Yellowstone & Grand Tetons Van Camping

Original Trip Description: (July 18-28, 1991)
Yellowstone's 3,472 square miles defy characterization. It is many parks rolled into one. The world's first national park, it was originally created in 1872 to protect the world's largest concentration of geysers, hot springs, and related features. It has since become the richest wildlife preserve in the continental United States.
Circling the park by van, we will hike daily, visiting many of the park's geothermal zones including Old Faithful, Imperial Geyser, Fairy Falls, Firehole, Upper Geyser Basin, Shoshone Basin, and Mammoth Hot Springs. At Canyon Junction, we'll view one of the park's most spectacular sights, the magnificent Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The countless shades of red and yellow within this 24-mile-long, 1200-foot-deep gorge are a visual delight. Contained within are two waterfalls, one higher than Niagara.
The second portion of our trip will be to the smaller (485 square miles) Grand Tetons National Park. The Tetons are the epitome of how mountains should look. Their unrelentingly steep rise from a flat plain culminates a giddy 7000 vertical feet above in sharp pointed peaks composed of hard granite. The trip is rated leisurely to moderate (L/M).
Originates @ Jackson, WY.

Erupting geyser

Petrified Stump

Trip Report:

After meeting in Jackson at 9:00 AM, we parked three excess vehicles just north of town and headed for our reserved Bridge Bay Campsite in Yellowstone National Park. As we passed through the Jackson Hole area, we stopped at all of the pull-outs to view the spectacular Grand Teton mountain range. The campground was crowded but we had a secluded perimeter camp in the trees. Much to our surprise, a huge buffalo lay in a nearby campsite. Later that night Jim was visited at his tent by a mother and baby moose.

The first afternoon of our trip, we visited the spectacular Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The colors of this canyon in the late afternoon were fantastic. Yellows, golds, and reds combined with the green water of the river and blue skies. While driving to the canyon and then back to our campsite, seemingly endless meadows filled with bison gradually left everyone with an "it's just another buffalo" attitude. We were able to tell which tourists had just entered the park by their enthusiasm for photographing buffalo, as if it might be their only opportunity.

The following day we moved on to Tower Falls Campground. We'd determined by now that campsites went to the early risers. Most sites were gone by noon and the popular campsites were full before 10:00 AM. Being an early bird at the next campsite allowed one to negotiate a primo space with whoever was leaving that day. We frequently stayed in camp two consecutive nights to minimize the hassle of finding a new site. It was easier to drive the few extra miles rather than set up, tear down, and play campsite bingo every day. In addition to the attractions' walks, we hiked on a trail each day for 3 to 5 miles, frequently with a thousand feet or more of elevation change. While camped at Tower Campground most of us climbed Bunsen Peak just outside of Mammoth.

Mammoth was the first of our geyser and hot spring tours, after which we moved our camp to Norris - an excellent campground. From this new base camp, we toured the Upper and Lower Geyser Basins including Old Faithful. One afternoon, we swam in the Firehole River which is fed by many hot springs. The lakes and rivers at this elevation are usually frigid so swimming in warmer waters was a real treat. Since there are several scaldings every year, the NPS prohibits swimming or bathing in hot springs or streams directly fed by hot springs because many of them are above 190° F.

After a few days, we returned to the Yellowstone Lake area, camping another night at Bridge Bay and one night at Grant Campground. Our Grant campsite was spectacular with excellent spacing of sites, trees for shade and isolation, a lake, quiet campers, and a visitor center that had the best bear exhibit we've seen anywhere. A campground on the north shore of the lake was closed to tent campers due to the proximity of grizzly bear habitat. Unfortunately, perhaps fortunately, we never saw a grizzly. Eventually, some of us saw a black bear at Grand Tetons while hiking but no bears were sighted at Yellowstone. By restricting the availability of food in campgrounds, it seems that the NPS has forced the bears back to their natural habitat and away from potentially ugly confrontations with people. Backpackers still have to be wary.

The natural highlights of our geyser hikes were Grand Prismatic Spring and Old Faithful which was faithful. The Old Faithful Inn was a great place to watch people and read a paper on a rainy day. The lobby is a must see experience, a definite highlight by itself. The design of this hotel reminded us of the El Tovar on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Both have a 1920's or 1930's grand hotel elegance and have been maintained as they were originally built. The use of native woods in the construction of this hotel was spectacular. Since it was rainy one of the days we were there, we spent a lot of time enjoying the rustic ambiance of this grand hotel. Reluctantly, we must also admit that the ice cream counter just off the lobby was a great hangout.

After seven days, we headed back to the Tetons, leaving Yellowstone's intermittently rainy weather behind. The following clear days made our Teton hiking most enjoyable. In two days we dayhiked 23 miles as we walked around Jenny Lake, climbed into Cascade Canyon, and made the arduous 3000' climb to Amphitheater Lake. The latter allowed a few of us to throw snowballs made from the snowfields of the Grand Teton. Len even swam in a frigid alpine lake. Brrr! Most of the group sighted a black bear on the way to Amphitheater Lake. The classic quote from the trip came from bear-wise Len, "this doesn't look good." He supposedly uttered these words as the bear was coming down the narrow trail to see what they were throwing him to eat - actually stones to scare him away. The bear eventually lost interest in these noisy humans and descended from the trail into a side canyon. When we passed less than a half hour later he wasn't in sight but numerous backpackers coming down the trail asked about his location. It wasn't obvious whether this was a concern for their safety or a desire to see him. Mention of a bear creates conflicting emotions.

Having enjoyed ten full days of spectacular scenery and numerous great hiking experiences, we parted company at Jackson and headed for our homes. Yellowstone has become our favorite non-Colorado Plateau National Park. We'll be back to visit soon.