Posts filed under Adventure Tuesday

Yellowstone National Park - Winter Edition

Adventure Tuesday

Wintersports

Kayaking in the wintertime?

Every year when we are celebrating Christmas in Bozeman we also go to Yellowstone National Park, it has become a tradition. Well, this tradition is not something new in W's family, they originally went kayaking around Christmas in Yellowstone River, just outside the park (since you are not allowed to kayak inside the park). W's dad doesn't do this any longer, and neither W or his brother does it either. Instead we have transition into skiing and or snowshoeing combined with driving around looking for wildlife.

Can you get tired of skiing?

I love skiing, well....last year I wasn't that enthusiastic about skiing and while we were in Yellowstone I didn't because I was sick. But now I am getting that excitement back again. It's weird how that works. Maybe I just skied too much previous years? The other year I signed up for a ski race (25 miles) just outside Fairbanks, and practiced almost every day, on top of skiing back and forth to work every day...so that might have made me tired of skiing? Now, that practice was less about being fast, just about actually managing to be on my skis for 25 miles, since (like all other races in Alaska) there isn't a lot of support on the trail.

Winter in Yellowstone National Park

The past few years we have ventured out into Yellowstone National Park during Christmas break. One year we actually celebrated New Years Eve in the park, well technically right outside. We always stay at a B&B in Gardiner which is one of the entrances to Yellowstone National Park. Most of the other people staying there seem to be snowmobilers, or at least that is what it seems like during breakfast at the small cafe that is included in our stay. As with any other National Park receiving a lot of snow and cold temperatures during the wintertime, many roads are closed. In Denali National Park the whole road is of course closed, but you can still bike, snowshoe, hike, and ski, just like in Yellowstone. We aren't that interested in snowmobiling and also don't want to spend the extra money to get on a snowcoach. So we ski.

Skiing in Yellowstone National Park

The animals don't take winter break, well aside from the bears I suppose. Which mean that the bison or the "huff buffs" as I like to call them, will still be there. It is quite frightening to ski around a corner and realize you just scared the whole bison herd, and less exciting to see the little baby bisons try to bluff charge towards you, even if it is from a distance. The buffalos are huge, heavy and a little bit stupid I would say, someone else might argue differently. Maybe they are just supersmart but very stubborn? Don't get me wrong, I am actually terrified of bison, because they are so big and heavy!

Coyote

Huff Buff

Elk

National Parks in the Wintertime

Have you ever been to any of the National Parks in the wintertime? Which one is your favorite and where would you want to go? Check back in a few weeks to see more pictures from Yellowstone National Park in the wintertime.

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Other posts about Yellowstone National Park

When we Hiked through Lamar Valley - Summertime in Yellowstone National Park

A Tale of Fires and Ghost Logs - Fieldwork in Yellowstone Pt. 3

Through Active Ancient Land

Christmas Skiing on Open Plains and through Herds of Bison

Take a Swim in the Boiling River

Where the Wildlife Is

All the Roads Lead to Yellowstone?

Fieldwork in Yellowstone part 2

Jinxing it?

My Summer Bucket List and my Summer Plans

We got a battle in front of us

On the Road

Yellowstone National Park - Winter Edition

The World is at Your Fingertips

Fieldwork in Yellowstone National Park

Posted on December 20, 2016 by Ann Rumbleinthearctic and filed under Photography, Nature, The great wide open, Yellowstone, Adventure Tuesday and tagged Skiing Alaska Ski Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park cold Winter travels Winter wintersport finding winter Wilderness Christmas 2016_2 Mountains Winter Adventures National Park Wintertime Winter Edition Rocky Mountains 2016.

Why you should look for Adventures in your "Backyard"

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Adventure Tuesday

Mountains?

Living in Alaska definitely changes your perspective about mountains (coming from Stockholm, Sweden) and distances to places. It's amazing to have the Alaska Range as your own view every day you come to work. It's not weird to drive 544 miles (875km), through the Alaska Range, to attend a festival during 2 days and then drive back that same distance after the weekend is over.

