Explore Yellowstone - Winter 2020

YOUR GUIDE TO AMERICA’S FIRST NATIONAL PARK

VOL. 7 | 20/21

Winter portrait of an elk from behind.

PHOTO BY NPS/JAMES W. FRANK

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WINTER 20/21

Owned and published in Big Sky, Montana

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ON THE COVER: Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone from Lookout Point.

PHOTO BY NPS/JACOB W. FRANK

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MORE THAN JUST REAL ESTATE Don Pilotte

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PAINTING THE MAJESTIC WILDLIFE OF THE AMERICAN WEST

“The Time Keeper” 34x32

“The Approach” 48x32

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D E PA R T M E N T S EXPLORE Maps: Getting to and traveling in Yellowstone.......................................................................82 Three Generations moving at 3 mph: A journey into the Yellowstone backcountry.............84 Find your Yellowstone app.....................................................................................................88 FLORA AND FAUNA Winter animal guide................................................................................................................90 ADVENTURE Snowshoeing: Discovering Yellowstone in winter.................................................................92

Shades of white in Hayden Valley.

PHOTO BY NPS/JACOB W. FRANK

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EXPLORING YELLOWSTONE Gardiner Cooke City

WYOMING

MONTANA

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK WINTER UPDATES

Lamar Valley

West Yellowstone

Most park roads are closed to automobiles for the winter season.

The park begins reopening roads April 16, 2021. The road from the North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana through the park to Cooke City, MT is open year-round.

Grant

IDAHO

Check the road status map before you leave, and make sure you have the proper winter safety equipment for your car: snow tires, a flashlight, a first-aid kit, a blanket or sleeping bag, booster cables, maps and a shovel.

People can explore Yellowstone on a snowmobile by hiring a guide or applying for a non-commercial permit. Snowmobiles must remain on groomed roads and obey all posted speed limits.

YELLOWSTONE AND GRAND TETON ENTRANCE FEES VEHICLES

$35 per vehicle to visit each individual park, good for seven days

MOTORCYCLES OR SNOWMOBILES

$30 for each park, good for seven days

INDIVIDUAL (foot/bicycle/ski, etc.) $20 per person for each park, good for seven days 82

ANNUAL PASSES

$70 for each individual park. An $80 America the Beautiful Pass is valid for entry to all fee areas on federal lands and is valid for one year.

SENIOR PASSES

$80 lifetime pass, or $20 annual pass, available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents age 62 or older

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ACCESS PASS

Free for U.S. citizens or permanent residents with permanent disabilities

MILITARY ANNUAL PASS

Free annual pass available for active duty military personnel and their dependents

FREE ENTRANCE DAYS

August 25: National Park Service Birthday September 26: National Public Lands Day November 11: Veterans Day

Due to COVID-19, park access and amenities may not be available at full capacity. Visit nps.gov/yell for timely updates.

L i v e w i t h t h e t h i n g s yo u lo v e . M e a d o w Vi l l a g e , B i g S ky

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THREE GE N ERATION S MOVING 3 MPH A journey into the Yellowstone backcountry

BY ERIC LADD

Eleven miles into the Yellowstone backcountry and quietly seated on a log alongside the Lamar River, Kelsey, 10, writes in her journal nearby her favorite horse “Chad,” sporting his freshly braided tail and mane.

Chad is a Haflinger breed and part of the Rockin’ HK Outfitters team, and most agree he’s one of the best looking of the herd. Kipp Saile, owner of Rockin’ HK, has operated backcountry trips into Yellowstone since 1998 and this week his guests are three generations of my family in the park for a four-day pack trip.

Kelsey is soon joined on the log by Jessie to further discuss life, the importance of space, calm, horses and the trip. Kelsey rated the day a perfect score, and what’s not to love, she says. “Horses, camping, Yellowstone Park. It’s a total 10!”

Grandma and Grandpa are seated in the distance, admiring their granddaughter, her spirit and her love for the horses and mules surrounding her. Last night, Grandma Cheryl helped arrange for Kelsey to switch her broken sleeping pad for horse pads, and the new odor for the tent was quickly renamed “Kelsey’s perfume,” a 10-year-old horse lover’s dream come true.

The art of slowing down and moving 3 mph is becoming a pastime for our family, something we

all enjoy and need more of in our lives. Whether its rafting on the Middle Fork of the Salmon, hiking the dogs on Porcupine Trail in Big Sky or riding on a pack trip with Kipp and his team of 21 horses and mules.

