I will shortly put this up as an actual web page, but for now, here is my day by day blog on our fantastic trip to these three beautiful national parks in the US…

TRAVELLING

Day 1 (Friday)
Today was a travelling day, flying from Glasgow to Keflavik in Iceland. Tomorrow we then fly to Denver. So far everything has gone well. The uber to the airport cost substantially less than we had expected, helped by the fact that Paul was sent an email with a discount code while he was tracking the estimated cost and availability of uber taxis in our area.
On arrival at the airport the check-in and security was quick, and afterwards we then headed into one of the bars to relax. The food menu didn’t tempt us, so we just bought a lunch “meal deal” from WH Smiths.
The flight arrived early, but we were still glad we hadn’t risked the 45 minute connection, as although it’s not a big airport, it certainly wasn’t small either. Instead, we collected our luggage and walked approximately 10 minutes across the car parks to the airport hotel. Fortunately this was before the rain came on. The hotel (the Aurora) is fine, and the staff are friendly. The rooms are fairly basic, but clean and comfortable. It seems overpriced for what we paid, but we are paying for the convenience of being on the airport.
We had burger meals for dinner (a meat and a vegetarian) and 2 beers which cost approximately £60, not bad for Iceland, and in fact the beer was slightly cheaper than Glasgow airport prices!
Now we are relaxing in the room with a bottle of wine we bought at the duty free in Glasgow. Our flight tomorrow is at 10.25am, but allowing plenty of time for check-in and security, we are aiming to leave the hotel by 8.15am. Breakfast is included in our room rate, so we will head down around 7.15am to give us plenty of time to make it relaxing. Hopefully tomorrow will go as smoothly as today…

Day 2 (Saturday)
Thank goodness we left the hotel a little bit earlier than planned as it was utter chaos at the airport! The check-in and security queues were unbelievable, and the airport is definitely not that small (it seems a good bit bigger than Glasgow with 4 gate areas A-D). Without going into any details, lets just say we were lucky to make the flight, due to a very kind girl (who ironically was also heading to Yellowstone, but via Seattle and Bozeman airports) who let us “skip the queue” and come in front of her.
In short, we had already been in the massive queue and were perhaps half way along, but were advised to go and use the self check-in machines and bag drop as it would be quicker, except the machine only printed out one of the boarding cards, so we were then told we would have to go back into the original check-in queue which by then was even longer than it had been, and we had lost our space!
Apparently the conveyor belt which the hold bags go onto had broken down for two hours earlier, hence the massive queue that had built up by the time they got it fixed.
I honestly believe that flying was much more simple and less stressful in the days before technology, and of course the airports were much smaller 30 years ago too. We would definitely think twice before flying anywhere with hold baggage again, although on this occasion, as we had chosen to bring our camping gear, we had no choice.
Anyway, we are on the flight now, leaving a very wet and windy Iceland behind. Hopefully our cases are on it with us, although one of the cases’ air tag was last detected 2 hours ago (the other appears to be on the plane with us). We have 3 seats between us, which is nice, although we’re not sure if the extra seat is free because someone less fortunate than ourselves missed the flight.
We’ve been told the flying time is 7 hours 10 minutes, which is about an hour quicker than scheduled. We did depart about half an hour late, but it looks like we will make up the time. Now we just have to hope all goes smoothly on arrival and with picking up the rental car…
Later – everything went incredibly smoothly on arrival, so the day ended well. We were surprised how quiet the airport was and how quickly we got through passport control and then customs. The car hire was slick, we found where the shuttle buses for the car rental companies pick up from, didn’t have to wait long at all. We did end up going for the upsell, but it wasn’t a hard sell, and was Paul’s choice. Another $25 a day, bargained down to $22 for what I would describe as a tank! It’s a Ford Expedition, must be as big as a small camper van and definitely big enough to sleep in if we get scared of bears while in the tent. Paul says it’s lovely to drive and, as the seats are so high up, it has great visibility. We also upgraded from just the breakdown cover, which we had already decided to take, to cover that includes all eventualities including lost keys, tyres, etc. In the end we figured it was worth it for peace of mind given the remote areas we are going to. So final cost was just over $1500 for the fortnight. There will be some road tolls we shall get billed for a month or two after we get home, but the guy at the desk said that’s probably a cheaper way than paying a daily fee for a toll pass, as there’s not many toll roads we plan to use, just the 470 that saves us driving through the city. And we can use google maps otherwise to choose to avoid toll roads.
We had a 4 hour drive next to Casper, where we had booked our first hotel. Enroute we decided to cancel that booking (we had free cancellation until 6pm) and instead booked another hotel that had much better reviews for just $5 more (Quality Inn and Suites). Once on the I25 it was fine, easy driving for Paul, and the highway got quieter the further away we got from Denver. We did initially miss the turn off for the I25 though, which was a bit stressful, but came well in the end.
The Quality Inn hotel in Casper was good, clean and comfortable with a great breakfast. There were a couple of choices of restaurants within about 5 mins walk. We chose the Whisky Butter, which was nice, although as it was their first week of opening the menu was very limited (not what we’d seen in the internet when we looked earlier). The vegetarian options were unusual, to say the least. Without going into detail, just don’t have the brussel sprouts! I still have bad gas over 24 hours later! The burger that Paul had was good though, and the server was pleasant and friendly and even brought me a free sample of the other vegetarian dish afterwards as I hadn’t been keen on the sprouts.
We were more than ready for a sleep by the time we got back for dinner (by then in Iceland it would have been around 2.30am), so we headed to bed early.

