Yellowstone Resupply

[godsfshrmn]

I'm planning on spending 1.5-2 wks in Yellowstone in late May/early June. I am trying to find info but it is very, very limited outside of the tourist traps inside the park. I want to spend most of my time in the back country. Does anyone know if there are resupply points in any areas of the park and where I can find a map of them?

[Sly]

I'm planning on spending 1.5-2 wks in Yellowstone in late May/early June. I am trying to find info but it is very, very limited outside of the tourist traps inside the park. I want to spend most of my time in the back country. Does anyone know if there are resupply points in any areas of the park and where I can find a map of them?

Old Faithful has a PO and store, Grant, Canyon and Lake villages, Mammoth, Tower and Fishing Bridge, probably have stores but I'm not sure what type of resupply they offer of if you can mail a package.


http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

West Yellowstone, outside the park has everything. You'll probably want to get a National Geographic map


http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/maps/travel-and-hiking-maps/trails-illustrated-hiking-and-recreation-maps/wyoming/201-yellowstone-national-park-trail-map



(http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm)

[coach lou]

Your best bet is Mammoth or NE corner, Cook City, right outside the gate. NE corner is my fav anyway. May you WILL be in the snow, and June you will be doing alot of fording. They have had alot so far and it gets deep, and stays late. Also, your time frame is Hungry bear time, so bring the bear spray.

[godsfshrmn]

Hah.. awesome. Any books/websites you guys recommend to read so I can get a better idea on these things? I've browsed the NPS website and it has a decent amount of detail.

[Feral Bill]

As Coach Lou says, there will be snow. The entire park may be snow covered, depending on this year's winter. Backcountry access may be very limited. The food available at park stores may also be very limited. An earlier trip on skis/snowshoes, or else later, may be more practical. The post office a Old Faithful does take general delivery packages.

[Slo-go'en]

Okay, it's been 30 years since I spent a summer in Yellowstone, but... Your not going to find much in the villages inside the park. What they do have is geared for the RVer. I assume you will have a car, so it wouldn't be hard to keep enough supplies in the trunk.

One thing to consider, when I was there the rangers were very reluctant to give me a back country permit for a lot of areas. They like to see parties of 4. Me, myself and I only added up to three, and that wasn't enough. I guess the theory is if one of you gets eaten by a Griz, the others might have a chance of getting out and telling someone about it.

However, if there were two of us ( I had a friend working at one of the consesions in Mammoth), they would usually give us permit and after I had been there awhile and the rangers started to get to know me, I had less trouble getting permits.

[godsfshrmn]

Im going to be taking a shuttle up from.the aiport hopefully. So it looks like I will not be able to venture out too far because of a lack of supplies and probably heavy foods at that. The bears are somewhat of a concern to me. Grizzlies are just not the same as the black bears here in the.gsmnp. I hope they will let me get a permit as a solo hiker.

[Feral Bill]

Im going to be taking a shuttle up from.the aiport hopefully. So it looks like I will not be able to venture out too far because of a lack of supplies and probably heavy foods at that. The bears are somewhat of a concern to me. Grizzlies are just not the same as the black bears here in the.gsmnp. I hope they will let me get a permit as a solo hiker.

When my daughter worked there a couple of years ago she got solo permits with no problems.

[Slo-go'en]

You need to take bear bagging seriously out there.
o. You need to do the PCT method of stringing the food between two trees and get it up HIGH! Carry 100 feet of thin rope for this.
o. If possible, don't cook in the same area where you will be tenting. At least tent well away from where you cooked or cleaned up.
o. Have a hand wipe cloth (which gets hung with the food). Never wipe you hands on your pants!
o. I usually put my clothes outside the tent anyway, just in case. I put them in a stuff sack and lay my rain jacket over it.
o. I don't know if it helps, but I pee around my tent to mark my territory. I woke up early one morning to see a BIG bear walking away from my tent, so maybe it did help. We were in a really remote part of the park at that time.
o. The bears often cruse along the rivers, which just happens to be where they put the camp sites. If possible, camp away from the water and into the tree line.

When I was there there wasn't much in the way of suttles to get around the park. I don't know if this has changed or not. Hitching in the park was next to impossible. Tourist almost never stop. You just have to wait until a civilian park worker happens by. I can't remember if I ever got a ride from a Ranger. I once got a ride from a tourist bus on his way back to get more of them. In late May or early June there probably won't be much traffic of any kind.

