Your Yellowstone Guide
√ helping you map out your YNP adventure
√ sharing life lessons from the trail
√ releasing soon: a Yellowstone memoir
You’re in the right place.
- Are you an armchair traveler who would enjoy trekking across Yellowstone through the pages of a book?
- Are you planning a visit to Yellowstone?
- Are you overwhlemed by everything you don’t know and some of what you do?
- Do you need answers for your questions?
- Do you need a guide to help you map out your adventure?
- Do you need a little hope for navigating everyday life by faith?
If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you’re in the right place.
I’m Natalie. I’m here to help and offer hope. And I’m glad you’re here.
Let’s go to Yellowstone.
Recent Posts
When is the Best Time to Go to Yellowstone?
When is the best time to go to Yellowstone? I get this question a lot. Here’s the simple answer: Whenever works best for you. While simple is good, you may want something a little more, shall we say, helpful. Here it is: There is no bad time, no wrong time to go to...
Life Transitions and Trail Restoration
Walking under a canopy of lodgepole pines, I heard the melody of the rapids long before we reached the river. Although the day was sunny and dry, the season had been wet, and the ferns flourished in the shade bestowed by the towering trees lining the bank. Here at...
Yellowstone in Spring | What to Expect
It took just one trip to Yellowstone for my husband to discover that my beliefs about its weather are--in a word--delusional. It began the night before our first vacation. The next morning, as soon as he finished his last exam of his senior year, we aimed to head...
It’s a Sign: Yellowstone
Most of Yellowstone’s signs are posted along roads, at trailheads, or in front of points of interest. Sometimes, though, they’re situated down the trail—a billboard of sorts in the woods. We once came upon such a sign on the gentle beginnings of Uncle Tom’s Trail, its...
How to Plan a Winter Trip to Yellowstone
Yellowstone in winter is an adventure in comparatives. It’s more majestic and less crowded than in other seasons. It’s more difficult to get around. (Even the animals take the road.) It’s also more difficult to do simple and necessary tasks. (Consider a visit...
One Surprising Reason to Visit Yellowstone
Leaning against the stone stairway of the historic Fort Yellowstone building, I watched the autumn scene unfold. A massive bull elk stood sentry over his painstakingly collected harem. His occasional bugles rang through the settlement—reminding the cows that he was a...
Yellowstone and the Waiting World
Yellowstone is quiet right now. Its hibernators have denned and many of its birds have flown away. Its roads, except for the one between the North and Northeast Entrance, are empty. The park and its visitors are waiting. They aren’t waiting for the traffic to unsnarl...
There’s No Guarantee of Your Safety in Bear Country
It wasn’t until the third hike of our week in Yellowstone that we found the dreaded bear frequenting area sign planted in the dirt at the trailhead. I sighed. Every time I see this sign I’m not only frustrated that it gives absolutely no useful information, I’m left...
Where to Stay in Yellowstone
Back when I worked in Yellowstone, I enjoyed desk duty at the Old Faithful Visitor’s Center (now the Visitor Education Center). Even back when park visitation was 2.5 million (as opposed to today’s approximately 4 million), the crowd pushing against the counter and...
Earned, not Bestowed
Seeing a three-way split in the trail ahead, I slowed, looking for a clue as to which one was ours. There was nothing—no sign, no discernible difference between the trails, no indication of which path was the one we wanted. Because my husband always knows where he is...
How to Be Prepared: Do Not Run
My youngest daughter was eight when my family and I found ourselves in the path of a bear at close range on the trail. (Read more here.) As kids are prone to do, her response to learning there was a bear heading down the trail in our direction was to make an...
Yellowstone Weather: What You Need to Know
Yellowstone can deliver extreme weather—in any season, without warning, and sometimes on the same day. That is the number one weather reality to keep in mind when packing for a trip to Yellowstone. Here are some others: For every season, prepare for it to be colder...
“There is a great deal of good to be learned from what we see every day, if we would but consider it.”
~ Matthew Henry
