Thanks to Hotshoe, wplion, doublehaul, Burb, Tom McAndrew, bohucan, willmead, rdm, Fayette_LION, and SJL for the great advice.
We flew into SLC and drove to West Yellowstone to stay for 3 nights. Stopped at Mesa Falls in Idaho on the way, which was an easy side trip that was well worth it. The next day we entered the park and headed for Old Faithful seeing Firehole Canyon and Grand Prismatic on the way. Then headed towards the Canyon to see the falls while stopping at the Lake to see the West Thumb springs. Let me say the Lower Falls and Canyon are probably the most beautiful spot on Earth. That has to be God’s cathedral. I left the canyon thinking if I didn’t see anything cooler than that it would be okay. Got in the car and headed towards Norris and was quickly stopped by a traffic jam. It didn’t take long to realize traffic jams are a good thing at Yellowstone. We eventually moved to a position where we saw a wolf standing over a dead elk. While we were taking in the scene, a bear came from the opposite side of the road, running between the cars (and people) towards the wolf. The wolf hung around, but was chased off repeatedly by the bear, just an awesome spectacle. We also saw black tails, elk (live), mountain goats(Northwest), about a thousand bison(Lamar Valley), badgers, a coyote, a fox, moose, and pronghorn antelope( Southeast of Jackson). Everything we were hoping for except bighorns. We left West Yellowstone and headed towards Cody via the Bear Tooth Pass and Chief Joseph Byway. Wow! (that was a common word on this trip) Went to the Buffalo Bill Cody museum, which was very nice, and then the rodeo in Cody and had a great time. The gun collection at the museum is worth the price of admission. After one night in Cody we headed to Jackson and stayed at the Fireside Resort. There was another Nittany Lion checking in at the same time, but I didn’t get to catch up to him later. While in Jackson we went horseback riding, whitewater rafting, and went to Jenny Lake. We ate at Merry Piglets, Liberty Burger, and Bubbas and all were very good. Jackson is where we saw moose, none in YNP. After Jackson we headed to Park City, UT. We saw a lot of pronghorn on this ride. We took in the alpine slide and coaster, some ziplining, and went to the winter Olympic site to see the ski jumpers practicing. We want to go back to Jackson and Park City when there is snow on the ground as I’m guessing the skiing would be fantastic. All in all, an exceptional vacation. Thanks again for the great advice!
We flew into SLC and drove to West Yellowstone to stay for 3 nights. Stopped at Mesa Falls in Idaho on the way, which was an easy side trip that was well worth it. The next day we entered the park and headed for Old Faithful seeing Firehole Canyon and Grand Prismatic on the way. Then headed towards the Canyon to see the falls while stopping at the Lake to see the West Thumb springs. Let me say the Lower Falls and Canyon are probably the most beautiful spot on Earth. That has to be God’s cathedral. I left the canyon thinking if I didn’t see anything cooler than that it would be okay. Got in the car and headed towards Norris and was quickly stopped by a traffic jam. It didn’t take long to realize traffic jams are a good thing at Yellowstone. We eventually moved to a position where we saw a wolf standing over a dead elk. While we were taking in the scene, a bear came from the opposite side of the road, running between the cars (and people) towards the wolf. The wolf hung around, but was chased off repeatedly by the bear, just an awesome spectacle. We also saw black tails, elk (live), mountain goats(Northwest), about a thousand bison(Lamar Valley), badgers, a coyote, a fox, moose, and pronghorn antelope( Southeast of Jackson). Everything we were hoping for except bighorns. We left West Yellowstone and headed towards Cody via the Bear Tooth Pass and Chief Joseph Byway. Wow! (that was a common word on this trip) Went to the Buffalo Bill Cody museum, which was very nice, and then the rodeo in Cody and had a great time. The gun collection at the museum is worth the price of admission. After one night in Cody we headed to Jackson and stayed at the Fireside Resort. There was another Nittany Lion checking in at the same time, but I didn’t get to catch up to him later. While in Jackson we went horseback riding, whitewater rafting, and went to Jenny Lake. We ate at Merry Piglets, Liberty Burger, and Bubbas and all were very good. Jackson is where we saw moose, none in YNP. After Jackson we headed to Park City, UT. We saw a lot of pronghorn on this ride. We took in the alpine slide and coaster, some ziplining, and went to the winter Olympic site to see the ski jumpers practicing. We want to go back to Jackson and Park City when there is snow on the ground as I’m guessing the skiing would be fantastic. All in all, an exceptional vacation. Thanks again for the great advice!
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