Tuesday morning I woke up from the
noise of other people putting river boats in the water. It was freezing cold
and very windy. Every few casts I would have to break ice off the eye loops on
my fishing rod. The wind was even making it difficult to cast. After an hour or
so with no luck I decided to try another other spot. This looked more active,
there were several people already fishing. I walked around casting, trying to
learn from looking at other people. I still didn’t really know anything about
trout fishing and the other people were all using fly rods. I sort of got the
hang of where to aim and caught one. I was shocked by that alone, I really had
no expectation of catching anything. It was a beautiful rainbow trout about 20
inches long. I decided I was going to keep the fish I caught so I chopped the
head and cleaned the guts. I continued fishing in different areas along the
river and I found a spot I thought would have fish. Sure enough I got another
one. This one wasn’t as big as the first but still good enough for me. the wind
on this part of the river wasn’t nearly as bad but I still had to take a few
breaks back at the car to warm up. I saw 2 guys in one spot of the river just
slamming fish. So I headed over and gave it a try. Turns out they were catching
brown trout, the guy from Cabelas asked me not to keep browns. Its there
breeding season so I respected that. I caught one but just took some pictures
and let it go. I kept fishing in other areas but didn’t have any luck, and I was
really starting to get cold. I started heading back towards town but decided to
try the first spot one last time. It was close to dark and I wanted to get the
most out of the day. I ended up catching one more which I was pretty happy
about. The fish will freeze up quick and I plan on cooking them in Seattle with
my friend Brian at his place. Once it was dark I hit the road and drove west to
Livingston, MT. In winter the only way to get into Yellowstone is from the
north and you have to go through this city. I looked up a few things but I was
pretty tired so went to bed.
I didn’t
sleep to well so and was up really early. The whole area is surrounded by
mountains, so it was nice to see the sun start to illuminate everything. The drive
to Yellowstone was beautiful. You’re down in a valley with mountains on both
sides. The north entrance to Yellowstone has a huge stone archway you drive
through. From there you follow along a snaking river to Mammoth Spring. This used
to be Fort Yellowstone, and as your driving through it really feels like a military
establishment. I made it to the visitor center as soon as it opened at 9am. From
there I checked out liberty cap, which is this strange 30 foot rock structure. There
was also a hot spring that flowed down a hill and with it being 1 degree
outside, there was steam everywhere. The water coming out is boiling hot and
leaves streaks of all different colors. Next I went on a 1.25 mile snowshoe
trail. This takes you around most of the major springs in the area. The nice
thing about winter hiking is you can pretty much just go anywhere. I would see
some steam off the trail a ways and just hike over. I could only imagine what
the first people to see this place were thinking. Everything is just strange. The
ground actually bubbles up over time and looks like it’s about to split open. There
is boiling hot pools of water all over the place. After that I drove through
the rest of the park. There is only one main road open in winter, it goes to Cody
city. I stopped at several places to see the animals. But you just don’t get to
see many geological features in winter. All the roads to the interior are
closed off, and there’s where all the action is. You can take a guided
snowmobile tour through the park, but I think I would rather just see it all in
summer. It is a beautiful drive through the area with tons of animals
everywhere. I saw buffalo, elk, deer, coyotes, and 2 black wolves. There were
tons of people at one stop and they all had telescopes out. I couldn’t see
anything but someone let me look through there’s. Sure enough there were 2
black wolves and one grey. I couldn’t take a picture, they were too far away. On
the way back from Cody city my body made it clear it was nap time. So I pulled
over for an hour or so and took a snooze. There was one more thing I had to
check out before leaving. There is a hot spring that flows into a cold river,
so people are able to actually swim in it. Its 1/3 mile from the parking lot but
there were plenty of people making the hike. The river its self is freezing
cold and the hot water flowing off the rocks was just under boiling. It made
for a very strange mixture. Your body is getting hit with so many different temps.
The hot water would stay towards the surface so the top was hot and bottom
cold. Depending on the current of the river, and where people were sitting you
would get blasted with freezing water or really hot water. It takes awhile to
find a really good spot. Getting out is the hard part, because you know once you’re
out you have a 1/3 mile hike back to the car. After that I drove up the Livingston
and over to Bozeman, which is about 25 minutes west. The next stop is Jackson but
I don’t want to make that drive at night so I stayed there.
This morning
I made the drive to Jackson, WY. Again a very scenic drive through snow covered
mountains. I went to the visitor center and got all the info I need for a few
days here. I am most excited about the snowmobile tour. If you remember I did
it 2 years ago and had a great time. The only problem is that the tour guide I used
last time, Carter is fully booked with no room for anyone. I still signed up
for Saturday I just hope this guide will be as cool. So my plan here is to
snowboard at Snow King tomorrow, it’s my first time out this year and
wanted warm up run before Jackson Hole. Then
snowmobile Saturday, snow shoe in the Tetons Sunday, and finish it up with
boarding at Jackson Hole Monday.
