by Natalie Ogbourne | Apr 15, 2016 | Navigating Tough Terrain
We sprinted up the switchbacked trail, pausing occasionally to measure how far we’d come, to rest our already used-up legs, to fill our lungs with as much oxygen as the mountain air would give. In previous years, I would have decided that it wasn’t worth...
by Natalie Ogbourne | Jan 26, 2016 | Pondering Life Outside
The twelve-passenger van made its way down Yellowstone’s snow-covered road not on traditional tires, but on treads meant to traverse the groomed roadway. Gone were the crowds and the fly fishermen of fall, replaced by seas of white broken by swaths of evergreen and...
by Natalie Ogbourne | Oct 7, 2015 | Lessons from Yellowstone
The girls and I emerged from the cozy, fire-warmed lobby, braced ourselves against the chilled morning air, and took to the sidewalk that led to Mammoth Hot Spring’s historic chapel. Aware of the cow elk lounging on the lawn between the buildings along the way, I...
by Natalie Ogbourne | Feb 3, 2015 | Navigating Tough Terrain
We pulled into the gravel parking lot at the base of Bunsen Peak, piled out, grabbed day packs and water from the back of the vehicle, and set off. Dust had barely begun to accumulate around our ankles when we saw him: a lone bison, a bull, just twenty-five feet off...
by Natalie Ogbourne | Jan 28, 2015 | Pause, Ponder the Path, Press On
We’ve taken to watching a little football at our house on Sunday afternoons and when the talk turns to the Super Bowl, I remember the day I found some unexpected beauty in Yellowstone. Oh, I expected to find beauty, but not indoors, not around the television,...
by Natalie Ogbourne | Jan 6, 2015 | Pause, Ponder the Path, Press On
On December 12 the National Park Service posted a news release to inform the public that Yellowstone’s interior roads would open on December 15, just as predicted. Yellowstone’s fall and winter travelers knew when the road crews would start to let the snow...