Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks
Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks
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| Jenny Lake and the Grand Tetons |
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| The beauty of the Grand Tetons |
I just returned from a visit to these national treasures and wanted to share my experience. I love to be in nature, but am not super athletic or an avid long trek hiker, so I was there for short hikes, to enjoy the beauty of nature and wildlife, to take lots of pictures and to unplug and chill with my man.
Several people requested info on where we stayed and what we did, so here it is. Please note that there are a lot of links for more info. If the words are in orange, don't be shy. Click on them!
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| VIP escort into the park one morning |
In hope of cooler weather and smaller crowds, we visited the parks the week after Labor Day. We achieved one of those goals, as visitation to the parks was down this year due to many people cancelling their trips after the floods earlier this summer. We only encountered crowds at two places and that was okay. Unfortunately, we seemed to bring the Texas heat with us and had high temps during the day at around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, which made for some hot afternoon hikes in the sun, but we really soaked up and enjoyed the cool mornings and evenings.
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| Not an Airbnb that I made my husband stay in |
Here's the rundown of what we did:
Getting there- we drove in from Salt Lake City where we had been visiting family. The morning we left, we stopped at Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, which is about an hour and a half north of SLC. This cute little town boasts a lovely facility of Hot Pools that begs you to stop off and take a soak.
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| Hot Springs Pools |
I tried one hotter level for a few minutes and then went back to the 'baby pool'. Maybe if it had been colder out, but maybe not. It was very nice and relaxing.
Entrance fee for adults $8.00 weekdays, $10 weekends. Towel rental $3.00. Nice dressing rooms and locker rentals for $1.00. You can bring in an empty water bottle and fill up.
I didn't take a lot of pictures but check out their website. There is also tubing in the river at Lava, which looked like a lot of fun and a large swimming pool. Nice looking lunch places and ice cream shops, too.
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| Snake River....wider than a mile....oops. Wrong river song. |
If you are flying in, Bozeman airport is about 1 1/2 hours north of Yellowstone and probably the closest largish airport. Idaho Falls and Jackson Hole also have small airports. It's not a bad drive from Salt Lake City, but total of about 5 1/2 hours, so Bozeman is probably going to be your best bet.
The trip through Idaho was scenic with horse ranches and the Caribou National Forest.
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| It's starting to get really pretty as we enter the Caribou National Forest |
We stopped off in Jackson, Wyoming for lunch. It was very touristy and crowded, but we walked around for a little while to stretch our legs, had lunch at Jackson Drug (I had the club sandwich and huckleberry ice cream) and then stopped at an adorable, straight out of Instagram bakery called Persephone where we picked up lemon scones for the next day's breakfast (they were delicious) and a honey lavender latte for the road (also delicious).
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| I'm your Huckleberry |
We waved bye bye to Jackson and drove on to the Grand Tetons National Park toward our cabin for the night in Moran, Wyoming.
Our cute little cabin at Togwotee Mountain Lodge in Moran, Wyoming was just outside of the Grand Tetons and is located in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
The cabin was well appointed with a kitchenette, bedroom, living room, tv, picnic table on the porch and a nice bathroom. It was grouped with other cabins in the pine forest and we enjoyed the atmosphere very much. Since it was Sunday night, the on site restaurant was closed, which was fine because I was still full from lunch and we had snacks.
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| Togwatee Mountain Lodge in Moran, Wyoming with the lemony morning sunlight |
The next morning we packed up and had a quick breakfast at the resort restaurant, which was fine but nothing to get excited about, although service was excellent.
TIP: If you're visiting both parks, you can either pay $35 for entry at each park (valid for 7 days) or you can buy an annual pass to all of the National Parks in the US, plus many federal recreational lands for $80 called the America the Beautiful Pass and have it mailed to you in advance.
SUPER TIP: Remember to pack your annual pass. :)
We drove over to Jenny Lake and took the Jenny Lake Boat Shuttle across this gorgeous clear lake that is nestled up to a mountain. The boats are super cute and the ride is short, but magical. Round trip tickets are $20 and the shuttles run about every 15 minutes so you can come back whenever you're ready.
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| Jenny Lake - see the cute shuttle boat in the background? And my cute boots? |
The hiking on the mountain could not be more picturesque. You can hike all the way to the top or as far as you feel like it. 'Inspiration Point' is about 2 miles and it's a pretty steep incline the entire way up a beautiful little path. The lake is already at 6700 feet and I live at an elevation of 630 so there is a big difference in oxygen for me and I sit at a desk all day. When you're done, turn around and go down.
