Images from a winter trip into the far reaches of Yellowstone National Park to backcountry ski in the Lamar Valley.

Although I have been heading out to southwestern Montana every winter to ski for more than a decade, and most of my family has relocated there, my summer visits are rarer. And therefore very special.

Southwestern Montana is an area of extremes, winters so cold you stop noting the negative on temperatures and high desert summers that scald and desiccate. It is humbling to witness wildlife and plant life that can survive both -40 and high 90s. But if you are willing to embrace these extremes it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

There is something quintessentially American about roadtripping, particularly when it is across the west. Throw in a good blizzard to clear the roads and flush out the wildlife and you have yourself an adventure.

Photographs from a family visit in southwest Montana.