Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks – September 4-11, 2022

Trip Overview

A spectacular journey through two of America’s most iconic national parks – 8 days of jaw-dropping mountain vistas, incredible wildlife encounters (moose, grizzly bears, black bears, bison stampedes, river otters, and so much more), otherworldly geothermal wonders, and memories that will last a lifetime. This adventure took Sandra, Nuria, and me from the dramatic peaks of the Tetons to the vast wilderness of Yellowstone.

We visited Yellowstone just three months after the park experienced historic flooding in mid-June 2022 – a catastrophic 500-year event that caused the park to evacuate over 10,000 visitors and close completely. Heavy rain combined with rapid snowmelt caused the Yellowstone River to crest at record levels, washing out roads and bridges. The North Entrance road to Mammoth Hot Springs and Northeast Entrance road were severely damaged and wouldn’t fully reopen until late October. Our September visit occurred during the recovery period, which explains the campground closures and road restrictions we encountered.

📸  More pictures from Great Teton and Yellowstone

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Pro Tips

• Always bring headlamps for hikes, even if you think you’ll be back before dark – dusk can catch up with you faster than expected
• If you find fresh grizzly tracks on the trail, make noise! We became very chatty hikers after spotting a fresh paw print
• The Jenny Lake ferry saves significant mileage on the Cascade Canyon trail – well worth it
• Book Yellowstone campgrounds and cabins well in advance; closures due to fire/flood damage can limit availability
• The vintage 1930s-era Yellowstone tour buses for photo safaris are worth every penny – sunrise over the lake plus wildlife viewing with an expert guide
• Connect with local wildlife watchers (like the “wolfies”) – they’re generous with current sighting information
• Jackson has some of the most expensive real estate in the country (average home price over $7 million!), but it’s a charming base for exploring Grand Teton
• A 400mm lens with a 2x extender and no tripod? Use your daughter’s shoulder for stability during bison stampedes!
• Yellowstone and even Grand Teton are too big, and traffic too slow to reach every part from a central location – use multiple campgrounds to position yourself strategically
• Planning is important, but so is being flexible. We had to change our plans due to sections being closed because of natural disasters

What happened:

September 4, 2022 – Denver to Jackson

Sandra, Nuria, and I headed north from Denver in our rental car. The first thing that struck us was how huge and empty everything becomes the further into Wyoming you go. The views are spectacular, but there are almost no people. As we approached Jackson, the panorama became increasingly mountainous – a preview of the Tetons to come.

Jackson is a charming town with old west character, but it’s hard to believe this has one of the priciest real estate markets in the entire country. The average home price has skyrocketed to over $7 million, thanks to wealthy second-home buyers and Wyoming’s tax-haven status with no state income tax. We checked into the Antler Inn for a couple of nights, which gave us excellent access to the south side of Grand Teton National Park.

September 5, 2022 – Grand Teton Reconnaissance and Taggart Lake

After grabbing breakfast, we headed into Grand Teton National Park. We started with a visit to the visitor center and drove around the southern portion of the park to get a lay of the land. During this drive, we caught sight of bison grazing in the distance – our first wildlife sighting of the trip.

In the afternoon, we tackled the Taggart Lake and Bradley Lake Loop (6.2 miles). The views in Grand Teton are absolutely breathtaking, with the dramatic peaks that give the park its name – blame or thank the French trappers for that particular nomenclature! The sun peeking through the mountains over Taggart Lake and illuminating the tall trees on the far shore was magical. We spotted eagles and more bison in the distance, plus squirrels here and there.

We had to hurry on the last portion of the hike as dusk was catching up with us – lesson learned about always bringing headlamps! When we got back to Jackson, we discovered that both Nuria’s and my boots had started falling apart. Mine had seen literally hundreds of miles of hiking through the Midwest and Alaska, so they’d earned their retirement.

September 6, 2022 – Emergency REI Stop and Cascade Canyon

Left our room at the Antler Inn and headed straight to the local REI. My boots had to be thrown away, and I bought exactly the same model of Keen boots I’d had – when you know they fit well and are good quality, why change? Nuria opted for a pair of REI-branded boots that she still uses to this day.

