Backpack and Beer: Family Trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone

7/7 - 7/22/21

couple nights - Lyons CO before the trip really started

3 nights - Colter Bay (GTNP)

1 night - Old Faithful (YNP)

1 night - Grant Village

3 nights - Canyon Village

1 night Billings MT

2 nights Custer State Park

1 night Sioux Falls

*****************************

We drove up from CO and as we got close to Grand Teton, the smoke became more obvious. We checked into our Colter Bay cabin and walked over to the lake, tons of smoke. It made for a nice sunset, but not really what we were hoping for.

I woke up early the next day to catch the sunrise at Oxbow Bend. Tons of smoke, the sun struggled to appear. About a half hour after sunrise, another photographer wandered over and asked if I thought the light was going to get better. Sadly, no, I think this is it.

Kind of amazing what modern software can uncover in a RAW image. It turns out that there were mountains behind all the smoke.

Later, we drove over to Two Ocean Lake for a dayhike. We got out of the car and were swarmed by mosquitos. I asked my wife were the bug stuff was and she said back at the cabin, everyone but me had doused themselves before getting in the car. I said ok, no big deal, since I'm not usually too bothered by bugs. We made it about a mile (and ~50 bites) before I gave up and we turned around.

Meadow near Two Ocean Lake

The next morning we were up early for a float trip on the Snake River. Thankfully, a lot of the smoke had disappeared.

The last morning I woke up early and walked down to the lake for one last view, still lots of smoke, but a pretty morning.

And then off to Yellowstone. We got checked into our Old Faithful room and went to check out the Fountain Paint Pot area. It was swarming with people, but it was a good introduction to geothermal stuff.

I think this is along Firehole Lake Drive

White Dome Geyser

Then back to check out Old Faithful, the sunset made it easy to mostly ignore the massive crowd of people also waiting for the geyser.

And then Old Faithful went off on schedule. I was hoping the clouds would not get too thick and got lucky with both the geyser and sunset.

My sister, my kids and I took the long way back to the hotel to enjoy the atmosphere a little bit more.

Later (about 10pm), my sister and I walked over to check out Grand Geyser for the predicted eruption. I was surprised how many people were there, but it was cool to see in the dark, but no photos.

Next morning, I woke up early to check out the basin before the crowds arrived and catch the sunrise. I only saw one other person in the hour or so I was out.

It was a beautiful morning along the Firehole River.

Then we went to check out the Grand Prismatic Overlook. It was about 10am when we got to the trailhead and the steam obscured/hid a lot of the colors of the pool.

That afternoon, my sister and I walked the boardwalk up towards Morning Glory pool ...

... walked past Grotto Geyser, but nothing was happening ...

... then up to the overlook to get a different view of Old Faithful ...

... then over to Solitary Geyser (which we both really liked) and then back to the family at the hotel.

Solitary Geyser isn't big or impressive, but it is entertaining with its one big bubble that comes so frequently. We probably hung out there for 20 - 30 minutes waiting for "one more bubble".

We only had one night at Old Faithful, so it was time to head to Grant Village for the next night. We said goodbye to my mother and sister and headed off. I wanted to show my kids a little bit more of the Upper Basin, so we parked at the Biscuit Basin lot and then headed towards Morning Glory Pool.

Morning Glory Pool

And then over to Riverside Geyser which was going off just as we got there.

While watching Riverside, I looked over and noticed that there was something going on near Grotto Geyser, so my son and I wandered over while my wife and daughters enjoyed the shade near Riverside.

A couple other geysers in the area were going off at the same time

Everyone was getting tired, so we headed to Grant and got settled in for an uneventful night.

The next morning we checked out of Grant Village and headed towards Canyon Village, stopping at the West Thumb Basin along the way.

Fishing Cone and Yellowstone Lake

We also did a short hike at Storm Point

We got checked in at Canyon Village and then headed over to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

The next morning we drove over to the South Rim

Dayhike by myself (Cascade Lake and Observation Peak)

Fire Tower on Observation Peak

Even with the smoke/haze, you can still make out the south rim

Back to the Canyon for sunset

Bison don't read signs :)

Drove down to the Hayden Valley to see what we could see

Great sunset over the Hayden Valley

Heading back to the hotel, there was this elk on the side of the road

Next morning, we drove over to the Norris Basin

All of us walked explored the Back Basin and then my wife and kids relaxed in the shade while I explored the Porcelain Basin.

Steamboat Geyser

Looking over Porcelain Basin

I really liked the Porcelain Basin, there are lots of little details if you slow down a bit (which was easier because it was just me and my camera).

My son and I really like mudpots

Then up to Gardiner for lunch and Mammoth Hot Springs

I got a little carried away with the terraces :)

Back to the Canyon for sunset

I woke up early our last morning to catch sunrise from the North Rim

It was still early so I drove over to the South Rim

And then I decided to drive down to the Hayden Valley, I'm glad I did since I got to see this moose in the distance.

We headed out the Northeast entrance. Along the way we got to see a couple bison up close (right out the car window)

Lamar River

Sleepy

Bad decision making :)

My wife saw the warnings for the Beartooth Highway and got freaked out (she hates heights), so we took the Chief Joseph towards Billings. It is a very beautiful drive, but I still need to see the Beartooth.

After Billings, we headed towards Custer State Park with a detour to Devils Tower. Traffic was horribly backed up, so we turned around, stopped at a pull-off and took a couple photos.

We also stopped at Mt Rushmore. I didn't want to, but the kids thought it sounded neat. They were not impressed and would not recommend it for anyone else ;)

The Black Hills are very pretty, but Custer State Park had tons of people.

Sylvan Lake is very photogenic

The next day, we did a short dayhike with what felt like a million other people, the flowers and views were great.

After a couple of days in the state park, it was time to head home. We made a short stop at Badlands National Park.

Cliff Swallows under a covered sign display next to the parking lot

I think this one was hurt, it showed no sign of moving when I took this photo.

I asked one of the rangers about seeing prairie dogs and she laughed and said if you look, you will see them. She was right :)

We also saw a couple Pronghorn

I'd like to spend at least a couple nights at Badlands and do some real hiking, but it was time to hit the road. We decided a good stopping point was Sioux Falls. My wife and I enjoyed a morning here 15 years ago and thought the kids would like running around the area. We had dinner and then wandered a bit, enjoying the falls and the sunset.