Yellowstone - Wrap-up

Our Yellowstone trip proved the journey is more important than the destination. During the planning stage, I had imagined Yellowstone Park with beautiful fall colors and clear weather without the summer crowds.

Surprisingly, Yellowstone was not one of the highlights of our trip. Although the park wasn't as crowded as during the summers, enough visitors were there to prevent us from finding a campsite within the park without a reservation (a first for us after many previous visits). Also, the overcast skies and rainy weather, damped our spirits as well as discovering we were there a week or two too early to catch the main fall color show.

Just proves you never know what you're going to find until you get there. The following map shows where we went and what we did.


View Yellowstone Wrap-up in a larger map

Despite being disappointed with our experience in Yellowstone, we did really enjoy this trip. Our favorites were:

	Idaho - although we've been to Idaho on many different trips, we've always had a good time. We love Idaho for it's many outdoor activities including: river running, camping and hiking  hot springs
	Southwest Montana - it was our first trip exploring this area of Montana, and we will return. We enjoyed both the weather and the people we met, as well as: hot springs and history ghost towns and geology
	Grand Teton National Park - no matter how many times we've seen the Grand Teton Range, it's always awe inspiring. We were especially happy to see the nice bike path through the valley running along the Tetons. Next time we'll be bringing bicycles.
	Logan Canyon UT - it was Peter's first time exploring the canyons along the Wasatch Mountains and he was captivated by their magic. I had lived at the base of Little Cottonwood close to Salt Lake City, so Logan Canyon was very familiar to me. I remember many happy days hiking these canyons and skiing at their summits.
	Hwy 50 across Nevada - aka the "loneliest highway in America." It does offer classic wide open vistas of Nevada's Great Basin area and parallels the historic Pony Express Route. We plan to drive this way again and spend more time exploring.

The biggest unexpected pleasure was driving the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway and exploring the Buffalo Bill Center in Cody WY. Although visiting Cody was a remote possibility when we left home, we decided to go there after being shut out of a campsite in Yellowstone Park. You never know what you're going to find 'til you get there and this segment of the trip was a real treat.

Chief Joseph Scenic Byway

Buffalo Bill Center, Cody WY

Exhibit at Buffalo Bill Center

What proved to be the best resources for this trip?

	The Montana, Wyoming & Idaho Camping: Including Yellowstone,Grand Teton, and Glacier National Parks (Moon Outdoor series) This book was great in helping us locate beautiful and affordable campsites. We especially like it's many National Forest campground offerings.
	Playaway audio books  The Playaway format is far superior to either CD or tape based audio books. The sound is much cleaner with better controls and fewer problems on bumpy roads. Since these are pricey to buy, we recommend checking them out of your local public library.

If you're considering visiting Yellowstone National Park for the first time or you haven't been in many years, here are some recommendations:

1. Avoid going during the summer months.
2. Pay the extra money and get reservations at a campground (not Fishing Bridge).
3. If you still want to take your chances for an unreserved site, arrive at your chosen campground around mid morning and if you can find an open site, claim it immediately... otherwise, have some campgrounds outside the park picked out as alternatives.
4. Be flexible if things don't work out as you planned and have a plan B or C to fall back on.

Cloud towers after a storm