Yellowstone/Tetons Summer of 2014 help

[LoudDog]

We are planning on doing Yellowstone/Tetons for our summer of 2014 vacation. We have 2 weeks and we're driving from the Seattle WA area with 30ft TT.

I keep putting off doing any research or planning, but it's time to start thinking about plans.

Any help is appreciated!

Questions
1. Is 2 weeks too long or just right?
2. We're thinking of splitting time between two locations, one more north one more south. Try to most everything and minimize driving. Thoughts on that plan?
3. Suggested campgrounds with full hookups outside the park?
4. Our available time frame is mid June to mid August. I'm thinking earlier is less crowded but I'd rather not be there over the 4th. Thoughts?

Thanks!

[katleman]

jalichty wrote:
What's wrong with getting stuck in Buffalo jams. A person shouldn't be in a big hurry to get anywhere in the Park, especially if they are planning on a week or so of sightseeing. Sit back and enjoy all that nature presents and be thankful you are in a place that allows you to do so.

Absolutely nothing wrong with it, if you are stuck within sight of the animal.

Its when you are a mile back, and by the time the jam clears, there is nothing to see.

This summer, I was blessed at being at the right place at the right time to spend the afternoon watching a wolf pack on an elk carcass a couple hundred yards off the road (between Norris and Madison of all places). Once the wolves wandered off, proceeded on down to Madison, passing more than a mile of bumper to bumper traffic heading to Norris

Getting to a jam as its just building is wonderful.

[Geobiker]

Don't know if you have kids and that is the reason you are visiting in summer, but I highly recommend you plan and make reservations during the shoulder seasons if at all possible. Spent 14 days at fishing bridge this past August (we needed FHU because of the cat) and the Park was a zoo. FB accommodated our 30 ft MH and toad very nicely. Go on line to the Park site and you can see what the FB sites look like. As I recall you simply plug in the dates, length of your RV, if you have a second vehicle, and up pops what is available during the time you would like to stay Most of our days were spent out and about so the aesthetics weren't important to us. We found fishing bridge was located so that we could easily drive to most of what we wanted to do. If you stay in West Yellowstone or Gardner, plan on LOTS of driving, and lots of driving means less time to enjoy the park. Everything is a trade off, but whatever you plan Yellowstone and the Tetons are special. Have fun. We did.

[CurtisFamily]

We spend a week in Yellowstone evey year, and its a different experience every year. We really like late May / early June bacause all the baby animals are out. If you're early enough, you can see the fish jumping in Hardy Rapids. We were snowed on over the 4th of July a few years ago. We have stayed at Grizzly and it is a very nice park. Worth the price, don't do the KOA. We stay a couple nights at Grizzly so we can go to live plays at the Playmill Theatre. But then we move into the park and will spend the rest of the week in the park. Yellowstone is soooooo big, you can spend half the day just commuting back and forth to Grizzly. We've stayed at Madison, Mammoth (Gardner), Canyon, Fishing Bridge, and Bridge Bay. Wouldn't say that we have a favorite over another, just depends on what part of the park we're concentrating on. We can do and see a lot more if we're already in the area and not commuting.

Talk to the rangers when you see them. They ususally know where the people have scopes set up to see bears, and most spotters will share the experience and let others look through their scopes.

When you get to the Tetons, be sure to do a river rafting trip down the snake as well. You'll be there when the water and rapids are at their peak. And the Bar-J Wranglers put on a good dinner show as well.

[Sue_Bee]

jalichty wrote:
What's wrong with getting stuck in Buffalo jams. A person shouldn't be in a big hurry to get anywhere in the Park, especially if they are planning on a week or so of sightseeing. Sit back and enjoy all that nature presents and be thankful you are in a place that allows you to do so.

I didn't mind the "animal jams" where the animals were actually right in or near the road (because no one wants to hit an animal the size of an elk), nor did I mind when folks pulled off at any of the pull offs to take pictures or pull out spotting scopes, but there were some incredibly stupid folks who would stop and get out of their cars to get way too close to animals in the road (let's go pat that buffalo), or who would just stop in the middle of the road to look at some speck WAY OFF in the distance (is that a wolf, I think it's a bear, no, it's a...). Add that into the long entry jams, and the construction jams, and it got to be wearing. If you're looking at something that isn't obstructing or threatening to obstruct the road, then pull off the road.

Plus, we saw a whole lot of people get pulled over for speeding, when they say 35, they mean 35. We took our time through Yellowstone.

Edited to add that when we go back to Yellowstone, we will stay in the park, maybe at fishing bridge for a night or two to refresh batteries, etc, but certainly would move around within the park.

[chris_in_pa]

Buffalo jams are great fun if you're in a good location. We saw dozens during this jam.

[kedanie]

The problem with "buffalo jams" are the people in a hurry go get back to their luxury resort outside the park! They start honking horns and driving on the shoulder and destroy the moment and the surrounding area.

Keith

[enblethen]

What is wrong with getting stuck in buffalo jams, you say?
Biggest problem is people in such a hurry they destroy the moment with those of us that enjoy the beauty of it.

[jalichty]

What's wrong with getting stuck in Buffalo jams. A person shouldn't be in a big hurry to get anywhere in the Park, especially if they are planning on a week or so of sightseeing. Sit back and enjoy all that nature presents and be thankful you are in a place that allows you to do so.

