For years, the highlights of our Yellowstone winter trips have come from our expeditions—using specially-designed snow coaches—into the deep snowy interior of the world’s first national park. By far, the most spectacular snowscapes and wildlife photo opportunities have come from the remote interior valleys, canyons and geyser basins. It is an ethereal world of crystalline perfection and stunning contrasts.
To wander through the interior is to float through a fantasy landscape. Steam rising from numerous geysers becomes a super-cooled crystal fog. It drifts through the trees like diamond dust, collecting on every surface until entire groves become assemblies of ghostly druids bowing rigidly into the wind. Through this ever-changing landscape move the animals. Enveloped in frost and snow, they appear as wraiths from the shifting mists—white phantoms haunting the landscape, captured with our cameras.
For five full days we travel by comfortable snow coaches into the heart of Yellowstone’s most productive areas for photography. These first-rate vehicles provide a depth of access and, under the guidance of an experienced tour leader, we venture into the dramatic snow-shrouded interior to take advantage of the best Yellowstone offers. For an additional day we explore McMinn Bench and famous Lamar Valley by motor coach. We’ve added this segment because of the high concentrations of large animals—including wolves—in these areas.
We visit three distinctly different regions of the park—Mammoth Hot Springs, Old Faithful and West Yellowstone. From our accommodations in West Yellowstone and at Old Faithful we journey into the Hayden and Madison Valleys, to the Firehole River Basin, Upper, Midway and Lower Geyser Basins, as well as West Thumb and Yellowstone Lake. On our way to Mammoth, we venture to Upper Geyser Basin, Gibbon River, Gibbon Falls and other photogenic areas. Staying within the higher elevations of the park’s interior virtually guarantees snow, whereas areas around Gardiner, Montana, and the northern boundary of the park can be snow-free in dry and warm years.
Enroll now on this unique and magical journey through the heart of America’s oldest national park. Our itinerary offers maximum time in the field for photographing phenomenal landscapes and some of America’s most impressive big game animals in absolutely beautiful habitats! No other Yellowstone tour offers this comprehensive cross section of the very best of Yellowstone in winter.
Itinerary
Day 1 (Jan 15)
Participants fly to Bozeman, Montana, and take the group shuttle to West Yellowstone ariving in time for dinner. The shuttle cost is not included in the tour fee. (D)
Days 2–3
Using specially-chartered track-converted snow coaches, we travel in the West Yellowstone area. We visit the wildlife-rich scenic areas along the Firehole and Madison Rivers and Fountain Geyser Basin. This area of the interior offers an enormous variety of wildlife, snow-encrusted trees, erupting geysers, hoar-frosted grasses and rugged mountain vistas. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is captured first thing in the morning followed by the Hayden Valley and Norris Geyser Basin. (BLD)
Days 4–5
We photograph the Midway, Biscuit and Lower Geyser Basins on the way to the Old Faithful area, which contains a wide variety of active geologic features as well as some magnificent elk and bison. Winter is a hard time for the park’s animals, but their lives are made a bit easier by the warmth of these thermal areas. Much of our exploration of this part of the park is done on foot. We also explore and photograph West Thumb and Yellowstone Lake. (BLD)
Day 6
We spend a day photographing the Upper Geyser Basin, Gibbon River area and then continue on to Mammoth Hot Springs. (BLD)
Day 7
After an early morning at the Mammoth Terraces, our final day is spent on McMinn Bench and in the Lamar Valley, two of the richest wildlife areas of the park, where the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone has had the most noticeable effect. We hope to photograph bighorn sheep, pronghorns, coyotes and, perhaps, wolves. (BLD)
Day 8 (Jan 22)
We return by group shuttle to the Bozeman airport in the midmorning for afternoon flights. (B)
Trip Highlights
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Five full snow coach days to the park interior using comfortable four-wheel drive track-converted mini-busses
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Opportunity to explore the prolific Old Faithful and Mammoth areas on foot
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Explore wondrous interior landscapes seldom visited by photographers in winter
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Includes a special motor coach trip to photograph the wildlife-rich Lamar Valley
Tour Details
Dates
Jan 15–22, 2011
Fee
$3,795 from West Yellowstone, Montana
Deposit
$300
Limit
14
Terms & Conditions