Destination: Yellowstone

Rick and Dody Sheremeta share tips for preparing for a journey through Yellowstone National Park in the winter.

Article by Jenn Gidman

Images by Rick and Dody Sheremeta

"It can be cold - it was 27 below the last time we were there! - but the park is absolutely beautiful in the winter," says Dody. "With all the moisture from the geysers and the thermal features, it's like a fairyland."

A trip to Yellowstone at this time of year, though, isn't a frivolous undertaking. With freezing temperatures, as well as limited transportation and lodging options, it's important to prepare before your trip - and to take your time once you're there. "I don't think Yellowstone in winter can be done in one day - it needs to be more of a destination than a pass-through visit," says Rick. "You need at least four to five days, even up to a week, to do it justice, since it takes so much time just to get from Point A to Point B."

Read on for insider tips from Rick and Dody on how to prepare, where to go, and what to see to maximize your photographic adventures in Yellowstone Park.

Research your lodging options.
The two main entrances to the park during the winter are the North Entrance near Gardiner, Montana - this is where you'll find the hot springs - and West Yellowstone.

There's hardly anything open during the winter in Gardiner - it's a sleepy Montana town, and it pretty much shuts down over the winter. There are a few places open, though, including the Yellowstone Gateway Inn and a Best Western. Xanterra Parks & Resorts runs the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel inside the park boundaries.

Perhaps the most beautiful place to stay, and one of our favorite places, is the Snow Lodge near Old Faithful. It's a modern, brand-new hotel within walking distance of the geyser. The restaurant is top-notch, and there's a cafeteria there, too, if you're looking for a quick bite. If you're on a budget, there are also cabins you can stay in, though those don't have cooking facilities.

Know when the park's open and how to get around.
There's really only one road within the park that's open during the winter: Route 89, which goes from Gardiner, Montana, through Mammoth, then over the Blacktail Plateau and the Lamar Valley, and finally up into Wyoming.

The interior of the park in the winter is only accessible by over-the-snow vehicles - in other words, snow coach or snowmobile. You used to be able to take your own snowmobile in there, but now you can only do it by guided tour. There are shuttles that run between Mammoth and Old Faithful, as well as between West Yellowstone and Old Faithful.

Snowmobiles lined up in front of Snow Lodge, plume of smoke in background is Old Faithful erupting, 28-75mm

The Yellowstone National Park website itself is a wealth of information, especially for opening and closing dates. All of the roads within the interior of the park, with the exception of Route 89, close to vehicular traffic in the late fall, then open sometime in December for over-the-snow vehicles. This usually goes through around the middle of March, when the roads close again for over-the-snow vehicles, then open to vehicular traffic around the middle of April (though that's weather-dependent).

Dress for the weather.
Leave your shorts and sandals at home! Know that it's going to be extremely cold in Yellowstone. Wool and synthetic undergarments and layering is key. Wear waterproof, breathable top layers, as well as a warm jacket, hat, gloves, and face mask. It can be brutally windy there, so you want to be as protected as possible.

Carry only the gear you can handle.
You're limited in the gear you can carry. On a snow coach, you can typically take one bag inside the coach, as well as any luggage on the outside luggage rack. If you're on a snowmobile, you usually can't get much more than one camera bag on there.

On our most recent trip, we used the Tamron SP 18-270mm VC lens (that's Dody's main lens for everything under the sun), as well as the SP 28-75mm F/2.8 (on Rick's full-frame camera) and the SP 70-300mm VC lens. The wide angle on that lens is great for landscapes and scenics, and the telephoto end works for photographing a variety of wildlife in their environment.

We always bring a polarizer and a graduated neutral-density filter when dynamic range gets out of hand (usually a 3-stop). A tripod is a must, especially for shooting geysers, as well as for photography early in the day and later on when your shutter speed is limited. For a lot of the daytime and wildlife shooting, though, you can usually shoot handheld.

Old log building and farm implements in Gallatin Valley, 18-270mm

Use the weather as a shooting gauge.
Obviously, most pictures are nicer when the sun is out, particularly those featuring the thermal features. You get more contrast that way. Otherwise, it's almost monochromatic - you can't see the steam because it just blends in with the gray sky. Ice-cold sunny days are the absolute best for landscape and geyser shots. Overcast days are better for wildlife, because there's more uniform lighting.

Hot Spring Terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs, 70-300mm

Head over to West Yellowstone for more activity.
If you're looking do some other winter activities outside the Park, like snowmobiling, West Yellowstone is your best bet. The Upper, Middle, and Lower Geyser Basins are accessible by snow coach tour, as are the Norris Geyser Basin and Canyon area . You can also take a ski shuttle from the Snow Lodge: The shuttle drops you off for a day of snowshoeing or cross-country skiing and then picks you up at the end of the day.

Old Faithful is located in the Upper Geyser Basin. To go into the interior is a four-hour snow coach ride from Mammoth or West Yellowstone to Old Faithful. There are photo tours that leave out of West Yellowstone (Xanterra Parks & Resorts has a really nice one out of Old Faithful) specifically for folks interested in photography - don't plan on getting a lot of photos on the regularly scheduled shuttle runs.

Besides the geysers, there are also hot springs, mud pots, and steam vents to photograph. Of course, the short daylight and weather can somewhat limit your opportunities, and (except for Old Faithful) the geysers aren't on a timetable, so you really have to be in the right place at the right time.

Scope out the north end of the park for wildlife images.
If you're looking to primarily shoot wildlife in the winter in Yellowstone, the north end of the park is best suited for that. That's the area from Mammoth into Lamar Valley, which is accessible by a U.S. highway (Route 89) that's open all year to vehicular traffic. There's tons of bison there, as well as coyote, bighorn sheep, and otters.

Red Fox Sleeping on snow covered rock, Blacktail Plateau, 70-300mm

The first stretch of this road is called the Blacktail Plateau. This forested area is usually good for viewing elk, which tend to hang out close to the road during this time of year. You'll also find bison along the Blacktail and all the way through the valley.

Bull Elk at Blacktail Plateau, 70-300mm

The Gallatin Valley, on the north end of the park, is just outside of Gardiner. That road (Old Yellowstone Trail) is open all winter, too. There's no toll booth, so you can drive it anytime without having to get a park pass.

There are a couple of other places that are great for wildlife photography. One is the corridor between West Yellowstone and Madison Junction along the Madison River. The other is between Madison Junction and Old Faithful. They're particularly good for bison, which like to roam the river corridors.

A lot of times where the road gets close to the river, the bison will walk along the road - expect a half-hour delay! Winter's a tough time in Yellowstone, and they have to conserve their energy. They use the road so they don't have to plow through the snow. You're usually given wildlife guidelines when you get to the park to let you know how far away you need to stay from them, for their safety as well as for yours.

Remember to protect your camera when going back inside.
When you bring your camera inside after being out in extremely cold weather, the resulting condensation could mess up your camera. This is especially true when getting back on the snow coaches - the windows fog up almost immediately from all the people breathing. Err on the conservative side: Put your camera back in its pack or in a plastic Ziploc bag until it acclimates and reaches room temperature. You don't want to lose your images from such a fantastic day of shooting!

To see more of Rick and Dody Sheremeta's work, go to www.alpenglowproductions.com.