Day 3 (Sunday)
We woke up early, so decided to make an early start. Breakfast at the hotel was very good, and set us up for the day. Today was quite a long day as we were heading to Red Lodge (4.5 hour drive) and also had our Walmart shop to do as apparently things are much more expensive in the parks.
Word of warning – the information on Walmart’s own website is very inaccurate and ended up costing is more money! Their website said that liquor was only on sale from 8pm on a Sunday in Cody (where we had originally planned to shop, and this shop included beer & wine), so we checked Casper Walmarts, of which there are 2. We picked the one that seemed easiest to get to and supposedly sold liquor all day. Well, they didn’t sell liquor at all! They were also out of bear spray and didn’t have some of the other things that were on our shopping list. We did pick up a cheap $5 styrofoam cooler in addition to the cool bag we had brought, which was just as well, as we needed the extra space for our chilled food, especially once we had put ice in. We got our beer and wine from a nearby liquor store (then later found out that the Walmart in Cody liquor store was actually open all day and we could have saved around $20!)
We stopped in Cody Walmart for the rest of our shopping and to get bear spray ($50!) It’s worth noting that there is a bear spray and cooler exchange group on Facebook, which we had joined. I had posted the night before to see if anyone in Casper, Cody or Red Lodge had any bear spray we could get, there were no replies in the morning before we left our hotel, but I didn’t check again once we had left Casper (after the Walmart shop), so unfortunately I missed a reply from someone who had been staying in Cody and said she had left 2 bear spays with our name at her hotel reception after she had checked out! So we could have saved $50 and had a bear spray each, what a bummer. Hopefully someone else will be able to pick them up instead as I have let her know we saw her message too late (once we had checked in at Red Lodge).
The drive was easy and the roads were quiet. We passed through some nice scenery. It was very hot (30+ centigrade), so we were glad of the air con in the car. We made that quick stop at Walmart in Cody where we bought the bear spray and a few other things before heading on to Red Lodge.
In Red Lodge we are staying at the Beartooth Hideaway Inn & Cabins, which is lovely and has a really nice pool plus a hot tub on the outside decking. Worth noting though, that there is no elevator, so if you have lots of luggage and (like us) have done a food shop for the park, then ask for a ground floor room! (Luckily they swapped us). If you have food in your car they recommend bringing it inside as they have had recent problems with bears trying to break into cars for food, which hasn’t happened there before!
We took a walk into town, which was about a mile from the hotel. I wasn’t feeling great (still suffering from the after effects of so many brussell sprouts!) so we went for a drink and a slice of pizza at Natali’s Front Bar (at the Red Lodge Pizza Co) for dinner. We did use the hot tub later despite my tummy ache, but then we were off early to bed.

YELLOWSTONE

Day 4 (Monday)
The “grab and go” breakfast at the hotel was superb, so much choice of delicious things. We were rather greedy and ended up with enough for tomorrow’s breakfast as well!
Our route to Yellowstone was via the Beartooth Highway, which reaches an elevation of almost 11,000 feet! It is thought of as one of the best road trips in the US. It was very scenic and a lovely drive. Coming from Scotland we didn’t find the switchback turns scary at all. Paul was fine, but I did feel the effects of the high altitude with a bit of a headache and very slight breathlessness, though nothing significant. Once we descended again it was fine, although Yellowstone (at our campsite at Canyon) still sits at an altitude of around 8,000 feet.
On entry to the park we bought a one year pass that includes all the parks for $80 (per vehicle, but it is not registered to a specific number plate, so should we come again within the year it won’t matter that we will have a different hire car). Otherwise it would be $35 per park, and as we are visiting 3 parks, this worked out cheapest.
Once in the park we are driving from the north east entrance through the Lamar valley. This is supposed to be a good place to spot bears and wolves, but we didn’t see any (a better time of day is dawn and dusk). We did however see loads of bison (and got stuck in our first “bison jam”)! We also saw antelope and what I thought as a wolf, but I need to check as it might have been a coyote (we couldn’t stop for a photo as there was no pull-ins at that point).
We bought a “guide along” App for Yellowstone & Grand Teton combined, and it has been great so far, we highly recommend it. This tells you some history and interesting facts, whilst also logging via gps where you are at so it can advise of all the different stop-offs and things to see as you drive along.
Once we reached our campsite (Canyon) we were offered a couple of pitches and opted for the one furthest away (loop L). We had booked a tent + RV pitch rather than tent only, as at the time we were still considering renting an RV / small campervan. The lady at check-in was lovely and very helpful.
Once we were pitched up, we opened the bear box to store our food etc in and found 2 bear sprays left by the previous campers! This was great, as it allows us to have one each plus one in the tent (just in case!) They had also left some gas that fitted our stove, which was really great too, as we weren’t sure if we had bought enough.
Dinner tonight was paella with cod. We had it quite late as we headed over to Artists Point at the Yellowstone grand canyon once we had set up camp. It was beautiful, the colours of the canyon were stunning. We have to make sure everything with a scent (food, drinks, toiletries) goes either in the bear box or in the car. If you leave your camp and any food etc has been left out, not only is it confiscated, but you will likely get a fine or even a citation!
It’s now 9pm, it is cool, but not very cold. We have just finished dinner and soon need to go and wash up. There is a fire pit here, but tonight we haven’t bought any firewood, so after washing up our option is to sit out before bed (there is also a picnic bench on all pitches) or sit in the car (there’s plenty of room as we upgraded it, we could sit in the back and there are drink holders we can use).

