This vacation, as with most vacations, started long before
we actually went on the vacation. This one actually started in the fall of
2009. Pam saw a blurb that the District 214 travel was having a travel show. As
with most such travel shows we saw many things that we’d like to do, but the
opportunity to go to the Yellowstone area in winter sounded like it was meant
for us. While neither us are particularly wild about cold and
snow, it doesn’t bother us that much. And, at least according the
brochures, the winter provided not only unique opportunities to see many
species of wild life as well as unparalleled scenes for photographing.
We went ahead and booked the trip for February 2010;
however, a couple of days before we were to leave Pam’s dad became ill and we
had to cancel. Fortunately, we had travel insurance, so, although it was a
hassle for Pam, cancelling was not a great financial loss.
As 2010 progressed, we did notice that 214 was offering the trip again; however, since we weren’t
willing to bet on Pam’s dad’s health it was a mute point.
Things changed in September when Pam’s father passed away.
Pam was deeply involved in getting her father's house ready for sale as well as
other responsibilities with the estate. So, when I asked whether she was
interested in pursuing this trip again, she asked me to check into whether we
could get on or not.
Since I'm writing this, it's obvious we were able to, but
the drama was not over yet. On Tuesday, February 2
Thursday, February 3, 2011
(The following sections in red come directly from the Globus brochure describing what is supposed to be happening
that day.) Welcome to the “Wild West” town of
We arrived a couple minutes early at Forest View and most
of the people were already there. Some had tales of having difficulty getting
there because of other people being stuck and blocking intersections. That was
also the theme of the people who arrived after we did. Traffic was bad getting
to the airport and I was beginning to get concerned about getting through
security in time to make our flight. My concerns were unwarranted. Baggage check-in
was done with a skycap and was hassle free and we sailed through security. We
got to our gate in plenty of time, especially when we learned that the flight
was going to be delayed for an hour to wait for the pilot to get to O’Hare from
wherever he was. I was still not convinced we were going, but the pilot got
there and we took off. The flight was great! They even showed a good movie. (I
can’t remember the last time we saw a movie on a flight.) Pam had the window
seat and raved about how beautiful the approach and landing was.
At the airport, we were met by our Globus
guide Steve and our bus driver Randy. (Our 214 CET guide Gene had already met
us at Forest View, made the arrangements for the skycap at O’Hare to handle the
baggage, and flown with us out to Jackson Hole.) There weren’t skycaps at
We also found out the 14 of us from CET were the only ones
on the tour. Pam and I remembered that last year the CET group met up with
other Globus clients and it was a much larger group.
I don’t think it was a half hour ride from the Jackson Hole
airport to our hotel, but we did stop for a picture opportunity at the sign
welcoming us to the
For we who live in the plains states, the vistas of the
mountains in this area are breath taking.
After the photo stop, it was only a few minutes to our
hotel. Pam and I were impressed with the accommodations at the Rustic Inn.
Of course, the views from the hotel didn’t hurt the
impression.
This shot is looking toward the center of the town of
Lunch was on our own. Pam and I walked about a block further
away from town to a Dairy Queen. After that we walked across the street from
the hotel to the
We met for our welcome meeting at 6 PM and had some great
hors d'oeuvres. Some of our tour mates went into town for dinner after the
meeting. Between the hors d’oeuvres and the Diary Queen lunch Pam and I weren’t
hungry and I think the shoveling from the day before caught up with us. We were
asleep by 9 PM.
Friday, February 4, 2011 (B,D)
Breakfast at the hotel was very tasty and filling. We took
a short bus ride to pick up our box lunches in town and then to the elk refuge.
The sled ride out to where a group of the elks were was not as cold as I was
led to believe. Our driver was Seth and the sled was pulled by two Belgians.
According to the experts the refuge had approximately
7,700 elk this winter. They are certainly beautiful animals.
We were even treated to a sparing match between two young
bulls.
Of course, the beauty of the area did help to make the
morning a spectacular start to our vacation.
After the sleigh ride, it was onto the bus heading towards
the Flag Ranch. We did take a photo stop before getting to our bombardier
rides. I thought the stop was worthwhile.
I wasn’t exactly sure what a bombardier was until we reached
Flag Ranch. I soon found out.
They aren’t the most comfortable thing I’ve ridden in, but
they certainly can get a number of people around in the snow. We had 8 people
to a bombardier plus the driver.
We also stopped at the first time we passed over the
continental divide. (We’d do this a number of times while in
Did I mention they had quite a bit of snow there?
We arrived at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge, got settled in our room and then had a great dinner. Pam and I chose bison tenderloin and it was great. As there is no TV at the Lodge, we read briefly before the eyes decided it was time for sleep. (I believe the eyes would have shut about the same time with or without the TV.)
Saturday, February 5, 2011 (B,D)
Wake up this morning to the crisp air of
Once again we had a great breakfast prior to having a guided
walk on the
We were on the other side of
As our walk progressed, the snow began to come down
harder. I wish I’d taken a picture of Pam’s coat, it was covered with snow.
But, as quickly as the mini blizzard came up, it began to subside and we got
our first real glimpse of bison. (As you can see it was still snowing when this
was taken.)
We walked on a bit further to Castle Geyser. (If you’ve
got a good imagination it looks like a castle.)
Some of the group had already headed back to the lodge
prior to this. I had seen some things I wanted to photograph prior to getting
here. Since I didn’t want to hold up the group with my hobby, Pam and I decided
to head back while some of our group continued on.
