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we planned for a long time to visit Yellowstone. We went for 3-4 days trip but i honestly feel it is required more than 3 days to enjoy at Yellowstone. Base things we planned to geysers and wildlife. But we found out within no time there are much more things and activities to do at Yellowstone. As for it was our best trip. we enjoyed a lot.
We flied to Idaho Falls by 6 PM. Rented a car and started to Yellowstone. It is 2-3 hours drive. We stayed 30 minutes before to west gate on our first day to take some good amount of sleep as we planned to start exploring the Yellowstone in the early hours the following days. There are many lodges, resorts just outside west entrance or in west Yellowstone village, they provide private camp sites too.
we wake up the morning by excitement to know we are couple of minutes away from Yellowstone NP. we entered the park through west gate. few miles away from the gate, there is a flat grass bed for few acres and river is passing through it. we watched many deers near the river banks. Then headed to Madison junction. there was 30 minutes delay due to road work going on in between Madison and Norris. after we crossed the road work patch, the first spot we saw is artists paint to feel the Yellowstone, why it is so special about and unique. There are many geysers though not big, hot springs, has to see to appreciate, my personal feeling, photos may not justify the beauty of hot springs. After that we went to Norris geysers basin, we walked all trails leading to all geysers, we saw stream boat, vixen and few more geyser eruptions and there are many different color hot springs including many shades of orange to yellow, green to blue, white...etc. It was really beautiful but we can smell sulfur all over the place. even though it is just outside of caldera, it is vast place of geysers occupied few miles. by the time we finished seeing and come back there are many vehicles were waiting for parking slots. we understand we headed to mammoth springs for lunch. we hiked and trailed in mammoth upper and lower basins for more than 2 hours. we cannot compare mammoth hot springs much to Norris, it is different landscape. it took around 3 hours for us to see and appreciate mammoth hot springs. We had lunch then headed to Lamar valley, on the way we saw tower falls.
We got fresh and started to Grand Teton national park, as we understood by the time of the august it is bit difficult to spot moose, sheep in Yellowstone. we are heard it is easy to spot mosses in grand teton. So, we headed to grand teton by 7 in the morning. while driving to grand teton we saw mud volcano, we saw couple of deers, big antelope. It took more than 2 hours for us to go grand teton visitor entrance.
we got the information about the scenic places to watch, places where we can get food, what type of food we can expect in what places, then we traveled along Jackson lake for few miles, we stopped in many places on turnouts. Big break we took at willow flats overlook. we had breakfast that we packed before the start of our drive. we stopped at many places like Jackson lake, Dam and vista points. we could not drove all drives towards the hills, lastly we regret for not going. But i sincerely recommend drive as many as inside roads towards teton from main road. we saw at least one animal when drove those roads.
we had lunch at moose junction and spent couple of hours near there, (just for the information pizzas and pasta will be available at moose junction) and took a snake river tour. we enjoyed a lot. it is entirely different experience for two hours. We were welcomed with drizzling. By wearing life jackets, and rain gears we started our floating trip. Within couple of minutes, there was heavy ice rain for more than 20 minutes then gap. after that for couple of minutes there was rain and the gap, through out the trip. But surprisingly we were very much dry by the time we complete our trip.
We ran by seeing lot of people on the bridge. we saw two moose eating grass. after seeing we headed back to Madison, Yellowstone for night to camp.
weather is very unpredictable in grand teton, heavy rains to freezing rains to ice rains and fast, chilly winds to freezing can happen within no time. Luckily we prepared well for all weather climates.
we were freezing by morning, as it was raining frequently last night. we covered fire hole river, all geysers in between Madison, old faithful and west thumb. there will many geysers we saw including famous with predictable eruption time. i literally surprised at Old Faithful. After seeing
many geysers and hot springs in between Madison and old faithful, we took a small break at old faithful geyser. By knowingly approximate old faithful geyser eruption time, we walked on trail to see few geysers. we saw more than 3 geysers including grand geyser before settle-down at Old faithful geyser. It erupted exact time. After early lunch we started towards west thumb. I was bit hesitant to see west thumb geyser basin, as i thought, i might have seen many geyser basins for last two days, But i never got bored at west thumb But it proved me wrongly as each geyser and hot springs basin has it own variety and distinguishable geysers/springs.
After seeing west thumb we drove to Lamar valley for quick wildlife view to get a quick escape from geysers. on the way we struck at Hayden valley for many minutes may more than 1 hour for bison to cross the road. we spent couple of hours at Lamar valley mainly at Lamar bridge. one of the best places to see bear is the bridge on Lamar river.
we just missed a bear playing in river with fishes but i were able to see the bear by the time it climbed the bridge to cross the road. Lamar valley did not disappointed us in any of our trips. we saw enough of bison, few deers, elks. we never got bored even when we struck at traffic. few times we struck with Big Bison just in front of our car and some times Big Bison running towards our car, we were literally scared as they were running very fast and they suddenly stop just before few feet away from the road or sometimes in the middle of the road.