The speed, 3 mph, is the perfect pace for three generations of our family and we need more of it.

The math is simple: 11 miles on horse divided by an average of 3 mph equals 3.6 hours in the saddle.

Add in a lunch and bathroom stop, and it’s the perfect pace for a fun-filled day.

Yellowstone National Park sees more than 4 million annual visitors each year and yet less than 1 percent get more than 1 mile from the road. Kipp and Rockin’ HK arranged for our group of eight, with an age span from 10 to 70, to have three nights and four days on the Lamar River, isolated in the northeastern corner of Yellowstone.

The Lamar River is famous for the roadside viewing of the massive bison herds and healthy wolf populations which have created historic traffic jams, so getting to dive 11 miles off the road is a treat and creates a certain sense of calm at camp.

Kipp has spent 23 years mastering the art of taking strings of mules, horses and guests into the backcountry. His stock is seasoned, his wranglers adept, meals nourishing and his jokes and tales are on point.

EXPLORE

LEFT: Owner of Rockin’ HK, Kipp Saile, guides the family through the Lamar Valley.

RIGHT: Kipp catches a cutthroat in the Lamar Valley.

PHOTOS BY KILLIAN LADD

Kipp moved to Montana from Michigan where he spent many years living in the early rough and tough years of Big Sky before developing a passion and skillset for becoming an outfitter.

He loves his horses, knows each of their personalities and is grateful for the peace and isolation the park provides with his crew, guests and family. It’s not uncommon to hear him use the word “lucky” when describing his business and his love for the park is evident.

The Rockin’ HK team includes Kipp’s wife Heidi and their children Wyatt, Wilson and Scarlett, also integral parts of the business. Rockin’ HK Outfitters has a coveted permit for operating in the park and has a variety of trips offering everything from dedicated fishing excursions to 10-day trips into some of the most remote sections of Yellowstone.

Pack trips involve a tremendous amount of logistical planning including reliable stock, a strong knowledge of operating safely in the backcountry and the ability to plan complex packing management. It’s not uncommon to have amazing wildlife encounters like our breakfast one morning that included a 2,000-plus-pound bison roaming into the camp area and having a standoff with the mules.

Back at Camp 3L7, the smoke-filled skies have created a dramatic sunset as Jessie and Kelsey dive deeper into stories, gratitude and theories on how to stay warm during the looming cool fall night. Grandpa Roger declares that it’s time to play Yahtzee as the family gathers around the table and the spirited game of dice rolling commences. >>

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TOP: Three generations of family on a fourday pack trip in the backcountry.

BOTTOM: Grandma and granddaughter with their favorite Haflinger horse, Chad.

THE ART OF SLOWING DOWN AND MOVING 3 MPH IS BECOMING A PASTIME FOR OUR FAMILY, SOMETHING WE ALL ENJOY AND NEED MORE OF IN OUR LIVES. WHETHER ITS RAFTING ON THE MIDDLE FORK OF THE SALMON, HIKING THE DOGS ON PORCUPINE TRAIL IN BIG SKY OR RIDING ON A PACK TRIP WITH KIPP AND HIS TEAM OF 21 HORSES AND MULES.

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Nephew Killian, 14, sits on the shore of the mighty Lamar River thoughtfully cleaning the lenses of his camera, and has been awarded trip photographer duties this week, a perfect assignment for this up-and-coming photographer with a great eye.

Wrangler and camp cook Kristen prepares dinner as Kipp begins grilling off-hand cut tenderloin steaks. The outfitting business is one that requires long days and short nights and with a slight twist of “glamping,” the crew delivers a great backcountry product.

The camp setting is idyllic: riverside meal, tepees to sleep in, a bison roaming through the edge of camp and endless stories told by the wranglers of bears, wolves, elk and renegades who have roamed the park for years.

Slowing down to 3 mph is not only a needed reminder for our family, but society in general, and operators of such activities are becoming celebrated.

Exiting the Lamar Valley after four days, our group rides along a high ridge above the Lamar River with hundreds of bison dotting the valley floor. One large male bison blocks the trail and our group carefully navigates around the powerful creature while spotting a sneaky badger in the sage brush.

A large bald eagle sits atop a tree hunting the riverbanks as the sun creates dramatic flares filtered by the smoke and hillsides.