Once again my photographic abilities didn’t allow me to
show the true beauty of the scenes.
There was one bull that seemed very interested in Pam and
me as we passed. Since we learned there are more
I do have to wonder whether he smelled the bison tenderloin on our breath from the night before. Since he wasn’t talking loud enough for us to hear (thank goodness for telephoto lenses), we’ll never know.
The rest of the day was spent trying and failing to get
great pictures of Old Faithful and the nearby scenes, going through the
Sunday, February 6, 2011 (B,L,D)
Travel by Snow Coach today to Mammoth
After another scrumptious breakfast, it was back into the
bombardiers for the trip towards the Mammoth Hot Springs. We quickly learned
that the bison have discovered that it’s easier to travel on packed roads than
making their own trails.
What really fascinated me was the how the frost would form on everything that wasn’t hot.
It was back in the bombardiers and more spectacular
views.
The bombardiers have hatches on the top to enable people
to get unobstructed views. When some bison were passing it was decided we’d
open them up. The driver opened the front one but was having trouble with the
back, I told him I’d take care of it. I did and the driver said it was the
first time he’d ever seen a hatch opened by someone head butting it. (Lobenhofers are noted for being hard headed literally and
figuratively so before trying this take that into account.) You’ll have to
judge whether the picture was worth the effort.
Our next scenic stop was at the lower falls. It was
beautiful but, for me, very hard to photograph.
This area is known as the Grand Canyon of
Yellowstone. While we have been to the
Next we made another stop at a different viewing
point of the
After leaving the bombardiers, we took a short bus ride to
the Terraces which were within walking distance of our hotel at Mammoth Hot
Springs.
While it was Super Bowl Sunday, we didn’t watch the game. Instead we had a nice dinner with some of our new friends and once again were asleep early. I fell asleep knowing I could have spent weeks trying to capture the beauty we saw today in photographs.
Monday, February 7, 2011 (B)
Our trip to
Once we were on the road away from
We were treated to a view of a magnificent bull elk
foraging for food. I think the shots below give an idea of the hard life these
animals lead in the wintertime.
We also found a bison showing us why they like to walk on the
roads instead of plowing their own trail. Of course, since there is very little
vegetation on the roads, plowing their own trail becomes necessary at times.
Our spirits rose, however, as a coyote came very close to
our bus moments after we passed the sign. We knew our trip wasn't over quite
yet.
In fact, it wasn't too long after that we were able to see
the only moose that we saw on the trip.
Thanks to Randy's excellent driving through, at times,
brutal snow we were able to get to West Yellowstone, Montana in time to visit
the Grizzly and
I don't think the sightlines for the bears were as good as
they were for the wolves; however, with my interest in wolves maybe it was that
I didn't try hard enough to find the right perspective.
We arrived at the Stage Coach Inn and found that once again we had a very nice room. Everyone in our group walked the block a half to a restaurant for dinner. (This dinner was on our own and I think everyone going to the same place speaks volumes for the goodwill and camaraderie that had been developed in such a short time.)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011 (B,D)
There was a little problem leaving the Stage Coach Inn. It
seems that the temperature had dropped unexpectedly the night before.
Instead of getting to about 5° below zero it got to 27°
below zero. I'm not sure whether that was the sole factor that led to our bus
not starting, but it certainly didn't help. The bus not starting delayed our
departure by about three hours. Everyone took it good-naturedly! There was a
mall down the street that a number of us went to and ended up helping the local
economy. It also gave me the opportunity to take this picture down "
We did get on the road again about 1 PM and headed back
towards
The bus ride provided us with an opportunity to see some
wild swans.
And the views up became more spectacular the higher we
went.
We got into
We also helped the local economy by stopping in the
"Images of Nature" store and buying a book Mengelson
did on the area. Finally, we stopped in the "Million-Dollar Cowboy
Bar" for a drink. This bar is famous for having saddles instead of
barstools at the bar. We sat at a table.
That evening was the farewell dinner. Very tasty and again great company!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 (B)
After a leisurely breakfast, bid farewell to newfound friends
as your vacation comes to an end with an included transfer to the airport.
After another great breakfast, and look out our cabin's
window, realizing that isn't what it's going to look like out our window when
we get home, it was time for the bus to the airport.
Once again, things went so smoothly with the check-in and baggage at the airport it was almost a pleasure flying again. The plane was on time and early into O'Hare. It seemed by the time we got down to baggage pickup not only wider the bags there but so were the people to get us to the shuttle back to Forest View. The cars had been cleaned off when we got there so it was merely a matter of popping the suitcases in the trunk and we were back home.
Overall Comments
General
For me this was an excellent trip! Between Gene from CET and Steve from Globus everything was taken care of flawlessly. The accommodations and food were excellent. The beauty of the area in winter time is something that I will long remember. I really liked the idea of being transported to and from Forest View.
I thought that we were completely prepared for the trip.
With the recommendations for clothing etc., I wasn't cold once. In fact, I wore
less and less clothes each day. But, I do tend to be warm-blooded.
Once again I am humbled with my inability to capture the beauty of God’s creation. The white on white of winter scenes was particularly difficult for me. I don't know if there is a book or any articles on taking these types of pictures, but I would certainly look into it before I would do it again.
Taking pictures from the bus was challenging because of the reflections that are prevalent whenever taking through glass. I think this particular bus made it a little more challenging because of the tinted windows.
I think one of the frustrations that I will always have
with tour groups such as this is my unwillingness to "hold people
up." As my photography has progressed it seems it takes me longer and
longer to set up for "THE" shot.