#18: Winter in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks

Dear Bob and Sue: A National Parks Podcast

Matt and Karen Smith

Society & Culture, Nature, Personal Journals, Places & Travel, Science

5.0 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 October 2020

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

While visiting Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks in the winter can feel like stepping into a Christmas card photo, staying in a nearby Forest Service cabin with no electricity or indoor plumbing isn’t always so picture perfect. In this episode, we talk about many of our experiences in these two parks during the magical winter season, as well as the thrills and challenges of staying in rustic Forest Service cabins when the temperature dips well below freezing. Spoiler alert: walking through the snow to a pit toilet in the middle of the night with only a headlamp to scare away the bears is both a thrill and a challenge. Some topics we discuss include: Matt’s latest obsession with organizing all of our travel gear Our experiences snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park during the winter How Karen’s desire to get into the holiday spirit created our new tradition of visiting national parks every December How to find and rent a Forest Service cabin What it was like staying in a Forest Service cabin near Yellowstone with no heat, electricity or indoor plumbing, in December What activities are available in Glacier National Park in the winter Spending a few days in a Forest Service cabin near Glacier National Park Our snowshoe experiences in and around Glacier Would we rent a Forest Service cabin in the winter again? And in our mail bag segment, we answer a question about whether we ever practiced shooting our expired bear spray, and if so, what did we learn. Links to more information: To see photos from our travels, visit our Instagram account, or TikTok account Recreation.gov listing for Big Creek Cabin Recreation.gov listing for Zips Place Cabin Where to learn more about our books and travels Join the conversation on Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Going out to an outhouse in the middle of the night in Montana into summer
0:07.1	With a headlamp. Did you see a moose?
0:11.1	I saw everything every shadow. I was so spooked to go out there because I was sure a wild animal was gonna get me
0:18.7	So okay, do you think wild animals are out there waiting for five out for you like this is where they go in the middle of night
0:26.3	We can get one
0:30.1	You
0:41.4	This is the deer Bob and Sue podcast our stories of adventures and misadventures as we travel to all the US national parks and other
0:50.0	Public lands on Karen Smith and I'm Matt Smith
0:53.2	We're the authors of the deer Bob and Sue series of books today
0:56.7	We're talking about visiting Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park in the wintertime and our stays in two different forest service cabins in Montana in December
1:06.3	From snowmobiling and snow-shoeing to dealing with the freezing cold temperatures
1:10.9	It is a totally different experience visiting Yellowstone and Glacier during the colder months of the year
1:16.8	We love going to these parks in the winter because the crowds are way down
1:20.3	The snow looks absolutely beautiful and it feels like we're living in a Christmas card
1:25.2	It's definitely a unique experience. That's for sure. So today we're sharing both the good and the bad about our forest service cabin
1:32.8	Experiences and the activities that we recommend while adventuring in these parks during the winter and to kick things off
1:39.4	We'll discuss what Matt has been busy making in his workshop and at the end of the episode we'll answer a question from a listener in our mailbag segment
1:55.4	Good morning Matt. Good morning. It's nice to see your face again. Well, it's good to see your face again
2:01.8	Thank you for why are you being weird? Because you've been spending so much time out in your workshop
2:07.4	I I have hardly seen you in the last couple weeks. It's like you're building a spaceship
2:15.3	I'm not building a spaceship
2:17.3	You know, you know what a man does in his workshop is it's private business
	...

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