Walking Shadow Ecology Tours of Yellowstone

09/26/2024

Day 2 - Yellowstone Lake: what lies below? If you drained Yellowstone Lake, with its 141 mile shoreline, and 136 sq mile surface, you’d likely find one of the largest geyser basin on Earth.

It is also a complex ecosystem of native and non-native trout, aquatic invertebrates, nesting birds, mammals including beaver and bears, and around 150 inlet streams, but if you’re a drop of Lake water, there’s only one way out: The Yellowstone River.

Today we learned geologic history and current management challenges in the “largest alpine lake in North America”. From shoreline talks with fisheries biologists to a boat ride out to a remote island (thank you Xanterra Travel Collection and the amazing guides at the Bridge Bay Marina), today we learned the critical importance of those species lesser seen in an ecosystem that would make it’s own national park if not embedded in Yellowstone.

And made sure to get a plunge in!

09/25/2024

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09/25/2024

Day 1: Geology is boss. 🌋

The sculpting of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosytem has spanned some 500 million years. From oceans to volcanoes to glaciers, Yellowstone’s geology is the foundation for the national park we know and love today.

Today we explored the complex geological history of Yellowstone National Park. We visited Norris Geyser Basin, home to the world’s largest unpredictable geyser. We listened to the growls of superheated water surface from below, while learning how the Yellowstone volcano influences everything from topography to weather to where we find wildlife in the Yellowstone region.

We shared story of the history of this landscape from its earliest inhabitants 13,000 years ago to the modern age. Students learned of the 49 native tribes who have called this land home since time immemorial and explored the foundations of the National Park Service while discussing what the future of the national parks may hold.

We concluded the day with a presentation by Mike Poland, the scientist in Charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, who debriefed the community of Gardiner on the recent hydrothermal explosion at Biscuit Basin. Geology is now!

09/24/2024

Every September, we partner with to host an immersive week-long program for gap year students. We spend months crafting an engaging itinerary and curriculum that deepens students' appreciation for public lands. Our program features guest speakers who are leaders in their fields, thought-provoking discussions, and hands-on activities.

To start off the program, we met the students for orientation, focusing on creating comfort, establishing group norms, and weaving in personal interest as we go.

These talks often evolve into honest and candid conversation. As we chatted, we realized most of these youth were just wrapping up 8th grade when Covid hit. One participant summed up the group’s goal: "I want to enjoy learning again." And honestly? That's what this week is all about.

07/31/2024

The recent euthanization of a grizzly bear outside the North Entrance to Yellowstone has again stirred the conversation around management of a species that can potentially cost property damage and threaten injury, while also generating intrinsic and economic value.

Part of the conservation success story of the grizzly bear is that the population continues to grow, increasing the likelihood that residents and visitors will encounter the species more often. This is advantageous to business owners and employees in Park County who earn their livelihood in a $500 million tourism economy that depends on viewing wildlife. However, the lack of bear proof infrastructure and human habits have created human safety issues, have had fatal consequences for bears and threaten sustainable livelihoods.

It is profitable to tolerate and live with a species like grizzly bears. In a study with the United States Geological Survey, economists found that “an individual grizzly bear sighting is approximately $16 while an individual black bear sighting is worth $14.” If only half of Yellowstone’s annual visitors saw a grizzly bear, they would be part of an estimated $50 million contribution to the local economy.

A habituated bear is often subject to euthanization like the bear we witnessed last week in the Gardiner area. However, the spectacle was preventable and it is our responsibility as stewards of this landscape to be good neighbors to humans and wildlife alike.

One way you can be part of the conservation success story and keep our communities safe is by supporting bear tolerant businesses who have taken on the responsibility to protect grizzly bears that our livelihoods depend on.