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| Everywhere you look is WOW |
The takeaway here is that although it's rated as a moderate hike, that's rated by hikers for hikers. Go as far as you want, take a rest and enjoy the gorgeous scenery and have fun! Watch for wildlife, especially bears (more on that later). This hike was one of the highlights of the trip to me.
TIP: When you
enter each park, you will be given a paper map which you may need
because you will have little or no cell service. Hang on to it and to
the receipt that is stapled to it. It's your ticket to reenter the park
for the next 7 days.
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| Jenny Lake wins the award for Most Photogenic |
The entire Jenny Lake area is breathtaking (not just because of the lack of oxygen) and impeccably maintained.
TIP: Get there early. The parking lot will get crowded, but don't be dissuaded because it looks like a lot of people. It's a large area for people to disburse once parked. It didn't feel crowded.
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| No, not an Airbnb. This is the barn at 'Mormon Row' near the Tetons and is the most photographed barn in the US |
After our morning immersed in the beauty of Jenny Lake, we headed north toward Yellowstone and stopped at Leek's Marina and Pizzeria to immerse ourselves in some delicious pizza and a great Greek salad.
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| Handsome Mountain Man at Moose Falls |
Next up was the West Thumb Area and our first encounter with the geothermal features of Yellowstone. This is a great area and an easy walk around the boardwalk to see several features. Just a couple of miles south of West Thumb is Grant Village, which is a good place to stop for groceries, gas, ice cream or bathrooms.
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| Hydrothermal features at West Thumb. They were bubbling! |
TIP: Stay hydrated! Yellowstone has lots of bathroom facilities. Don't be afraid of the non flush toilets. They aren't as bad as a port a potty and have hand gel for you.
It was getting late in the afternoon and we still had quite a way to go to get to our cabin near the east park entrance so we looped around Yellowstone Lake and enjoyed the views through the ever changing personalities of Yellowstone and arrived at our cabin at Pahaska Tepee Resort, which is the original hunting lodge of Buffalo Bill and has some cute little cabins in the Shoshone National Forest.
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| Buffalo Bill Cody's Hunting Lodge |
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| Buffalo Bill and the Prince of Monaco hunting in the early 1900s |
TIP: There is no cell service in Yellowstone Park and there was no cell service at Pahaska Tepee Resort, which is fine, but you need to be aware. I left the phone number to the resort office with my people at home in case there was an emergency.
The resort has a restaurant, so you don't have to drive to find food. We opted to eat in the saloon, which is attached to the restaurant, but more quaint and cozy. The bison burgers, quesadillas and meatloaf were good but the stars in my opinion were the huckleberry mules (huckleberry vodka, ginger beer and lime) and the huckleberry ice cream. Service was excellent and all of the employees here were great.
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| The 'Honeymoon Suite' cabin had a jacuzzi tub and a cowboy sink and toilet! |
If you're looking for more action than a jacuzzi tub and a cowboy sink, the city of Cody is about an hour east and they have rodeos, museums and more restaurants. I was mucho happy here in the forest.
The resort offers horseback riding, fishing tours and cross country skiing/snowshoeing tours in season. You can tour the original lodge owned by Buffalo Bill Cody that was built around 1900 and imagine what life must have been like. The word Pahaska comes from the Native American word meaning 'Long Hair' and was Buffalo Bill's nickname.
TIP: Yellowstone is actually an active Super Volcano. It last erupted 640,000 years ago. Behave accordingly. I have no idea what that means.
We got up early the next morning and headed into the park. We decided to do the 'upper loop' that day and the 'lower loop' the next. When you look at a map of the park, the main road forms a figure 8, hence the 'upper' and 'lower' loops.
We first stopped at the Mud Volcano area, which is a super easy stroll around boardwalks and has some impressive geothermal features.
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| The Dragon's Mouth Spring at Mud Volcano was my favorite, as it seemed to breathe and was quite thrilling to watch. |
From the otherworldly geysers to a vast valley full of bison at Hayden Valley. It's easy to pull off the road and watch the herd and snap some pics.
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| The bison will pose for you and sometimes get really close, but try to keep your distance. A zoom lens or 'crop' is your best friend. Being gored would not be fun. |
TIP: Bison are HUGE and much faster and more nimble than you think. They are not docile cows. Treat them as you would a creepy man and do not get near them even if they try to get near you. As my friend Toni says, "Don't pet the fluffy cows".
