Help please with Yellowstone trip
May 30th, 2005, 12:21 PM
#21
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boy, are you going to spend a lot of time in the park--that's great, but you'll certainly have done it to death. there are no scary drives in that area, it's all gorgeous, but hit the passes, for sure. Drive to the falls at dawn one morning, if you can--the wildlife that early is amazing!
Jun 20th, 2005, 10:40 PM
#23
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Well, I'm coming in here a little late, but I wanted to say, if you're still reading, that we thought Gardiner for a place to spend the night (3, actually) in Sept. '03 was fine. It was the most convenient place outside the park to see Mammoth Hot Springs, which we really liked, and not inconvenient to Lamar Valley for some night wolf-watching. Or a wagon ride from Roosevelt for that matter. West Yellowstone would be less convenient for those things. Gardiner is only about 5 miles from Mammoth.
I don't know how far the West Yellowstone hotels are from the park, but on the map it looks about the same and that would be more convenient for the geyser area. We spent 3 days in a (dinky) Old Faithful area cabin and loved every minute of that part of the park. We did the upper geyser basin around Old Faithful from about 10AM when Castle went off until 5PM when the last of the big "regulars" errupted. Thus we saw 5 pretty big, impressive geysers and numerous smaller and more frequent ones, with a couple of hours out for lunch. (They all considerately errupted within 3 or 4 minutes of the predicted time, so that gave us time to do most on a leisurely stroll, with a bit of a hustle to one and a 20 min. wait at the last one. We also did all the other geyser basins, including a ranger tour at Norris, some paint pots and hot springs and single big predictable geysers,and we found plenty to do in 3 days around there. So I think I'd move, stay in Gardiner at least one night, maybe 2, and West Yellowstone 2 or 3 nights. I don't much like moving hotels either, but it was worth it in this case. (And traffic in the park will probably be worse in Aug. than it was in Sept.,so you won't be able to move around as fast as we did.)
I had been told that Yellowstone wasn't as scenic as other parks and I'd probably be disappointed. I wasn't, found it sufficiently scenic to suit me. But the geysers and the terraces at Mammoth are quintesential Yellowstone and are the things you can't find anywhere else. Apart from the wolves in Lamar Valley, those were the best reasons to go as far as I'm concerned. We did a south rim canyon hike and the canyon was nice but the trail off Artist Point that goes past the lakes, fumeroles, mudpots, and hot springs was far more interesting to me.
In Sept. we saw bison, small groups everywhere and a couple of herds, and elk all over the place. Saw several single bison in the Old Faithful hotel area, including right outside our cabin. And a few elk there and a number on the grounds at Mammoth every time we went past. Also several times when I walked up to Old Faithful from out cabin, I realized I wasn't alone and found I a "yellow dog" trotting along behind me. (Unfortunate that the acclimation might get her in trouble, but I thought it was interesting that she knew just when Old Faithful would go off and that plenty of people would be there, along with a chance to cage a handout or two.) Also saw a couple of moose in the distance and a big bull right behind our rental car as he made the mistake of coming up the mountain into a parking pullout on the road from Tower to Canyon. But no moose where they were "supposed to be."
Big mistake we made was in not going to Lamar the first night when we heard that there was a kill. We didn't get back till a couple of nights later and the single visitor that night came early, about 15 min. before we arrived. So if you hear there's a kill they're feeding on, go that night, don't wait till they have eaten it all. Plenty of regulars will let you look through their spotting scopes if there's any activity. (But all we saw, alas, was a bison carcas, well used.)
I was just going through pictures on the computer last night (about 600 from Yellowstone alone - the disadvantage of digital cameras) and thinking what a great trip that was. My favorite nat'l park by far. Think maybe I'll go back in a year or two. But I'll probably concentrate on the western side.
I don't know how far the West Yellowstone hotels are from the park, but on the map it looks about the same and that would be more convenient for the geyser area. We spent 3 days in a (dinky) Old Faithful area cabin and loved every minute of that part of the park. We did the upper geyser basin around Old Faithful from about 10AM when Castle went off until 5PM when the last of the big "regulars" errupted. Thus we saw 5 pretty big, impressive geysers and numerous smaller and more frequent ones, with a couple of hours out for lunch. (They all considerately errupted within 3 or 4 minutes of the predicted time, so that gave us time to do most on a leisurely stroll, with a bit of a hustle to one and a 20 min. wait at the last one. We also did all the other geyser basins, including a ranger tour at Norris, some paint pots and hot springs and single big predictable geysers,and we found plenty to do in 3 days around there. So I think I'd move, stay in Gardiner at least one night, maybe 2, and West Yellowstone 2 or 3 nights. I don't much like moving hotels either, but it was worth it in this case. (And traffic in the park will probably be worse in Aug. than it was in Sept.,so you won't be able to move around as fast as we did.)
I had been told that Yellowstone wasn't as scenic as other parks and I'd probably be disappointed. I wasn't, found it sufficiently scenic to suit me. But the geysers and the terraces at Mammoth are quintesential Yellowstone and are the things you can't find anywhere else. Apart from the wolves in Lamar Valley, those were the best reasons to go as far as I'm concerned. We did a south rim canyon hike and the canyon was nice but the trail off Artist Point that goes past the lakes, fumeroles, mudpots, and hot springs was far more interesting to me.
In Sept. we saw bison, small groups everywhere and a couple of herds, and elk all over the place. Saw several single bison in the Old Faithful hotel area, including right outside our cabin. And a few elk there and a number on the grounds at Mammoth every time we went past. Also several times when I walked up to Old Faithful from out cabin, I realized I wasn't alone and found I a "yellow dog" trotting along behind me. (Unfortunate that the acclimation might get her in trouble, but I thought it was interesting that she knew just when Old Faithful would go off and that plenty of people would be there, along with a chance to cage a handout or two.) Also saw a couple of moose in the distance and a big bull right behind our rental car as he made the mistake of coming up the mountain into a parking pullout on the road from Tower to Canyon. But no moose where they were "supposed to be."
Big mistake we made was in not going to Lamar the first night when we heard that there was a kill. We didn't get back till a couple of nights later and the single visitor that night came early, about 15 min. before we arrived. So if you hear there's a kill they're feeding on, go that night, don't wait till they have eaten it all. Plenty of regulars will let you look through their spotting scopes if there's any activity. (But all we saw, alas, was a bison carcas, well used.)
I was just going through pictures on the computer last night (about 600 from Yellowstone alone - the disadvantage of digital cameras) and thinking what a great trip that was. My favorite nat'l park by far. Think maybe I'll go back in a year or two. But I'll probably concentrate on the western side.
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kbeths
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Jul 26th, 2012 05:59 PM