Approaching the trailhead, Kipp and his boys greet the group and celebrate with a tailgate feast of snacks and cold drinks. While the horses are unsaddled, our group sits amongst the horse trailers, cold beer and LaCroix in hand, three generations of family sharing hugs and handshakes with the crew that’s now a new extended family. The art of moving 3 mph, Yellowstone park style, has us all grateful for the experience.

Visit rockinhk.com for details about pack trips with Rockin’ HK Outfitters.

TOP LEFT: Fishing for native cutthroat in the Lamar River.

TOP RIGHT: Kelsey’s favorite Rockin’ HK horse, Chad.

MIDDLE: Rockin’ HK mule ready for the pack trip through the Lamar Valley.

BOTTOM: Kelsey, atop her horse and ready to ride through the backcountry.

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EXPLORE YOUR YELLOWSTONE WITH THE OFFICIAL APP

BY TUCKER HARRIS

Serving Montanans since 1919.

If you’re not sure where to begin exploring the more than 2 million acres of Yellowstone National Park, or if you can’t make it to the park this season, don’t fret. You can give yourself a virtual visit via the official NPS Yellowstone app on your mobile device.

The app provides everything from bear safety tips and road closures to self-guided tours, geyser predictions and park alerts. And you won’t get lost with access to a downloadable offline map that continues to track your current location even as you trek into areas without cell service.

The search bar feature allows you to browse by service or site, finding what you need to know at your fingertips.

So, what are you waiting for? Explore your Yellowstone by downloading the app!

Download the NPS Yellowstone app at the Apple App Store or Google Play.

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Yellowstone National Park

ANIMAL GUIDE BIGSHORN SHEEP

MOUNTAIN GOAT

COUGAR

Which animals can you spot in the park? Check them off as you see them!

Horns can weigh up to 40 pounds, which makes up 8-12 percent of their body weight.

Cougars, also known as mountain lions or pumas, primarily eat elk and mule deer in addition to smaller mammals, especially marmots.

In winter you can find mountain goats on steep, south-facing slopes and windblown ridge tops.

Bighorns are herbivores and eat grasses, sedges and woody plants.

Both sexes have horns but female horns curve less, are thinner, and sometimes longer than male horns.

Their skulls have two layers of bone that function as shock absorbers for collisions during head-on fighting.

PRONGHORN

Litters range from 3-4 kittens on average, though only 50 percent survive their first year.

Pronghorn are the surviving member of a group of animals that evolved in North America during the past 20 million years.

Coyotes weigh far less than their wolf relatives, between 25-35 pounds.

They can run for sustained sprints of 45 to 50 mph, a theorized adaptation to outrun an extinct American cheetah.

They will eat almost anything from rodents to fish to fruit.

Prior to European settlement of the American West, the pronghorn population is estimated to have been 35 million. Today’s population is around 1 million.

Also known as “song dogs,” coyotes communicate with each other by different long-range vocalizations.

They can run up to 40 mph.

RIVER OTTER

Adult males weigh over 300 pounds while females weigh only half that at 150 pounds.

COYOTE

Adult males usually weigh between 145-170 pounds and average 7 feet long including their tale.

The river otter’s long tail takes up one-third of its 40- to 54inch body.

Otters eat crayfish and fish, frogs, turtles and sometimes young muskrats or beavers.

Their ears and nostrils close when underwater, and their whiskers help them find prey.

WOLF

Also known as wapiti, elk are the most abundant large mammal in the park with a population over 10,000.

The average Yellowstone wolf pack size is 10.

Wolves consume a wide variety of prey; 90 percent of their winter prey is elk. They can even kill bison!

In 1973, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the northern Rocky Mountain wolf as endangered and designated Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem as one of the three recovery areas.

Jan. 12, 2020 marked the 25th anniversary since wolves returned to Yellowstone.

FOX

BISON

Adult males tend to weight between 11-12 pounds.

On average, bison live between 12-15 years, and a few can live up to 20 years.

They live an average of 3-7 years, and up to 11 years in Yellowstone.

They feed primarily on grasses and sedges.

In winter months, you can find bison in the Gardiner Basin— often roaming through town.

The average weasel is eight to 13 inches long and males are about 40 percent larger than their female counterparts.

They eat voles, shrews, deer mice, rabbits, rats, chipmunks, grasshoppers and frogs and can be found in willows and spruce forests.

