Yellowstone 2026
Our friends from the Patagonia Trip, Gay and Michael, asked us if we wanted to join them on a winter adventure to Yellowstone. They told us they were going on the NatHab trip to Yellowstone in winter. We love Yellowstone in summer so winter should be great!
They had chosen NatHab as the tour company – a small group (less than 12) – to do a 5 day concentrated tours of most of Yellowstone. We booked our own flights to add a day on either end and off we went.
We arrived on Friday January 30 in the afternoon and found our cozy home at The Rockwell Inn in Jackson Wyoming. We walked around the small town and found that there was the yearly dog sled races right in town! Normally they just set up a start/finish line at the town square, but this year it has been so warm they had to cart in snow! But it still was fun to see the races. Fairly warm (in the 30’s I think).
We looked up restaurants in Google Maps and selected “The Roosevelt” and we had really good “Bull Moose Bison Ribs!” We are discovering that all meals in Wyoming served two people. (Later we forgot this fact.)
Saturday we walked around town and then walked to the Albertson to pick up some things and had a great time exploring the city. Jackson is a fairly small city (10K+ people) with a very rich clientele. We learned that Uber was very good and convenient.
At the town square we were able to cheer on a protest against ICE and the Trump administration. There were probably 100 or so participating and hoping folks would honk in support.
The protest in Jackson!
Jump ahead to the day you like:
This was the approach to the starting line. Those are all elk antlers at the four corners of town square.
Our friends, Gay and Michael.
Sunday
We met the group officially for dinner on Saturday night and we started our real adventure on Sunday. We met our tour guides – Jake and Kaden – long hair hippy types (I only did that to check if they read this blog) that seemed to have memorized the entire encyclopedia and could create stories in a moments notice. They knew the trees, animals and behavior of all. They even were able to herd the guests!! We spent a total of three nights in Jackson. (Not to be confused with the region of Jackson Hole.)
The first day of real travel we loaded into the vans and headed up the valley for our first group photo with the very clear Tetons in the background. It was spectacular weather! Warm (well compared to what it could have been – in the 30’s)
We saw a few moose along the way. They have already shed their distinctive antlers so they look a bit like “Swamp Donkeys.” It was fun seeing them in the wild.
Bison in the distance. Little did we know that we would see bison everywhere and really close up!
More beautiful views of the hills. And minimal snow! They seemed to have plenty in the high mountains, but most in the flats were gone. Many of the elk/moose liked the easy access to food. Not a normal year.
We also stopped at a thermal heated pool where some bad people released pet fish that seem to survive just fine in the water. People do stupid things.
We were looking for porcupines and owls at the top of trees. All we found were eagles.
We then went to a known location of big horn sheep. On demand, we spotted a batch of them at the top of the hill and also fairly close to the road. They preformed beautifully!
One wouldn’t think about sheep licking your car, but it happens – they like the salt!
Next we went to the Wildlife Art Museum for lunch and a tour. It’s clear there is money in the area. Across the street for the “sleigh” ride. Well, since there was almost no snow it was a wagon ride (with wheels). We went right next to the Elks and through the herd. For some reason the Elk don’t care about horses or a wagon full of people. Fun to see them up close!
Our driver was a kick! Yet another great tour guide.
Finally to close out the day, a stop at the local duck pond and see some trumpet swans and ducks.
Monday we were off to the park. A fairly early departure and to the vans. We continued to look for animals and history of the park. We had a stellar clear day – unexpectedly warm – probably in the 30’s or higher! We could have expected -20° and THAT would have been cold. We saw more moose and great views of the Tetons.
Again, another beautiful day as we say goodbye to the Tetons.
Ravens seem to be the “smart” birds of the Yellowstone. At least they certainly know how to beg…
We passed by a opening in the snow with some thermal supply where fish (cutthroat trout) got trapped above the ice and ready for easy picking by birds and coyotes.
Michael and Gay
Then it was time into snow coaches – big vans with huge wheels (probably 4’ diameter with 24” tread width).
Beehive Geyser doing its thing. I’m sure Jake and Kaden scheduled it for us 😉
It put us up high and we headed to Old Faithful in the middle of Yellowstone. We checked into the Old Faithful lodge and then walked over to the famous Old Faithful. The performance was not scheduled for an hour or so, so we did a short walk around the area and were treated with an eruption of the Beehive Geyser. Bigger than Old Faithful and only happens every 2-5 days. We had a good show!!
The area around old faithful was magical! I could have easily spent another day here. So many thermal features and the bison were littered everywhere we went.
Then old Faithful preformed.
Daytime, the shine off the snow was great!
Barbara and I went out for a longer walk before dinner. Went to Castle Geyser and found a number of random buffalo all around the geysers. We kept our distance, but took their pictures.
Back for dinner at the lodge. Not the best food, but what should you expect for the middle of a park? The only way to get to the lodge is by Snow Coach or Snowmobile. Surprisingly there are lots of people staying at the lodge.
We went out after dinner to see old faithful in the moonlight. We had no clue when the next eruption would be, so we just took pictures of the steam then headed back to the room.
Castle Geyser (again)
Sunset just walking around the area.
