the forest also evaded me. But it was lovely and peaceful back there, with the exception of a brief moment when yelping coyotes interrupted the stillness from a half mile away.
I began working back eastward, rounded a bend and found myself behind a vehicle that was slowly puttering up the road with its hazards on. A coyote popped out in front of it. The driver continued to track the coyote, refusing to pass it as they recorded video on their phone. While I waited for them to make a move, I glanced in the rear view mirror. *POP* Another coyote appeared on the road behind us.
Eventually I eased past vehicle and coyote and found a spot down the road to have lunch. I was calling home when *POP* a coyote appeared in a distant field, trudging through the snow.
Following lunch, I worked down toward Rooseve—*POP*! Another coyote (probably my gas station one from earlier in the morning) was hunting in the field.
All the way back through the Lamar Valley. Another slowed vehicle—*POP*! Yet another coyote worked its way to the valley floor. Just down the hill I looked out to the other side of the Lamar River *POPPOP*. Two more!
My destination was Pebble Creek. Due to the flood repairs, the Pebble Creek lot had been closed for a couple years, so it felt like ages since I had tromped up the canyon in winter. Pebble Creek canyon is lovely at this time of year, especially on a day like this. So peaceful, even if it is usually devoid of wildlife. And by now, the pinks, blues and grays of the morning had been swapped out for a pervading yellow tint, which one gets on sunny winter days.
With my snowshoes I was able to make it further up the creek than even before, but eventually hit a dead end (opting not to clamber over boulders, fallen trees, and likely hidden gaps in between them).
It was still relatively early, so I opted for one last run to the west and back. In the valley *POP* on the north side of the road this time. At Roosevelt, photographers were gathered fo—*POP*, and on the way back another *POP*. During my final pass through the Lamar I had to skirt a car parked in the middle of the road for *POP*.
It was definitely a coyote-centric day. Oh, and I didn’t photograph any of them. Maybe on Friday!
Arriving back in Silver Gate, I stopped in at the Stop the Car Trading Post, where they’re making some excellent hot chocolate (ice cream later in the trip is not out of the question!).
January 10, 2025
I managed to get ready a bit more efficiently on Friday morning, so I was heading into the park as it was just getting light. I figured this would get me to all those sightings I missed yesterday on time. As it turned out, my timing was perfect for the first sighting, which occurred on the road running past our property. Two moose foraged near the creek as I passed over the bridge.
Inside the park, I felt maybe my timing was off. Round Prairie was empty. Usually I can count on at least one or two vehicles up that way looking for moose. The eastern Lamar was similarly quiet, and I began to wonder if there was activity further west that was drawing everyone’s attention.
It turned out I wasn’t late to anything. I was too early, because eventually the caravan of vehicles finally arrived. But things were mostly quiet. No sign of otters at the Confluence, and the wolf watchers were frustrated by a lack of sightings or signals. I went as far as Little America before deciding to run through the Lamar once more. By now the temperature was a whopping 1 degree Fahrenheit.
Still no excitement, so it seemed like a good time to strap on the snowshoes and go exploring. I ventured down to Soda Butte Creek, in case I might chance upon otters, but also as an excuse to explore new territory. So often these days I find myself looking for new experiences more than just trying to fill up memory cards. While I would certainly appreciate some satisfying photo ops (especially after coming up short in that regard last year), finding new and different ways to explore the park while looking for photo subjects has certainly kept things interesting.
The creek is mostly quiet but for subtle burble of water and the familiar tittle of American Dippers, which are virtually guaranteed in this part of the Lamar Valley in winter.
I entered some thick stretches of frosty grass and willows, but was fairly confident the bison and moose were well clear of the area. My bigger concern was falling into the creek as I followed an old coyote track along the water’s edge. Perhaps it’s because I was watching my footing that I almost missed a huge surprise. As I glanced up through plants that stretched above eye level, I spied something in the creek. Definitely not the otter I was looking for.
This was a real nice surprise. I’ve seen few beavers in the park in the past decade, and I’m not sure I’ve ever actually seen one in winter. After it dipped beneath the surface, I trudged past. Apparently I had just missed it using its toilet on the opposite bank. A pity this is my final day of solo exploration, or I might’ve found myself back here again tomorrow morning.
I trudged onward, continuing around a far bend (old weasel tracks in otherwise pristine snow, plus additional dippers) before realizing the creek was simply going to take me back toward the road. So I turned back, pretty satisfied with the exercise, some newly-explored territory, and my surprise super-sized rodent sighting. I returned to the parking lot in time to catch a howling session from some cliffside coyotes a ways down the road.
I had time to drive west a ways. Since tomorrow is Client Pick-up Day, I realistically only had about a half day on Friday to explore. But it was still early enough to search a bit longer. Naturally, the trip back through the Lamar and past Little America including multiple coyote sightings.
I wasn’t really in the mood to wander the woods again, especially after a successful morning outing along the creek, but I’d hate myself if I didn’t take one of my few remaining opportunities to squeeze in one final owl search. Odds were low and things played out as expected. The distant herd of elk that I’d spotted to the north the day before had obviously come through at some point, and eventually I surprised a cow elk, which peered at me from a high hill. That was the only wildlife sighting, however.
On my way back from the forest, I once again had a coyote in the road. I was somewhat surprised not to see any more as I approached Roosevelt.
The rest of the drive back to Silver Gate was uneventful. Later I learned that the bull moose party began rather late in the morning this time. I suppose I’ll see them some time in the coming week when we return from the interior.
As I wrap up this report, with a fresh Stop the Car cocoa by my side, I see that snow is falling on Silver Gate once again. Here’s to more winter fun ahead!
