December 24, 2024
The morning began with one of the most incredible sunrises I have seen. I walked across the snow fields try to get a better view and it was so worth it as the color continued to develop.
Shortly after the sunrise we headed out in the snowcoach to the Old Faithful Snow Lodge.
Just about a mile out we encountered our first wildlife and incredible Elk who was grazing near the road. He was up disturbed by all the camera clicks. What a beautiful creature!
We continued on scanning the fields in search of wildlife while enjoying the majestic scenery of the park.
We stopped at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone to marvel at the massive, frozen waterfalls. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is the first large canyon on the Yellowstone river. The canyon is approximately 24 miles long, between 800 and 1,200 ft deep and from 0.25 to 0.75 mi wide.
As we ate our box lunch on the coach we headed to an area where wolves had been spotted earlier in the day. We saw lots of tracks but not wolves…..drat.
As we headed to Old Faithful Snow Lodge we saw a bunch of Snow Coaches by the river bank so of course we stopped to see what was going on. It was a beautiful Coyote standing in the river trying to find something yummy for dinner.
As we arrived at Old Faithful Snow Lodge we were greeted by elves!! .The lodge was completed in 1999; the Snow Lodge is the newest of the park’s service hotels. The heavy timber construction, exterior log columns and cedar shingle roof were part of the design that makes the Snow Lodge a significant example of classic “parkitecture.”
We raced to drop our bags and head out to Old Faithful since she was scheduled to of in 20 minutes.
Right on time we got to experience the rumbling, hissing eruption of Old Faithful, which is every bit as active in winter as in summer—and far more dramatic when the hot water hits the cold air plus we were the only people on the boardwalk.
Old Faithful is a cone geyser and was named in 1870 during the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition and was the first geyser in the park to be named. It is a highly predictable geothermal feature and has erupted every 44 minutes to two hours since 2000.
The sunset was as spectacular as the sunrise and was the perfect end to a day of scouting wildlife.
Absolutely a “Best Day Ever…so far”. Since it is Christmas Eve I wore my new Bison ears to dinner to celebrate!!!
