Yellowstone on #209

This weekend brought another trip to Yellowstone! Yellowstone continues to by my favorite national park and winter was no different. Well, it was different, but I'll let the pictures do the talking. If a picture is worth a 1000 words, you better get reading... it's a long one!

The roads through the park are closed to traffic during the winter, unless you've got tracks for that van of yours, or rent a guide and a snowmobile!
Our first stop, and supposed destination was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This picture is looking right...
...looking straight on...
(are you into rock climbing?)
...looking left...
(don't miss the 300 foot waterfalls behind the rising vapor)
...looking far left. I think one of the falls was upper and the other lower, but such details have long since been replaced by more important information... like the 900 earthquakes Yellowstone experiences daily.

At this point, we were supposed to turn around and head back to the lodge. But thanks to a fast moving group (I will not publicly admit to speeding - just keeping pace with the guide) the guide offered to take us a little further where we got to see...
...yes, a tree.
(But I'm told it's a famous picture!)
Out of frame is Dragon's Mouth Spring, a boiling, gurgling, sputtering and spitting cauldron that's generating the steam in front of these trees.
While searching for otter's on the edge of Yellowstone Lake (we did see some, but no pictures), we came across some bacteria organisms, aptly named "Bacteria Mats".
The steam is enough to melt the snow in some places...
...but not others. (Yes, the packed down snow was deeper then 4 feet, much to our amusement when a fellow tourist stepped off the beaten path and found himself "swimming" out of the snow.)
This one's for Mom.
This is for everyone else (and no, I still don't like my picture being taken.)
Elk don't like their picture taken either.
Momma Elk didn't care so much.

I caught two bald eagles sittin' in a tree...
A coyote sitting pretty.

So, there you have it! In the end, we went all the way around the park loop, logging 138 miles and enjoying so many of God's wonderful creations! I'm not sure it get's any better! But the weekend wasn't over as I headed to Kelly Canyon for some night skiing. Kelly only has 900 feet of vertical, but hey, I wasn't begging for a masseuse afterwards either! Here's a few pictures from the evening:
Even after dark you could always locate Chris, a co-worker.
Here's a look down at the lodge from about 1/4 of the way up. You quick ones will figure out why it's called Kelly Canyon.

REALLY?!? I wonder what the punishment is - a body cast? Maybe they just put your body in a stretcher sled and give it a push toward the bottom. Incidentally, a ski patrol informed me that it was a misdemeanor, punishable up to $250. Apparently they like to keep the idiots around in Idaho.