Spend at Bear Safe Businesses: https://www.wildlivelihoods.com/business-members

USGS Study: https://www.usgs.gov/centers/fort-collins-science-center/news/how-much-grizzly-window

Yellowstonian article: https://yellowstonian.org/death-of-a-junkie-yellowstone-griz-769-killed-by-human-trash-dealers/

07/03/2024

Just in: Walking Shadow Ecology: Tours of Yellowstone just won the 2024 Traveler’s Choice Awards! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. It means the world to us.

05/01/2024

We're movie stars!
Well...the wildlife are the real stars!
We're thrilled to be part of a project that aligns with our strongest message: observing and learning about wildlife with respect, patience, and good optics. Montana State University grad student Josh Bruni has developed his short documentary, "Long Distance Relationship", which showcases grizzly bears fighting, a wolf vs grizzly bear, black bears, incredible footage of an elusive mountain lion, and how to observe wildlife from a safe distance.

Don't miss its premiere at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman on May 9th at 6pm, along with other grad student films. And look for it at other film festivals this year!

We're excited to see where Josh's impressive skills and passion for wildlife lead him, and grateful to be engaged with fun, smart, insightful messaging around keeping wildlife wild.

04/28/2024

I have a feeling we'll be discussing this incident, and Wyoming's take on wolves, even more that usual this summer. Please follow our friend Todd Wilkinson over at his new, insightful, honest journalistic efforts on truth-telling in the GYE, the Yellowstonian. Did you know wolves in Wyoming aren't even considered wildlife? They are either predators or trophy game animals. The incident making international news of a snowmobiler running down, then parading a live wolf in a bar before killing it is not as isolated an incident as some would believe. The way Wyoming residents and legislation treats it's wildlife is often abhorrent (including continuing to run feedlots that are creating a monstrous situation with Chronic Wasting Disease). Read on...

Incident In Sublette County Casts Spotlight On State’s Codified Hostility Toward Predators

04/20/2024

What in heavens name is Rhiana doing?!
Sailing to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia!!
Follow her journey on Instagram , and on her blog: https://hopesailing.blogspot.com/.

She's on a wild adventure you don't want to miss!
Now...we just hope she'll be able to tear herself away from the seas to join us back in a different wild space, here in Yellowstone as our #1 guide!

Safe travels, Rhiana! Enjoy every minute!

03/26/2024

I wish everyone who came to Yellowstone responded as appropriately!

03/21/2024

How do astrobiology, hot springs and food production connect? If you've toured with me, you may remember me speaking of Fy (Fusarium Yellowstonensis) a fungi that can be converted into things like chocolate mousse, yogurt, cheese and chicken nuggets! Whhaaaaat??? Turns out this little fungus, discovered in Yellowstone, has all the essential amino acids needed for life...and can be converted into edible forms that would save vast amounts of carbon, water and land use in our current food production systems. SO many possibilities, including feeding astronauts in space! Fy burger anyone??

NASA Helps Serve Yellowstone Fungi for Breakfast Subheadline An organism found in the park is a sustainable protein on Earth and in space Originally published 11/22/2022 Body First, a particular type of microbe evolved in an acidic hot spring. Fast-forward millions of years, when a geomicrobiologist...

03/19/2024

One of the best parts of living in Yellowstone all these years is the family-community we've created. We lost a dear friend this winter.

Mike Stevens was known for his humility, bad puns (actually some good ones!) and being a total badass hiker. His dad made it to every county in the country, just for something to do. Mike decided to make it to every waterfall in Yellowstone, many unknown, and co-authored a still-treasured book, all while guiding summers in the park and being a favorite highschool math teacher in Simi Valley. He and his wife Teresa are the classic Yellowstone romance: met here and made their way off into the sunset, but only after marrying at a remote waterfall in Yellowstone. Godspeed, Stevens. You are loved. https://www.vcstar.com/obituaries/pyrk0753327

