| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
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Article 1/25/04 |
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| Teton
winter wonderland
Story by Elizabeth Armstrong, Herald Photographer
The Daily Herald, Everett, Washington
1/25/04
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I
love the holidays, the art of giving and surprises. As
our children have grown, our need for more possessions
has diminished.
When a friend called and proposed a New Year's holiday
visit to Jackson Hole, Wyo., I made a commitment to join
them and surprise my husband with the gift of a five-day
trip. The anticipation of a Western winter wonderland
in the Tetons were well founded.
The Jackson Hole airport is in Grand Teton National Park,
about six miles north of Jackson and, on a clear day,
the view of the mountains covered with snow is majestic.
Travelers enter the terminal through an arch of elk horns
and drive into town past a sign that declares, "This
is Jackson Hole. The last of the Old West." We were
ready for the adventures to begin.
One of my hopes was to see and photograph some of the
large mammals that live in the lands around Jackson Hole.
As we drove to our hotel, we passed the 25,000-acre National
Elk Refuge established in 1912 to provide a winter home
for more than 7,000 elk.
The reserve is fenced on only two sides to keep the elk
off the roads. During the winter, supplemental feeding
is provided for the previously endangered cows, calves
and bulls.
As if on cue, a procession of elk, led by a bull with
magnificent antlers, marched in single file across the
horizon. I made a mental note to return for a sleigh ride
through the reserve and to visit the exhibits in the National
Museum of Wildlife Art in the sandstone building that
hugs the hillside nearby.
We stayed 10 miles outside town in Teton Village, which
provides lodging and dining facilities for a range of
budgets, as well as easy access to the chairlift and gondola
for downhill skiing.
I have given up downhill skiing, so it was fun to visit
a winter site that provides so many alternatives to fill
each of our vacation days.
We awoke the first day to the second of three blizzards
that uncharacteristically deposited more than six feet
of snow in Jackson Hole between Christmas and New Year's
Day.
The first rule for a winter trip to Jackson Hole is to
dress appropriately for the cold in layers and warm boots,
and to use toe and hand warmers. It never stopped snowing,
and we never saw the Tetons again. It was cold and magical,
and we were prepared.
Our first adventure was a full day of dog sledding with
guides familiar with the Alaska Iditarod. Our drivers,
Eric Tietze and Iditarod competitor Scott Smith, supplied
us with interesting facts about breeding and training
sled dogs as they taught us to help drive and handle the
brake on the sled.
We learned to gee and haw appropriately, and the 12 paired
dogs eagerly pulled our sled through the tracks prepared
by snowmobiles as we headed to remote Brooks Lake Lodge
for lunch.
Competently pulled by our lead dogs, carefully bred "super
mutts" Santana and Fiddle, we had to break trail
only once. That required a surprising amount of physical
activity for the driver as well as the dogs.
The relationship between the driver and team is close.
The snow was deep, the work was hard, and the dogs were
regularly rested and praised.
As a photographer, I frequently chose to sit in the basket
of the sled while my husband enjoyed working as a musher.
He dumped me only once.
At the end of the day, heading back to Teton Village in
a van, we saw deer, moose and coyotes along the way. Jackson
rewards the observant traveler at all times.
The next day we rented cross-country skis and snowshoes
at the Saddlehorn Activity Center and spent time exploring
the peaceful scenery by foot. Several snowshoe and Nordic
guided tours are offered by U.S. Forest Service naturalists.
And outfitters in Jackson rent every kind of outdoor gear
and clothing, so trying a new sport or a different type
of ski is easy.
Hot tubs, massages, hot spiced cider and cookies, or a
stop at one of the many bars or restaurants in Teton Village,
cap a day full of rigorous activity.
We completed our vacation with our most anticipated excursion,
a trip through Yellowstone National Park. As a photographer
and card-carrying member of the Sierra Club, I was delighted
to leave the driving to an expert in a warm snowcoach
(a converted van with large rubber treads) and not face
the challenge as a novice riding through the deep, unpacked
snow on a controversial snowmobile.
Jackson has hundreds of miles of trails that are groomed
for snowmobiling, but travel through Yellowstone National
Park has been limited and may be eliminated by court action.
It's the hot political topic in Jackson Hole.
Our snowcoach trip began with breakfast before daylight
and an introduction to the four international visitors
who would be traveling with us. Our well-versed guide
and driver, Tom Ciulla, supplemented his descriptions
of visiting Yellowstone at various times of the year with
discussions of geography, geology and history, and stories
of wildlife and the devastating wildfire of 1988. A CD
provided additional facts.
We were the first snowcoach to enter the south entrance
of the park that day. We stopped periodically to photograph
the pristine and dynamic landscape of the Yellowstone
ecosystems: snow-flocked lodgepole pines, spires of burned
trunks, Lewis Falls, hot pools and fumaroles. We were
all alone, and it was so quiet. We watched a moose amble
past. I told our driver that, as a former Buffalonian
(N.Y.), how happy I would be to photograph a bison. He
promised.
We stopped at Old Faithful geyser where the park ranger
predicted the time of the next eruption, assuring us that
he doesn't schedule the 300-year-old, four-minute, 106-
to 184-foot eruption that occurs approximately every 92
minutes. Despite feeling that we had been alone in the
mammoth park, a small crowd of cross-country skiers, snowmobilers
and other visitors materialized to rim the geyser for
a close view of the spectacle.
At the end of the eruption, the crowd sprinted to lunch
in the Obsidian Restaurant at the Snow Lodge. I lingered.
Ciulla arrived at my side and said, "Look."
Just beyond the geyser was a herd of bison waiting to
be photographed. Visitors are reminded to be respectful
of the wildlife and stay at least 25 yards away. My medium
telephoto lens provided the close-up I had been hoping
for.
We spent a few minutes walking on the snow-covered boardwalks
at the West Thumb Geyser Basin. If you misstepped, you
sank up to your hips in snow. The steam from the boiling
hot pools periodically obscured our vision of the snowy
terrain. Surrounded by a crust of thin ice, the bubbling
mud pots were impressive.
It started snowing harder as we headed back to the park
entrance, and I was most glad to be warm and have the
big, rubber treads of our snowcoach beneath us.
The advancing darkness brought a herd of elk within a
few feet of the road and we stopped for the last photos
of the day.
As we transferred vehicles for our long drive back to
Teton Village, no one spoke very much. Yellowstone and
its timeless wonders had invigorated and exhausted us
and provided the perfect conclusion to a memorable vacation
with great friends as well as a terrific surprise Christmas
present.
Herald photographer Elizabeth Armstrong: 425-339-3440
or armstrong@heraldnet.com.
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