Canyon Village was our next stop, which is a good place for gas, food, supplies and bear spray. A baby chipmunk was outrageously flirting with me while I was supposed to be paying attention a short 'what to do in case of bear' video and he was trying to convince me to run off to live with him in the forest. I was all in, but he eventually ran off, leaving me heartbroken. I figured that my husband was watching the video and would protect me from bears, being both a manly man and an Eagle Scout.
We picked up some nicely wrapped up roast beef sandwiches and chips to eat later and hoofed it up to the Mammoth Hot Springs area at the north side of the park.
TIP: The park is huge and the speed limits can be low. It's approximately 2 hours drive from top to bottom and side to side and that's not taking into account traffic jams or bison traffic jams. Plan your trip to keep from backtracking and spending more time in the car.
Just south of Canyon Village, we did the South Rim and North Rim drives, which are short but gorgeous and give you the opportunity to park and get out of the car to view the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It made me dizzy. In a good way.
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| Overlooking the falls and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone |
TIP: Bear spray is highly suggested because Yellowstone is home to many black bears and grizzly bears. You cannot purchase bear spray at home and bring it in your luggage. You CAN rent it here at Yellowstone from Bear Aware Rentals for $16 and if you don't need to use it you return it at any of their easy drop off points (including a 24 hour drop in West Yellowstone). If you do use it, it's yours and cost you $50, which is the regular price of a can of bear spray.
SUPER TIP: Bear spray is not 'Bear Repellent' and you do not spray it on your body. We were told that this is a common misunderstanding and usually a language translation issue. Probably also a mistake that you would only make once, as this stuff is high potency and far spraying pepper spray.
The travertine terraces at Mammoth were a highlight of Yellowstone for me. Oddly beautiful, these naturally formed steps of travertine are covered in deposits of calcium carbonate from the hot springs that have flowed over them for thousands of years and looks like snow or ice. You can view this feature from a walkway that consists of an upper and lower deck and is about 1.75 miles total and some of it is steep. The only other place on earth that has this unique feature is in Turkey.
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| The otherworldly beauty of Mammoth |
It was so hot by this time in the afternoon that we sat in our car in the AC and ate our sandwiches and chips and cooled off. :)
Mammoth Hot Springs is actually a tiny town and has a ranger station, museum, general store, restaurant and historic Fort Yellowstone.
TIP: You can't soak in the hot springs at Mammoth, but you can in nearby Boiling Springs. It is temporarily closed, but usually offers visitors a chance to soak in the springs that range from 110 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hot! More info on Boiling Springs here.
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| Back when people didn't respect the fragility of geothermal features and prior to the invention of yoga pants and hiking boots. That one young man on the right seems to be possibly wearing yoga pants, though, and he looks pretty happy. |
A tiny bit south of the terraces is the Upper Terrace Loop Drive, which is worth a little drive through if it's not too packed with cars.
After Mammoth, we headed down into the lower loop a little to the geothermal features at the Artist's Paintpots Trailhead. There were some cool features there, but it was super hot by this time of day in the full sun and a hike of over a mile was a little taxing.
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| The colors are from bacteria that form in the river running off of a geothermal feature |
TIP: Hold on to your hat! We saw three hats that had presumably blown off people's heads and landed in geothermal pools. Bad form. It can get windy out on those boardwalks.
After that we trekked back to our cabin to get cleaned up, relax and have dinner. It was so nice in the evenings when it cooled off. We made a pact to get up earlier the next morning and get going.
The next morning, we got up, packed up and headed straight over to Old Faithful, which was an hour and a half drive. Did I mention how huge Yellowstone is?!?
The Old Faithful Inn is beautiful and dates back to 1903. It would be a good place to stay geographically, but it's pretty people-y. From there we saw the "Rock Star of Yellowstone", Old Faithful and walked the nearby boardwalks to view some of Yellowstone's most beautiful geothermal pools. (I said the word 'geothermal' a lot because it made me sound like a scientist).
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| Old Faithful was pretty impressive |
The entire loop is about 5 miles and despite our getting up early, it was heating up fast (in the 90s) and in the full sun. We took our time and drank plenty of water and we made it to some of the really cool pools that I wanted to see and then headed back to the Inn for lunch.
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| My geyser grey manicure |
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| Chromatic Pool, about 168F in the center |
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| The bluer they are, the hotter they are. About 190 degrees F |
At one point on the boardwalks a bison came right up on the walkway where there were people! We were far enough away not to be scared, but close enough to see it. Wow.
