Yellowstone via SLC & Jackson Hole - Updated with Trip Pics!

Bring a pair of binoculars if you don't have them packed.

You will enjoy GTNP more than Yellowstone, so don't rush through your first few days. Get up early to photograph the tetons at sunrise from Mormon row. Then return at sunset for the same view, but with different lighting. Be sure to be ready to image the sunset behind the tetons if there is cloud cover. The clouds turn brilliant shades over the mountains at sunset.

Go to Jenny lake lodge and have cocktails at sunset too. Hike some of the other trails around the lakes, away form Jenny lake. That trail can get crowded. Many of the hikes are low impact. Bring bear spray (you can buy or rent it there and can't bring it on planes).

In Yellowstone, get to the tourist trap/bucket list destinations early. The blue hairs and foreign tourists in buses can ruin it if you get there beyond mid morning. Move on to the less tourist locations at lunch and afternoon.

Jealous!

Persephone Bakery for breakfast.

I really like grabbing a pitcher of beer on the deck at Dornans. They have limited hours though and close seasonally, should be open. It's right by the GTNP museum.

Also, I always recommend taking the Gondola up right as it opens and having drinks and appetizers on the deck. It should be open by now but may be June. Get there 20-30 mins before they open so you are one of the first people on the Gondola and get a front row seat. Great view from up top of the mountain over the valley.

Always recommend driving both parks at sunrise with a cup of coffee and breakfast bought the day before to look for wildlife.

One of the most awesome places in America in my opinion.

Fairy falls trail to see grand prismatic from above. Old faithful is overrated. I worked there for a summer at the Grand Canyon of yellowstone. To me it is far more jaw dropping than old faithful. The lodge is beautiful tho. I’ll post some more tomorrow but the fairy falls trail was my favorite spot in the park to hike up and see grand prismatic from above. I think they re did it recently tho and made it a lot more touristy and I don’t think it’s like it used to be.

Recently did GTNP & Yellowstone... 2 nights at Ole Faithful & 1 at Canyon Village

Most of the backcountry in GTNP is still heavily snow-covered, but Jenny Lake is worth a trip. Brink of Lower Falls in Yellowstone is awesome.

GTNP




Yellowstone NP

Grand Geyser eruption was amazing. Longer wait and not as regular as Old Faithful but the eruption is spectacular.

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Old Faithful was fairly unimpressive.

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I've never understood this comment? It erupts on an extremely predictable schedule and like 100 ft in the air. Where else in the world can you see this? I feel like Hollywood has numbed us to things.

Almost nothing in nature is extremely predictable. That's what's so rare about Ole Faithful, it is.

What was your favorite part of the trip??