Two coyotes howling in Yellowstone National Park.

I Love Yellowstone in the Winter!

Joshua Rutledge February 25, 2024

Over the weekend of February 17, 2024 I had the chance to spend some time in Yellowstone National Park again. It was on our radar that we wanted to visit the park again this winter, but with an abnormally low snow pack this year, we were not sure if it was worth the trip. Finally the last few weeks we have had some colder temperatures and some snow, so we thought we would give it a try. There was definitely still a lack of snow in the park, but it was better than the reports we had been getting earlier in the winter.

We left early on Saturday morning on our way to Gardiner, Montana. The North entrance to Yellowstone National Park is just outside of Gardiner and is the only entrance open during the winter months. The traditional road from the entrance through the canyon to Mammoth is still washed out, but they have a new winding alternative route up and over the hills into Mammoth. While there is a national park hotel in Mammoth we were able to find a cheaper hotel in Gardiner and that worked out well. The Roosevelt Hotel. If you are interested in doing any tours in Yellowstone during the winter, most of the tours leave from the Mammoth Hotel.

A panorama of the sunrise hitting the Crazy Mountains.

With the recent snows, on our way to Yellowstone we were greeted with some amazing colors on the Crazy Mountains during sunrise. The colors were getting better and better, but with the drifted snow on the sides of the road it took us a while to find a safe place to pull over to get some photographs. While we just missed the peak of the color on the snow covered mountains, they were still pretty spectacular. We made quick stops in Big Timber and Livingston and then it was through Gardiner and into the park. I think we got through the entrance of the park by around 9:30 AM Saturday morning.

Frost on a barbwire fence with the Crazy Mountains out of focus in the background.

It was a very warm day (by February standards in Montana) and there was not a cloud in the sky. While the sunny day made for nice weather, it was not the best for wildlife viewing or photography. With the quickly warming air and the cold snow covered ground there was a lot of a mirage as a result. If you check out the video posted below you can really see the turbulence in the air, and this made it very difficult to clearly photograph subjects.

That first morning we saw elk, tons of bison, many coyotes (more coyotes than I have ever seen before in the park), moose, an American Dipper, ravens, magpies and several other species. We even briefly saw some bighorn sheep way up on the ridge. Eventually we got a tip that there was a pack of wolves hanging in the Slough Creek area. Sure enough by the time we got back there, there was a pretty good crowd forming. We had to hike about a quarter of a mile or so to an overlook. The wolves were still in the area, but they were pretty far away. They had made a kill of a young bison the day before we got there, but they had pretty well consumed most of it by Saturday morning. A fellow photographer said there had been two black wolves on the kill earlier that morning, so I was kind of disappointed we missed that. As it was, there were a couple of coyotes picking over what was left of the kill and the wolves were still up on the hills sleeping off their big meal. The bison herd was still feeding in the creek below, so that was kind of interesting to see with the wolves still so close. Even with my Canon 600mm lens and 1.4X teleconverter the wolves were still pretty small in the frame. In one of the images below I was able to get 7 of the 8 wolves in one frame. They may be difficult to point out if you are viewing this on a small screen.

You can click on the images in the gallery below for a larger view.

While the days are getting longer, they are still pretty short this time of year, so it wasn’t long until it was already late afternoon in the park. We spotted several more coyotes and a nice bull elk on our way out of the park. We got back to Gardiner and checked into our hotel then went and found some dinner at the Cowboy’s Lodge and Grille. It was a nice little spot and the food was good. We then went back to the hotel and got ready for the next morning.

A bull moose browsing on some frost covered willows in Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park.

Sunday morning was quite a departure from the sunny weather we had on Saturday. There was a heavy frost and some light snow in the air. While this caused its own challenges, it was more conducive to photography. We got back into the park right around sunrise (shortly after 7 AM) and headed back down to Lamar Valley. We did not have quite as much luck finding wildlife this morning. I am not sure if the changing weather had anything to do with that or not. We stopped where the wolves had been the day before, and they were still in the area but still too far away for any photography so we didn’t stay long. We made the decision to go back to where we found the moose the day before. There had been 6 bulls in the willows on the far end of Lamar Valley, but they were too far away for any good pictures on Saturday. I am glad we made the decision to go check again, as this morning the bulls had moved closer to the road and I was able to get some pretty good photos (and some video) of them. There was no place to park near by, so I ended up having to hike about a quarter of a mile to where the moose were. The frosty morning made for some interesting winter scenery surrounding them. With all of the snow and the dark moose, I was having to use at least two stops of exposure compensation to even things out a bit. After the moose moved into the timber and started laying down for the day, we continued towards Cooke City, hoping to maybe find a fox or something. We did not find any fox but we did find another moose, so that made 7 for the day, which is more than I have ever seen in the park before.

We finished our morning with a few more sightings of coyotes and elk, but that was about it. We had originally planned to stop in Mammoth on our way out to photograph the hot springs, but it was starting to snow pretty good at that point, so we figured we better get on the road before things got worse. We were able to make it back home without incident.

