My Weekend Road Trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks

This weekend, I had the privilege of paying my first visit to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.  It's a road trip I've been dying to make since I moved to Billings in the fall.  Of course, I had heard so many great things about both of these serene settings.  They definitely lived up to the hype.

The roads in Yellowstone were closed on Saturday, so we had to take the long way from Cody through Thermopolis and Dubois, WY into the Tetons.  After driving through a snowstorm, the clouds cleared just as we entered the park.

I have lived in many great places and I'm not sure if I've ever seen a mountain landscape more stunning than the Tetons.  And then there's the wildlife.  We saw hundreds of elk around the park.

Speaking of wild life, we spent the evening in Jackson Hole, WY.  We stayed at an excellent hotel called the Rustic Inn.  They have about a hundred cabins spread out around a creek just on the edge of downtown.  It was pricey, but awesome.  The rooms were amazing with big porches and excellent outdoor areas, including a big teepee.

We ate dinner and had drinks at the Silver Dollar Bar downtown.  It is located inside the historic Wort Hotel.  Not only was the food good, it was reasonably priced and had the feel of an authentic old west saloon and gambling parlor.  To top it off, there was a live band and we ran into some friends from Billings.  Even though it is expensive and crowded with international tourists, Jackson Hole is a great town.  It's everything that Aspen wishes it was.

Sunday morning, we had breakfast at an amazing bakery in Jackson called "Persephone". It's one of the best breakfast spots I've ever eaten at.  If you're ever in Jackson Hole, eat there and thank me later.

As we headed back through Teton National Park toward the south entrance of Yellowstone, I saw something I have never seen in the wild.  A brown bear just kickin' it on a hill about 50 yards from the road.  It was amazing.  He was so close.  Some stupid tourists kept walking towards the bear and got dangerously close.  I was hoping that the bear would charge them and I would be able to capture it on video.  Luckily for them, the bear wasn't interested.

As we headed into Yellowstone, we saw so many Buffalo that I couldn't even count them all.  Again, I was amazed at how close some tourists are willing to get to a wild animal just to take a selfie.  There was a Japanese woman who practically put her arm around this guy.  Again, I was rooting for the buffalo to charge her.

As we drove around the western side of the park, we saw Old Faithful and many other geysers.  It is truly remarkable to see that kind of geology.  Then we headed north past Gibbons Falls, which were breathtaking.  Aside from the wild life, my favorite part of the park was the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River.  As beautiful as the falls were, this canyon rivaled some of the most astonishing natural vistas I've ever visited.

As we headed out through the east entrance towards Cody, we began to see several Big Horn Sheep.  We even saw two brothers playing.  As they reared back and prepared to butt heads, we had our cameras ready.  Sadly, another idiot tourist drove by just as the sheep were getting ready to headbang and spooked them. I was pissed.

As we left the park, I had only one complaint.  I wanted to see a moose.  I joked that it was time for the moose to show themselves, otherwise I would never forgive them.  Almost on cue, a mother moose and her baby came down the side of a mountain to graze.  It was hard to capture a good picture because they are so well camouflaged.

What a perfect way to cap off my first Yellowstone experience.  I have been to several National Parks.  I doubted that I would ever seen a park that would rival the natural beauty of Yosemite.  The Tetons were close.  Yellowstone was even better.  The biggest difference between Yellowstone and Yosemite is the access to wildlife.  Yosemite has some of the most stunning views on the planet, but you're not gonna drive by a buffalo or a moose.

Now, I can't wait to take the Beartooth Pass back to Yellowstone and explore the north and northwest areas of the park.