Welcome back! So this is Yellowstone, Part 2. When we planned this trip it was so we could spend a whole (work) week, 5 days at the park. When I was reading through other people's blogs and watching video's my biggest concern was that we weren't going to see much if anything! But we saw so much, some stuff was at a long distance but we still got to see them. The thing I wanted to see the most was a Grizzly Bear! And we lucked out, over the 7 days we got to see 3. Not close, we had to use the binoculars or a spotting scope, but we saw them. Check that off the bucket list! Anyhow, their is so much to see, that you will not see everything their is in a week. Between wildlife, waterfall's and trails, like I said it's like an amusement park for people that love the outdoors.
Before you go, order a map of the park. We got a National Geographic map, I think off Amazon for $20/30 dollars. Well worth the money spent! Besides my camera, that was the best tool we had once we got to the park. It has everything you could need. All the massive tourist spots are labeled. The thousands of miles of trials are on it with plotted points and distances. Their is also tons of waterfalls in the park, so if that's your thing, can find those as well. With so much to see and not enough time to see it all, the map comes in handy for planning a head of time of where you want to go and how to get their. Don't think you need to plan? Ok, check this out. The main loop around the park is 142 miles long! And the speed limit is only 45 mph. Remember, it is a major tourist attraction for people all across the world. There will be a lot of traffic in spots and not always a place to turn around. Depending on when you go and how busy it is, it could take anywhere from 4-7 HOURS to drive the whole loop. Your not just gonna drive the whole loop with out stopping. Their is way to much to see with mountains, wild life, etc. My suggestion, do the North loop one day and the South on another day. Plan a head what tourist spots you want to hit, if any and go from their, also fill the tank up ahead of time. There is gas stations through out the park at all the major tourist traps. But if you fill up the day before you go out, you might not need to hit one while your out that day.
Trails, trails and more trails! Their are so many trails around the park it is unreal. And for all level's of experience. Up hills, valley's, what ever you want to do, Yellowstone National Park has it. This is where that map comes in handy! We had originally planned to hike a whole lot more than what we did while at Yellowstone. But once we got in the truck, driving around and seeing so much I hated to stop and go out hiking where we might not see anything. Some of the waterfall's were a mile or two hikes round trip to see. The longest hike we went on was along the Nez Perce Trail through Hayden Valley. That one was about 6 miles round trip. Highly recommend that one! Although we saw a ton of stuff at the Lamar Valley, EVERYONE go's their to hang out. The road run's parallel to Lamar Valley so people are always stopping cause of Buffalo and what not. We saw a ton of stuff their, but also didn't want to deal with all the people, that's why we opted for hiking Hayden Valley instead. We had already witnessed a few people in large crowd's being dumb around some black bear. You'll see people around the park getting close to the wild life thinking its like a zoo or something. There is a reason for all the sign's up around the park warning you to keep your distance away from the wildlife. Just google Yellowstone Buffalo attack and you'll see what I mean. That's why we choose the trail less traveled.
The very 1st thing we saw at the trail head for the Nez Perce Trail was the bear warning sign, Specifically Grizzly Bear. We had already seen one at a distance, and yes I would like to see one closer. But not TO close. The Army taught me years ago and I still live by it to this day. "Their is a fine line between hard core and stupid." If your out hiking and venturing around Yellowstone, don't be stupid! Pop's and I grabbed our stuff and headed down the trail. This was a nice easy going trail that runs along Alum Creek. To the right of us about 50 yards away was a steep wooded ridge and off to the left was the creek. So if we had jumped up and startled a Grizzly Bear the options would be pretty limited. And your not going to out run a Grizzly Bear. The best you can hope for is you get him/her with the bear spray and HOPE they take off. About a mile to a mile and a half into the trail we stumbled onto an old Buffalo skull that had been picked clean. And a little further up the trail we found another one. Their was one hairy spot in that hike where the pine trees were pretty tight and close to the trail. For majority of the hike it was wide open valley, but it was at that point we decided to actually pull the bear spray out and have it at the ready. At least until we got to the other side and we could see better. We had figured out how far we traveled and how much time it took, so we could guess when to turn around and head back to the truck. The last thing we wanted to be doing was hiking, in the dark, in the middle of Grizzly country. Once we hit the half way point, we took a good half hour break and sat back and relaxed for a bit. As busy as what Yellowstone is, their are plenty of places to go where your completely away from all the tourist and it is some of the most peaceful places you'll find. The one thing I regret is not hiking more of the trails, but I was to preoccupied with getting photo's of the wildlife. If your going to Yellowstone, definitely hit more of the trails! But be safe and have your bear spray!
Warning SignThe trail head going into Hayden Valley. It is Grizzly country!
Buffalo skullOn our hike in Hayden Valley at Yellowstone National Park
Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park
Hayden ValleyOur view in Hayden Valley at Yellowstone National Park. Towards the truck in case we had to get out fast!
Grizzly CountryHeading into Hayden Valley for our hike.
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