What’s better than watching snow fall beautifully onto the land? Getting outside IN it!
Last Sunday, I joined a group of seven women to do just that in Yellowstone National Park. The Park is pretty well deserted this time of year and I always feel a sense of calm in the empty spaces. Our destination was the Tower Falls overlook, a few miles up the closed Dunraven Pass road.
On the hike there, the smell of sulphur wafted over the road and we took a quick detour to investigate. The boardwalk at the Calcite Springs turnout delivered us to a stunning view of the steep canyon walls, the river below and the rising steam of the natural thermal spring, one of many in the Park. This one is 7 miles below the iconic Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and its upper and lower falls.
Back on the road we walked beside tall volcanic rock columns before reaching the Tower campground store and the path to the overlook. Tower Falls drops 132 feet with an impressive volume of water amongst blue ice formations and giant icicles.
After enjoying a trail lunch, we retraced our steps heading downhill to our vehicles. On the slow drive back to Mammoth, my front seat passenger and I saw an animal run quickly across the road. “Wolf? Coyote?” As we approached the crossing point, we saw a lone wolf trotting slowly away into the sagebrush, its light grey and tan fur blending in perfectly with the snow. The wolf stopped and looked back at us a few times and then disappeared over a ridge. What a special gift to end our day!
Yellowstone in winter is a truly magical place where the land seems to be taking deep breaths after a busy summer tourist season. Come explore this wonderland on our upcoming Yellowstone Winter Vacation, snowshoe on this trail and others in this enchanting landscape. Winter in Yellowstone never disappoints!