One of my absolute favorite things to do is spend time with my @wildwomanMT in Yellowstone National Park. She’s always had a passion for spotting wildlife, and Yellowstone is unmatched when it comes to raw, up-close nature.
She gets this from her Mom & Dad who also loved wildlife. Dad even raised a heard of elk in Maine. Not the best business but he sure enjoyed it. It sure did stop the cars. People couldn’t believe it – a herd of elk in Maine?
Last October, my wife and I bought a second place in Bozeman, Montana, and we spent much of the winter skiing winter afternoons during the week and heading into Yellowstone on the weekends.
Bozeman is on mountain time which is two hours earlier than Portland, Maine and more importantly New York city. NYC is the home of the US financial markets. The markets close at 2PM EST and almost all of my clients are on the East Coast.
I like a 5AM MST start which is 3AM EST. Weird hours? Yes, it’s a Bozeman and Montana thing – fine art balancing work and fun.
We made that trip more times than I can count. But one particular weekend gave us a serious reality check—and a story I’ll never forget.
The Day We Almost Got Stranded
We were driving down the mountain pass into Mammoth Hot Springs when we hit a buffalo jam. If you’ve never experienced one, it’s exactly what it sounds like: a herd of bison takes over the road, and traffic grinds to a stop.
These jams are common in summer, but in winter, they’re next level. The snowbanks get so high that the bison can’t step off the road—they’re forced to walk down it. So you’re stuck behind a line of massive animals, inching forward at their pace, whether you like it or not.
Normally, that would’ve been fine. But this time, it was late (10PM) my gas light was on.
Here’s a Yellowstone rule I learned the hard way:
Always fill up before heading into the park.
There’s no cell service in most of it. If something goes wrong, you’re on your own—no AAA, no tow truck, no one to call.
To make matters worse, temperatures were dropping fast and we hadn’t seen a park ranger in a while. We slid dangerously close to a snowbank at one point, and I started thinking through what we’d do if we ran out of gas completely.
Somehow, we made it to Mammoth, and—thankfully—the gas pumps were still running. If we’d tried to make it to Gardiner, I honestly don’t think we would’ve made it.
Everything worked out but we learned an important lesson – fill up and bring the starlink.
