Yellowstone & Grand Tetons - August: 8 days

It's a pandemic! We flew on a plane! Travel shaming is real. Anxiety is real. I bought 3-ply masks with a filter insert for this trip. We are camping most of the time, which makes me *feel* safer. Delta thankfully keeps the middle seat empty, when other airlines don't. 

---

TRIP COST
Flight: $220/pp (GRR <> MSP <> JAC)
Car Rental: $708
Camping/lodging: $405/pp
Food/drinks/gas: $325/pp
Per Person Total: $1,186

---

TRAVEL DAY
Flying into Jackson Hole is GORGEOUS. Small airport with mountain views.
We landed around 7pm, met Sara, grocery shopped at Albersons for camping since there's not a ton of food options due to covid. Also bought bear spray (necessary!), and stayed at Alpine Motel ($195).

---

DAY 1: EAST YELLOWSTONE
Download the Gypsy app for Yellowstone & the Grand Tetons! The narrator tells you history and facts about the park as you pass each talking point in the park, and even tells you places to stop at! It is super helpful, fun & informative.

Cattleman's Bridge
Lewis Falls Canyon
Lewis Falls

West Thumb Basin

• ​1mi boardwalk loop of geysers by the lake

Yellowstone Lake Hotel

• Hotel closed during the pandemic
• General store is open for shopping & huckleberry ice cream!
• One lodge is open for takeout food: bison burgers

Storm Point Hike

• 2.3mi out & back hike

​Lake Butte Scenic Drive

• Drove straight up a mountain on Lake Butte Scenic Dr
• Left off the main road for this overlook

LeHardy's Rapids

• Short boardwalk to rapids

Mud Volcano Area

• 2/3mi boardwalk around several geysers including Dragon's Mouth Spring
• Sulfer smell galore

​Set up camp at Canyon Campground

• $36/night
• Showers available

​Hayden Valley for Sunset

• Watched the sunset, buffalo herds, buffalos rutting, and even saw a grizzly bear.

---

DAY 2: EAST TO WEST YELLOWSTONE

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

• Lower & upper lookouts

Glacial Boulder 

• Glacier Boulder Trailhead: stopped to do a "quick" 1mi hike to a view of "Silver Cord Cascade", which turned sour.
• Pete left Sara & I to see how much farther to this waterfall
• Sara & I waited, he never came back
• We walked toward him & he must've passed us, somehow we missed eachother unknowningly
• Sara & I hiked a mile farther in looking for him
• Pete ran back to the car looking for us
• STRESS FROM ALL PARTIES!
• What happens when there are zero signs on your hike? No waterfall. Lost friends.
• No more impromptu hikes for us.

Canyon Village for Food

• Food court is open here!

Artist Point

• Must see! Best viewpoint of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
• Thomas Moran made this view famous, from a painting made for Congress.

Uncle Tom's Trail

• .7mi hike, 350 stairs
• Closed during the pandemic

Set up camp at Madison Campground

• ​$30/night
• No showers available, but we took a nice afternoon dip in the Madison River!

Norris Geyser Basin

• Hiked the Back Basin - 1.5mi loop
• Also hiked Porcelain half to Steamboat Geyser
• After this, I am geyser'd out. There are hundreds of geysers here.

Beryl Spring

• Intense spring right on the road, hard to miss.

​Gibbon Falls

• Waterfall that flows into a pretty canyon

---

DAY 3: NORTH YELLOWSTONE

On our way to Mammoth Springs:

• Nymph Lake
• Roaring Mountain - mountain that roars steam
• Sheepeater Cliff - lava basalt formations along a river
• Undine Falls

Big white boulders

• Cannot find an official name for this, but my favorite side of the road pull off in Yellowstone.
• Just a bunch of white boulders, but it's beautiful.

Mammoth Upper Terraces Area

• Self-driving one-way driving tour on Upper Terrace Loop Drive.

Mammoth Hot Springs

• Famous for it's terrace-like cascade of steaming travertine pools

Gardiner

• Where you can find the famous Roosevelt arch (original entrance to the park)
• Ate on the patio next to the river at Iron Horse Bar & Grill
  • Elk tacos to die for
  • Bison Burger also great
  • Our waiter recommended swimming in Firehole River

Lamar Valley

• Great place to watch bison
• Saw 2 bison charging head to head, as it's rutting season
• Males are looking to mate & only the strong ones prevail

2 things we couldn't do due to a road closure:

• Tower Falls - .9mi easy hike
• Dunraven Pass - Scenic drive through a mountain pass 

​Back to campground to change into swimsuits & find the Firehole River.

Drove down Firehole Canyon Rd.

• One way road
• Firehole Falls
• Found Firehole River Swimming Area, but alas, closed for covid

West Yellowstone

• Had a great dinner at Madison Crossing Lounge
• Bison meatloaf, bison nachos, and blueberry bread pudding
• Driving back to camp, we stopped to watch elk by the river

---

DAY 4: SOUTHWEST YELLOWSTONE
Today was all about geysers. Geysers for days.