Nothing is Impossible

People do this all the time. Another thing that I really liked about the community in Fairbanks was that no one would ever question you and your adventure plans. If you said you were going to run or ski a marathon people got excited, no one would ever question your decision to do that. As far as I know, in Alaska nothing is impossible, and anyone can do anything if you put your mind to it. The world is yours to have if you want it so go and take it!

Madison Adventures Anyone?

When I moved to Madison, WI from spectacular Fairbanks, Alaska my expectations were to find absolutely nothing that could fill my longing for the outdoors. Most of Wisconsin is flat as a pancake, ok maybe not that flat but there aren't any mountains and the highest point in Wisconsin is a hill called Timms Hill at a whopping 1951 feet (595m). The highest point in Fairbanks that I easily could get to within 10 minutes would be Ester Dome, at 2171 feet (661m), a great "hill" to run up and down. Now of course in Alaska the highest peak you could possibly climb would be Denali at 20310 feet (6190m).

Deep Forests and Dry Cabins

I do miss the mountains, the deep forest, the log cabin I used to live in...even though it came without running water and the propane stove stopped running if the temperature was around 35-40 below for too long. It's something really real about living in a cabin in the woods. Ok, my cabin was maybe not that far away from the "city" of fairbanks, but still, you could have thought it was. So coming to Madison, WI, and now living in an apartment/house, really changes your perspective of things.

Instead of the forest I now have neighbors and houses surrounding ours. I guess it's ok, but it's definitely not the same. I had to explore Madison and get to know a new perspective of adventures in my new neighborhood.

Citylife?

Moving to Madison has definitely tested my ability to satisfy my need for adventures. What is even an adventure? I don't think the adventure should be about the highest peak you climb or the longest ski you do, I think it should be about your feeling about what you are doing. If it makes you happy and you do something you might not do on a regular basis it can also be an awesome adventure. There aren't any peaks to climb here but there are a lot more urban wildlife for instance, or different plants, tons of small parks tucked into the city. The first weeks I lived here I would go for long walks around the neighborhood, and I would find all these small parks I talked about. I found a park with a lot of old trees and at least five wood peckers in that small park, that consisted of like 10 trees tucked together. We have a lot of insects I have never seen before, many many beautiful butterflies of course and a few months ago i discovered a Possum in the yard.

Adventuring

If you can't go on a big adventure, go on a small adventure, at least that is how I am surviving, at the same time as I am looking forward to future adventures of course. But it's not the end of the world to live in a city after living surrounded by the mountains, there are many many more things to discover in this world. Every weekend we have tried to go on a day hike, most of the places are pretty close (1-2 hrs from Madison) and although they do fill some satisfaction to me, I still want more. But I think the best thing is to learn to be satisfied with less sometimes, otherwise we will never be happy in this world, day and age.

Where do you go for small adventures? Do you like visiting cities or would you rather sit in a tent in the middle of nowhere?

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The World is at Your Fingertips

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Adventure Tuesday

Our life is our greatest adventure

I often stop and think about how lucky I feel. Sure, there are times when I feel sad and lonely, because living in a different country does affect you in some way. But then I think about everything I get to experience over here, everything I get to see. Obviously I have my family on this side of the ocean now too which helps a lot. It's like a balance between your past, present and future. Sacrifice does come into play there too a lot, or is it a sacrifice, or just a way of life, a decision? I have seen so much, so many places that are on a lot of peoples bucketlists, and yet I crave more. I want to see more, I want to be in nature all the time.

Cross-country skiing in Yellowstone National Park

Adventure

I can't wait to go on another adventure, even though we have been traveling quite a bit lately. Every time we go somewhere and see new and cool places I always fall back on Alaska and Montana. Who knows where we will move in the future, it probably wont be Alaska, but I keep comparing every place to Alaska and Montana. Those two states are the heart of this country to me, that is where I can see myself settle down and adventure on.

Montana

Yellowstone

Montana

Alaska

Colorado

Not too long ago we went to Colorado, only for a few days, but we did do some adventuring there too of course.

Hiking in Colorado

Even though we had only gotten a few hours sleep, got on a plane and then drove for four hours we still managed to get out for a hike.

We definitely want to go back there, and we have a few friends who lives there now so that will most likely happen in the future! Who knows, maybe Colorado will fall into that list of mine too, the possibilities are endless and completely open I suppose.