Day 5 (Tuesday)
So we did sit in the car for a little while last night. It was warmer than sitting out after dark and more comfortable as we had cleared the back seats to use as a couch. We are doing the same tonight as I write this catch up.
Overnight in the tent was fine, it stayed dry through the rain that came on later, and our new SIM’s were comfortable (better than an air mattress). It was also much warmer than we had expected and we didn’t need to use the extra sleeping bag we had bought in Walmart. After 3 long days of travelling, we slept so well last night and didn’t get up until 10am!
We were still finding our feet (so to speak) today, so we had quite a late start after breakfast and then going to buy ice from the Canyon Village (we later found out we can buy it cheaper in the fuel station), then back to sort out the coolers, drain out the melted ice from yesterday, put in fresh ice and sort out lunch to bring in one cooler whilst leaving the other in the bear box.
Finally ready, we spent around 2.5 – 3 hours around the Yellowstone Canyon, between the lookout points and some short walks. We even got caught in a passing thunderstorm, luckily we saw / heard it coming and went out prepared with our waterproof jackets. When we came back, we sat out the rest of the storm in the car eating our lunch. We were already realising very quickly that a couple of days in Yellowstone is definitely not enough! Even the 5 days we have here have been (& will continue to be) long days if we want to fit everything in. You could easily spend a half or full day just in the grand canyon area alone.
After the time we had spent at the canyon, we realised it would be far too ambitious to do one of the loops, so we headed out to Norris Geyser as it is just 12 miles west from the campsite and will save is a fair bit of time when we do the north and south loops over the next couple of days. The Norris Geyser area is stunning. We have been to the geysers in both Iceland and New Zealand, but have to say that Yellowstone beats them both, and we have hardly touched the surface yet!
We have been super lucky with the weather so far (except for the passing thunderstorm), so we have probably so far seen everything at its best. The colours at Norris were stunning. We did both walks and really enjoyed them. If you don’t want to do much walking, then at least do the shorter (0.6 mile) Porcelain Basin one.
We finally arrived back at the campsite around 6.30pm and went for a shower (one each per day is included in the camping fee). I would recommend wearing flip flops to the showers just to make it easier. Otherwise I always find it quite awkward getting changed as the floor gets dirty from your shoes, and is always a bit wet from the shower.
So far we haven’t managed to get Wi-Fi, it’s not a big deal, although I do like to be able to keep track of our credit card spending when we’re abroad. Hopefully tomorrow we will pass through somewhere that will let us do a quick check, and also pay a bill that needs paying by Friday.
Dinner tonight, cooked literally just before it was dark, was tuna steak with packet macaroni cheese (very nice!) We had that outside at the picnic bench, but are now in the car, which is a whole lot warmer.
Our plan tomorrow is to get up much earlier and do the south loop, heading south first. We have already done the Grand Canyon part, and we will skip a lot of the first bit (Fishing Bridge etc) as we can do this on our way to Grand Teton, so we will head for Old Faithful as our first main stop. When we do the north loop the day after, we will start it by heading west to Norris (which we can skip as we did it today) and then detour up the Lamar Valley around 5/6pm where we shall find a picnic spot to make an early dinner, then hopefully we can look for bears as it’s apparently the best place to see them (around 5-7am and 6-8pm, dawn & dusk, according to the park ranger we spoke to).

Day 6 (Wednesday)
This morning we were up about 6.20am, it was just starting to get a little bit lighter. It was too early for breakfast, so once we had brushed our teeth and changed, we looked out breakfast and lunch to take with us, plus our stove and mini kettle to make tea / coffee.
We started by driving south through the Hayden valley, which is supposed to be another good area for spotting wildlife, especially at dawn and dusk, however we were unlucky as there was a heavy mist so we couldn’t see anything for quite a while. When we reached Yellowstone lake we stopped at a picnic spot (Gull Point) and had our breakfast. There was still a lot of mist over the lake, so not much in the way of a view.
By the time we got to the first of the “geyser basins”, West Thumb, the weather had improved dramatically, the sun had come out, the mist was gone, and it was heating up (later in the day it was super hot again).
There are lots of really amazing geyser basins between (and including) West Thumb and Norris, and they are all worth a visit. We only did the south (lower) loop today and yet still we ran out of time! We left at dawn and didn’t get back until after sunset (being stuck for an hour in a “bison jam” didn’t help!) So that was a very long (apx 13.5 hour) day, yet we still didn’t see everything, so don’t underestimate how much time you need! Luckily we had done Norris yesterday, and the bits we missed before West Thumb Basin we can do on our way to Grand Teton later in the week. Even so, we ran out of time and will have to backtrack a few miles tomorrow onto the lower loop at Norris to see the “Artists Paintpots”, after which we will head north again to rejoin the north (upper) loop.
If we had wanted to do any hikes other than the ones in and around the geyser basins, we couldn’t have done the lower loop in one day. As it was, we still missed some of the geysers and springs at Old Faithful and we missed Biscuit Basin as it is currently closed. We did however see Old Faithful erupt twice – once from “Observation Point” and once from the balcony of the Old Faithful hotel.
We also realised (better late than never!) when we got to Old Faithful, that it was our anniversary today (31 years) – it’s been such a packed trip that we didn’t realise what day it was till later on! So we celebrated with a drink in the bar whilst waiting to see Old Faithful erupt again. As it happened, it wasn’t so “faithful” today, as it normally erupts pretty much like clockwork every 90 minutes, but the 2nd eruption we watched today was about half an hour late, which is apparently very unusual.
The highlight for us today, though, was the short (0.8 mile) hike to the Grand Prismatic Overlook. Honestly, the view is absolutely stunning! It’s not a difficult hike, so you don’t even have to be particularly fit to do it. However, it is easy to miss as it is not signposted (we missed it, but went back to it after having been to the spring up close, which is worth doing too). Look for the signs for the Fairy Falls hike as it on the way up to these falls that you pass the overlook. The walk to the falls is 2.4 miles each way, so we didn’t have time to do that and instead turned back after the overlook.
As you drive the loop, there are quite a few short drives that you can take off the main loop road, and we felt all the ones we did (which was most of them) were worth doing, but especially the Firehole Lake Drive, where we watched White Dome Geyser erupt. It’s quite a small geyser, but we thought it looked rather stunning.
After the last stop we made (Gibbon Falls) we got stuck in a bison jam for an hour! This meant that it was nearly dark by the time we arrived back at the campsite. By the time we had showered (we made it not long before they closed for the night), we couldn’t be bothered cooking dinner in the dark, so we just ate some cold macaroni pasta that we had originally bought for some of our lunches. Plus we had munched our way through most of a big bag of crisps (potato chips) while we were stuck in the bison jam.
We are now having a drink in the back seat of the huge car, and soon need to decide our plan for tomorrow i.e. how early to get up and what meals etc to bring with us (we are planning making dinner in a picnic stop in the Lamar Valley, as we hope to stick around that area till about 8pm in the hope of seeing bears and / or wolves…)

