sharondi

My husband and I spent an amazing 10 days in YNP/Tetons in early Sept just after Labor Day. We flew into SLC at noon, picked up our rental car (Dollar) in the airport - Dollar's service was fast and excellent.

Took the long route through Logan- Bear Lake- Alpine to Jackson. We had no reservations for the 1st night so we ended up at a tiny motel on a back street called Snow King Lodge - it was cheap for Jackson ($78/night) and clean. Had a late dinner at the restaurant at the Wort Hotel. Good but expensive food ($16 burger) and we were so tired we barely remember it.

Headed to Yellowstone thru Tetons. Stopped for some photos but the clouds were masking much of the scenery and we knew we were coming back so we were off to YNP.

We spent 2 nights each at Old Faithful Snow Lodge, Mammoth HS cabin, & Canyon cabin in that order. We loved staying in the park & enjoyed all of our lodging. OF Snow Lodge was great, okay food in the main dining room. Loved OF village and access to the extensive boardwalk thru the geysers! A walk at dawn was just amazing! Yellowstone is such a unique and incredible place. This was my first trip, and my husband hadn't been since he was a kid.

The thermal features appeal to all your senses - they are colorful, noisy, bubbly, smelly, steamy...wow! And the photo opportunities are endless.

After 2 nights at OF, we spent 2 more in a hottub cabin at Mammoth. Loved the room, the privacy and Mammoth village. The elk were everywhere, bugling & acting up. It was great! The food at the Mammoth dining room was really good. The hot springs closest to the village were mostly dry but still interesting and beautiful. The upper (or is it lower?) hot springs were stunning and we took hundreds of pictures.

We enjoyed perfect weather throughout the trip-warm days(70's), cool mornings(40's). Spent lots of time in the Lamar Valley, drove out the northeast entrance through Cooke City, took the Beartooth Hwy to the top (at the Divide) and back.

We spent the next 2 nights in a Pioneer cabin at Canyon. This was our least favorite area of the park although the location is great for getting almost anywhere in the park. Our cabin ($61/night) was fine. And we had a chorus of bugling elk and howling wolves (not coyotes) through our open window! I'll never forget it. The food in Canyon was not great - edible.

The abundance and variety of wildlife was remarkable! We photographed a grizzly on the shore of Lake Yellowstone on our first day. Saw a grizzly chowing down on a bison carcass in the Hayden Valley on our last night. Watched the Agate Creek wolf pack romp and play from afar. Saw numerous coyote, bison, eagles, osprey, pronghorn, elk, deer, bighorn sheep all over the place. Watched black bear mom and cubs quickly scale large pine trees to feast on pine nuts. A lazy sleepy cinnamon black bear.

After 6 nights in YNP, we still weren't ready to leave, but we took a last ride along Yellowstone Lake, had a great lunch at the Lake Hotel, and headed toward the Tetons. The weather was cooling way down and our cabin at Signal Mtn was perfect. Spent lots of time moose watching at Oxbow Bend, 2 bull moose within 20 ft of each other! Saw a mom & large baby moose near Jackson Lodge.

Dinner at the Peaks at Signal Mtn was fantastic. Our 1 room cabin had a gas fireplace which made for a warm after-dinner spot - had a bottle of wine and rain on the roof. Very cozy. We loved Signal Mtn and it's perfect spot on the lake.

We headed east out the Wind River and took the long way to SLC. The weather was turning cold and snow and heavy rain was forecast for the region. We drove the whole way back to Salt Lake City, often in pouring rain. Stayed somewhere near the airport, but had a late flight home the next day. So we walked around Temple Square and downtown, had a great sandwich at an italian deli, and made our way to the airport.

The great size and diversity of YNP make it easy to spend a week or more there. We did plenty of walking but no day hikes which was odd for us but we were so busy gawking at geysers and grizzlys, we ran out of time. Another trip, I guess. I'll post a separate link to pictures soon.

sharondi

Here is a link to some of my husband's pictures:

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/yellowstone_06

marigross

Beautiful pics! Yellowstone is so unique.

peterboy

I always wonder why a posting like this never finds it's way onto the proper forum (Wyoming in this case).

