When I got a txt from Mandi in September last year that she managed to get reservations for a hotel in Yellowstone National Park, I was beyond excited. Yellowstone had been on my bucket list for years but for some reason, I had never gone. We created a rough itinerary for the three and half days. Yellowstone being the biggest of all National Parks, we anticipated we would only be able to see part of it, and we would have to go back another time to visit Grand Teton. However, our itinerary was very efficient, that we were able to visit both and see the unparalleled beauty of both Yellowstone and Grand Teton.
Roosevelt Arch
Most people fly into Jackson, WY, when visiting Yellowstone. We decided to fly into Bozeman, Montana. The direct flight from SFO, gets us to Bozeman at 12.30 PM. After picking up the car and a quick stop at a grocery store, we drive straight to Gardiner, where we stop to take a picture at the Roosevelt Arch, the monument that marks the Northern entrance to the park. Across the top of the arch, we see the inscription:
For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People”. The quote comes from the Organic Act of 1872, creating Yellowstone as the first national park in the world.
Mammoth Hot Springs
We symbolically drive through the arch to enter the park. Our next stop is Mammoth Hot Springs. A short hike leads us to the top. The landscape is beautiful and a bit unreal.
Continuing our drive, we spot the first bison. These animals are enormous Our plan was to do the scenic Blacktail Plateau drive on our way to our hotel. Unfortunately, this road is still closed. However, we do have something else on the way to the hotel: a couple of bears. They are black bears, not grizzlies, but not bad for our first hours in the park.
Canyon Lodge & Cabins
Our hotel, the Canyon Lodge and Cabins, is the ideal location: just south of Mount Washburn and Hayden Valley and a 5-minute drive from the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Rooms are nice, food options limited. The first night and third night we eat in the bar. My chicken wings are smothered in BBQ sauce and the noodles cold and undercooked. But this trip is not about food and at least the Daou Rose is nice, and we have snacks in the room. On our last evening, we also have a visitor: a big bison is hanging out in our yard. That’s one of the perks of staying inside the park.
The West side
On Thursday morning we get up early. The plan is to go to west and south side of Yellowstone. This is where some of the most famous sites in Yellowstone are and we hope to beat most of the crowds. The drive is breathtaking. It is a sunny day, but because the air is still cold, we drive through clouds of fog. Combined with the steam from the geysers, it creates an eerie and the most beautiful scenery.
Old Faithful
We reach Old Faithful, the most famous geyser, just before 8.30. The parking is still almost empty, and we have front row seats. About 10 minutes after we arrive, we see the geyser erupt.
Grand Prismatic Spring and Fairy Falls
Our next stop is the Grand Prismatic Spring. Instead of stopping at the main parking lot, we park at the Fairy Falls Trailhead. The first part of the trail runs along the Prismatic Spring, with beautiful views from the overlook.
We continue the hike to the Fairy Falls. It is an easy and pleasant hike, mostly shaded. The falls are nice, but not as spectacular as what we are used to in Yosemite.
Firehole Lake drive
Back at the car, we decide we might as well do a little detour and do the Firehole Lake drive. This area is a bit underrated and a great place to see the geothermal nature of Yellowstone, with less people. A lot of people are camped alongside the Great Fountain Geyser, waiting for the next eruption, which happens every 9 -15 hours and last for up to 2 hours. Instead, we continue to White Dome Geyser, and we are almost the only ones. there White Dome is a very unique geyser: a 12-foot-tall cone shape. And we are lucky, it erupts right when we are there.
The South-East side
West Thumb Geyser Basin
Our next stop is West Thumb Geyser Basin, on the southern shore of Lake Yellowstone. The walk along the basin shows a moonlike landscape with several smaller geysers, some in the lake. With blue, orange and green colors, it is a magnificent scenery.
Lake Butte Overlook
From West Thumb Geyser Basin, we follow the road along the west shore of lake Yellowstone, all the way to the top. We make a left turn to follow the lake. Our next stop is Lake Butte overlook, on the eastern side of the lake. The overlook is a great scenic spot with views over Lake Yellowstone. On our way back, we spot a couple of bison. We decide to hike a little closer to see them. What magnificent animals they are. We get as close as we dare, but they don’t seem to mind us. They are just hanging out in the grass and under the trees, minding their own business.
The North Side
After a short break at the hotel, we climb back in our pick-up truck for more wildlife viewing. Our first target is Hayden Valley. We see several bison, but we are hoping to see elk, moose and grizzlies, so we continue on. As there is still plenty of time before sunset, we decide to go to Lamar Valley, supposedly the best place to see wildlife. We stop at another overlook on the Grand Loop Rd and watch the Antelope creek far below us. Soon after we are forced to stop, as there is a black beer right on the side of the road.
Lamar Valley
We drive along the Yellowstone River, to get to Lamar Valley. So far, we have seen several bison, mostly individuals and some small groups but not the big herds we have heard about. When we get to Lamar Valley, we know why: they are all here, on the grassy plains on the riverbanks. We park the car and sit and watch for a while. The valley is beautiful and so peaceful, we want to spend more time, but it is getting late, and we need to get back. On our way back, on Grand Loop Rd again, we are stopped by people, the black bear we saw before is back on the road again.
