I'm joining Matt, Mark, and Emily on their trip to Yellowstone this winter. I haven't been here since a backpacking trip to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone with Charlotte many years ago. Charlotte visited with the kids on their last drive to Michigan, so now it's my turn. We flew into Bozeman and then drove down to the hotel in Gardiner. It's a bit gray out this morning, but I'm looking forward to my first day in the park.

Matt and Mark are pretty serious photographers, so I'll be doing my best to improve my skills on this trip. Hopefully there will be a noticeable improvement over the course of my trip. This morning we start in Mammoth Hot Springs trying to catch the drifting steam.

The calcification deposits are very cool up close.

Each day we'll be driving between the north entrance in Gardiner and the northeast entrance by Cooke City. It's the only road that's open during winter. We got our heart rate up hiking down to the Gardiner river from the Sheepeater Canyon bridge just outside Mammoth.

A few nice views from the road. I'm looking forward to breaking out the snowshoes soon.

We'll be seeing lots of Bighorn sheep and bison on this trip, along with elk, coyote, wolves, eagles, and more. By the way, it is as cold as it looks.