For this trip I felt like I had packed everything but the kitchen sink. Since I knew we would primarily be working out of a vehicle I was not too concerned about the weight or how much gear I was taking. Most of the time I ended up using my Canon 600 F4 version 2 lens, with and without the Canon 1.4x version 3 teleconverter and my Canon RF 100-500 L lens on my Canon R5 camera body. I also brought along my Canon R6 and my older EF Canon 100-400 version 2 lens and my Sigma 150-600 lens for my sister to use. I did shoot some video on my GoPro Hero 11 black as well.

I have really come to love visiting Yellowstone in the winter. I have just reached a point where the summer crowds make it hard to really enjoy the park anymore. Of course the park is beautiful in the summer and there are opportunities to see things in the summer that you can’t in the winter (bears for example), but I think I am willing to take that trade off for the relative quiet of the winter.

If you are interested in more about Yellowstone National Park, I do have a page dedicated to Yellowstone on my website (it needs some updating) as well as a previous blog post from a trip last year. Also, be sure to check out my video on YouTube posted below from our trip.

Video digest from my trip to Yellowstone.

Dedicated Yellowstone webpage.

Previous Blog Post - Winter in Yellowstone National Park

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A bison fighting through the snow in Yellowstone National Park. Please remember you can always click on the images for a larger view depending on your device.

Winter in Yellowstone National Park

Joshua Rutledge February 20, 2023

On February 18, 2023 my sister Melissa and I decided to take a quick trip down to Yellowstone National Park for the day. Visiting the park in the winter is always fun, since the crowds are smaller and the winter snow gives everything a little bit different look and feel than during the warmer summer months. While you most likely will not see bears during the winter (although it is not impossible) other wildlife such as wolves and coyotes are more visible this time of year. The park is about a 3 hour drive, but with the days starting to get longer now, it is possible to spend a pretty full day in the park and still get back home at a reasonable time. Unless you are booking a trip by snow-coach, there are only limited places in the park you can go anyway, so you don’t necessarily need as much time as you would during the summer to explore. With that said, there are opportunities for cross country skiing and snowshoeing (and the aforementioned snow coaches) if you do want to access more locations.

As we approached the north entrance to the park, we started to see a lot of bison and elk out on the landscape outside of the park around Gardiner, MT. It is common to see some small herds of elk and bison outside of the park, but this year was the most I think I had ever seen. I believe the reason for this was because the snow conditions inside of the park forced animals to find easier grazing elsewhere. We did still see a lot of elk and bison inside of the park as well, but it was obvious they were having to fight through the snow a lot harder.

A large bull elk that still has his antlers inside the town of Mammoth in Yellowstone National Park.

With the historic flooding last spring that washed out the main road from Gardiner to Mammoth, you now have to take an alternative route from the north entrance to Mammoth Hot Springs. The main hotel in Mammoth was under construction this winter, so it was not open for tourists to stay. It appeared as though the snow-coaches were still departing from there however. We saw a few elk and bison roaming around inside the town-site of Mammoth which is fairly typical.

A bison using its large head as a shovel to move the snow looking for something to eat.

From there we headed to the Lamar Valley to see what we could find. We found a lot of bison and a few elk along the drive to the valley. Going down the valley we saw several coyotes and a lot more elk and bison, a lone bull moose and there were some American dippers along the river. We were hoping to maybe find some wolves, bighorn sheep or otters, but unfortunately we did not find any of those. We talked to a tour guide that had spotted a lone wolf a long ways off earlier in the morning, but that was all. We also stopped to look at a bear den where a black bear was just visible inside of the den. I tried to take some pictures, but the den was too dark and there were too many slow flakes in the air so it obscured the bear in the pictures I took. We drove almost all the way to Cooke City and then turned around and came back. On the drive back we found a couple more coyotes and a red fox. After almost returning to Gardiner on the way back out of the park, we did finally spot a few bighorn sheep far off in the distance.

A coyote looking a little suspicious in the snow.

An American dipper feeding by the river, not technically a great picture, but I wanted to include it for documentation.

One of the coyotes we saw had been struggling through the snow and eventually it laid down not too far off the road so we were able to stop and get quite a few pictures. I was using my Canon R5 with the Canon 600mm F4 version II with the EF-RF adapter. With all of the snow in the park, I was usually using between 1.5 and 2 stops of compensation to get the correct exposure. We were also able to stop for a few minutes and watch the red fox as well. I was photographing it with the same setup. For some of the larger animals in the park, when the 600mm was not necessary, I was using my Canon R6 with the Canon RF 100-500 lens. I find that the Canon 100-500 does a very good job with motion stabilization in video mode, so I have actually come to prefer that lens for video even over my 600mm F4 when possible. I don’t think the older Canon EF 600mm lens works quite as well stabilizing with the new IBIS on the Canon R5/R6. So in some instances I did switch over to the R6, 100-500 combo to grab some video clips after I was done getting still with the 600mm.

A coyote looking back at the camera while it was resting.

A coyote laying its head down for a minute resting.

A coyote yawning, so you can see its teeth.

A red fox listening to hear if it can detect anything under the snow.