Day 7 (Thursday)
So we’ve just had another really long day. We got up about 7.30am and this time we had our breakfast on camp. Today was another long day, with us finally returning to camp around 8.20pm. We drove the north (upper) loop and as we had already done parts of it (Canyon campground to Norris geyser basin and (on our arrival day) Tower-Roosevelt to Canyon), it meant we were able to miss the stops on these parts as we had already done them before. So that amounted to a bit under half of the loop.
From Norris, we headed a few miles back on the lower loop to catch the Artist’s Paintpots, the only bit we missed yesterday on the lower loop. It was worth backtracking to see them.
Once again it was a beautiful day, too hot really (again), but sunny and dry. We would definitely prefer this to cold and wet! So far the only rain we’ve had was our first night camping here and the thunderstorm the following day. Mostly it’s been far drier and far warmer than we had expected (no need for our down trousers yet!)
We made several stops, most (but not all) of them recommended by the “Guide Along” App. These stops included Nymph Lake view, Twin Lakes, Roaring Mountain, Sheepeater Cliff, Swan Lake, Mammoth (more later), Undine Falls, Lava Creek picnic spot (for lunch), Forces of the Northern Range boardwalk, and then we took the alternative drive along Blacktail Plateau (which we thought was worth doing, although the GA App didn’t make the recommendation).
Mammoth Hot Springs was good and definitely worth seeing, however I was just a little disappointed as I was comparing them in my mind and distant memory (from 1989) to Pammukale Hot Springs in Turkey (which at the time, though I am not sure about now, you were allowed to bathe / paddle in). I recall the ones in Turkey as being bigger too, but it was a long time ago, so I can’t be sure. Nevertheless it was a lovely spot and a definite “not to be missed”.
We also managed to get internet for a short time whilst we were in the visitor centre.
Once we had driven the top part of the upper loop it was already approximately 5pm. We then drove along the Lamar Valley (which we had passed through on our arrival day) looking for bears, and with the intention of finding a picnic spot to have dinner at. We were unlucky on both counts. We didn’t see any bears and there were no picnic spots, probably due to the vast number of bison in the area. We got stuck in a few “bison jams” again, though fortunately nothing even close to the one we had yesterday. Whilst in the Lamar Valley we did manage to see the pronghorn antelopes again, plus a coyote (which was probably the same one I saw on our arrival day that I thought might be a wolf), and a fox. Not to mention tons of bison, of course.
As we drove the last leg towards Canyon, we took a quick drive up to the parking lot for the Mount Washburn hike. The view was beautiful, probably even better as it was just after sunset. We had hoped we just might see bears there as apparently most of the bears have moved up to higher altitudes, but again we were unlucky.
Since we didn’t find a picnic spot in the Lamar Valley, we ended up coming back to the campsite to make a very late dinner by torchlight.
Tomorrow is our last full day in the park before we leave to go to Grand Teton. I would say that we definitely needed these 5 days, and even more had we had been unlucky with the weather (which fortunately we weren’t). There is just so much to see, and if you want to do some hikes too, we’d say that you really need a minimum of 5 days, more if possible.
We have decided not to set an alarm tomorrow, we will get up probably around 7.30am, have breakfast at camp, decide what to do (probably a hike or two if it isn’t unbearably hot) and have dinner early and in daylight (5-ish) then a last try to see bears this time in the Hayden Valley, which is near the campsite, we shall take a drive along there around 6-7.30pm. That’s the rough plan anyway.

Day 8 (Friday)
We did indeed get up by around 7.30am today, even without setting an alarm. After breakfast we decided to do the hike up to the top of Mount Washburn, thinking that A) it would be cooler earlier in the day, and B) we might just be lucky enough to see a bear. So yes, it was cooler and we would definitely recommend doing this walk earlier in the day, at least during a hot spell. We didn’t see any bears, but we did see some mountain goats, and close enough to get decent photos. The 360 views from the top are lovely, albeit it was a bit hazy. There’s toilets and a small observatory at the top. The walk itself is approximately 3 miles each way (so 6 miles return). It is not difficult except for the altitude and the heat. And although you reach an altitude of over 3,000 metres, you start the walk high up, so the ascent isn’t so bad. It was a decent track (actually like a rough road) and the gradient going up was gentle. If we weren’t at high altitude, it would have been an easy hike. It took us approximately 90 minutes each way, as we took it slow going down also and kept looking out for wildlife.
Once we had completed the hike we stopped off enroute back to Canyon at a shaded picnic site to have lunch. Just a few miles further and we were back at Canyon where we drove into the “village” and had a look round the visitor centre before going into the store for ice cream. The ice cream here is wonderful. We had some yesterday in Mammoth too. The flavours were different, but the price and quality was the same, $7.29 for two scoops (which was in reality more like 8 scoops!) and way more than enough to share.
For our afternoon hike we wanted a short one, so we asked for a recommendation in the visitor centre. We were recommended the Canyon South Rim trail, it is approximately a mile each way and after the Mount Washburn hike it was definitely just enough.
Once we finished this hike we went back to the campsite for an early dinner, and the first one we were able to both cook, and eat, in daylight! We made some fajitas, cleaned up, went for a shower, and then headed to the Hayden Valley in the hope of seeing a bear.
This wasn’t to be, but we did see some elk (and of course, bison). We also got to enjoy a lovely sunset over the valley.
Finally back at camp, we had our first campfire (it would have been a shame not to use the fire pit at least once!)
Our days in Yellowstone have gone so quickly, and been so full, and tomorrow we pack up and head into Grand Teton. We will pass through the Hayden Valley again on our way there, who knows, maybe we will get lucky…

