Boldly Go Solo

Winter visitors to Yellowstone National Park have the park, and the herds of native bison, practically to themselves. Apparently, it's a pretty special place to be in the next few months. 

“Winter for us means terrific cross country skiing, a sense of quiet and solitude and truly unparalleled opportunities for wildlife viewing,” said Jeff Brown, director of education for the Yellowstone Association Institute.

The bears may be hibernating, and the migratory birds off to warmer places, but otherwise the winter months are a great time to see wolves, elk and bison in their natural habitat. Without all the two-legged tourists getting in the way. Now that's adventure travel.

The non-profit institute offers private tours for small groups but also a "Lodging & Learning" program that provides guides for daily field trips, along with lodging in park hotels.

In a separate program, experts teach multi-day field seminars on wildlife, geology, history and more, a great way for solo travelers to get to hang with other people. You know, talk, laugh, discuss cougar mating habits.

Some of the courses are held at the Institute's Lamar Buffalo Ranch field campus, where you can stay in cabins for $30 a night per person. Sounds like no single supplement to me.

Examples of classes include winter landscape photography, the living history of the park's wolves and cougar ecology. In a "snow tracking" class, participants will learn how to distinguish species and their behavior and learn techniques for reading tracks in the snow.

That's gotta come in handy some day. What with the snowmageddons we've been dealing with lately.

Or, if you just want solitude, the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel is offering rooms for $49 a night (with shared bathrooms) through March 6, if you book by January 14 and use the secret password: WOB49.

The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel is five miles inside the park’s northern entrance. The road in is the only plowed road all winter. But there are groomed cross country trails outside Mammoth Village and snowcoaches and snowmobiles can also get you where you want to go in the park to commune with the animals.

 Photos: Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Lodges. 1. Old Faithful. 2. Lonestar Geyser.