Winter in Yellowstone

What a great overnight stay in Yellowstone!  We left early and stopped for a soak in the Chico Hot Springs which was a treat! The pool was huge, without many guests, and 98/104 degrees. It is one of three hot springs that have been "developed" in the area...still, no need for chemicals in the water.  After lunch we made our way to the North Entrance to the park (through Gardiner) and set off for a two hour drive through Lamar Valley toward Cooke City.  We were overwhelmed with wildlife, including a golden eagle, a beautiful grey wolf, and plenty of bison, elk, coyotes. The kids freaked when we had to stop the car so a herd of 2000 lb. bison could cross the road. The park is absolutely stunning right now with the snow covered mountains and beautiful sunlight...and the only traffic was Ken Burns and his entourage studying the wolf packs. We stayed at the rustic and cozy Silver Gate Cabins and had a blast snowshoeing and playing games in front of the fire.  Best of all, Doug (the owner) offered to take us out this morning to track the wolves.  He, along with several others from The Wolf Project, gave us a tutorial on the different packs in the park and their role within the pack/park.  We were able to look through their scopes and locate the wolves.  It was pretty exciting, although the wolf we saw was quite sleepy.  Apparently, (and according to the pictures we saw) the wolves had a huge kill the day before and were still pretty satisfied from that.  After our wolf expedition we headed back through the park and made our final stop at The Boiling River, which is the natural hot spring in the river at the north entrance.  We joined only two others who were soaking in the 108-140 degree spring adjoining the 34 degree river.  It was truly unbelievable.  The weather was 20 degrees and we hiked 1/2 mile along a trail to drop into the river.  There were a lot of signs that warned us about the naturally scalding temperatures, but one of the men that was soaking in the river happened to be a park guide and hooked us up with how to avoid those areas, as well as an amazing geology lesson...major bonus! The river is situated at the base of a mountain range, so the views were incredible. 
-Julie