Winter 2011/12 in a Nutshell

The Old Faithful Snow Lodge closed on Sunday, Mammoth yesterday, the exodus of snowcoaches coaches from Old Faithful was the sight of the morning...the signs that another long and unpredictable Yellowstone winter has come to an end.

We saw crazy road closures (boulders in the road, snow drifts as tall as me), no snow followed by touch followed again by none. We saw plenty of animals, heard plenty more stories, and complained just as much as usual when it wasn't snowing enough or when it was snowing too much, whichever that particular day called for. The snowcoaches got stuck, they broke down, people crashed snowmobiles and plenty of people hit the ground while learning to cross country ski. Most importantly, we made it through. All in all, another winter season to be thankful for!

Here is my winter in it's photographic nutshell...

A Girl, a Boy, a Windy Day and No Fish!

Just to the bottom right of this is one of my favorite little fishing pockets...just have to get there!

Most of last week and this weekend, we were graced with sunny skies and temps in the 40s-low 50s(or cursed, considering it's just a tease before the next big, inevitable, snowstorm) and yesterday was the most exciting of all: first day of fishing for 2011. I must add the disclaimer, though, that first day doesn't mean the season started yesterday because you can fish in Montana year-round. I'm just enough of a wimp that I don't go stick my hands in rivers of mountain run off in the winter...my hands get cold enough as is, why on earth would I want to make it worse?

So, after a good sleep-in(daylight savings is wonderful...guilt free sleeping into the late morning because "honey, it's really only 10am...". Gotta love it.) and a bit too much lounging, we decided to head out fishing since it was such a beautiful day. Beautiful does not, however, mean dry. Or clean. Or not windy.

This is Vegas(I'm not one for naming cars, but my friend Sarah is....my car is Vegas because inside is where whatever we say can stay there!). She took us fishing yesterday.

Vegas got to play in the mud....

Section of the Old Yellowstone Trail, looking North

Terrible picture, I know(dirty-rotten-no good-good for nothing Blackberry....) but I imagine you get the idea. Lots and lots of mud. Yellowstone is still closed for fishing until Memorial Day weekend, so our adventure took us up a long, windy and sometimes treacherous road called Old Yellowstone Trail, which runs between Gardiner and Paradise Valley for about 20 or so miles, following the old stagecoach route into Gardiner. It's one of my favorite places to go fishing because of it's relative solitude(you can still see/hear the highway most of the time, but your across the river so it has a semblance of peace and quiet) and it's convenient access to home. Not the mention the incredibly fun puddles and mud bogs you can drive a 4WD through this time of year.

It also has a lot of very interesting history to be seen all along the route. There are several areas where you can distinctly see where the stage road went a slightly different course than the current road, a very fun area of hoodoos to explore, and even old "signs" from the stage days(they used flat rocks and paint to make the original roadside "billboards").

Part of the old "Yankee Jim" Stagecoach Toll Road....no, you don't have to drive on this anymore!

That said, it is also a pretty crummy place to be when it's muddy AND windy. Which it was. Which it OFTEN is. Because we may have a shortage of some things around here...fast internet, movie theaters, summer. But wind is definitely not one of them. I started out the day a bit behind, as I forgot to check my leader on my fly rod until we were there, and discovered way too late that I had about 8 inches of it left. Oops! Bryan on the other hand, was plenty stocked up with everything....including the knot after knot that ended up in his leader from the wind deciding it did not want to listen to wear he was telling it to send his line.


All in all, we caught about 4 sticks, a few snowbanks, slide down the muddy canyon hillside and fell in the river(well, that was just me....but it makes me feel much better to say we!), saw a group of bighorn sheep, including a beautifully full curled ram, and caught zero fish. Guess I have some catching up to do next weekend. Happy Spring in Montana!

Today's Dilemma - Yellowstone Bison

Bison Dilemma

by Leslie James Quinn on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 7:22pm

OK, I'll line up and let everyone take pot-shots at me. Are the bison that are rounded up and shoved around and sent to slaughterhouses treated in the most humane manner possible? No. But what is the solution?

If we allow the bison to roam completely freely, they will not all return to Yellowstone each summer. They will populate Paradise Valley, then move downstream on the Yellowstone River and Missouri River, and ultimately repopulate the Great Plains. And as alluring as that sounds, there are rather a lot of people dependent upon the wheat that we grow there. This is not a workable solution.

If we provide feed for the bison that have been captured, they will survive. And they and more will require feed in subsequent winters, and it will finally be thousands being fed there, no end in sight, and no longer any semblance of wild bison roaming in Yellowstone (animals are not wild if they are dependent upon humans for food).

A compromise, setting aside a certain area of land north, is a stopgap. Give it a few years and bison will be leaving it and moving down valley. I see no workable solution here.

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Photo by Beth Pratt - Director of Environmental Affairs for Xanterra Parks & Resorts in Yellowstone National Park

The bison of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are just the most recent subjects in the ever-evolving cycle of controversy that is bound to occur in a place like Yellowstone National Park - searching for the fine line between protection of the area and it's resources, and the protection of the economy and industry of the surrounding area.

Each of these debates to arise, from wolf reintroduction to brucellosis to bear management, has seemingly endless points of view. There are those who argue that the animals were here first and thus should be given free reign. There are those who argue that damage to the economy from loss of crops and livestock outweighs the who was here first argument. There are those just love the animals and want to help them without knowing the facts. There are those who just don't love the animals, and want them gone without knowing the facts. Somewhere in the middle there are always those of us who find ourselves in a quandary of understanding both sides and being at a loss in forming an opinion either way. Regardless of where you fall, it is a very real issue at hand when it comes to protecting the resources of our National Parks, and one well worth looking into a little deeper than most us already have.

Recent Articles and Updates

Buffalo Field Campaign



Yellowstone Insider - Bison Slaughter Debated in Court


Billings Gazette - Fort Peck Tribe Builds a Fence In Hopes of Getting Yellowstone Bison


Billings Gazette - Agency Representatives Outline Brucellosis Risks

Associated Press via MSNBC - Montana Governor Blocks Bison Slaughter


I can't, of course, attest to 100% accuracy of facts in listed articles, so read up, whet your interest, and check your facts before mounting an argument!