Yellowstone National Park
 

The Griffsters have just returned from Yellowstone, Teton, and some other places out West. I've realized that many of our overseas dwellars may not be familiar with this jewel.

Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. Located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk. Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world's most extraordinary geysers and hot springs, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

We have a ton of photos to upload but I'll post some in this thread. We saw 5 grizzly bears, countless elk and bison in the Lamar Valley, some big horn sheep on Mt. Washburn, 3 river otters on the Snake, a few bald eagles, some marmots, a pika, and zero moose.:(

This is a grizzly sleeping just above the trail to Phelps lake. We were warned that he was along there by a hiker who saw the distinctive shoulder hump. Lil' Pete took two quick pics as we walked by him,:eek: so forgive the quality of the shot.

furry dolphin

land shark

Holy crap! :eek:

Lonestar was our best geyser experience. We hiked out to it early one morning and had it all to ourselves. We have some sideways video of it that Pete can explain.:headshake

Wow, to the bear and the geyser.

Ahhh, I have the old American dream...get a decent camper and travel around the US and see beautiful places such as Yellowstone.

Yellowstone is hot. Literally. It is, I believe, sitting on top of the largest volcanic caldera on earth. Numerous tv shows have predicted the eventual blowing of this caldera, obliterating most of the western half of the US.

Shawnee, I traveled around the US on a bus by myself when I was 17. Only place on the itinerary I stopped without a friend was Yellowstone. Saw Old Faithful and all the geysers.

One of my Discover Sunrise videos has the Yellowstone bubbling pots--extremely cool, and I wish you could all see it!

Mud pot?

What a neat thing, Cloud, to travel like that. Did you just decide to go? I really admire that!

our family vacation to Jackson Hole in 87/88(?) took us through the Yellowstone area when it was on fire. The animals were just sitting in fields next to the interstate.

er . . . kind of a long story. A way for my parents to get me off their hands for the summer. Here, honey, have a 3-month bus ticket . . . C ya!

We saw a lot of the contrast between old burn and the follow up growth. Pete and I honeymooned there in 91 so it was cool to see the trees come back. Some of the old burned trees still stand.

Here is a link to our stuff on the Kodak site.. it ain't Bullit worthy but there are some nice pics.

Dang we didn't see any bears at all, and just two moose neither of which were bulls.
Wasn't Grand Prismatic just awesome?
How'd you like the staircase bolted to the cliff wall (my Dad sure didn't haha)

Prismatic was so cool! I loved the interaction with the river.

My knees still ache from that staircase. There was a bear warning posted by the entrance to that as well. Did you go the Grizzly/Wolf discovery center? That's where we got the not scared pics from.

I guess we'll have to try again on the meeses. Where did you see the moose?

No we didn't go to that center, spent most of our time around the geysers, the canyon, and by the Yellowstone river with the bisons.

We saw the meeses in the West Thumb Geyser Basin. You have to be on the look out near dawn and dusk by water to get a shot at seeing them.

Cycled through Yellowstone in 1980. One of the highlights of the Yellowstone leg was El Capi-- wait wrong park.

One of the highlights of Yellowstone was stopping at a moose viewing pull-over along with an enormous land ark camper and a pair of rad stoked Harleys. There we all were, the quintessential American portrait; a couple of old geezers on retirement seeing the USA, a couple of 20 y.o. hippies on their bicycles, and two 30 something y.o. denim clad road warriors.

We all soak up the moosie view and then, almost as a group, we decide to hit the road. The Old geezers turn and walk over to the choppers and climb aboard and roar out of there, while the 30 year olds meekly climb into their land ark and pull out into the road. MY buddy and I just looked at each other and asked "Did that just happen?"

You can't make shit like that up.

But we didn't do that basin!:thepain:

Nice f3!

Resurrecting this thread ...
Looking for things to do/see and where to go. Leaving in less than 2 weeks. We are flying into Bozeman MT and then staying in Big Sky for a few days. Next leg is Driggs WY for 3 days and then Lucerne, WY which is just north of the Wind River Reservation.
gimme what ya gots people... Thanks in advance.

Yellowstone is a zoo in the summer.

Thats helpful. :eyebrow:

It's a clue, but obviously over your head. :rolleyes:
Now your boy has cut the park service it will be worse, but you're allowed to carry a gun now.

I don't have much advice at the moment, just figure out how much hiking mileage you're willing to do and try to find trails that match up and lead somewhere. Get your hands on some trail maps. There should be lots of good guide books.


Don't tease the bears... and mind the heat.

Not that far from Seattle....

... 750 miles. lol

My boy? If you are referring to the Orange Cheeto, you must be senile or delusional. Either way, lets not ruin another thread bringing that crap into it, mmmkay? Seriously - this is a major trip of a lifetime for me and I was looking for help, not partisan political potshots.

You picked the worst time to go to one of the major national parks, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite, are jammed in the summer. Clear?

Yup. I got it. I'm there with lots of other people. Thats a fixed issue as the dates aren't changing. Now that that's settled. Any must see/do things while we are there with everyone else? :eyebrow:

It's been over 40 years since I have been there. Of course see the geysers and bubbling mud pits and the canyon. But those are obvious.

You like boats, right? You should rent an outboard and go fishing in the big lake. Maybe have to buy a 3 day license.

thanks glatt

Old Faithful.

That look more like the crowd to me, that is one of the reasons I've never been there.

Heard today that the Yellowstone grizzly bear population numbers about 750, up from about 100, and are slated to be removed from the endangered species list. Trophy hunting may return.

I do NOT recommend becoming a trophy.

When I have a beard people say I look like a bear.

Not inside the park though. Bison are the problem with the population growing at about 15% a year. The state passed a law they can't be transported/relocated to other reserves, and the wolves/bears don't eat enough.