[4runnerguy]

katleman wrote:
But I won't argue with folks who like staying outside for the hookups, as it opens up more spots inside.

I like this sentiment.

[katleman]

4runnerguy wrote:

you'll get stuck in "buffalo jams" from time to time, often for an hour, esp. in the evening. The line at the West Yellowstone entrance can get to be quite long in the mornings.

Photo of the line coming into Yellowstone in the morning, taken on an ill advised morning trip to West Yellowstone from Madison, went on for more than a mile.

Those 14 miles from West Yellowstone to the main loop at Madison may seem minor, but you'll encounter significant traffic unless you enter the park very early and come back after dusk.

4runnerguy and I advocate staying in the park, at one of the many campgrounds without hook ups. Being in the park more than makes up for the loss of hookups. I generally book a few nights at Madison, then pullup and go to other first come sites from then on.

But I won't argue with folks who like staying outside for the hookups, as it opens up more spots inside.

[LoudDog]

4runnerguy wrote:

LoudDog wrote:
2012 in glacier we were hitting 100 degrees each day.

Was that 100 degrees in the trailer 'cause I couldn't find any record of 100 degree days on the east side or west side of the park last year?

West Glacier, 2012, outside the trailer. Not sure what official temps were but the rv thermometer (yes in the shade) said 100 or near almost all week.

Thanks all for the tips.

[4runnerguy]

LoudDog wrote:
2012 in glacier we were hitting 100 degrees each day.

Was that 100 degrees in the trailer 'cause I couldn't find any record of 100 degree days on the east side or west side of the park last year? Just remember, West Glacier is around 3500' while West Yellowstone is around 6500'.

I agree with some of the posters above: at Yellowstone, either get a campsite at Fishing Bridge in the park with FHU or go a few days w/o hookups. As many have mentioned, you'll spend a lot of time driving. The speed limits aren't high, and you'll get stuck in "buffalo jams" from time to time, often for an hour, esp. in the evening. The line at the West Yellowstone entrance can get to be quite long in the mornings. If you have to return at mid-day to let the dogs out and then return to the park, you'll spend a lot of windshield time every day. While offering little space between sites, at least Fishing Bridge in the park is a little more centrally located and you'll avoid the lines at the entrance station every day.

June is better than July or August for crowds, and the earlier in the month the better. As for hiking, there are lots of great hikes at Yellowstone, such as into the canyon to view the falls from below. You can easily spend several days just walking all the geyser basins. Sure, there's a lot of walking on boardwalks, but you'll get a lot of miles in if you do the various loops. Get one of the geyser guidebooks to make your whole tour more interesting. I have found the book "The Geysers of Yellowstone" by Scott Bryan to be most interesting for us. Stop at the Visitors Center at Old Faithful and find out the predicted eruption times for some of the geysers and plan your walk through the geyser basins accordingly. The book I mentioned also gives the eruption intervals for many, many features in all of the geyser basin.

For wildflowers, hike up Mt. Washburn. We visited Yellowstone several times during the summers my mother worked at the Hamilton store at Old Faithful. Believe me, she showed us enough interesting hikes to keep one busy for weeks.

In Grand Teton, Coulter Bay RV park does have FHU. Taking the boat across Jenny Lake and hiking up Cascade Creek is an interesting experience, but busy. Our favorite hike is up to Amphitheater Lake. You end up right below Grand and Middle Tetons. Of course we see lots of mountains where we live, so Grand Teton isn't quite so exciting, so we probably split our time 80/20 YNP to GTNP. The thermal features are so unique they take a lot of our attention.

[katleman]

2gypsies wrote:
Hiking in the Tetons is awesome! The trails are for all abilities and most lead you to a gorgeous lake or waterfall. Also, consider taking a float trip down the Snake River in the park. Many times you'll see moose alongside you. Have a good trip!

I agree on both the hiking and especially the float on the Snake river. Sign up for the first float of the morning. It will be cold, but you will have a greater chance of spotting wildlife.

If you like hikes, show up for the ranger lead hikes in Yellowstone. The ones you want are the ones that are 90-120 minutes or more. Went on everyone we could find this last August and enjoyed everyone of them.

Best of the bunch was one that started by uncle tom's cabin, went south along the canyon, then into Hayden valley. Came to a split in the trail, the ranger said this is where we have to head back to the grand canyon of the yellowstone, but if you have an extra hour, you can head on for an extended loop back to the canyon, walking past some thermal areas. Very nice addition to an already great hike.

[katleman]

1320quick wrote:
We are also planning a summer 2014 visit to Yellowstone and the Tetons. We are planning a 10 day vacation to the area. I've done lots of research lately on the area and I'm really looking forward to it. We are going June 19-29th. I'm sure it will be busy but hopefully not as busy as the July 4th time frame. I didn't want to go too early and have the weather be chilly..

I've been to Yellowstone in the third week of June four times, and each time I've encountered a dusting of snow. Just enough to be enjoyable, not close roads, etc. Days still warmed up to 60s, 70s. Would rather deal with the chill of June than the crowds of July.

One year, we came back into Yellowstone for a night on our way back from Glacier. Was July 8th and I could see that the park was far more crowded than it was just two weeks earlier.

This years trip was impromptu, no advance planning, in August because that was the only time we had. Went without reservations, and was able to have a very enjoyable week. Key to enjoying the park when its crowded is get up at dawn, and enjoy the popular thermal areas when others are still in bed.