Probably the easiest thing to do is base yourself out of one of the villages. Mammoth hot springs is an interesting area and you can do a bunch of hikes out of there. Another interesting hike is to take the Howard Eaton trial south out of Old Fathful. From there you can hike out of the park and into the Grand Tetons. You start out hiking by back country geysers and hot springs, then a number of big water falls in the Bechier canyon.

Yellowstone is an interesting place, but personally, I would go to the Tetons instead. That place is truely spectacular. The only problem might be the snow and stream levels that early in the season.

[garlic08]

I hiked through there on the CDT and did a pretty decent resupply at Old Faithful. I was there in peak hiking season and had absolutely no problems getting a walk-in permit for the CDT route. That was a relief after the hassles in Glacier. If you can rearrange your plans to go a month later, that would be much better. Lots of snow there most Mays.

[handlebar]

+1 pretty decent resupply at Old Faithful Village (and you can get a shower with towell, soap, and shampoo for $5 at the Lodge). I would definitely recommend delaying hiking until June at the earliest. Right now there's a higher than average snow cover. You can check on conditions at postholer.com. Click on the link for PCT Snow Conditions, then select the CDT from the drop down box labelled "Select a Trail" on the lower left. "Togwotee" is just a little south of Yellowstone and "Two Ocean Plateau" is in the park.

Last year the snow was extremely high and even in early August some of the fords south of Yellowstone on the CDT were nearly impassable. The fords I had in Yellowstone itself, however, were easy (Upper Snake River, Heart River, and outlet of Shoshone Lake). I got there a couple weeks after the snow had melted, and the mosquitos were horrible (I recommend headnet and 100% deet). You might find someone at the Yellowstone Backcountry Office to discuss your hiking plans with. All the designated campsites were equipped with poles to throw your bearbag line over. I also recommend the "PCT method".

[godsfshrmn]

Thanks guys. These are some great details!

[Sly]

You need to take bear bagging seriously out there.
o. You need to do the PCT method of stringing the food between two trees and get it up HIGH! Carry 100 feet of thin rope for this.
.

Aren't all the sites designated with a food storage system? (what looks like goal posts without the uprights)

[Slo-go'en]

Aren't all the sites designated with a food storage system? (what looks like goal posts without the uprights)

That could be. I was there in the mid 80's, nearly 30 years ago, when things were still on the "primative" side. It was also a time when they were having bear problems, so they were really good at making us paranoid of them.

No doubt improvements have been made since. If all goes well, I might pass through there again this summer on the CDT, if we make it that far south. Or get out west at all...

[godsfshrmn]

Hey guys. I have a couple more questions if you wouldn't mind.
1. Are there any type of lockers available at the small towns around the main road? I'd love to take my laptop but not have to carry it and camera charger etc.
2. Does anyone have experience with the Linx system?
3. Should I buy the map of the entire park or for the regional versions for more detail? The Nat Geo maps are always durable and handy to carry.
4. I know June is early in the season (and you can't obviously predict it), but what are the chances of me running into other campers? It's rare for me to be the only person/group at a backcountry site in the GSMNP.

Thanks guys! I'm having a difficult time finding detailed information online.

[Fiddleback]

Be aware that much of the Park's services (and some road) won't be open until Memorial Day weekend. Until then, Mammoth is your best (only?) bet inside the Park but 'thing's might be limited there too as "late May" is early for Yellowstone's season. That's the norm; weather could delay things.

For the past 12 years I've done a spring visit to YNP the week before Memorial Day (strictly a road trip, no camping). When compared to similar visits during the last week of September/first week of October there is far more bear activity in May (specifically, bear activity viewable from the roadside). For this year's 13th spring visit I'm going a week earlier with the idea that there will be more carcasses and, therefore, even more bear and wolf activity to watch.

There will be snow. The question is how much and at what elevation. And it's a safe bet that there will be fresh snowfall from late May to early June. Again, the issue is elevation. My first late-May stay at Cooke City featured 6" of snow the next morning. On the last morning of the last two spring visits the Park's roads were closed due to snow and ice and I couldn't drive through the Park on my way home.

Enjoy! I think it's a great time to visit. But I think backcountry hiking will be no 'walk in the park.' ;)

FB