anyone hike in yellowstone?
I was just wondering if any1 ever hiked in yellow stone and if so how was it? what about grizzly bears?
I sure do.
#1 buy bear spray. Carry it on your belt and not in your pack. Your life depends on it. I am not saying that you will run into a bear. I sure hope you do ... at a distance. But better to have and not need than need and not have.
I have only run into one grizzly ... at 15 yards. I bought spray the next day. I am a gun toting nut and I would trust spray over a weapon any day of the week when it comes to bears.
Yellowstone is beautiful. I grew up in Grand Teton NP and hiked a lot in both parks. Since you are from NY plan a few days before you head out on a big hike, or you may get altitude sickness ... everyone is different.
OK definately check out Old Failthful, but head North young man.
Slough Creek campground ROCKS!!! Quiet and available. The trick is get there early ... afternoon may be too late.
Check out the Lamar Valley, bears, wolves, buffalo ... If you try to get 15 feet from a buffalo I'll come through this CPU and kick your ass. I LITERALLY have seen people do this multiple times ... but they are so cute. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHC!!!!!!!!!!
The hike of the Lakes is supposed to be really cool. I didn't try it because the day before I was to register the ranger ran into 4 grizz.
In a nutshell Yellowstone rocks, don't go to the tourist trap portions. Get a trail map and get away. Here is a fun fact. If you drive on every single road in the park you will only see 1 percent of the park. See the other 99 percent.
Been to Yellowstone many many times, along with Glacier. If you are very lucky you will see a grizzly, maybe even on your first trip. Bear spray, yes, all other means of deterrents, no. And, as mentioned, Lamar Valley, and Hayden Valley, are two of the best locales. Ask the rangers, they'll also let you know, at least they have with me.
I got spray
Yellowstone is gorgeous and quite varied. I've done several short trips in the park. You have to get a back country permit for campsites and trails will be closed if bears have been active. We did not carry bear spray. Now the mosquitoes were quite another matter. I think we hit "hatch" season (we were there early July). It was quite annoyingly astounding. We did spend a night at the bottom of the grand canyon of the yellowstone. That was quite special: themal features, beautiful river, and no mossies! Enjoy your trip. And don't limit yourself to Yellowstone. There is some beautiful wilderness north of the park.
Julie
carry a .45, whack the mofo'sOriginally Posted by jnohs
Hi Bascomgrillmaster here,
Lived at Flag Ranch just south of the South entance of Yellow stone for winter and summer season.Hiking is great.I,d recommend looking at trails east of there.I only ran into small hiking groups once during the whole year.Never saw a grizzly bear at all.Don,t mess with a bison,2000 pds and pissed off.Can mean a lot of things.Trail maps are very good,I had no trouble finding trail at all.
Good luck.
If you are out that way, head over to the Beartooth's. Lakes at 10,000 ft, and the views are great. Plenty of trails in the Tetons. I don't think you can go wrong on any trail you pick in that region.
You can't fix stupid....
the southern half of the park was burned pretty considerably around '88 or '89.
The trees are coming back and are probably around 10-12' tall by now.
The Rangers can be a pain as in any NP. (we got rerouted from the CDT by people in the backcountry office because a griz had cubs in the area. We had to do a short roadwalk and had 3 rangers stop us and ask what we were doing. None of them had heard of the CDT)
But it's cool to get far away from the roads and find some nice hot springs and hot creeks to bathe in and see all kinds of wierd s**t goin on all over the place.
Never hiked much in the north part of the park. just some day hikes out of the big (is it called Mammoth?) hot springs up there.
You won't see a griz in the park. Some rangers who have been there 4 years haven't seen one yet.
Just south of the park in the Gros Ventre section is some really awesome hiking without many people at all (a few horse packing trips here and there) Griz is around there and not so protected by the NP so, they hit an old camping trailer or hunting lodge once in a while. but i really doubt you'll see one. pepper spray is a good idea.. guns are not. Just read Lewis and Clark journals and see how many times they hit griz in the chest area with 50 caliber guns and didn't stop anything.
Have fun. that's a great part of the world for hiking.
In 2006 we did a really nice hike along the north side of the park as part of our CDT hike. Specimen Ridge was a terrific dayhike (albeit long). The Electric Peak area and Sky Rim Trail were really nice. The normal CDT route thru the park is also a good one because it gets you to some backcountry thermal areas, as well as the circus at Old Faithful. Driving thru the park is also interesting, because there are some beautiful waterfalls and thermal features.
As others have said, the Tetons are also gorgeous, as are the Beartooths. The advantage of the beartooths is that permits aren't necessary. We had no problem getting permits though in either YNP or GTNP.
And we don't carry bear spray (or a gun, which is illegal in the NPs.) We try to practice good bear country behavior and so far, after a couple thousand miles in grizzly country, we have never needed any 'protection' besides our voices. Our bear encounters have always been at a very safe distance. We know they're there. They know we're there. So nobody gets surprised.
I found the rangers to be friendly, more so than other NPs I have been in. However, I have never really had a bad experience with any.
You can't fix stupid....
This is true. Try to go after or just before Labor day. Avoid July like the plague. Saw 25 different wolves this year. Good fly fishing in that area too.
Saw a guy strapping up this year
I've seen one almost every one of the 8 times I've been there.
Hiked the southern portion along the area with a number of waterfalls. Nice hike, came out at Old Faithfull Inn. As mentioned you must reserve spots at campsites and they periodically come by and check to see if you are there. A backcountry Ranger job in Yellowstone wouldn't be bad.
I like the Tetons better than Yellowstone. The Alaska Basin is one of the coolest places that I've ever seen.
There was a Bison at the Old Faithfull Inn and folks would not stay away from it. The Ranger had to finally resort to some pretty harsh threats. Her told me that more people are injured by Bison than any other animal in the park. Saw a partially eaten moose, that was likely Grizzly related. That was scary, got away real quick and kept eyes wide open for a long time.
If you don't make waves, it means you ain't paddling
I was there only once and I saw a huge, hump backed, silver-tipped one just ambling by.
My favorite grizzly picture
I hiked a little there this past summer. I saw a Mother and cub Grizzly. But really I would say that Yellowstone is not the place to go hiking, it is neat, but everything worth seeing is within view of the road, and the whole place is extremely crowded. Glacier is a hundred times better for hiking, as well as many of the other Parks.
Well said and I agree about the Rocky mountain hiking scenery. However if you are there around Labor Day the crowds aren't bad. When we were last there Slough Creek was the only campground that was ful. It has about 30 spaces and was one that we have always wanted to stay at. We got there Saturday early AM and had our pick of about 10 spaces.
...and be prepared to pay a fine for carrying an illegal weapon in the Park. That should be particularly galling since a .45 is little help against a charging griz...
There's an old Bill Mauldin "Willie and Joe" cartoon from WWII...it shows the pair in a pup tent. Joe's knee is raised and perched on it is a rat. Joe has a .45 in his hand, about 6" from the rodent's face. "Be careful, Joe", says Willie, "I hear they attack when they're wounded!" Good advice that.
FB
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