03/14/2024

On March 13, 1894 (130 years ago today!) US Army scout Felix Burgess, along with two sergeants and photographer Frank J Haynes caught poacher Edgar Howell in the act of skinning 5 bison in Pelican Valley, likely among the last few dozen free-ranging bison in the west. By happy coincidence, reporter Emerson Hough was in the park, and easily able to dispatch a story to his boss, Forest and Steam editor George Bird Grinnell. The resulting public outcry led to one of the most rapidly passed bills in American history, the Lacey Act, still in use today. This star legislation finally gave some teeth to the laws that said one may absolutely not kill, maim, capture, or transport wildlife. Check back here on July 4, Independence Day, to see how John Lacey's brush with road bandits led to personal recognition of how wild and unsafe the situation here in Yellowstone was, and how he was able to lend his name to the legislation that helped create law and order, ultimately protecting and preserving out first national park! Photos below courtesy of NPS: Scout Felix Burgess, army sergeants and poacher Edgar Howell upon his arrest Mar 13, 1894; Photo of US Army personnel likely with bison poached by Ed Howell (there were others stashed in the area).

03/01/2024

Happy birthday, Yellowstone! Cheers to a continued eruptive, howling, steaming, mating, peaceful, gorgeous existence!

02/23/2024

These guys get around! We had them on the slopes of Mt Everts just outside of Mammoth a bit ago, and prior to that, they were on the Madison River on a bison kill. I knew the alpha female's great grandparents, among the first wolves to set up in the "interior" of Yellowstone. We called them the Road Walkers. Their progeny learned this landscape well!

02/20/2024

The online YELLOWSTONE SUMMIT is here! For 4 days (Feb 22-25) you can join over 30 experts on all things Yellowstone!

At the Yellowstone Summit you’ll be able to:
· Learn about the state of the park and current priorities and issues from Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly.

· Get an on the ground update on Yellowstone wolf packs and peek inside “a day in the life” of field researchers with biological technicians Taylor Rabe and Jeremy Sunderaj.

· “Dig” for dinosaur history in Yellowstone with renowned paleontologist Jack Horner.

· Learn about John Colter’s exploration of Yellowstone with author, photographer, and historian Jeff Henry.

· Dive into the management of wolves, elk, cougars, and endangered species in the park with senior wildlife biologist Dan Stahler.

· Understand how climate change impacts Yellowstone with paleoecologist Cathy Whitlock.

· Explore a personal history of ice and snow with scientist and educator Jim Halfpenny.

· Learn about current bison management with Yellowstone senior bison biologist Chris Geremia.

· Delve into traditional native foods and food sovereignty with Denyse Ute, Michial Garvin, and others from Restoring Shoshone Ancestral Food.

· Discuss critical wildlife migrations through Yellowstone with journalist Todd Wilkinson, writer, filmmaker, and Wyoming Migration Initiative representative Greg Nickerson, and farmer, technologist and conservationist Jeff Reed.

· Get the latest geyser updates with T. Scott Bryan, author of Geysers of Yellowstone.

· Delve into the geology of Yellowstone Lake with USGS scientist Lisa Morgan.

· Peek into the wild world of Yellowstone pollinators with ecologist Michelle Toshack.

· Learn about the fascinating lives of golden eagles and other birds in Yellowstone with Yellowstone’s bird program lead David Haines.

· Find out what it takes to live with bears with naturalist guide and Bear Awareness Gardiner organizer Evan Stout.

Whew! And that’s just the “deep dive” section! Also join photographers, writers, filmmakers, and artists in this year's Yellowstone Summit!

It's only $12 to join, or a VIP pass upgrade (with lifetime access, plus live Q&As, bonus materials, giveaways+) for $47!

I’ll be hosting a breakout session Friday Sept 23 at 6pm talking about traveling to Yellowstone in the winter.

Click below for an affiliate link to the ultimate event for Yellowstone lovers, February 22-25, 2024!

Join the ultimate event for Yellowstone lovers February 22-25, 2024.