After spending couple of hours we headed towards our camp ground, grant village, it was my mistake or probably not, because i got only at grant village for camping that night. we might have stayed at some place near Northeast entrance by that way we could have got many more hours of dawn and dusk times at Lamar valley with staying few miles away. We headed back to grant village for camping. by the time we finish bath and dinner at lake house in grant village, best restaurant in Yellowstone, my personal opinion, it was around 10 PM.
Then we tented and tried to sleep. Almost through out the night there were many thunderstorms near or inside Yellowstone parks, in our place I guess some what more than usual rain. Our tent holds good for the rain. I think most of the tents are reasonably water proof. we saw very few water drops inside, by morning. I used to wake-up by the sounds of the thunderstorms middle of the night, it went on till morning. We were told by campsite registration lady that one grizzly bear frequently visiting the campsite we stayed, at least twice a week and no harm or aggression is found by the bear yet. It really scared us to camp that night in the middle of thunderstorms, It was one of our great experience or adventures.
Last day we saw remaining places we missed before started back to Idaho falls airport for return flight. if any fly to Idaho falls, ID, remember near Idaho falls there is bear park. privately held park, i guess, almost Yellowstone national park wildlife can be seen in one place. After coming back from the park, i did not like the idea of going to place like that. inside the national park, we know there are free to any where. we don't know when we will see what animal. we keep on closely watch all places, its really great excitement if we find any animal. immediately stop the vehicle side to road. jump out the vehicle, take camera and binoculars and run, run to get nice view. it was really fun and enjoyment.
Tips from my experience:
Before Visiting the Park :
we planned for a long time to visit Yellowstone. We went for 3-4 days trip but i honestly feel it is required more than 3 days to enjoy at Yellowstone. Base things we planned to geysers and wildlife. But we found out within no time there are much more things and activities to do at Yellowstone. As for it was our best trip. we enjoyed a lot.
We flied to Idaho Falls by 6 PM. Rented a car and started to Yellowstone. It is 2-3 hours drive. We stayed 30 minutes before to west gate on our first day to take some good amount of sleep as we planned to start exploring the Yellowstone in the early hours the following days. There are many lodges, resorts just outside west entrance or in west Yellowstone village, they provide private camp sites too.
Day 1 ( Norris, Mammoth , Tower junction and Lamar Valley):
we wake up the morning by excitement to know we are couple of minutes away from Yellowstone NP. we entered the park through west gate. few miles away from the gate, there is a flat grass bed for few acres and river is passing through it. we watched many deers near the river banks. Then headed to Madison junction. there was 30 minutes delay due to road work going on in between Madison and Norris. after we crossed the road work patch, the first spot we saw is artists paint to feel the Yellowstone, why it is so special about and unique. There are many geysers though not big, hot springs, has to see to appreciate, my personal feeling, photos may not justify the beauty of hot springs. After that we went to Norris geysers basin, we walked all trails leading to all geysers, we saw stream boat, vixen and few more geyser eruptions and there are many different color hot springs including many shades of orange to yellow, green to blue, white...etc. It was really beautiful but we can smell sulfur all over the place. even though it is just outside of caldera, it is vast place of geysers occupied few miles. by the time we finished seeing and come back there are many vehicles were waiting for parking slots. we understand we headed to mammoth springs for lunch. we hiked and trailed in mammoth upper and lower basins for more than 2 hours. we cannot compare mammoth hot springs much to Norris, it is different landscape. it took around 3 hours for us to see and appreciate mammoth hot springs. We had lunch then headed to Lamar valley, on the way we saw tower falls.
Lamar valley is one of the best places to see wild life. it is vast flat grass beds along the Lamar 
valley fully of bison, elks and deers. one can spot bears, pronghorn, big horn sheep too. but we got a chance to see bears only in Lamar valley, may be we neither spend much time in valley or walked on trail paths into valley or hiked to hills so we could not get a chance to spot many bears. from there we started to canyon village there we camped for first night in park.
valley fully of bison, elks and deers. one can spot bears, pronghorn, big horn sheep too. but we got a chance to see bears only in Lamar valley, may be we neither spend much time in valley or walked on trail paths into valley or hiked to hills so we could not get a chance to spot many bears. from there we started to canyon village there we camped for first night in park.
Day 2 ( Grand Tetons):
We got fresh and started to Grand Teton national park, as we understood by the time of the august it is bit difficult to spot moose, sheep in Yellowstone. we are heard it is easy to spot mosses in grand teton. So, we headed to grand teton by 7 in the morning. while driving to grand teton we saw mud volcano, we saw couple of deers, big antelope. It took more than 2 hours for us to go grand teton visitor entrance.
we got the information about the scenic places to watch, places where we can get food, what type of food we can expect in what places, then we traveled along Jackson lake for few miles, we stopped in many places on turnouts. Big break we took at willow flats overlook. we had breakfast that we packed before the start of our drive. we stopped at many places like Jackson lake, Dam and vista points. we could not drove all drives towards the hills, lastly we regret for not going. But i sincerely recommend drive as many as inside roads towards teton from main road. we saw at least one animal when drove those roads.
we had lunch at moose junction and spent couple of hours near there, (just for the information pizzas and pasta will be available at moose junction) and took a snake river tour. we enjoyed a lot. it is entirely different experience for two hours. We were welcomed with drizzling. By wearing life jackets, and rain gears we started our floating trip. Within couple of minutes, there was heavy ice rain for more than 20 minutes then gap. after that for couple of minutes there was rain and the gap, through out the trip. But surprisingly we were very much dry by the time we complete our trip.