GRAND TETONS

Day 9 (Saturday)
So unfortunately we left Yellowstone today, after 6 days, without seeing bears, moose or wolves. We both agreed that Yellowstone was fabulous and so beautiful, but we left feeling a little dejected having not seen any bears. We would have been ok, but a little disappointed, not to have seen wolves or moose, but not seeing bears, either black or grizzly was really quite a big disappointment. At the end of the day, I guess our timing was bad. May & June are meant to be the best time to see the bears (& cubs), in September they tend to come down from the higher altitudes, but I guess as it’s been so hot, most of them haven’t come down as yet…? Even on Mount Washburn there were none to be seen though (despite the warnings on the board in the car park against doing that hike in September or October!) I guess we just lucked out this time…
We don’t regret going, or our timing, as it has been stunning and the weather has been amazing, which has been great for seeing and photographing the hot springs, geysers, landscape etc. But for wildlife all we saw was chipmunks, elk, pronghorn antelope, coyote, fox and of course lots of bison.
We tried again for bears in the Pelican Valley, and just missed the grizzly bear called Snow and one of her cubs called Jam by 15 minutes before they disappeared into the forest. We did wait around a while to see if they reappeared, and even drove on for a bit on the scenic road to Cody, before turning back and trying again, but to no avail.
Passing into Grand Teton the entrance station wasn’t even open, so we just drove on through. I have to say that although the scenery in Yellowstone was stunning, the scenery in Grand Teton is amazing! The mountains remind me of Torres Del Paine in Chile, with there jagged peaks.
We arrived at our campsite (Signal Mountain) about 5pm. It is similar though also quite different from Canyon in Yellowstone. It is much smaller and the feel is more laid back (for example there is no official check-in, if you booked online you just arrive and set up at your chosen pitch). As it is much smaller everything is walkable in a short distance (showers, shop, restaurant). From our pitch (40) we have a short walk to the lake (Jackson) with great views over the lake to the Teton mountain range.
Once again we have a lovely pitch, this time with a camping pad (hence why we had to bring a very small tent as the pads are 10×10 feet, although I suspect our Geertop tent (narrow, but nearly 13 feet long) might have fitted on if we had pitched it diagonally on the tent pad).
In Yellowstone the campsite fee included two showers in total (i.e. one each if there are two of you) per day. Here you have to buy tokens for $5 per shower, which lasts for 7 minutes. However, it is nicer here as the showers are all in separate rooms, and you can both go in together if you wish and share the shower (7 minutes was enough for us both).
Since pitching up we have pretty much been relaxing, we had an early-ish dinner, went to the beach for sunset, had a campfire with some logs that were left along with firelighters, and finally relaxing in the back seats of the car with a drink as I write this post.
The one frustrating thing about the campsite, which is worth a warning, is that there are no dishwashing facilities. You are expected to wash your dishes in a bucket or similar on your pitch, and then empty the dirty dishwater down the service sink. When I saw the sign for “service sink” I assumed that was where you wash your dishes, until I read the sign. You can imagine how awkward this is for tent campers. We managed, we have had to before whilst wild camping, but it is inconvenient when not expected.

Day 10 (Sunday)
Our first full day in Grand Teton was a busy one, though not quite as busy as in Yellowstone, as the park is much smaller. We have two full days, so we have chosen to do the loop road both days but in opposite directions.
So today we got up about 7am, had breakfast, and made a fairly early start. We decided since it was still quite early, we would go clockwise first, this part more or less follows the Snake River. Early morning or a couple of hours before sunset is the best chance for spotting wildlife, and along the Snake River is supposed to give you better chances of seeing animals. Again, we were hoping to see bear and moose, but again we saw neither. However, the scenery was stunning, and got even better when we headed up the west side as the haze had cleared.
We made lots of photo stops as we drove around, and also took some side trips, but didn’t do any hikes today (we hope to do a couple tomorrow now that we have sussed the options out). We did try to do one hike, to Phelps Lake, but the car park was small and very busy, and we were 10th in a queue to get parked that was barely moving as most people were out hiking. We decided to pass on it, at least for today, and when we asked we were told it’s better to come before 9am or after 4pm. So we will see if that works out tomorrow, though I’m doubtful as it’s pretty much half way round the loop, so we will be there definitely after 9am (as there’s another hike on the way that we want to do), but probably a good 2-3 hours before 4pm.
The side trips we did were Pacific Creek Road to the Two Ocean Lake Trailhead, though we drove that mainly for animal spotting rather than to do the hike. The hike is fairly long, so we chose not to do it, and headed back to the main road afterwards (we didn’t spot any animals).
The next side trip was a very short one to Mormon Row (one of the iconic photo stops), and then Moose Wilson Road (which is where the Phelps Lake trail is). One of the rangers told us this drive was one of the best chances to see moose or bears, but yet again we were unlucky.
We then stopped at Jenny Lake to check out the hike for tomorrow, and also did the Jenny Lake drive which was nice and had some good photo opportunities. It’s partly one-way, so you have to drive back from the visitor centre area to the main road, drive north, then turn off onto the Jenny Lake drive which heads south (so ideally it’s better done when driving north to south rather than south to north).
We stopped in at the campsite to have a shower and then headed back up the road in the Yellowstone direction to Jackson Lake Lodge, which is definitely worth doing. If you go upstairs to where the restaurants are, and head out onto the terrace outside, the views are spectacular. Add some autumn (fall) colours into the mix and it is really special. It’s also another place worth scanning around for wildlife, although if you do see any, it is likely to be in the distance. We were so impressed by the view there, that we decided we would go back after dinner and get a drink there whilst watching the sunset.
For dinner we took the recommendation from the Guide Along App and had pizza (with enough left for lunch tomorrow) at the Leeks Marina. It was a good recommendation. They even had tin foil and take-away boxes out, as they must be used to people not finishing the pizzas (we had the medium size between us and it was still too much). Also worth noting, they are happy to make the pizzas “half and half” if you both want different toppings.
After dinner we stopped in at Colter Bay village store for a few groceries (it’s the best stocked store in the park) before heading back to Jackson Lake Lodge.
The terrace was mobbed when we got there, obviously lots of people had the same idea as us, and had got there earlier! There were no tables left, but an elderly couple invited us to share their table.
We had a drink and shared a New York cheesecake as we watched the sunset, which was spectacular! Tomorrow evening we are thinking of going up the Signal Mountain road for sunset, but we shall see.
It’s a very warm evening, still 14 degrees when we got back to camp. We are sitting in the back of the car as it’s easy for writing this blog etc, but it would actually be quite nice to have sat outside as we are very warm in the car.

