Winter in Yellowstone - A Hackberry Farm Nature Photography Workshop field report
- Russell Graves
- Feb 22
- 4 min read
Across the frozen meadow, we see a coyote in a deliberate gait, bounding its way across the snow in a smooth and deliberate fashion. Up the hill, just mere yards away from us, another coyote emerges. Undoubtedly, he’s the mate of the female who hunts the river bottom down below. It’s mating season, and the canines are paired for the duration. Right now, however, survival, not love, is on their mind. So they hunt.
The coyote closest to us eases across the snow-covered sage flat. He’s listening intently for the sound of voles burrowing under the snow. These small rodents don’t hibernate during the year. Instead, they build a network of tunnels under the snow and make their living off a midden of stored food they’ve spent all summer amassing. As they scamper through their under-ice subway, they make a sound. Albeit ever-so faint, the coyote can hear what we can’t.
The big male in front of us slows his pace, then he stops. He cocks his head to the left and then slowly to the right. His ears are erect, and he’s got an audible bead on an unseen meal.
Spontaneously, he leaps and noses headfirst back into the snow. Sometimes his pouncing attack works, and sometimes it doesn’t. For what seems like an eternity, the coyote stands in front of us with his head buried in the snow. In one swift action, he brings his head up. While he’s turned away from us, I can tell he’s caught a vole and in just a couple of chomps, he’s downed a fresh meal. His hunger satiated long enough to get through another cold winter day in Yellowstone National Park.
Across the valley, bison plow their way through the snow in search of the cold-cured grasses lying in situ below the crust of white. Their snow-covered faces make for an engaging, iconic photograph of one of Yellowstone's enduring symbols and the freedom of the West. It is certainly a picture requested by the participants in the Yellowstone in Winter nature photography workshop.
We nail it.
Throughout the week, we crisscrossed the park via slowcoach and SUV in search of winter landscapes that define the nation’s first national park as winter’s embrace grips it. This year, the winter is warm, and in places, the snow is scant or altogether absent. It’s a bit odd to see the park in early February with no snow and relatively mild temperatures in parts of the park, but that is the fickleness of nature.
In the park's bowels, snow is present, and we see a variety of wildlife and spend some time at the thermal features that define the region. Even though I’ve seen the geysers, mud pots, and heated pools dozens of times, they still amaze me. Heated by magma in the shallow gut of the planet’s crust, the subterranean water finds passage to the surface. It manifests in a variety of unusual and exotic ways that defy understanding.
Later in the week, we head to Yellowstone’s Northern Range to survey the fabled Lamar Valley and beyond. Just about every nature photographer who knows even a little about Yellowstone knows of the Lamar Valley. It’s a big, long valley that’s home to many species of wildlife and beautiful scenery.
While the snow is thick in the hills that line the valley, the wildlife is still active. On our way to the valley, elk, mule deer, bighorns, and pronghorns are on the docket. As we enter the valley, we see bison and even more coyotes. One coyote is a female with a bad leg that I first photographed here back in 2021. When I first saw her, she was hunting with a badger. This time, she’s solo and loafing on the snow - taking a break from hunting and basking in the glorious, warm sunlight that shines down on her from above.
As we climb from the valley and head up into the Beartooth Range, the snow thickens and the temperature drops. It’s legitimately cold here. In the creek bottom that flanks the road, we begin to see moose feeding on the bare, red-tinged willow boughs that grow in the creek’s margins. By the end of the week, we’ll see around twenty of the giant ungulates. Some are too far away to photograph, but some are as close as we can be with regard to the park rules.
The moose don’t mind, however. We photograph them in earnest. Relishing every moment that Mother Nature gives us.
Whether we see wildlife or not, being here in this wild place is a blessing that’s not lost on any of us on this excursion. Each night, we return to our various domiciles, full of the experiences each day would bring. Each moment is captured on digital media and then relived through story and fellowship over supper.
This is exactly the way nature is supposed to be experienced.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Great stuff, Russell. I think we may have been there about the same time.
Early Jan, entering from both W Yellowstone and Gardiner.
Have a good new year.