Jan 26, 2016

Just deciding where to ski today my mind can’t help but wonder will we meet up with an entire herd of buffalo on the trails?  What does a girl do if a buffalo decides to chase her????

We stopped by the ski shop to ask some questions about the different trails and to pick up some maps.  We decided to ski around one of the mountains via the Bunsen trail which one of the shop guys had recommended as it has many great views. 

You first had to make your way down a closed road for 3-4 km and then everything opened up just before the Bunsen trail head to an area called the Golden Gate – the views were incredible and we were treated to a spectacular blue sky and plenty of sunshine.  The snow conditions were quite good.  There were some pretty big downhills with some downright scary 500 foot cliffs that we were warned about speed and skiing in control.  I still find it completely mind boggling that there is no fence or something to stop a person from going over – I mean it is straight down.  It actually makes my palms sweat just to think about it.

We finished the day by doing a short recommended loop around the Terrace Hot Springs – we saw some more buffalo which were not in the mood to have their photos taken and quickly turned their backsides towards us.  They didn’t respond to Bill’s whistles or hand clapping – thank god – OMG – really Bill??

We did a little shopping at the Mammoth General Store and found a payphone that we were able to call home and check in with Steph as our cell phone is not going to have great coverage while we are in Montana.  Email is good if anyone needs to contact us.

The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel is quite grand and has lots of history.  They have 2 incredible formal rooms with large leather chairs and they always have a beautiful fire burning and a great piano player entertaining in the evening.  There are lots of Yellowstone books, maps, puzzles and games out for people to use.

 

They have a large white board where you are supposed to log all of your animal sightings for the day and the area they were spotted in.  I saw Bill eyeing up the board and I thought I better keep an eye on him because I could tell he was up to no good and sure enough when no one was looking he wrote on the board BIGFOOT.