In Search of Crisp Fall Weather -- Yellowstone/Grand Tetons in September

Hey, better late than never? Look forward to more - I am in the planning stages for next year.

Fall, my favorite time of year in Yellowstone and the Tetons! The bull elk are in rut, the aspens are changing colors, crowds are down, spectacular weather! I'm looking forward to following along with your report.

AMC - Will this be your first time to Yellowstone/Tetons? Oh, are you in for a treat!!

Would you believe -- no bull elk bugling yet, and very little color? Instead, it was record-breaking heat -- in the 80's. Of course, as soon as we left, it started to snow...

"The bull elk are in rut"; "no bull elk bugling"...you people are speaking a foreign language!

Yes, swisshiker, this will be our first time! If all goes as planned, we'll be there end of August, beginning of September 2010. Rooms booked inside both parks. Very excited to learn the language you speak and then some!

WE HIT THE GROUND RUNNING

To begin with -- the timeframe for this was September 11-21.

We left Sedona behind and flew from Phoenix to Salt Lake City on Southwest airlines. Arriving a little ahead of schedule around 11am, we picked up our SUV from Avis. The car rental area is in the parking garage area of the airport, very convenient, and the Avis personnel were efficient and friendly. (I mention this because so often it is not the case, and want to give them their due.)

It was Friday, and we expected some early weekend traffic escaping from the city. There was also some construction on the interstate, so we did have some congested conditions as we made our way out of the city.

SALT LAKE CITY TO BIG SKY MONTANA

We wanted to make it to our first destination, Big Sky, before dark. So we settled on the fastest but what we figured was the least scenic route: I-15 to Idaho Falls, then 20 to West Yellowstone, then 191 to the turnoff for Big Sky. It turned out to be more scenic than we expected, though. I-15 was not so much, although once out of the SLC area, it was pretty wide open. But out of Idaho Falls, we began to see the back side of the Tetons, and then into the piney woods and more mountainous terrain.

I'd guess it was about 4-1/2 hours to West Yellowstone. Since we would be staying there later, we didn't linger any longer than it took to gas up and make a restroom break. Picking up 191 (a 2-lane scenic road), we drove drove about another hour to Big Sky. This is really a pretty drive. Parts of it actually go into Yellowstone, although you would only know this by looking at the map.

Close to the Big Sky turnoff, the road was pretty torn up. I hope they have been able to finish their work (or will finish it) before they are shut down for the winter. But it was pretty extensive, so I'm thinking not.

What's Big Sky like? Well, as others advised me, it's pretty much all sky tourism. And since this wasn't ski season, it was really, really dead. But we just needed a good stopping place, and got a pretty good rate at The Lodge at Big Sky. http://www.lodgeatbigsky.com/ Essentially, it is a converted Holiday Inn Express. They did list having a lounge, fireplace, and a nice sitting area. The lounge wasn't open (off season), the fireplace wasn't being used (too hot still), but it did have a pleasant public area and friendly staff. The breakfast was pretty awful, though (more like Super 8), and the rooms were very basic. Still, it met our needs.

We found a place to eat in the shopping "mall" at Big Sky. All the shops were closed (did I mention it was off season?). The restaurant was more or less a sports lounge, although they did a decent steak. Prices are high in town; this was the least expensive place that was open. All ok, we were ready to call it a night after a long travel day.

**COMING UP -- GARDINER, GROCERIES, AND THE GATES OF YELLOWSTONE**

BIG SKY TO GARDINER -- WE FIND GROCERIES

It's only a couple of hours from Big Sky to Gardiner. We really didn't have any "field trips" on this drive, other than to stock our cooler. There have been any number of posts here about that, so I'm going to talk groceries for a minute. First, we brought a cooler on the trip with us, packed on the trip out with jackets for the (presumably) cooler weather. We duck taped it shut, and it really worked out well. Going home, we were able to load it with the more fragile souvenirs, cushioned with souvenir t-shirts.

I had located a Safeway in Bozeman in an online search before our trip, so we headed for that. That really wasn't the best place, though, so I will recommend watching the righthand side of the road as you come into Bozeman -- there is a new-looking Albertsons that would have made a good stop. But if you miss that, continue on for a couple more miles, and there is an older Safeway on the left. You may notice that food is not cheap. Don't hesitate, though, because it's a whole lot more expensive once you are down in Yellowstone, West Yellowstone, Jackson, and those places.

You can also wait until you get to Livingston to stock up; we spied a large grocery store (right hand side) there. But whatever you do, I'd suggest you include supplies for a picnic. There are some very scenic areas between Livingston and Gardiner. One that we stopped at was right on the Yellowstone River, with nice bathrooms, tables, etc.

And speaking of the weather... I mentioned earlier that it was unusually hot. So for us, the day was sunny, hot, and good for al fresco dining. We never did wear those jackets. We did plan to dress in layers, so we wore the lighter layers (I had a lightweight fleece vest that worked over most shirts and was great).

**To be continued**

Sorry all -- have been on a marathon "merger" cutover, and won't get to my next post until tomorrow..