Fountain Paint Pots

• 0.5mi boardwalk loop

Grand Prismatic Spring

• 1.2mi boardwalk loop

Fairy Falls Trailhead

• Take this trail to see Grand Prismatic from the top!
• 1.6mi roundtrip

Biscuit Basin
Black Sand Basin

Old Faithful Inn

• To-go food stop - get the Huckleberry Float!
• Waited an hour for Old Faithful to erupt with several hundred people
• It erupts for about 5min, but 2min in, people started leaving. Anti-climatic.
• There must be a variety of eruption heights, this one being a tiny guy.

Set up camp at Grant Village 

• Put on our suits to bath/cool off in Lake Yellowstone. Brr!
• Pete also found out there was leaches in the water, so we quickly got out.
• Got takeout at Grant Village Lodge: wings, chicken strips & bison burger.
• Made friends with a single camper, who was on a 3 week roadtrip from Utah to Seattle to hit up all the national parks (jealous!). Campfires until late.
• Heard a wolf's loud howl twice in the night.

---

---

DAY 5: GRAND TETONS
40 minute drive to the Grand Tetons.
We splurged on Colter Bay Cabins for 2 nights and checked in.

• 2 bedroom cabin with 1 bathroom for 2 nights - $642

Drove to the top of Signal Mountain​
Mount Moran Turnout
Turned right on a dirt road to Spalding Bay
Jackson Lake Lodge - closed for 2020
Jenny Lake Loop scenic drive
Saw Moose off Pilgrim Creek Rd

Sunset at Oxbow Bend

• Spent an hour or so here, taking in the scenery and wildlife watching
• Elk in the distance, saw an osprey grab a fish out of water, and heard terrifying screams across the river!

Afterwards, we actually did laundry at the Colter Bay Laundromat. 
Colter Bay is the only place that offers take-out food in the park that isn't packaged, so we're happy we stayed here.

---

DAY 6: STRING LAKE & LEIGH LAKE / COLTER BAY AREA
Woke up intending to hike Hidden Falls & Inspiration Point, but we realized it was really foggy/cloudy/smoky. So, Plan B.

String Lake & Leigh Lake

• 2mi out & back hike
• Ranger said wildfires are causing the fogginess
• There's raging wildfires in California and the smoke is traveling this way

Lakeshore Trail at Colter Bay

• Closed the road to Colter Bay Beach because bears are in the area
• It's super sad to faintly see the outline of mountains, due to the smoke. It's barely visible during the day.

Hermitage Point Trailhead to Swan Lake

• 2mi out & back hike
• Swan Lake is covered completely with huge lily pads!

Colter Bay Restaurant

• Covid forces everyone to eat outside, socially distanced tables with only takeout options.

Schwabachers Landing for Sunset

• Must see sunset spot! Smoke makes the sunset look wild!
• Here you can see the mountain reflection in the still river
• Saw a photography group & family photo sessions

---

DAY 7: JENNY LAKE AREA / HIDDEN FALLS & INSPIRATION POINT

Jenny Lake Campground

• Pete & I woke up at 5am to get a campground at Jenny Lake Campground
• This is the most popular campground in the park.
• We arrived at 5:30am & we were the 15th car in line
• We were the first "maybe" & didn't have $32 cash to pay for it (cash or check only)
• I walked to the Jenny Lake Store hoping for an ATM with no luck
• I ended up asking the lady in the car in front of us for cash, and I'd venmo her.
• She was also short of cash, but said the campground gives us an hour to get payment
• Turns out, she gave us all the cash she had - and it was exactly what we needed - $12.
• She was an angel, and her group went to the nearest ATM at Dornans, 8mi away.
• Long story short: bring cash if you want to camp here!
• We got Site 24, a big site. So much hype for this campground, but honestly it's over-hyped.
• It is walkable to all hikes near Jenny Lake, so that is nice.

Hidden Falls / Inspiration Point

• We walked to the boat launch, you can buy tickets there.
• Short boat ride to the other side of the lake where the hike begins
• 0.5mi to Hidden Falls
• 0.5mi uphill to Inspiration Point
• Still a smoky day for views
• Bear eating berries 100yds away from us - thankfully we could walk past him & he didn't care.

Moose Visitor Center

• Had a huge 3D map with recommendations throughout the park including hikes
• Great souvenir shop inside

Teton Point Turnout
Snake River Overlook
Blacktail Ponds Overlook

• Sara found an elk jaw, and yes, a ranger confirmed it was elk.
• Typically where you can see alot of wildlife, but we didn't see much.

Mormon Row

• Where the famous old barn with the mountains in the background is
• Ran into the same group of photographers from Schwabacher's Landing
• Saw a bunch of pronghorn antelope

Dornans for Dinner

• Static Peak BBQ Chicken pizza scarfed down with Grand Teton Amber Ale. Delicious.

Minors Ferry

• A short walk from Dornans, we checked it out. 
• Minor transported cars on boats back in the day, for those wanted to explore the park.

---

DAY 8: TAGGART LAKE / TETON VILLAGE
Woke up at Jenny Lake Campground to an angry chipmunk who flung onto the tent into Pete who jumped 10ft in the air.

Taggart Lake

• 3.2mi roundtrip through rivers, forests, and uphill

Moose Wilson Rd. to Teton Village

• Mangy Mooses upstairs dining is great! Get a Huckleberry Mule or Huckleberry Lemonade.
• Walked around Teton Village

Checked into Elk Refuge Inn

Snake River Brewing

• Baked mac & cheese
• Amazing nitro speargun coffee milk stout.

---

HIGHLIGHTS: