Grand Teton and Yellowstone May 2019
 

I'd really appreciate some comments on the locations I have booked. Any suggestions or comments positive or negative are fine.

Fly into Jackson May 17th and pick up a rental

17th Jackson ( not booked yet)

18th Signal Mtn Lodge

19th Lake Yellowstone Hotel (Sandpiper unfortunately Grant Village isn't open yet

20th & 21st Canyon Village Lodge

22nd Silver Gate Air BNB

23rd Gardiner Air BNB

24th & 25th Old Faithful Inn Old House Room

26th & 27th Colter Bay Village ( I am not sure about this booking or whether the direct road will be open )

28th Fly out of Jackson 1pm

We are a retired couple from New Zealand and just love the National Parks in the USA. I am a keen photographer and getting up before sunrise is no problem if it is the best thing to do.
Not sure if any hiking tracks will be open, or is it quiet enough then to see quite a bit from the road. Although we enjoy hiking I am a bit nervous about the bears!

Buy or rent (for that many days you probably won't save any money renting) bear spray and make noise while hiking. Some trails will be marked closed due to wildlife activity. May is actually not that quiet and you're there over the Memorial Day holiday. You'll still see wildlife from the road. We've seen more bears in spring than at other times of the year. Be extremely careful around wildlife with young even if they look very habituated. Unless you're arriving late on the 17th or want to explore Jackson, I'd probably just head straight to Signal Mountain. Dunraven Pass doesn't open until the 24th so you'll need to take a more circuitous route from Canyon to Silver Gate on the 22nd. The road from Old Faithful to Colter Bay will be open https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/parkroads.htm