It was big, potentially bad, and fell at the right time -- sometime in the night when there was no snowmobile or snowcoach traffic coming into Yellowstone National Park from the West Entrance.

Though there are only a handful of names on the Traveler's masthead, giving you a year's worth of news, features, and commentary really takes a group effort. With that in mind, we'd like to extend a heart-felt thanks to those who have contributed to that effort with their prose and photos.

Traveler's "By the Numbers" articles provide interesting (and often surprising) statistics for selected parks. We published 13 of them this year.

Despite the impending doom that pixels were expected to hand the printed word, we're happy to report that publishers are still turning out books, and more than a few that crossed our desks this year are worth your attention.