Day 11 (Monday)
We had planned to get up at 6.30am, but Paul had accidentally set the alarm for 6.30pm, however we awoke by around 6.50am anyway and got up. We had breakfast at camp, then headed down to Jenny Lake for the hike. It was cold, though definitely far from freezing in the morning, but we (well, I) was still in warm clothing when we started the walk. Despite the sunny weather forecast, it looked like rain was possible, so we brought our waterproof jackets on the hike. There were a couple of showers, but short lived, so we could probably have got away with leaving the waterproofs.
As we had decided yesterday, we started the hike around Jenny Lake to the half way point where the boats shuttle back and forth. We detoured to Moose Ponds en route, where we saw 3 moose, of which two were female and one appeared to be a young male (it’s horns were just starting to appear).
Further in we reached the turn off to Hidden Falls, and then we continued further to Inspiration Point. Unfortunately, and perhaps due to forest fires further away, it was very hazy, so the view, although nice, wasn’t that inspirational.
However, we were glad we slogged it up there, as on our way down there was a female moose right next to the trail, just nibbling away at the small bushes, so close that I could take a photo on my iPhone.
When we finally made it back to the boat dock, we got the boat ride back ($12 each) to save time and let us continue on our loop.
Our next stop for a hike was Phelps Lake (the one we tried, and failed to get parked at, yesterday). We got lucky this time, as there was no queue to get parked up. It was a pretty walk, about 1.4 miles each way (you can take different trail out and back), finishing at the shore of the stunning lake.
Afterwards, as we drove back out onto the main loop road, we just missed seeing a black bear near the roadside by 10 minutes!! We have had a fabulous time, but been so unlucky as far as bear spotting goes…
We then revisited a couple of yesterday’s scenic spots as the lighting was much better, so we got to re-take our photos in a much better light.
It was a dilemma what to do afterwards, we considered the drive up Signal Mountain, and we considered going back to Jackson Lake Lodge for sunset, but instead we decided we needed a shower, then we decided that it would be nicer to cook in the daylight, even if it meant missing out on a better sunset spot.
As it happened, after showering, we made our dinner on one of the picnic tables on the beach, where we could watch the sunset (which was nowhere near as spectacular as yesterday anyway). We then put a fire on back at the campsite pitch, and now that it has died down we are back in the backseat of the car catching up on the “diary”, sorting photos, etc.

Day 12 (Tuesday)
We got up around 7am, pretty much as soon as we had awoken. We just bundled all our camping gear into the car, deciding to make an early start and sort it all out and pack away once we arrived at the motel in Rock Springs. Today was our last chance to see a bear in the park, and our last chance to head up to the top of Signal Mountain for the views. No need to hike up as there is a road to the top, paved all the way, and it is about 5 miles each way. We did this first as it was very close to the campsite. The views at the top were good, but again, no bears to be seen (we thought there might have been a chance as in Yellowstone we were told they were mostly in the higher elevations), but we did see quite a few deer including young ones.
After Signal Mountain we decided to try again at Oxbow Bend on the Snake River. It’s supposed to be a good spot for seeing wildlife, possibly bear or moose, but we didn’t get lucky. We stayed there while we brewed up a cuppa and had our granola breakfast. As we drove on south alongside the Snake River, we noticed it getting much more hazy (and smoky in the air) due to the wildfire that was going on over to the east of the park. So we had been lucky that we hadn’t been arriving into the park a few days later than we had. There’s been hardy any rain at all over the 9 days between the two parks, and it has been very hot during the days, so there’s been nothing to help quench the wildfire.
One last try to look for wildlife up Moose Wilson Road (again no luck) before we drove back to the main road and then continued south through Jackson and on to Rock Springs.
The drive was uneventful, though quite scenic in parts. We did a short diversion (for a picnic lunch stop) to Fremont lake when we got to Pinedale. Not long after 3pm we arrived at our motel (Studio 6), which is very good. It doesn’t look much from the outside, but the rooms are great and spacious too (good for sorting and packing away our camping gear). It’s as you are approaching the town, but not actually in the town, which we liked. There is also a big fridge/freezer & a microwave with the mini kitchen and a dining table and chairs. There’s a good Thai restaurant / takeaway just 2 minutes drive or a half mile walk back up the road. We both had Thai curries (one red with beef and one green with tofu) and they were very good. We figured we might as well take advantage of having the dining table and mini kitchen.
This is the first day that we’ve had much time to actually relax, having arrived relatively early in the day. We drove to the Walmart to pick up a few supplies, mostly for the next couple of lunches, plus some more wine.
There is no rush to depart tomorrow, we still have some breakfast food (this is the only place we have booked that doesn’t include a breakfast) and we can’t enter Rocky Mountain National Park until 2pm as you need to have a timed entry to enter between 9am and 2pm on the Trail Ridge route, which we plan to do, as it’s an extra half day in the park, and apparently a very scenic drive. We are staying in Estes Park (on the other side of the park) for our final two nights here. The route we plan to drive takes around 6 hours, to go the most direct route is about an hour less.

ROCKY MOUNTAINS COLORADO

Day 13 (Wednesday)
We had a lie in until around 8.30am, although from much earlier than that we were woken on and off by people outside presumably leaving or just getting up early. We made breakfast and a packed lunch, then set off on our 6 hour drive to Estes Park for our final two nights accommodation, going through Rocky Mountain National Park (Trail Ridge Road) on the way. The drive was uneventful and as we drove further, the weather got a bit unsettled. There were odd showers, and as we got closer to the park the temperature dropped (by the time we were at the top of the Trail Ridge Road it had dropped to about 7 degrees!) We drove through the Arapaho National Forest before arriving at Grand Lake (the gateway to the Rocky Mountain park), and it was very pretty, although there had obviously been a forest fire a while ago, so the Aspen trees were very small, just starting to re-grow by the look of it. However the hillsides were so pretty with a mix of these small Aspens coming into their fall colour, and the dead pines towering above them.
The Trail Ridge road was worth the extra hours driving (going the quickest way to Estes Park we would have missed this). Despite the weather, which by then was quite grey, overcast and showery, it was a stunning drive, reaching an elevation of over 12,000 feet. We made several stops for photos, saw lots of elk, and as we neared the lower elevation, the weather started to brighten and warm up again.
For the next two nights were are staying at Coyote Mountain Lodge, on the edge of town and near Estes Lake. It’s very nice and has a fridge and dining table in the room and breakfast is included. There is a good pizza restaurant 5 minutes walk away, where we had dinner (Antonios). The pizzas were very good and reasonable, but the beer and wine were extortionate, especially as it was far from “posh” – $12 for a tiny wee glass of pinot grigio (they had sold out of the $9 sauvignon). They even charged for tap water (albeit only 25 cents each), that’s the first time we have ever been charged for a glass of tap water! It’s also the first restaurant we’ve been to that had a robot bring out our meal to us! Weird.
Now we are back at the lodge, we sat out for a little while (there are 2 plastic chairs outside each room), and are now back inside catching up and having a drink.
Tomorrow we have our timed entry pass for the Bear Lake Road within the park, entering between 10am and noon (we are hoping to time it as close to 10am as possible). We’ve had a look at the walks, and also checked the recommendations on the Facebook group, and we have a plan…

