Walking into Hidden Yellowstone: A Full Ecology Adventure

We reserve the right to alter our listed itinerary based on current snow conditions and wildlife movement to maximize your enjoyment!

DAY 1

Your guides will meet you in the early afternoon in Bozeman, Montana, where we begin and end our adventure. We’ll transfer from there through the Paradise Valley to Wonderland Lodge, our basecamp for the week, in the small town of Gardiner, about 90 minutes away. We’ll have a brief orientation and pack some energy food before heading toward the park’s northeast entrance and our first hike at Mammoth Hot Springs (Yellowstone’s headquarters). The hot spring terraces at Mammoth are unique from other thermal areas of the park. As hot water rises through the limestone from below it interacts with hot gases and forms an acidic solution that dissolves the rock and ultimately deposits a white chalky material known as travertine, which forms beautiful terraces on the side of the hill that we can walk among. There are over two miles of boardwalks and trails that make it possible to experience the hundreds of densely packed geothermal features in one of the most extreme environments on earth: geysers, pungent odors, hot springs with all the colors of the rainbow, microscopic life, and hissing steam. Because we are at a lower elevation than most of the Park, the elk and deer stick around because of the snow up higher. You’ll probably see many of them at Mammoth. This evening we'll have a happy hour and casual dinner in your guide's room at the lodge, then engage in a roundtable discussion in which we'll more formally meet each other and discuss the week's plan.

Hiking Mileage: approximately 2 miles 

DAY 2

Today we drive the western portion of the Grand Loop of Yellowstone; many visitors to Yellowstone do the entire park in one day but we split it into manageable portions to give us time to truly experience this amazing place. We'll gaze upon Grand Prismatic hot spring, which has almost every color of the rainbow. Next, we'll ditch the van to hike to Mystic Falls, where the Little Firehole River drops down from the Madison Plateau. Lunch will be on your own in the Old Faithful Lodge, after which we will watch Old Faithful erupt and take a tour of the many smaller nearby geysers. In the afternoon, we'll find a cozy spot away from the tourists and discuss Yellowstone, how it operates as one interconnected system, and how we as humans can choose to exist within that system or, instead, try to conquer it. We'll talk about how humans need a connection to nature and how that connection sometimes disappears in modern life. In the afternoon, we can optionally walk a half mile to the Boiling River, an actual river heated by underground hot springs. We can jump in for a quick soak, dry off, and continuing back to Gardiner where we'll enjoy a typical Montana dinner in a local restaurant. After dinner, if you choose, we'll walk - guided by starlight, moonlight or headlamp - to the iconic Roosevelt Arch to toast the world’s first national park.

Hiking Mileage: 5 or 6 miles

DAY 3

This morning we will get up very early and be on the road while it’s still dark. Our destination? Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley, the best place in the world to see wolves. As the pale morning light reaches the pristine valley, armed with spotting scopes and binoculars, we’ll be on the hunt for glimpses of these ephemeral icons of the wilderness. Our hope is to see a lone wolf, a pack of wolves, or even some of the playful pups that are just old enough in May to be out and visible. Spring is an outstanding time for wolf viewing as the packs are still down in the valley because of the deep snows at higher elevations. As we trundle along the road, we’ll likely experience a few “buffalo jams” (Yellowstone’s version of traffic jams), and we’ll stop frequently to get out, view the landscape and the animals around us, and to hear from Gary (author of two books about the wolves of Yellowstone) talk about these majestic canines, who are once again such an integral part of the Yellowstone ecosystem. During the day we’ll hike from the Lamar Buffalo Ranch following Rose Creek up to one of three wolf acclimation pens built for the controversial reintroduction of wolves in the park in 1995. Three wolves transported from Canada were housed in this historic pen with the hope they would acclimatize and not run back north. The pen was opened after eight weeks and the three wolves began their new lives in Yellowstone. We'll take this opportunity to talk about how humans try to "manage" nature, with sometimes disastrous effects such as forest fires, but sometimes with the ability to correct past wrongs, as with the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone. You’ll be happy to relax with a glass of wine or hot chocolate next to the fire tonight and regale one another with stories from the day. Another exciting day awaits us tomorrow!

Hiking Mileage: approximately 5 miles with options for more or less

DAY 4

Our route today takes us on the eastern half of the Grand Loop of Yellowstone. We are not in a rush this morning, so will sleep in a bit and have a leisurely breakfast. We'll then get half our driving done by shuttling to the West Thumb geothermal area, the farthest point away from home base we reach on this trip. We'll visit the geothermal features, which include Fishing Cone, a hot spring in Yellowstone Lake in which visitors cooked fish immediately after catching them. We'll then shuttle to Canyon Lodge for lunch in the eatery and a visit to the museum. In the afternoon, we'll visit the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, one of the most impressive sites in the park. We'll walk to view the huge Upper and Lower Falls, as well as the amazing canyon the river has carved. We'll find a secluded spot to sit down and talk shop. The discussion today is really about you - how you are doing during this world of political upheaval, COVID, and the effects of climate change including forest fires, heat waves, and floods. What does being in the Yellowstone Ecosystem have to teach you for dealing with these realities of our time? We'll talk about coping strategies, both for you personally and how you can contribute to the good of the earth. We'll learn from Gary and Mary, from each other, and from the simple act of sharing. We then head back to the Canyon Lodge for dinner before taking an early evening drive through the Hayden Valley to see if we can spot wildlife. As the sun falls, we'll head back to Gardiner after a long but productive day in the park.

Hiking Mileage: Approximately 5 miles

DAY 5

Before checking out today, we'll offer an optional early morning walk that begins at Mammoth Hot Springs and takes the old stagecoach road all the way back down to Gardiner. The sweeping vistas in the morning light can take your breath away, and there are usually plenty of bison, elk and antelope roaming nearby. We then check out and return to our starting city of Bozeman.

Hiking Mileage: up to 5 miles