Is there a way to make that happen?

Otherwise, what's the point of bothering with a trip review if it just gets lost down the list of general topics?

Dayle

Hi Sharondi!

I'm so glad you enjoyed Yellowstone. Truly an amazing place! I love your comment about the geyers appealing to all the senses - how true! Didn't youlove the Beartooth? Were there any golden aspen leaves left, or were they gone by then? When I drove it mid-aug they were just beginning to turn.

Thanks for the report!

peterboy - in order to get a trip report to come up under a state search, you have to post it under that state category. There is a drop down box to do this above the text box.

maj

Enjoyed your trip report. We want to go back around that time of year, especially to do the Beartooth Highway which is the only part of Yellowstone we haven't seen. We also want to spend more time in the Tetons. How early did you have to get reservations for the places you stayed -- at that time of year?

marigross

peterboy: there is only the US Forum and state-specific tags that help search within it. If the user wants to tie the trip report to the specific state s/he must select it when the post is created. The posting will anyway appear within the US forum.

Same principle applies on the Europe, Africa, etc. Forums

cd

Enjoyed your report as it made me relive our trip to ellowstone/Tetons. However, I am so jealous! we wanted to see bears and did see a one.

sharondi

Hi Dayle,
Yes, Yellowstone is truly an amazing place. We had a great trip. The aspens were brilliant in some places and in others, it was still early. I was glad that we got a chance to see part of the Beartooth. And I'm really glad that we spent 6 full days in the park. I could've stayed longer.

maj,
I think we reserved the rooms in the park about 6 months in advance. Early Sept is a great time to go - small crowds, rutting elk, nice weather. The Beartooth Hwy is just outside YNP's northeast boundary. We only drove to the high spot about halfway to Red Lodge and turned around. The scenery is beautiful.
Thanks for the input everyone!

JACKIE118

Sharondi

Loved your trip report - only thing I need to ask after reading is - How long of a drive is it to Salt Lake City? How are the roads?

thit_cho

Thanks, a great report and an excellent collection of photos. I visited Yellowstone in July 2001, and while we saw lots of buffalo, elk and moose, we didn't see any bears of wolves. When I revisit, I may try to schedule my trip for the shoulder season.

peterboy

Jackie, I'm sharondi's husband.

The drive from SLC to Jackson was about 5 hours or so and you can make it to West Yellowstone in about the same 5 hours.

We approached Yellowstone from the south after spending the night in Jackson so we could drive through the Tetons on the way in.

We rented through Dollar and I'm a member of their free (sign up online)"Fastlane" program so there was a minimum of paperwork.

At SLC airport, the car rental agencies and the cars themselves are right at the airport so, after visiting the Dollar desk we just walked into the garage and there was our car pulled up and ready to go. The agent in the lot had already gone over the car and circled all the dings and dents on the form ahead of time. This saved us a ton of time versus Las Vegas for instance where you and you luggage get bussed off site to the car rental agency to get your car.

In addition, it is very simple to get on the highway from the airport and onto I-15 heading north. We were out of town in a surprisingly short amount of time after deplaning.

On returning after the trip the reverse process was equally quick.
I love not having to get bussed to and from the airport and SLC airport seemed to me to be one of the most efficient and friendly airports I've experienced...even the TSA screeners were welcoming and polite (but thorough).

I'll give the SLC airport layout and employees and Dollar's staff there a big "thumbs up".

Dayle

Peterboy,

Thanks for the nice review of our airport. Yes, it is the best US airport I've ever used and since I live here I use it frequently. Everything is easy and quick. Nice people.

Skiers who visit Utah appreciate it too. Did you know that the SLC airport was the first in the country to put in special luggage handling for skis?

A useless little factoid for you.

claire_bluesky

Thanks for your report and the beautiful pictures.