Day 14 (Thursday)
In the morning I asked on the RMNP facebook group about the queues to get in to the park and was told they’re not bad, so we timed it to arrive just 15 minutes before our timed entry at 10am, allowing 15 minutes queuing time. First we popped into the visitor centre, just before the gate and they said there was hardly any queue, so we passed 10 minutes in there. As it happened there was a queue when we arrived, but it was reasonably quick (maybe just over 10 minutes), so that worked out fine. The Bear Lake entry point was soon after the main park one, but it was quicker as at the first entry point they had given us a sticker for the windscreen that showed we had our Bear Lake pass and for what time, so we were ushered through quickly. It is worth noting, for anyone who doesn’t know, that if you have a pass including Bear Lake then you have to enter both the park’s main entrance and the Bear Lake road within your 2 hour window (i.e. for us that would be between 10am and 12 noon).
There were signs warning that the car park at Bear Lake was full (not surprising as it is quite small), so we parked up at the “park and ride” a few miles along the road, and took the free shuttle bus to Bear Lake. It was very convenient, there was plenty of parking at the park and ride, and the shuttles run very frequently (apx every 10 minutes).
Pretty soon, we had arrived. Please note to bring plenty of water with you as there is nowhere to fill up once there.
First we did the short half mile hike round the Bear Lake, and then we headed up to the “three lakes” – Nymph, Dream and Emerald. All in the three lakes were under 2 miles each way, relatively gradually uphill. It is worth doing all three lakes as they get better with each one, with Emerald being the prettiest.
Once we returned back to Bear Lake we took the shuttle back to the park and ride. We risked driving the car the short distance back to Sprague Lake, as the car park there isn’t as busy (and sure enough we got a space with no problem). We had left out lunch in the coolbag in the car, so once we arrived at Sprague Lake we had our basic picnic (wraps – this is what we found made the easiest, and cheapest for lunch – today we had tuna and tomato).
As we walked round the lake we saw a moose in the water quite close up. Unfortunately once again it was a female… on this trip we haven’t managed to see any of the male ones with the big antlers. Not seeing any male moose or bears has been the only disappointment of this trip, although the fantastic weather has made up for it (today, once again, was warm and sunny).
Just before leaving the park we drove into Aspen Glen campsite where we left our final bear spray, a half bottle of gas for the stove, and a lighter in their “free stuff” box. Hopefully someone will make use of these things. The other two bear sprays (which had been left in our bear box in Yellowstone), we had left one each in Yellowstone and Grand Teton campsites, and our extra sleeping bag that we had bought to use as a blanket we also left in the bear box in Grand Teton hoping someone can use it.
Once we exited the park, we decided to have a mooch around the small town of Estes Park. We found a big free car park at the visitor centre, which connected to a lovely riverside walk into downtown (and beyond). We saw some elk on the way, just on the grass and one in the river. Then we came across a nice restaurant (Poppy’s) that was on the riverside and had outdoor seating, so we decided to stop there for a drink. It was a lovely spot, so we ended up staying for dinner there.
While we were having dinner someone pointed out a bull elk to us, it was lying down quite camouflaged by the pines, but it later got up for a walk, and we got a good view of it.
On our way back, we saw the elk again, right beside a man who was having his dinner at one of the picnic tables – one of the young elks was quite interested in his dinner!
Finally, we are back at the lodge, arrived just after sunset. It has been another lovely day, and I can’t believe we are heading home tomorrow…

ON OUR WAY HOME…

Day 15 (Friday)
Checkout was at 11am, but after the debacle in Iceland, we decided to err well on the side of caution and we left the lodge by 10am. The flight wasn’t till 4.40pm, and the drive to the airport and rental car return was only 90 minutes according to google maps. As it happened it took only a little over 90 minutes, as we stopped near the airport to top the fuel back up, so by the time we had dropped off the car and got the free shuttle from the SIXT car rental place the short distance to the airport, we were there by around noon. The rental drop off was quick, friendly and efficient, as was the shuttle bus service.
The Icelandair check in was supposed to open 3.5 hours before the flight, and we were first in the queue an hour before that, however we got lucky as they opened early, so we were glad to get the big bags checked in and then get through security (which was pretty quick).
We had decided to try to go into one of the paid lounges, but the only one available to pay to go in cost $90 each! Instead we had a look at some of the places to eat and chose Mesa Verde, which was very reasonable (not any more than we had paid for meals outside of the airport) and the food was very good (and filling!) We had a main course each, Paul had 2 beers and we also shared a bottle of wine, all for $85 (plus tip). The beers (Blue Moon) were the only expensive thing, at nearly $10 each, but the wine, which was very nice, was only $26 a bottle and the mains around $15 each. This actually passed most of the time, as we just relaxed and took our time. The airport also has an outdoor area and a relaxation area (apparently free), but we didn’t have time to check them out.
We couldn’t believe how quiet the airport was, not at all what we were used to (and it was the same on arrival). I don’t know if it was because today is Friday the 13th, or if it is usually this quiet. Either way, it was much more relaxing and pleasant than we are used to!
So that’s it now. We are on the Icelandair flight home via Keflavik (Reykjavík) where we have about 3.5 hours between flights. The 8 hour long haul is overnight due to the time change, but is only expected to take 6 hours 40 mins.
In the next part of our blog we will add in some tips that we think are useful for anyone planning a similar trip…

TIPS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Car rental – we were very happy with our rental from SIXT, it was very efficient, they answered questions I sent by email prior to our trip (albeit the reply sometimes took a while), and the car we upgraded to (which we nicknamed “the tank” – it was a Ford Expedition) was fantastic and although not necessary, it was definitely worth it for comfort and space, especially when camping and living out of the tent and the car. They didn’t give is a hard upsell, there was no pressure, and we were given time to talk it through without being made to feel rushed. We also chose to take full cover for breakdown (which we had decided, though not booked, prior to collection). We didn’t buy a toll pass (we talked this through with David at the SIXT desk), as our planned journey was only likely to take us on one toll road (the E470) which saved us driving through Denver – this was our choice to make the driving easier, we could have avoided toll roads completely if we wanted to. We shall be billed for the tolls plus (we believe) a $5 admin fee (per toll?) at some point within the next couple of months. If this turns out to be very expensive, I shall update this blog later, but we are expecting it to be perhaps around $50-60.

