When we landed at Jackson Hole, I had a number of cars rented at Alamo/National but we hoped we could fit in one. Andy and I hopped on the shuttle, thinking it was a 5 minute ride to the car rental. It turned out to be a 30 minute drive. We thought we could fit in 1 car but realized it might be tight. I dropped Andy off at the hotel and went to pick up the rest of the guys at the aiport. This was our packing job!

That lighted arch is made up of Elk horns. The boy scouts collect the horns and make these every couple of years.

The view from the top of Jackson Hole Ski resort. There was some gnarly fog. So gnarly it was warmer at the top of the mountain than at the bottom.

Sammi took a ski lesson on our first day at Jackson Hole. On our 2nd day I skied for 2 hours (got 2 runs in) and then joined her for a little snowshoing in Grand Teton National Park. We did a 4.5 mile (round-trip) hike to Phelps Lake.

We made it to Phelps Lake. Our snowshoe adventure hit its viewpoint. It turned out to be much warmer than we expected and we were sweating in our clothes.

When we got to the snowmobile place, Back Country Adventures, the thermometer in our car read "-12°F!" Cold! We still went

While in Big Sky, Montana one of my friends mentioned that we could drive down to West Yellowstone, Wyoming and hire a guide to take us into Yellowstone to see Old Faithful. Since Sammi doesn't ski I figured that'd be an amazing idea. We signed up! When we arrived at the snowmobile place, Back Country Adventures, the thermometer in the car read "-12°F"! We weren't sure if we wanted to go, with it being so cold. When we got inside the guys convinced us we'd be plenty warm (we were!). The snowmobiles have heated seats, handlebars and throlle-bar. Sammi bundled up in 5 layers, I put on 3, and off we went. One of the first things we saw in the park were these 3 Bison. We quickly pulled over and I snapped my first photos of the trip!

Sammi in front of our first Bison. Doesn't she have an awesome helmet on? She almost looks like a storm trooper, if only she wore all wight.

Sammi finally raised her visor so I could snap her in front of the Bison. She looks kinda pissed off here but really, under that neck warmer, she's smiling!

As soon as we got back on the snowmobiles, after seeing our first 3 Bison, I watched a bald-eagle take off from the ground. I thought "aww man, why couldn't we have seen this while we stopped. I really wanna grab a photo." Luckily our guide saw it too and immediately stopped, again. I managed to get the camera out before the bird flew away!

The bald eagle was eating this. I think it's a fish it caught in the river. Some ravens came and drove the bald-eagle away though :(

Bison eating -- trying to get some more storage for the long winter.

Next we came upon a heard if Bison eating what they could find under the snow

Heard of Bison

Our first heard of Bison. In the middle you can see a little baby Bison. He was born in August and the park rangers aren't sure if he will survive. He hasn't had enough time to store food and build up fat to keep him warm during the winter. He's also a ripe candidate for the wolves, once the migrate into this part of the park :(

Sammi on our snow mobile.

This is firehole falls. The water temperature is about 65-70°F! During the summer people swim in here.

This is firehole falls. The water temperature is about 65-70°F! During the summer people swim in here.

Sammi and I at Firehole Falls

As we started to get closer to Old Faithful we saw more and more signs of hot springs and geysers. My eye was so focused on the steam ahead of us, that I had no clue why our guide pulled over. He told us to look back and we'd see a Coyote! I was so impressed that Pierre found this little guy!

Coyotes about to stretch

Coyote needed a stretch break

Our coyote friend got a bit tired and needed to stretch out and yawn. If only I added a ball of fire he'd look like a fire breathing coyote!

Coyote is about to get on the move