Hebgen Lake 

West Yellowstone, Montana is the western gateway to the world’s first national park, Yellowstone. West Yellowstone nurtures the charm of small western town snuggled into a spectacular Rocky Mountain setting. West Yellowstone is the perfect vacation destination for the nature lover and outdoorsman. West Yellowstone has a wonderful sense of history and prides itself on the way they have taken care of Yellowstone Park visitors since Yellowstone Parks founding n 1872. With all that experience, West Yellowstone has the lodging, restaurants, and services to show its guests a real good time.

West Yellowstone is also the gateway to National Forests of the Greater Yellowstone Eco-systems western flank offering almost every activity imaginable nearby in every season.Golden aspen and cottonwood ushering the fall season to the sounds of bugling elk and the mood is relaxes as summer crowds depart. Wildlife comes out of hiding, elk bugle, and trout jump high for the last hatch (calabatis) of the season. Fall days around West Yellowstone are perfect for wildlife viewing, a guided float trip, hiking and biking, fall fishing and floating, and just plain relaxing.

Yellowstone Snowcoach
Snowcoaching into Yellowstotne from West

Winter in West Yellowstone is spectacular and one of the best times to visit West Yellowstone and Yellowstone National Park. Getting around is a real adventure whether by ski, snowshoe, snowcoach or snowmobile. Snow fills the purposefully unplowed streets to better accommodate the snowmobiling visitors. Cross country skiers take over the Rendezvous Ski Trail, and over-the-snow vehicles like snowmobiles and snowcoaches head into Yellowstone where an incredible wintry wonderland awaits. Experienced guides offer their insights into the mysteries of Yellowstone in winter. And a day or days of activity outside of the Park in our “cold smoke” snow makes an adventurer out of every visitor. If your snowmobiling don’t miss out on the world-famous Two Top Mountain or the 600 miles of Montana and Idaho snowmobile trails. Environmentally clean and quiet snowmobiles or the more adept mountain machines are all here. Whether scenic winter wildlife and photography, snowmobile trail tours or extreme mountain powder riding is your thing we have it all for you - even if you are sled head or a sledneck!

madison river fly-fisherman netting fish
Fly-fsining the Madison River

In the spring, West Yellowstone is the expeditious route to see baby animals, bird migrations, and mountains bursting with wildflowers. Hebgen Lake and the Madison and Gallatin Rivers all come alive with the legendary hungry trout of the Madison, Gallatin and Henrys Fork Rivers. Warm days and crisp night make the perfect combination for any activity from birding to biking, horseback riding to hiking, helicopter tours, wildlife viewing, photography, or just enjoying spring in the park. Summer brings an abundance of Yellowstone sights and sounds, activities, programs, and tours. Daily wildlife adventure and geyser gazing tours, or a backcountry hike, explore all that Yellowstone has to offer. Don’t miss the local rodeo, parades, plays and movies, rendezvous, museum and our “painted buffalo” that roam the streets.

 

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Greater Yellowstone News

Will This Law Eliminate NPS Film Permits?

Attention videographers;

Those who would like to send a message to their elected representatives in the House and the Senate can now visit the Democracy IO link below, which provides a quick, painless method by which you can find and message your reps in a matter of seconds. Just go to the link below, as well as the Google Doc linked below that, copy the FLREA Letter to Reps in Google Docs, then paste that into the comment section in the Democracy IO link. This takes less than two minutes, and you'll rest well, knowing that you took action to affect change for the benefit of future generations of our people. Democracy.io: https://democracy.io/#!/

Googel Doc - FLREA - Letter to Reps: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z...

 

Camping in YellowstoneLightning Flashes over Yellowstone Lake Campsite


Backpacking The Thorofare in Yellowstone – The Most Remote Place in the US Lower 48 ~

The logistics of planning a backpacking trip in Yellowstone are a bit tricky but manageable. The biggest challenge is the lack of commercial airline service in Wyoming. Cody, West Yellowstone, and Jackson Hole airports are all extremely expensive, offer few options, and almost always require a connection. Rental car availability and price can also be a challenge in those markets. I have opted for Salt Lake City for all my Yellowstone trips as the logistics, aside from a long drive, are easier to manage at a fraction of the price. ........ Rest of the story

Fire is good;

Yellowstone has long been shaped by fire and not just the cool, creeping ground fires often described as "good" for grass production. The natural history of fire in the park includes large-scale conflagrations sweeping across the park's vast volcanic plateaus.  Most Americans steeped in Smokey the Bear's "Only you can prevent forest fires!" mantra, the very thought that forest fires might have a positive side seemed preposterous. We all learned this as children and it is damned hard to change, as our indoctrination to this policy was total. ...... Learn More

Wildflowers growing after forest fireA forest reborn

Old faithful and friends

 

The Greater Yellowstone Bald Eagle:

Bald Eagles are again a common site along the rivers and lakes of the Greater Yellowstone Region, and they always bring a thrill to Yellowstone visitors when they set their eyes on one of these magnificent birds. The thrill of seeing our national bird soar above never fails to awe a spectator........ read more

Is social media ruining our nature excursions?

