With its 8,983
km2 Yellowstone National Park is somewhat smaller than Cape Breton
in Nova Scotia (10,311 km2) but a bit bigger than the Danish island
of Zealand (where Copenhagen is) with its 7,031 km2. I hope these
facts and comparisons give my readers a feeling for the size of the park.
It has
mountains and valleys, rivers and brooks, and stinky, steaming geothermal
springs. Here in the winter much of the land is covered in fluffy snow. Red
willow branches give a bit of colour to the otherwise stark white, black and
grey landscape. Fragrant grey-green sage bushes stick up here and there.
Cottonwood trees stand leafless and naked against the horizon. Snow provides
its own soft and pristine landscape.
We go snowshoeing every afternoon in this wonderful winter wilderness. It is my first attempt at snowshoeing and I love it.
One day our guides Linda Thurston and Nathan Varley lead us to lovely Pebble Creek Canyon. After this easy and peaceful walk things get more challenging. We meet up with a hill and deep, virginal powder snow. Nathan calls it the Hill of Death and instructs us to take turns to break trail because it is quite hard work. After a short while he lets my friend Tove, who is right behind him, take over. Superwoman Tove breaks the trail the whole way up the slope, never faltering, never losing momentum despite the fact that with each step she sinks down in the snow to mid-thigh. Amazing! Her impressive feat is the talk of the group the rest of the afternoon.
Another day we visit National Geographic photographer Dan Hartman in the small town of Silver Gate at the park border. After a visit in his cozy gallery and private home, from which we spot a Clark’s Nutcracker at the bird feeder, he takes us on a snowshoe walk.
With great enthusiasm and knowledge he expounds on the nature we pass through while eagerly pointing out ermine tracks in the snow. He interprets the patterns of small footprints and explains where the ermine has paused to sniff for a mouse. We also see mouse footprints and those from moose, coyote and fox. At one point our jolly host breaks into a song about the Northwest Territories. As Canadian as that song may be I am afraid I am not familiar with it so I just hum along as best (and quietly) as I can.
