Yellowstone was an unexpected pleasure for me. On the last day of our wildlife photography trip in Yellowstone, our snow coach driver Kurt asked us, “How would you describe Yellowstone to someone who has never been here that would convince them to come here in the (harsh) winter for vacation?”

At the time, I gave it a few moments of thought and responded with “wild,” because in many ways it is one of the few places of land in the U.S. that has been left alone from human influence and allowed to be itself - a wilderness.

But even as I said the words I knew that was not what I meant. Kurt said even after spending 3 winters driving every day through Yellowstone, he did not have a good answer.

Yellowstone does not have the highest mountains or the most dramatic peaks. It does not have the largest waterfalls. The rivers there, though beautiful, are not the most impressive that I’ve seen in the U.S.

But there is an intangible magnetism to Yellowstone in the winter that’s hard to put into words. From the wildlife to the landscape and everything in between, this magnetism has bound me to it and changed how I view our wild places and the responsibility that we have as Americans to protect these precious few places that remain.

I invite you to click or press on the images to see them in more detail.