Yellowstone Trip 2016 // Pt. 1

We had the opportunity this last weekend to go to Yellowstone National Park. Both of us really love camping and we thought it would be a great way to end the summer with a bang. Originally we had friends coming with us to split gas/lodging price etc but they bailed last minute. The campsites were already paid for so we said what the heck and went anyway. *Warning* Long post with lots of pictures.

I was TERRIFIED to sleep in a tent in "bear country" so we took our truck with the shell on and used that instead! Quite handy if I do say so myself. The coziness of a tent with the secure feeling of a camper. We lined the bottom with styrafoam and plywood and plenty of blankets. For food we took sausage and eggs for breakfast, sandwich things for lunch, Mtn. Dew for Connor and Sprite Zero for me. For dinner on Thursday we ate tinfoil dinners, Friday we had hot dogs and Saturday we ate in Jackson Hole. Super tasty! Of course we had snacky items like beef jerky and watermelon but that's not important.

We set off Thursday morning around 11 putting us actually getting into Yellowstone around 4. We stopped in Pocatello, ID for Wendy's lunch and set off again. There is a place to fill up with gas in West Yellowstone and a few in the park. For the park entrance fee it's $30 but if you plan on spending  anytime in Teton's, it's worth it to pay $50 and get both parks for 7 day's. Much cheaper.

Our first stop was the Lower Geyser Basin. Connor needed to get out and stretch his legs and we still had plenty of time before it got dark. That's what's nice about not having kids at the moment is we could have dusk-till-dawn days. And walk faster along the boardwalks.

We got to our camp around 7:00, Bridge Bay Campground. There is only one road going through Yellowstone, speed limit 45. But the veiw was totally worth it. Just as we were about to set up camp, it rained and it rained HARD! So we grabbed a bag of Doritos and played Go-Fish, nice and dry in the bed. I was so thankful for the hard shell instead of a flimsy tent cloth.

We ate our dinner, soggy tin foil dinners and went to bed.

The next morning we got up, ate breakfast and planned our day. There is a lot to do in the Park so we made sure we hit all the exciting stuff.

In the morning we visited all the other Geyser Basins (Midway, Biscuit, Black Sand). To be honest most of them were pretty similar in hot pots and geysers. Still really cool to see though.

Old Faithful has an amazing gift shop and plenty of spots to sit and eat our picnic lunches. We waited for about 45 minutes for Old Faithful to actually erupt but when it did, it did not disappoint.

We continued walking around that area for an hour or so. By this time, around 3:30, Connor's Dayquil had worn off (Oh yes, he had a nasty cold the whole trip. What a trooper) so we headed back to camp for him to take a nap and get more medicine. Meanwhile I read my book and grilled hot dogs for an early dinner.

 We chilled at camp and at about 5:45 left to go see wildlife, sulfur pots, and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Definitely Hayden Valley, on the east side of the Park, is the place to seed wildlife. Lots of bison, elk, deer, grazing in the open meadows make for some awesome pictures.

Along the way we also saw the sulfur pots and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was starting to get dark and as we headed back, a group of cars were gathered at a turn out. Usually when there is that many people something awesome is happening.

Wolves were in the valley, clear out across the river. A mom and her two babies! It was really neat to see them. I unfortunately, don't have a cool camera so I couldn't get any pictures but it was a neat experience.

The next morning when we woke up, a thick layer of frost covered our windows and in a half-sleep stupor I asked Connor where my nose had gone.

We packed up quickly and headed to our next adventure, Teton National Park.

Part two coming soon!