Lamar Valley part 2: wildlife heaven
Bison and Pronghorn Antilope
The next morning, we get up bright and early again as we want to go back to Lamar Valley. Mornings are supposed to be the best for wildlife and today we would like to see some more. On our way, the same black bear is next to the road again, creature of habit. This time we don’t stop and head straight for the valley. We park our truck in the small parking lot of the trail head of the Lamar River Valley trail. Only just into our hike, we see a big herd of bison parallel to our trail. When we realize they are about to cross our trail, and we are forced to stop. It is amazing to see this herd cross right in front of us. We continue, and pass the herd, only realizing that half of the herd is still about to cross. Now we are surrounded by bison, but it is amazing. Although they might be aware of us, they are not threatened.
We continue our hike and are presented by several Pronghorn Antilope. One of them is racing around, back and forth, skipping and jumping, like it had too much caffeine this morning. We watch it for a while, as it’s hilarious. This is hike is definitely one of the highlights so far.
Elk and moose
Back in the car, we continue along the Yellowstone River, when we have to stop as there are several elk on the side of the road. They are beautiful, grazing away as if there are no cars or people.
We are happy: so far this morning has been awesome for wildlife. Continuing our trip, we see a lot of cars parked on the side of the road. There must be something worth stopping for, so we also park the car and get out. We grab our binoculars to find out what people are looking at. What we see are 3 moose, peacefully grazing under the trees in the distance. I am delighted as this is the first time I get to see moose. The day cannot go wrong anymore.
Swan Lake
It is only noon and what a day it is so far. I jokingly say that the only thing missing is seeing some grizzlies. You ask and shall receive… We drive to Mammoth for lunch, eating our sandwiches sitting in the back of our truck. After lunch we head to a trail near Swan Lake. Shortly after we enter the trail, we run into a family. They tell us they have just encountered a mama bear and cubs. Looking ahead, where they are pointing, we see the bear crossing the trail and disappearing in the tall grass. We continue but when we turn the corner, we stop in our tracks. Mama grizzly with 2 cubs is on the path in front of us not more than 75 yards away. We hold our breath, but she does not seem to notice us, so we quickly take some pictures, before carefully backtracking. it is obvious we won’t be able to continue the hike on this trail.
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
We decide that after all this excitement, it is time to go back to the hotel, relax and review our pictures of the day. By 4pm we are ready to go out again. This time we plan to hike the south rim of the Canyon. We are just back on the main road, when we see a bison peacefully hanging out, with a black bear wandering just behind it.
We follow the directions to the parking lot and start hiking what we think is the South Rim trail. The hike goes along the river, and we watch the waterfalls. These are some real waterfalls that can compete with the ones in Yosemite. We agree that whoever named this the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, after the Grand Canyon, is not doing it justice. It deserves its own name. After a couple of miles, we reach a road. We are confused as we don’t see the trail continue. Our GPS tells us we need to be on the other side of the river. So, we cross over a bridge and try to find the trail there. After consulting a map, we realize that we were sent to the wrong parking lot and started at the north rim instead of the south rim and that the map is upside down. We still want to do the south rim, so we continue.
Now on the right trail, we are stopped by somebody telling us he has just seen a bear. We wait but when we don’t see anything, so we continue. And just around the corner, outside the rest rooms is the bear, just hanging out. We carefully make our way around it to continue to the next look out. Our plan was to hike the south rim trail to Inspiration Point and back, about 3.5 miles. We dont make it all the way though. With the car parked across the river at the North rim, we have to hike both the South and North rim in and out. 7 miles and over 3 hours later we are back at the car, giving the map a big fat finger.
Grand Teton
Jackson Lake and Willow Flat Overlook
On Saturday morning, we drive south to Grand Teton National Park. Leaving early again, we are treated once more to the morning fog over the valley and geysers. We arrive at our first stop, Jackson Lake overlook, a little under 3 hours later. The meadow is supposed to be a good place for wildlife watching. We don’t see any animals, but the view of the majestic mountain peaks of Mount Moran and Grand Teton are stunning. At the next stop, Willow Flat, we spot a couple of elk in the distance.
Jenny Lake
We continue, with a short stop to watch a couple of bears sleeping in the shade of a tree, to Jenny Lake. Here, we take a boat shuttle to the other side of the lake. From there we hike to Hidden Falls. This part of the trail is crowded, but as soon as we continue on the trail to Moose Pond, there are almost no people. The views over the lake are spectacular. It’s lunch time when we get to Moose Pond, where we stop and sit down for a picnic lunch, before hiking back to the car.
Snake river and Colter Bay Lake Side
From Jenny Lake we drive further south. We fail to find Antilope road, but we do stop at Schwabacher Landing and Snake River overlook for more scenic pictures of the Grand Teton Mountain range. I have to make sure I have a picture of me driving the Jeep pick-up truck. It doesn’t get more American than that. We make a final stop at Colter Bay Lake Site, before returning to our hotel.
The next day we leisurely make our way back to the North entrance and the Bozeman airport. It has been an amazing couple of days, exploring the unparalleled beauty of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park.