We ran by seeing lot of people on the bridge. we saw two moose eating grass. after seeing we headed back to Madison, Yellowstone for night to camp.
weather is very unpredictable in grand teton, heavy rains to freezing rains to ice rains and fast, chilly winds to freezing can happen within no time. Luckily we prepared well for all weather climates.
Day 3 (Madison, Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake and canyon):
we were freezing by morning, as it was raining frequently last night. we covered fire hole river, all geysers in between Madison, old faithful and west thumb. there will many geysers we saw including famous with predictable eruption time. i literally surprised at Old Faithful. After seeing
many geysers and hot springs in between Madison and old faithful, we took a small break at old faithful geyser. By knowingly approximate old faithful geyser eruption time, we walked on trail to see few geysers. we saw more than 3 geysers including grand geyser before settle-down at Old faithful geyser. It erupted exact time. After early lunch we started towards west thumb. I was bit hesitant to see west thumb geyser basin, as i thought, i might have seen many geyser basins for last two days, But i never got bored at west thumb But it proved me wrongly as each geyser and hot springs basin has it own variety and distinguishable geysers/springs.
After seeing west thumb we drove to Lamar valley for quick wildlife view to get a quick escape from geysers. on the way we struck at Hayden valley for many minutes may more than 1 hour for bison to cross the road. we spent couple of hours at Lamar valley mainly at Lamar bridge. one of the best places to see bear is the bridge on Lamar river.we just missed a bear playing in river with fishes but i were able to see the bear by the time it climbed the bridge to cross the road. Lamar valley did not disappointed us in any of our trips. we saw enough of bison, few deers, elks. we never got bored even when we struck at traffic. few times we struck with Big Bison just in front of our car and some times Big Bison running towards our car, we were literally scared as they were running very fast and they suddenly stop just before few feet away from the road or sometimes in the middle of the road.
After spending couple of hours we headed towards our camp ground, grant village, it was my mistake or probably not, because i got only at grant village for camping that night. we might have stayed at some place near Northeast entrance by that way we could have got many more hours of dawn and dusk times at Lamar valley with staying few miles away. We headed back to grant village for camping. by the time we finish bath and dinner at lake house in grant village, best restaurant in Yellowstone, my personal opinion, it was around 10 PM.Then we tented and tried to sleep. Almost through out the night there were many thunderstorms near or inside Yellowstone parks, in our place I guess some what more than usual rain. Our tent holds good for the rain. I think most of the tents are reasonably water proof. we saw very few water drops inside, by morning. I used to wake-up by the sounds of the thunderstorms middle of the night, it went on till morning. We were told by campsite registration lady that one grizzly bear frequently visiting the campsite we stayed, at least twice a week and no harm or aggression is found by the bear yet. It really scared us to camp that night in the middle of thunderstorms, It was one of our great experience or adventures.
Last day we saw remaining places we missed before started back to Idaho falls airport for return flight. if any fly to Idaho falls, ID, remember near Idaho falls there is bear park. privately held park, i guess, almost Yellowstone national park wildlife can be seen in one place. After coming back from the park, i did not like the idea of going to place like that. inside the national park, we know there are free to any where. we don't know when we will see what animal. we keep on closely watch all places, its really great excitement if we find any animal. immediately stop the vehicle side to road. jump out the vehicle, take camera and binoculars and run, run to get nice view. it was really fun and enjoyment.
Tips from my experience:
- plan to stay at different places inside the park.
- From my experience you can get alter places to camp on different dates on different places
- plan to dawn and dusk times for wildlife and middle of the days normal places like geysers, falls, trails, boating.
- Drive inside roads in the park, trails in Lamar valley to see wildlife.
- Dawn and dust times are the best to see wildlife. all pages on web said Lamar, Hayden Valley are best among all, But can be seen everywhere.
- We waited many times for wildlife(mainly Bison) to cross roads. don't to be surprised to know delays can be more than 30 minutes in morning and evening times.
avoid such roads if in hurry. - By staying near northeast entrance or cookie city, one can get more number of chances to encounter bears than staying inside park, it takes more than 1 hours to travel from Lamar valley to middle of the park, like to canyon village.
- They provide bath towels at showers to rent too, if we want. they provide coin machines too inside showers, no need to carry coins.
- Drive or trail as many places as you can towards hill side inside the park.
- good lens/binoculars will be added advantage to get the closure looks/shots.
