yellowstone welcomes international visitors

On Monday, January 12th I joined a trek into Yellowstone National Park by snowmobile with four United Kingdom visitors. The four Brits were Malcolm McIntosh and Keith Gallant from Manchester, Calvin Leach from Bedford and Kevin Powell from Nottingham. These four made the trip from England to Jackson, Wyoming to visit Yellowstone Park and wanted to experience snowmobiling and downhill skiing. Our guide was Bob Barlow from Wyoming Adventures, one of the commercial trip providers from Jackson, Wyoming.

We started our trek at Flagg Ranch with the destination for the day the Old Faithful area. At Old Faithful we planned on seeing the geyser and having lunch. The whole trip was one hundred miles by snowmobile. My four companions had never gone snowmobiling before; however, they all had operated "motor bikes" and claimed to be fast learners!

The first order of the day was a short safety talk by our guide who covered the operation of the Arctic Cat four stroke machines and the hand signals we would use as we toured the Park. Next, we set out for our first stop, the Yellowstone Park South Gate. This is a very popular stop because of the large Yellowstone entrance sign, a great place for group pictures. With only a few miles under their belts, the Brits really looked forward to riding the sleds, and the guide and I wanted to make sure they had a great experience on the trek. I, also, wanted to explain the history of the winter access issue and snowmobiling in the Park.

The weather was cool and crisp, the trail was, of course, the groomed summer highway and it was smooth. As we headed for our next stop, the Lewis River Falls, the riders got their first taste of the beautiful scenic vistas of the Park as we traveled along the rim of the Lewis River Canyon. They, also, saw evidence of the historic 1988 Yellowstone fires. At the falls, the Brits commented that so far the snowmobile was a great way to experience the Park and looked forward to the rest of the day. In addition, one of the riders asked why the snowmobiles had restrictors on the throttles? I explained the Park's speed limit is only 45 mph and these Arctic Cats without restrictors would go much faster. I, also, pointed out to the group that the snowmobile is just one of the forms of transport in Yellowstone for winter access. The group commented that this trip in the Park would be the major highlight of their first trip on holiday to the United States.

We continued on to the Old Faithful area with a short restroom stop at West Thumb. During our stop at West Thumb the Brits got to see their first Snow Coach and asked about how it fit into the Yellowstone transportation system. I explained that it was another form of access to the Park. The Brits commented they liked the snowmobile better!

We reached Old Faithful just as the geyser went off. In other words, we missed it and had to wait another ninety minutes for the next eruption. With time to spend before the eruption our guide suggested we eat lunch in the Geyser Grill. During the lunch, I was asked why certain groups want to eliminate access by snowmobile to Yellowstone. I explained the issues and how the snowmobile community had solved the problems presented. The Brits commented that they "thought…that it was wrong to limit the choices on access to the Park in the winter."

After lunch we saw Old Faithful Geyser and spent some time viewing the thermal areas on the road to Madison Junction. The Brits saw a coyote, and also had the opportunity to encounter a bison herd on the groomed road. They really liked the experience of being up front and personnel with those "Big Beasts"!

Time was growing late and we started back to Flagg Ranch. We arrived at Flagg at 5 pm. After filling the Arctic Cats with fuel we exchanged contact information and the Brits agreed that "closing snowmobile access to Yellowstone would just not be right because they felt that the snowmobile provided the best form of transportation to see the natural wonders of Yellowstone Park!"

As we said our goodbyes they stated they would be back next year to Yellowstone for another winter snowmobile adventure!