Social media, the curse and blessing of the twenty-first century. A focus on the evolution of the problem inflicted on nature, ways of to mitigate how it affects our beautiful places, our wildlife, our experience. Dichotomies and conundrums to ponder.  Since the advent of the digital photography and its ease of use and economy after initial investment, America and the world have hit the road and the road comes back to us on our social media. .................... rest of article Addendum, this is getting worse than ever.

Charging Mountain Lion
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Study: More elk killed by cougars than by wolves in Idaho: More elk are being killed by cougars than by wolves in Idaho, a study by the state Department of Fish and Game has found.The study found that wolves accounted for 32% of adult female elk deaths and 28% of elk calf deaths, while cougars accounted for 35% of adult female elk deaths and 45% of elk calf deaths. The study also found ............ rest of story

Return of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout by Kelsey Dayton

The water in Atlantic Creek in the remote Thorofare region of Yellowstone National Park was clear. So clear that Dave Sweet could see the fish before he even cast. They were everywhere: dozens of beautiful trout with distinctive red slashes under their jaws. Sweet had journeyed for two days on horseback to the major spawning tributaries of Yellowstone Lake for those fish. Over the next few days he and his daughter would see thousands of Yellowstone cutthroat trout and catch some as long as 25 inches. But just as exciting were the younger, smaller fish. They, Sweet realized, mark a turning point in a battle to save a species..................... Rest Of Story

Huge Yellowstone Cutthroat trout
Huge Yellowstone Cutthroat trout

 

Livingston Montana

The Resort Town Curse
by Daryl L. Hunter

In 1962 as a child my family went through Carmel California, and after my exclaimation how beautiful the place was, my mother explained to me that it was against the law to cut down a tree in the town and it was so beautiful. I wondered why every town didn't do that. A few years later my hometown, San Luis Obispo, did enact all kinds of restricted zoning like Carmel's as a part of an urban renewal plan, and now I couldn't afford to move back there if I wanted to. This town is now populated with what they call "Grey Gold", rich retired people that ran up the property values so high that native born could no longer afford to live there. I have lived in many resort towns since, and I have noticed a trend. I am attracted to them when they are still little, quaint and undiscovered, but it usually isn't long before word spreads about the next great place. ..............   Rest of story

A Protective Firewall For Grizzlies
By Daryl L. Hunter

The delisting of the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear is imminent and this we should celebrate (''''dancing''''). Now that our happy dance is complete, we must ensure the grizzlies' recovery is permanent. To ensure "continuity of achievement," the grizzlies need a firewall to protect the success of this achievement from human foible.

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee was formed in 1983 to help ensure recovery of viable grizzly bear populations and their habitat in the lower 48 states through interagency coordination of policy, planning, management, and research. Many people have been working on this recovery for decades, for some; it has been most of their career. I can understand why the delisting of the grizzly before their retirement is their goal. A metaphorical gold watch if you will.

Many will argue differently,................. Rest of Article

Grizzly 399 and her quadruplets

Grizzly 399 and her quadruplets doing their part in Grizzly Recovery in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

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Helpful ebook for photographers

The Grand Teton Photo and Field Guide is an encapsulation of the flora, fauna, and photography of Jackson Hole Wyoming and Grand Teton National Park. Also included are thumbnails of the history and geology of the valley. This book is for all visitors with a desire to seek out wildlife, photograph the landscape, or merely learn about the history, geology, and lay of the land of Grand Teton National Park. The author provides general overviews including hot links with more in-depth descriptions of subjects of individual interest.

In the “Lay of the Land” section, includes the obvious highlights along the loop through Grand Teton Park. Hot links to side roads will give you more in-depth description of side roads and feeder roads and their highlights. Also included are descriptions of all two-rut roads that are legal to travel on in Grand Teton Park. GPS links to Google Maps are provided throughout.

As a field guide, profiles of most of animals and birds in the area are described. Jackson Hole is full of wildlife but there are places where animals are, and there are places where they are not. It is a waste of time to scrutinize a landscape devoid of what you are looking for, so this guide narrows options down to the hot spots. I provide maps of the likeliest places to find the popular critters of Grand Teton National Park. I also touch on trees, shrubs, and wildflowers with minimal explanations.  

Huge Bull Moose unter the towering peaks of the Grand Tetons

Huge Bull Moose, dwarfed by the giant peaks of hte Grand Tetons.

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The grandeur of Grand Teton Park has made it one of the most photographed places in the world. The opportunity to harness multiple juxtapositional elements has drawn photographers for over a century since William Henry Jackson took the first photos here in 1878. Grand Teton Park’s plethora of famous vistas are profiled as well as many which are less clichéd that can bring new perspectives of a well-documented landscape. Grand Tetons’ iconic landscape photo opportunities are described in detail; however, they barely scratch the surface of opportunities as it takes a photographer with an artist’s eye to unveil as they follow their own intuition and vision.  The author who shies away from clichéd landscapes provides a chapter of his favorite places that aren’t landscape clichés.

In the photography section the author includes chapters on composition, exposure basics, when to shoot and why. Daryl has summarized what he teaches in his, half day, Grand Teton workshops in a simple concise way.

If you are only in Grand Teton Park for a day there is a chapter called the “Portfolio Packer Morning Trip,” that does just that, all the icons and several favorite places in a five our blitz.  But it is better to spend more time and dig deep into the embarrassment of riches of Grand Teton National Park................. More Info

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