TIP: Sunscreen
There is a 'snack bar' at the Old Faithful Inn, where we grabbed some sandwiches, chips and drinks and headed up to the huge (shaded, yay) balcony that has a view of the Old Faithful geyser and had lunch. I called my drink 'Geyser Grog', but it was really kombucha. I think I will create a cocktail called a geyser grog, though.
After lunch we went to nearby Black Sand Basin to see the geothermal pools and features there. These were really nice, too, and big! Although it was really hot, it was an easy walk around the boardwalk. I walked into some really hot steam and said 'this feels like Texas in August'.
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| Black Sand Basin was extremely colorful |
We were going to go see Biscuit Basin and the Grand Prismatic Pool from the overlook, but the parking lots were packed and overflowing with cars, so we decided that we'd seen enough geothermal (scientist!) pools for the day and went on the Firehole Canyon Road Drive instead. It was lovely!
Firehole Canyon Drive is a pretty little drive through a forest next to a river and culminates in a great view of the Firehole Falls. It's not super crowded and you have the opportunity to swim there at designated swimming area. The water is cool and it looked really inviting. There was a nice place to climb down by the river on some rocks and hang out in the shade. A couple had set up camp chairs down by the water and I thought that looked like a great place to chill.
TIP: Pack it in, pack it out. Never leave anything behind. Not trash, not food, not biodegradable food parts like a banana peel or apple core. Leave no trace.
From there we checked out the Gibbon Falls viewing area, which was magnificent and the clouds rolled in an brought a much appreciated cool breeze.
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| The clouds rolling in and a magnificent view |
We were pretty worn out by then and headed over to the town of West Yellowstone which is (you guessed it) just west of Yellowstone. West Yellowstone would be a good choice to stay outside of the park (much less expensive than inside the park) if you wanted to have access to cell service, a larger variety of restaurants and a grocery store. Plus it's a lot closer to the Bozeman Airport.
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| The Alpine Motel in West Yellowstone |
I was thinking local fresh trout for dinner, so we dined across the street at Madison Crossing. The wait was about 45 minutes, but the food and service were great. I had pan fried rainbow trout with green beans and wild rice and it was delicious.
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| Our Airbnb looked better online. Haha. This is some sort of service building on the side of a mountain, but it looks like an Airbnb on Mars. |
The town smelled like campfires and baked goods when we woke up the next morning. Partly from local forest fires, which is bad, but it would make a good candle scent. We headed out to Bozeman and flew home from there.
TIP: If you're going to be spending several days in Yellowstone, it would be worthwhile to invest in a cooler (or a cooler bag) to have sandwiches, snacks and drinks on hand. Food in the park is expensive (of course) and you can have a picnic anywhere at anytime if you have your own food.
All in all, I was very happy with our trip and how we spent our time. We walked several miles each day and were delighted with the service and employees in the park. I think it would have been fun to have an additional day to allow for more random meandering even though I never felt like we rushed through things, it would have been great to slow down even a little more. And if they could have turned the a/c on in the afternoons in the park...that would have been great. :) Honestly, yes, we were hoping for cooler temps and that would have made it more enjoyable to do more walking, but que sera, sera. We lived to tell the tale.
We saw so many bison and that was extremely cool. We also saw chipmunks, ravens, caught a glimpse of a couple of elk, got close up with a hawk, a hummingbird moth, and squirrels. I would loved to have seen moose, Bigfoot, or a (far off) bear.
One of the things that really struck me about Yellowstone was the diversity of the terrain. It's HUGE, and as you drive, it goes from grassy meadow to pine forest to lunar surface to a beach on a lake to sheer cliffs to a forest of sticks to rivers to mountains. It's astounding.
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| Chipmunk having breakfast |
Packing: Yellowstone packing is all about the layers and comfortable shoes. In addition to those things, don't forget:
Sunblock
Insect repellent
Binoculars for wildlife spotting
Day pack - a small lightweight backpack for necessities
Water bottles
Small first aid kit for your day pack
Some granola bars or small bags of peanuts for your day pack
Hat or hair clip
A flashlight
Lip Balm and lotion
This may be TMI, but the climate here is much drier than what I am used to and I wish I had brought some saline nasal spray because my sinuses/nasal passages got really dry and a little uncomfortable.
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| I have that same jacket and boots. :) |
Thanks for reading and please feel free to enjoy more of my fun exploits at Santa Fe
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