Thanks Patty, we saw a young black bear digging grubs fromunder a rock on the Blue ridge pkwy as about 5 feet off the pavement and that was close enough for us, inside the car. I hope to get to Yellowstone this sum we and would love to see griszzlies, but not too close.

Thanks for writing such an interesting and informative report. I'm planning a trip to include Yellowstone/Tetons, Utah, NM and Colo next September. I know your trip was in September - when exactly did you run into snow? Also, sounds like you made reservations the day before/day of your stays? Is that right? And most of the time you found availability? I'm wondering how this coming fall will be in terms of crowds but was thinking we'd need to have every night reserved well in advance. What do you think? Obviously I would rather be flexible but wasn't sure that would be a good idea.

Gorgeous photos! A trip down memory lane.

I was able to snag a room at Rim Rock back in 2008. The wait for meal service at dinner was too long, so I ate at the Capitol Reef Cafe at the Capitol Reef Inn. Actually enjoyed the food. Wonder if they survived?

Have a great trip, oldemalloy!

isabel,
It started to snow the day we drove to Jackson which was October 11th and snowed lightly during our time in Jackson. It can snow in September but the chances are lower. For Yellowstone/Grand Teton I would recommend reservations well in advance in September which is considerably busier than October. Monthly visitation stats for Yellowstone https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSRepor...ear)?Park=YELL You can change the report to see other parks. UT parks stay fairly busy through October. Yes we generally made reservations a day prior or the same day. For the Capitol Reef and Bryce area we were there midweek and there was limited availability (not our first, second or even third choice) but we could find a room. The Bluff area was quieter. I think domestic travel this year will be even busier than last year. Perhaps if international travel resumes later in the year, it will relieve some of the pressure on domestic destinations. We heard a lot of "I was supposed to be in Spain (insert any foreign country)" comments on the road.

Thanks, mlgb. We looked at that place. It was going to be our backup if we couldn't eat at Rim Rock.