Bear spray – ok, so firstly we ended up not needing this as we (unfortunately) didn’t see any bears during our whole trip, HOWEVER we would still recommend getting some as you just never know, and it gave us peace of mind too, both whilst sleeping in the tent and while hiking. BUT… buy or rent? – we bought one can in Walmart (Cody) for $50 (it was $45 without the belt pouch) thinking that would be the cheapest option. As it happened, the bear spray wasn’t any more expensive to buy in the park, so if we had known this and waited, we wouldn’t have needed any at all as the previous campers had left 2 of them in the bear box on our pitch! (And of that hadn’t happened, the bear spray wouldn’t have cost any more anyway). Now renting – if we came again, this is what we would likely do. We could have rented it in Yellowstone and dropped it off at Jackson Hole airport in Grand Teton. The rate goes up to a maximum of $28 (for a week or more) and you get charged $49 (less the $28) if you use it or don’t hand it back.

Camping in the parks – we loved the experience! Ok, the weather was phenomenal, it rained overnight while we were sleeping the first night, then dry for the rest of the trip, so this probably helped. We had brought a tarp and poles in case of rain so we could put it over the picnic table to cook and eat, but after the second day we took it down, and didn’t have to put it up again, as we never needed it. We took self inflating mattresses instead of an airbed and they were a game changer – so comfortable and well insulated. We bought an extra (cheap) single sleeping bag for $15 in Walmart, which we opened out to use as a blanket (over our own sleeping bags) for extra warmth on the cooler nights. We also managed to pack our own coolbag, and then bought an extra styrofoam one for $5 in Walmart, which worked out well. You can buy bags of ice in the parks, one did both coolers (we put half of it into plastic bags for the other cooler) and sometimes we only needed to buy ice every other day, as the coolers were well insulated.
The campsites themselves were great and both had a bear box and a picnic table on each pitch. They were very quiet too, and the pitches were very spacious. In Yellowstone we stayed at Canyon and in Grand Teton we stayed at Signal Mountain. The only criticism would be that at Signal Mountain there are no dishwashing facilities, which is pretty awkward when you’re tent camping and cooking up meals. We had to wash the dishes at our pitch and then put the dirty dishwater down the service sink (unless like us you used water and wipes, then you could just bin the dirty wipes).

Guide Along App – we used this App for Yellowstone and Grand Teton, it cost about £25 and was worth it. The App gives you directions, tells you when recommended stops are coming up, and gives you a commentary with lots of interesting information and history. These two parks are included as one purchase. Lots of people we met were using it.

Jackson Lake Lodge – as well as the most obvious hotel to visit (the Old Faithful Inn), Jackson Lake Lodge is wonderful for its views and particularly for watching the sunset and we would highly recommend doing this at least once. We didn’t eat there, instead we went to the pizza place at Leeks Marina first (also highly recommended) and then stopped at the JLL for a couple of drinks on the terrace as we enjoyed a spectacular sunset.

Eating and drinking in the parks – as we were camping, we were also cooking our meals (except for the one night we got pizza – see above). We came prepared with some food for meals, and we also did a big shop at Walmart.
For breakfast we normally had granola with cashews and banana. Lunch was wraps with grated cheese and tomato (and chicken slices too in Paul’s) and one day with tuna and tomato. We also had some guacamole and sour cream left over from having fajitas one night, so we used them in the wraps as well.
Dinners were paella with fish (we brought the paella rice with us with the spices already mixed into the bag with it), curry kits (we also brought these with us), fajitas, tuna steaks with packet “pasta and sauce” – macaroni cheese. These were all pretty simple camping meals and worked well.
We had drinks at JLL (as mentioned above) and at the Old Faithful Inn on our anniversary. We also had ice cream a few times, which was amazing! In Yellowstone most of the “villages” sell ice cream. It’s $7.50 apx for two scoops (you can have two flavours) except that the two scoops are more like six to eight! So although it sounded expensive, it was actually very good value to share and so nice, you have to try it at least once!

Best time to visit? – so this is a difficult one. Firstly we would avoid July and August as these are the busiest months (though we have to say that early September was pretty busy too!) Maybe (probably) we were just lucky, but going at the beginning of September for 8 nights between the 2 parks, we had amazing weather – hot and sunny during the day, dry almost all the time, not too cold at night (low of 0-5 degrees centigrade). The downside was that it wasn’t so great for seeing bears, as apparently many of them had moved up to higher elevations. Also, during the hotter months there are more wildfires, which if bad, can cause road closures, and it can make it quite hazy. In Grand Teton there was a wildfire fairly close to the park, it got very bad on the day we left (we think the wind direction had changed too) and it was very hazy and you could taste the smoke in the air (fortunately it has rained there since), but that’s another thing to take into consideration.
May and June (but especially May) are supposed to be quieter, but there’s more chance that some roads may be closed (the same can apply later in September onwards). However, these months are supposed to be best for viewing wildlife, especially bears with cubs (and wildflowers too). If we were to go again we would probably go late May or early June, but that said we wouldn’t change our timing for this trip, but we would just consider going earlier in the year should we revisit.

We hope this blog has been useful and we highly recommend visiting these parks. To be honest, even though our last trip (an Arctic cruise round Svalbard) was incredible, we both agree that this trip has trumped it! Ok, so we didn’t see any bears, but we saw lots of other wildlife and some stunning and diverse scenery. We drove just over 2,000 miles, but we don’t regret going from Denver (even though Salt Lake City is closer), as this allowed us to have some time in Rocky Mountain NP as well.