Short-tailed weasel fur is light brown on top and white underneath in summer, but in winter, they turn completely white aside from their tail which remains black-tipped year round.

DID YOU KNOW?

Foxes eat voles, mice, rabbits, birds, amphibians and some plants.

In winter, foxes increase activity around dawn and dusk. Look for them in forested areas along the Northern Range and in the town of Gardiner, Montana.

PINE MARTEN

Elk feed on grasses, shrubs, aspen tree bark, conifer needles and aquatic plants.

Adult males can weigh up to 2,000 pounds. That’s a TON!

SHORT-TAILED WEASEL

ELK Their antlers begin growing in spring and usually drop in March or April of the following year.

Martens are usually 18-26 inches long and weigh between 1 and 3 pounds.

They eat primarily small mammals along with birds and eggs, reptiles, insects and fruit.

Pine martins are active year round and hunt mostly on the ground.

Yellowstone National Park has 67 mammal species, 258 bird species,16 fish species, five amphibian species and one threatened species.

SOURCES: NPS.GOV, ANIMALS.NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM, NWF.ORG, DEFENDERS.ORG PHOTOS: NPS, CC PHOTOS

Snowshoeing: DISCOVERING YELLOWSTONE IN WINTER

BY EDDY MURPHY

Two snowshoers traverse a trail in the Hellroaring area.

NPS PHOTO

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ADVENTURE

Some winter adventurers go above the trees, into the big sky and glide through the powdery paradise of Lone Peak; some painstakingly contemplate the cardiovascular benefits of cross-country skiing on one of the area’s many groomed trails; and some of us delve into the blustery and glittering wilderness on snowshoes.

I’ve spent a lot of time in Yellowstone during the summer, working as a barista. After those seasons ended, I returned home to Tennessee’s bland, rainy winters, sinking into nostalgia when I couldn’t lace up my boots and gawk at mesmerizing vistas whenever I saw fit.

So, when the opportunity arose for me to avoid my mom’s shabby sofa in Tennessee and instead live in Montana yearround, I was elated. I also felt uneasy, because I have never skied. I knew the couple inches of cursed snow that fell in Tennessee every year were nothing compared to what these skies promised. I knew Montana winter would make everything I knew of that season seem trivial and ridiculous.

THE LODGEPOLES WHISPERED, AND YELLOWSTONE BECAME SOMETHING E N T I R E LY N E W TO ME: A WINTRY WONDERLAND, N O T O N LY V O I D OF THE SOUND OF LIFE, BUT A PLACE WITH TRUE SOLITUDE.

But I was going to be near the wonderland that stole my heart four summers ago, and I was not about to let some white fluffy stuff deter me from recreating in my new home.

This winter, my first in Big Sky, I’ve spent many subzero mornings trying to extract my two-wheel-drive pickup from Crown Butte Drive’s ditches. When I first purchased snowshoes, I thought their alloy frames looked awkwardly shaped and odd.

The next weekend, I took my inaugural solo snowshoeing adventure in the Yellowstone backcountry. I drove to the Fawn Pass trailhead in northwestern Yellowstone. My truck was the only vehicle in the lot on the gorgeous, clear and frigid day. A moose drank out of an unfrozen rivulet beyond the pavement, and I translated it as the beginning of a memorable experience.

I watched the moose as I strapped on the snowshoes I’d blindly invested in, hoping they could carry me to the same kind of fond memories my hiking boots had in summers past.

I sallied on, into the trees, without any idea what to expect. Right away, I noticed the silence. No birds chirping, no brooks babbling, no wind—only the thwack of my snowshoes breaking the surface of new snow.

When I paused to sit under a tree for a snack, I lost my balance and fell into an impossible position in two feet of snow. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to escape.

Then, a slight breeze brought the hoary contours of the earth to life. I stopped in wonder. The sun blazed cold and brilliant behind a transparent cloud. Its strange, slanted light animated snow skimming the surface into phantasmagoric spirits. The lodgepoles whispered, and Yellowstone became something entirely new to me: a wintry wonderland, not only void of the sound of life, but a place with true solitude.

It surely is an amazing thing to have the opportunity to be the only person on earth outside of your front door.

A version of this article first appeared in the Feb. 11, 2011, edition of EBS. Eddy Murphy is originally from Nashville. He lives in Big Sky and enjoys hiking, fishing and live music.

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