When we started out, it was barely snowing. We saw a medium sized bison herd between Biscuit Basin and the Mallard Creek Trailhead sign. They were pushing the snow around with their heads, looking for the best morsels of grass hidden there. We stopped to watch another White Dome eruption. Even though the snow had converted to sleet, there was enough light for some pictures. The large herd of bison was still out in Fountain Flats. Near the Firehole River picnic area, we noticed a snow coach pulled over to the side. As we got closer, we saw the tread from the right side partially lying in the road. The snow coach driver was walking back to put a hazard triangle next to it. Another snow coach had come to pick up the passengers.

A little further down the Firehole, we saw four of the swans again. At the bridge over the Gibbon, a coyote approached the bridge from the north, traveling on a trail already plowed by a bison. He didn’t stick around long, quickly trotting up to the road and across the bridge. The sleet converted to a heavy snow that rapidly melted when it hit our clothing. After a brief stop at Madison, we decided to check out the road to West Yellowstone.

The sun was making a feeble attempt to come out. Occasionally it shone through the clouds with a hazy white center and a strange prismatic effect around the edges. It was green, blue, and purple on the lower right quarter and red, orange, and yellow on the upper left quarter. From Madison Junction to the bridge over the Madison River, we saw only Canada geese, mallards, and golden-eyes. Just past the bridge we saw our first pair of swans and our first and only bison along the Madison. Unfortunately, the bison was a carcass lying at the edge of the river. It looked like a calf of the year and was intact, so we had no clue what might have caused its death. We were surprised not to find any living bison along the river.

The no stopping area set up for the eagle’s nest is still in place. It was in this stretch that we saw another 50+ swans, many pairs with cygnets. We turned around at the pullout just past Riverside Drive. Riverside Drive is another road that is open only to snow coaches this year. On the way back, we drove slowly to admire all the swans, but could not stop for pictures. At the Mount Haynes overlook, a coyote trotted along the Madison, appearing to have a destination in mind, intent on his path.

We stopped in again at the warming hut to plan the rest of our day. We decided to try again to see Canyon. We headed north toward Norris, stopping at Gibbon Falls to take pictures. We also stopped at Beryl Spring and checked out the bridge area. There are some decidedly unnatural pipes directing runoff under the bridge. A number of the thermal features had flagged stakes next to them.

A small part of the bison herd at Gibbon Meadows had moved into the trees just south of the Artist Paint Pots parking area. The rest had moved to the far west side of Gibbon Meadows, also taking shelter among some trees. We stopped to take some overview shots of Norris from the road. The sky was once again showing some clear spots. Nearer the Norris Junction, the clouds reappeared and it began snowing again.

The trip between Norris and Canyon was uneventful – no animals, no other snowmobiles – just us and the falling snow. As we stopped at Canyon Junction, we saw about 50 or 60 bison in the road to the south, the direction we needed to go to get to Artist Point. The bison were not moving, in fact, some had bedded down in the middle of the road. We decided to go to the warming hut and grab a bite to eat, hoping they would move on by the time we were finished.

When we got back out to the intersection, the bison were still there. A lot of snowmobiles had stacked up behind them waiting to get north to Canyon. A ranger came by and pushed his way through the herd to the other side. The bison stayed in the road and closed ranks once the ranger passed. The ranger turned around and motioned to the line of snowmobiles to follow him. As he neared the bison, he waved his hands and shouted at them to get them to move. They broke into a trot and headed straight down the road toward us. We were a good 100 yards away, so we made a quick u-turn and turned down the road to Norris. The ranger was able to get the bison to move over enough to allow the line of snowmobiles through, but once they were past, the bison slowed down and continued in the road. Several of them were still obviously upset, kicking, bucking, and butting each other. We decided the Canyon was just not to be on our itinerary for this trip, since it was getting too late to wait for the bison to calm down so we could proceed south. We would never make it back to Old Faithful on time.

The snow continued off and on until we got to Norris, where once again the sky brightened up. The sun even came out in full force up until we got to Gibbon Meadows. The wind picked up to gale force and blew the clouds back over the sun, freezing us as we drove through the open flat.

As we rounded the curve past Gibbon Falls, we saw five snowmobiles stopped in the road with a beggar coyote. The coyote was small and did not appear to be in very good shape. Fortunately, one of the snowmobiles turned out to be carrying a law enforcement ranger. He was handing pretty pink and yellow slips to the riders of the other four snowmobiles. As we passed the snowmobiles, we noticed a young child sitting in front of his mother on one of them. The poor coyote looked very confused as to what was happening and started toward the ranger, perhaps thinking the pink and yellow slips would be good to eat. We did not hang around to see the conclusion of this incident.

We stopped once more at the Madison warming hut. When you are out in the winter, you always stop at Madison if you are in the vicinity. It has warm, flush toilets.

The swans and the broken down snow coach were gone on our return. The elk were in the Firehole feeding again. I forgot to mention that one of them is collared. We’ve seen her every day we’ve been in the area. The bison were still at Fountain Flats, although they had taken shelter among the trees at the edge of the Flats. The snow started again and soon increased almost to blizzard intensity. We were glad we only had a short way to go. By the time we got back to Old Faithful, the snow had stopped and the sky was starting to clear again, showing blue patches and golden clouds overhead. We turned in our key and gear and went back to the cabin to get ready for dinner.

We met Doug and Ray in the Firehole Lounge and once again closed it down