Old Faithful in the moonlight
The next morning we did a longer walk and saw even more thermal features and buffalo – it would be easy to stay a full day here to do exploring.
More Thermal features.
I’m sure in summertime folks take a seat for a thermal show.
More bison just ignoring the warning signs of staying away from the thermal features!
But back to the Snow Coach and a new guide – Jonah who also seemed to know a little bit about everything! It was a delightful trek!!
Our first sighting of a wolf. A lone female.
This turned out to be our only wolf sighting of the trip. I quickly learned that a typical wolf sighting was VERY far away – maybe a mile away? While I brought a long lens (500mm) it would have been much better with a 1000mm lens. It also would have been better with a good tripod with fine pointing controls. Next time!
Later I checked the map and it was 1.84miles away when we first spotted her. (And 50’ above us). That’s a long way to see a 2’ high puppy! Oops, Jake checked it out and thinks it was 0.8 miles away. I liked my distance better, but he’s probably right! I’m lucky to have the pictures come out as clear as they are!!
But after our puppy finally got up and started to walk, we were all able to see him. (Well probably her – given the way she squatted to pee.) They said this was fairly normal. I think we were sort-of able to see her with the naked eye, but easier with glass. It did give us great respect for our guides to scan the surrounds looking for creatures. When they are not moving they are really hard to spot.
Back to the thermal mud pots – fun feature!
The other coach went a little wide and slipped into the snow and got stuck. We came back and pulled them out.
We then went to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone to the BEST overlook. We were alone!! Great to have a snow coach!
The blueberries. NatHab provided really warm coats and shoes. A few of us didn’t take them, but it made it easy for the guides to find us!
Jake, Debra, Betsy, Gay, Kathy, John, Dale, Martha, Michael, Barbara, Mark, Janette, Peter, Kaden (missing Jerry)
The waterfall – mostly frozen!
And we head to Mammoth Hot Springs, but it’s late in the day and SO MUCH TRAFFIC. They just don’t understand the concept of yielding right of way to faster vehicles!
Did we mention that we got really close to bison?
We arrive at Mammoth Hot Springs and again transition to the regular vans.
February 4, 2026 Wednesday.
We head out for more wildlife sightings. We head up to the east entrance and part of Lamer valley where there are two families of wolves known to hang out. But no luck in spotting them. They do cover a really big territory and it’s not always possible to see them. We did see a number of coyotes both up close and also a fair distance away. LOTS of buffalo.
This silly raven had a radio transmitter on his back. Birds aren’t real.
I guess this was the day of coyotes. This guy was right next to the road (picture through the window).
We went out the East entrance of Yellowstone and visited the home/ studio of a photographer /videographer who specialized in the animals of Yellowstone. It was in Cooke City for a visit to the Hartman Gallery, with a slide presentation by Dan Hartman, the photographer/videographer.
Some amazing photos of owls and wolves. Yes, moose and buffalo, but the highlight were the owls/wolves. I would have enjoyed lots more time with him – especially learning how he was able to get some of the shots. Then again, he lives there and goes out most days to find the animals.
Jake and Kaden.
This coyote seemed to be confused about his role in the park.
We had lunch at a spot where we met Cinna for hot drinks and sandwiches. It was a known place to see mountain goats on the hillside. She had them in her scope and the rest of us tried to find them on the hill. Not visible to the naked eye and even with my big lens not very clear. Some small white cotton balls on the hillside. But it counts that we saw them.
Did we mention that we got really close to bison?
A beautiful sunrise with bison… but few other critters.
We had a nice walk – top to bottom – in the Mammoth Hot springs. They are big! (Duh, hence the name.) Lots of different kinds of thermal features. I suspect it is more colorful in the summer.
Most of us got up early and again went to Lamar valley to try and spot wolves. No luck, a few coyotes in the distance, but no wolves.
Not a full moon, but it was pretty!
Then we spent the rest of our last day in the park on a drive from Mammoth to Bozeman. We were not disappointed! There were herds of pronghorn sheep near the road and it gave us a great view of them. Fun to see their behavior!
We also came across some bighorn sheep both up in the hills then right next to the road. Everything seemed OK until the biggest male sheep went forward and got spooked and ran like the devil and ALL the sheep decided to run with him to the other side of the road. Our best guess was he heard a coyote or something and decided it was time to get to a safer place. He didn’t seem to care about us all taking pictures!
In Bozeman we had our farewell dinner with all members and said our goodbyes.
A little frisky behavior from the lead male.
Most of us got up early and again went to Lamar valley to try and spot wolves. No luck, a few coyotes in the distance, but no wolves.
Golden Eagle
We stayed an extra day (as did most of the members of the group) and headed up to the Museum of the Rockies – a really good museum that included lots of dinosaurs and local history. And frogs. We walked there (1.5miles each way) so started to get our exercise back working… A week of heavy food and getting over a cold was not good for our health plans.
Bottom line, as usual it really depends on the guides. Our guides – Jake and Kaden – were spectacular. I would go out of my way to hook up with them on a future trek. One week was a bit short for all there was to see. We really filled the time
Want MORE photos?
Well, here are the rejected photos as well…