02/18/2024

Skiing on a freshly groomed trail under a hazy half moon, I appreciated the solitude and quiet, and the extended sunset illuminating the sky, trail and trees. But I was all the more grateful for the knowledge I was surrounded by martens and cougar, grouse and slumbering bear. The chill in the air complemented my imaginary vision of them all eyeing me as I glided by. This is the treasure of living in a wild space.

01/26/2024

When we can find snow, we've been packing the spray! Do a snow dance for us...

What a difference a year makes! This time last year it seemed like we had snow piled high, and this year we’re hiking when we should be skiing. These big swings in weather can have real effects on wildlife, especially bears. There have been grizzlies documented out of dens near West Yellowstone and Gardiner in the last few weeks. In Montana, bears typically respond to cold weather and snow by entering a period of decreased activity that we call hibernation. When bears hibernate, they don’t eat, drink or defecate, their body temperature drops, and their heart rate slows to as little as nine beats per minute. The duration and depth of hibernation varies depending on local climate and food availability, allowing bears to conserve energy when food is scarce.

Warmer winters deprive bears of the big clue that it’s time to hibernate: cold weather. There have always been variations in severity of winter weather, but as we have experienced warmer winters, later falls and earlier springs, disrupting both food supplies and biological rhythms for bears, bears are changing their hibernation routines. Biologists are finding that some bears are not hibernating at all and are staying awake all winter or are waking from their slumber earlier.

A black bear study in Durango, CO, found that for every one degree Celsius that minimum temperatures increase in winter, bears hibernate for six fewer days. As temperatures continue to rise, by the middle of the century bears may stay awake between 15 and 39 more days per year, the study said. The study found that both higher temperatures and increased food supplies decreased the amount of time bears spent hibernating. They found a sequence of events that is likely becoming more widespread. The normal winter food shortage was short-circuited the year before because an extremely snowy season provided lots of moisture, creating a bumper crop of pine nuts in the fall. This winter, the region experienced record low levels of snowfall that left the extra pine nuts easily available on the ground, so the bears didn’t really have any need to den because food sources were still available. With bears awake, we have a longer time during the year for human foods to be a problem for bears too.

Very similar dynamics are likely happening here in Montana too. Have your bear spray ready. Keep your bear spray on a belt holster or on a chest holster at all times while you are in bear country.

01/19/2024

A gem of a painting by Bruce Lawes that speaks to the cryogenic coldfront now gripping our region. As the good folk at Trailside Galleries note, Lawes' work, "The Sentinel," captures the enchantment of quiet strength and frostry beauty. Stay warm and let the Arctic air hang around long enough to repel mountain bark beetles!

01/07/2024

Great roundup from our friends at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. YVO not only monitors the Yellowstone Volcano, but also provide fun, educational insights into the "why" of our great park!

Happy 2024! The start of the year means that it is time once again for our annual look back at geological activity and research that occurred in Yellowstone in 2023.

01/03/2024

We get it, winter can be hard for a lot of people. So with that in mind, we decided to put something special together.

You are invited to join us in Montana February 22-25, 2024 for the Snow Moon Retreat, where we'll ensure you are comfortable, cared for, and have the opportunity to experience the magic of the season. You'll explore Yellowstone National Park, hot springs, full moon skiing - or gazing from the window of a historic mountain lodge - and lean into energetic clearing and intention setting for what you desire in the year ahead.

We think you'll find this retreat pretty special. It's thoughtfully designed by Folk Elements, Walking Shadow Ecology Tours of Yellowstone, Kaleena Miller, and Katie Weaver to ensure you are rested and renewed.

Learn more or reserve your spot at www.meadowlarkguide.co/experiences/snowmoon24 .

February’s full moon, the Snow Moon, will reach it’s peak on Saturday, February 24. Join us for this magical 4-day/3-night retreat at the B Bar Ranch in Tom Miner Basin, just north or Yellowstone National Park.