We got up and finished packing for our return trip to Mammoth. It was very foggy and still snowing. We had an additional 4 inches of snow overnight. We went to the Snow Lodge for breakfast. We stopped at the front desk to find out how many people would be on our snow coach but they were still working on the assignments. They do all of the assignments by hand. After breakfast we checked in for our snow coach trip to Mammoth. There were seven people assigned to our snow coach.

Deb requested the bell captain send someone to our cabin to pick up the luggage. She went to the cabin to wait for them to pick up our stuff. When she returned to the Snow Lodge she got a couple of lockers to store the computer and cameras. Deb called her sisters and told them we would on the Old Faithful webcam and they should try to capture the picture. We went over to the Visitor Center and then posed for the webcam.

It was an hour before the next predicted Old Faithful eruption so we decided to wait. Deb went back to the Snow Lodge to make sure that at least one of her sisters was able to capture our picture. They had been looking at the Mammoth webcam so they did not see us. She told them we would go out again and then returned to the Visitor Center.

We had some time before her sisters would be watching the webcams so we went into the auditorium to watch one the Yellowstone films. When the show was over it was time to go out again. We again posed for the webcam and went back into the Visitor Center. Deb decided to make sure her sisters saw us this time so she went back to the Snow Lodge. One of her sisters said she did capture us on the webcam. She said she first captured another couple and sent an email with those pictures. Then she saw us and sent a second email with these screen shots. When we got back to Mammoth we had received the first email but not the second.

We watched our final eruption of Old Faithful for this winter from the Visitor Center. It was hard to distinguish the steam from the eruption due to the fog and falling snow. It was getting close to departure time so we went back to the Snow Lodge. Deb got our packs out of the lockers and we waited for our snow coach. After it arrived, I went out to request that our driver, Dave, allow us to enter early to get the front bench seat. He said that could be arranged.

It was time to leave so we all got on the snow coach. Deb had noticed a small herd of bison walking in a line past the Snow Lodge on one of her trips back and forth from the Visitor Center. We saw them again in a small meadow on our way out. The road was in worse shape then earlier in the week but still better than in prior years.

When we approached Biscuit Basin we saw about 40 snowmobiles lined up on both sides of the road watching a canine across the Firehole River. Everyone thought it was a wolf but it looked more like a coyote. Dave confirmed that it was a very large coyote. We continued on to Fountain Paint Pot.

We arrived at Fountain Paint Pot and Dave said he would lead a tour if anyone was interested, Two of the men and one of the women on the snow coach wanted to go on a tour while the rest of the women and I decided to stay in the snow coach.

Deb saw another snow coach that was the twin of the one that burned so she went out to get some “before” pictures. Then she got engrossed with a raven that was raiding snowmobile packs. There were about four people taking picture of the raven’s antics but that did not faze the raven. A ranger approached the lead snowmobile and the raven recognized the uniform and hopped to a snowmobile further down the line. As the ranger continued down the line, the raven hopped from sled to sled until it ran out of sleds and had to fly into a tree. It sat there and scolded the ranger until the snowmobile tour returned and left the parking lot.

Our tour members returned and we continued north towards Madison. Deb asked if the ridge in front of us was the caldera rim. We stopped and Dave talked about the volcano, confirmed that the ridge was the rim and pointed out a couple of lava flows in front of the rim. We continued on to Madison and met a small herd of bison in the road near the Nez Perce Creek.

We saw some swans in the Firehole River and then approached a line of about 20 snowmobiles parked along the side of the road. There was a bull elk feeding on the side of the hill next to the road. He came off the hill and walked along the line of snowmobiles swinging his head and finally crossed the road behind us and went into the Firehole River. Some of the members of the snowmobile tour went over and started to make noise and motions to try to get the elk to look up. The elk left the river and charged towards them. They moved away and the elk went back to feeding.

We continued to Madison and made the obligatory stop. Deb did not get a hot ham and cheese sandwich. The ranger said the bobcat had not been seen for several days so we started out towards Norris. We saw an eagle in a tree along the Gibbon River. This area used to have a large number of eagles but they have not been around since the construction started. This is the first eagle we have seen in the area in years.

We did not see anything more until we got to Gibbon Meadows. We some bison off in the distance at Gibbon Meadows and a large herd near the road at Elk Park. When we got to the 4-way stop at Norris, we pulled up behind the luggage coach. The driver, Meagan, said she could not contact base and asked Dave to try. She was very upset that she had to drive the Prinoth for the second time in a week. The Mattracks are faster than the Prinoth so we passed her and continued on our way. Dave said the other drivers have nicknamed Meagan the “breakdown queen” because of the number of times her coaches have broken down.

When we got to Roaring Mountain, a solitary bison was in the road. Dave said this bison is very aggressive so he stopped and waited for the bison to decide what he wanted to do. The bison made a couple of false charges toward the coach, swinging his head from side to side. He then decided to get off the road and we continued on. He was the same bison we encountered at Roaring Mountain on the way down and his behavior explains why the drivers were so cautious around him.

The rest of the trip up to Golden Gate was uneventful. We encountered a snowmobile tour at the wood chipped area on Golden Gate. There were snowmobiles all over the road and they were bumping into each other. It was like a page out of the Keystone Cops. The tour guide came back and tried to get everything organized again. One snowmobile ran out in front of our coach and the guide had to go over to make sure another one waited until we passed. Dave said the guide has his job cut out for him. It was like herding cats.

We got back to the snowmobile hut and went up to the bus. Deb was loaded down like a pack mule since she would not let me carry anything. The other passengers thoughtfully left the two front seats open for us. While we were waiting for the bus driver we heard a call on the radio from Meagan. The Prinoth had “just stopped” in Swan Lake Flats and she could not get it started. She has lived up to her name once again.

As we drove down to the hotel we heard further chatter where the maintenance crew suggested that she ran out of gas and she should use her gerry can and then try to start the snow coach again. Apparently that did not work as they said they would send someone out to help her.

We got back to the hotel and they told us the luggage coach would be about 45 minutes late. Deb mentioned the “breakdown queen” and everyone knew who she was talking about. Since Meagan could not get the Prinoth started, they sent Dave back out to rescue Meagan and retrieve the luggage. Dave was not very happy to say the least. While they were unloading the luggage we saw the second Prinoth head up the hill to either repair or tow Meagan’s coach.

We retrieved our luggage and went back to our hotel. Deb unpacked, reorganized the luggage and did the laundry while I got caught up on our email. We had chicken pies and leftover pizza for dinner and then wrote a trip report. It was another long day so we went to bed.