Even though we did not spot any wolves or more exotic sightings in the park, it was still a fun day. For anyone that has not visited Yellowstone in the winter, I would highly recommend it.

Yosemite National Park - Part 3

Joshua Rutledge July 9, 2021

In part 3 of my Yosemite blog I am going to try and wrap up the rest of our trip to California. On July 6th we woke up early and hit the road to visit Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. We headed west and then south as we traveled through Fresno and then headed east to Kings Canyon National Park. We stopped at some fruit stands along the way and took in the California country side. We entered through the Big Stump entrance and our first stop was Grant Grove. This grove of giant sequoias is home to the General Grant Tree which is also known as the National Christmas Tree. We spent some time walking the trails around the grove and checking out some of the exhibits. We also made sandwiches from the food we brought along. From Grant Grove we continued north and west to travel up the canyon. The canyon was interesting but it was very dry and desolate compared to the mountains I am used to in Montana. I am sure to some it has its own beauty but I couldn’t help but feel like it needed some trees and green grass. We drove to the end of the road and then came back through Grant Grove and then headed south to Sequoia National Park on the Generals Highway. Since we had already had a pretty long day driving by this point, we decided to kind of do a really fast overview of the park. Of course we stopped to see the General Sherman Tree which is the largest tree in the world by volume. There was about a mile long round trip trail leading down to the tree. The trail was paved and included several sets of stairs. It was midafternoon by the time we got to it, so it was getting pretty hot and there was a pretty good crowd. If there are shuttle buses running, I believe there is a stop closer to the tree along the main road, but it was only for buses and handicap parking. After we saw General Sherman we headed down the road deeper into the park to check out large sequoias that are along the road. Since we did not have a lot of time we were not able to get out and do any hiking or explore things too far off the main road. I found the photography to actually be fairly difficult. It was technically a little difficult just because you had the shadows at the base of the trees and then the bright midday sun behind the tops of the trees. So it was really difficult trying to balance those two things. I also found it very difficult to really capture just how large the trees are. Most of the trees are fenced off so you can’t get right up to them, so you couldn’t put a person directly in front of them for scale. And even if you could, I still don’t think you can REALLY portray the real size of the trees in a single frame. We still had a good time and I am glad we took a day to check things out. After we drove a few hours back to our hotel we decided to relax for the rest of the evening with plans of getting up the next morning for sunrise. You can click on any of the images for a larger view.

The entrance sign for Kings Canyon National Park.

Another large sequoia at Grants Grove. I like the base of this one and the bark I thought was interesting.

The General Grant Tree also known as the National Christmas Tree.

Another giant sequoia at Grants Grove. You can see an old burn scar at the base and I also like the starburst up in the branches.

A view of the landscape along the road into Kings Canyon National Park.

A view of Kings Canyon from the end of the road looking into the wilderness.

Entrance sign for Sequoia National Park.

The General Sherman Tree. If you look at the base you can see people standing at the base for some perspective. This is the largest tree by volume in the world.

We did get up early the next morning (July 7th) to shoot the sunrise of the Yosemite Valley again. This time I chose to setup from the Tunnel View area, which is a popular spot for sunrises. This time I was not as fortunate and the parking lot was already pretty full with people. I did manage to find a pretty good spot to setup though. My setup was the same from the morning at the Valley View area. I had my canon 16-35mm with my Canon R5 setup on my tripod. I was having a little sense of dejavu from my first morning in the park, the sky was hazy and pretty boring to look at. The advantage of the Tunnel View area over the Valley View area is that you are high enough up on the valley that you can see Half Dome in your composition. The downside, besides being more popular, is that you don’t really have anything of interest in the foreground. Luckily the sun came in and cast a lot of color on the valley floor so that made for some interest. I also hung around long enough to get some sunrays as they appeared from behind El Capitan.

Sunrise over Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. I like the sun lighting up the valley floor and also the streak of light shooting up from El Cap.

Another shot of sunrise at Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. I waited for the sun rays to appear from behind El Capitan to add a little interest.

Upper Yosemite Falls as seen from the creek near the boardwalks in Yosemite Valley.

A large color phase black bear we saw in Yosemite Valley. Not a great picture but I wanted to share anyway.

A young black bear we saw later in the morning in Yosemite Valley. This bear has been tagged.

A nice buck in velvet we saw in Yosemite Valley.

Entrance sign for Yosemite National Park. We finally stopped and took a picture on our last day in the park.

After we were finished with the sunrise, we poked around the valley a little more and managed to see two different black bears and some deer. We went down and hiked around the boardwalks and some of the trails along the river. After that we packed up and drove back through the park over the top and started heading back west to Montana. We stopped the first night in Idaho Falls and then got up early the next morning and came home through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. It is always fun to drive through the Tetons and Yellowstone, but with the large crowds and being a little late in the day for wildlife it was a bit of a letdown. I was happy when we finally got home. As much fun as it is to be on the road having adventures, it is always nice to be home in the comfort of your own home. If you have any questions about Yosemite or the surrounding area, feel free to reach out to me on my contact page.

I Love Yellowstone in the Winter!

Winter in Yellowstone National Park

Yosemite National Park - Part 3

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