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Posted by Granite Head (65.213.192.3) on 14:42:36 12/20/12
In Reply to: YNP in winter posted by DWT
Are you thinking of this winter, or next? If this January-February, you should look into lodging right away!
My recommendation, if you like to get an early start, is to find someplace that has kitchen facilities so you can have breakfast, make coffee (if that's your morning "thing") and pack lunch to carry into the park for the day. My fave is the Absaroka Yellowstone Hotel, but they have a very limited number of "suites" with kitchenettes that might be all booked for 2013 by now. But there are others, as Max mentions. The reason is that the few restaurants operating in Gardiner in the winter do not open early enough for you to break your fast and be in Lamar by dawn (around 7:30-8:00 AM); several of the eateries in Silver Gate-Cooke City do not open in the winter either, so carrying your own lunch is ideal.
I also strongly recommend making arrangements to get into the interior ahead of time. From the north, Xanterra runs snow coaches to Old Faithful, where you might want to book at least one night's stay. Otherwise you have just enough time to get out, stretch, eat a quick not-great lunch at the Geyser Grille, and stroll over to the back basin before you have to board for the return trip.
There are also day trips to Canyon from Mammoth that for various reasons I've never succeeded in taking but if you want to do photography, it would be spectacular.
The coach drivers will usually stop if there's interesting wildlife or other action along the way - I find the slow-going coach trip to be relaxing and to provide opportunities to look around that you don't get when driving in your own car at 30-40 mph.
We're not coming this winter because we just returned from a trip to Churchill to watch polar bears :-) But it's on the agenda for next winter to be sure!
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