Once properly shod, we returned to Grand Teton and took the ferry across Jenny Lake to access the Cascade Canyon trail. This was a true multi-sensorial experience: gorgeous views, abundant wildlife, the sound of rushing water and animals, the intense smell of evergreens – wow!

As we reached Inspiration Point along the trail, we found a very cute pair of chipmunks who seemed to be competing to see which was cuter. We also heard and then saw a couple of pikas – a first for us! But the greatest sighting came higher on the trail where we encountered a huge bull moose grazing on the side of the trail, with a female and her calf just a few yards up ahead. We were about 20 feet from the bull when we first spotted him – we backed off carefully and waited until he moved on.

We hiked well past Inspiration Point to where the trail splits into the North and South Fork Cascade Canyon trails – over 11 miles for the day (not including the ferry portions) with over 1,200 feet of elevation gain. After this strenuous hike, we headed to Colter Bay Campground closer to the northern edge of the park, which would position us better for reaching Yellowstone. We pitched our tents and had dinner under the stars.

September 7, 2022 – Relaxation Day at Grand Teton

We’d planned to take it easy after two strenuous days of hiking. We drove around the east part of Grand Teton, then spent the day at the Snake River where we had a picnic and soaked in the beauty of the place. While there, I photographed sprays, bald eagles and three beautiful river otters playing in the water.

In the afternoon, we headed back to the campground and hiked the Lakeshore Trail (2.6 miles). While not nearly as spectacular as the Cascade Canyon trail, it was a pleasant walk that gave us a chance to find a family of ruffed grouse. Perfect low-key day to rest our legs.

September 8, 2022 – Grand Teton to Yellowstone

We left Grand Teton in the morning and headed north to Yellowstone. The view as we approached was a bit disconcerting – wide swaths of dead trees, consequences of recent forest fires as we learned later. The scale of the fire damage was sobering.

As soon as we arrived in Yellowstone, we headed west to the geyser area to visit Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Hot Spring. The sights, particularly at the Prismatic Hot Springs, were almost otherworldly – the bright colors of the water, the steam rising, and the deep contrast with the yellow ground and stones created an alien landscape right here on Earth.

Our third stop was planned as one more hike, but unfortunately the access road was closed. Instead, we hiked the Howard Eaton Trail (5 miles), which gave us our first view of the open plains north of Yellowstone Lake. We came closer than expected to some bison and saw a female elk and her calf.

The wildlife highlight came when we witnessed and video-recorded a stampede of at least 50 or more bison! To steady the shot with a 400mm lens with a 2x extender and no tripod, I had to use Nuria’s shoulder as a makeshift stabilizer – improvisation at its finest!

Also while hiking, we came across a giant, clearly fresh grizzly paw print. This led us to be a lot more chatty during the rest of our hike – making noise to avoid surprising any bears. When we were heading back to the car, we were caught by a sudden storm and noticed how the trees near the trailhead were swaying violently. We found out the next day that the storm actually knocked down many trees in the area – things could have gotten dicey.

We then headed toward Lake Village on the north edge of Yellowstone Lake, where we’d reserved a cabin for two nights. We visited the visitor center and had dinner there, grateful to be warm and dry after the storm.

September 9, 2022 – Photo Safari and Pelican Valley

We got up early and met our photo safari tour guide at the lodge. This experience was totally worth the price of admission! To start with, the tour was conducted in a refurbished 1930s-era classic NPS bus – these vintage vehicles are iconic.

We photographed the sunrise over Yellowstone Lake, multiple herds of bison, and a rainbow forming in the mist over the lower falls at Yellowstone Canyon. To top it all off, we spotted a pair of grizzly bears – an adult female and her daughter – foraging for berries. We photographed them from a distance outside the bus, but when they started heading in our direction (looking for berries, not people!), we got back into the bus. By the time they got to about 100 yards from us, we were safely inside watching these magnificent animals.

In the afternoon, Sandra and I went hiking in Pelican Valley (approximately 7 miles). The trail starts in rolling prairie hills and eventually ventures into a hot springs area and more forested terrain. While there, we heard a huge noise, and when we looked up, it was a pair of F-35s flying very low at very high speed, making a couple of passes. Never found out why – military training exercise, perhaps? After the hike, we headed back to the cabin to reunite with Nuria and have dinner.

September 10, 2022 – Cody Excursion and Lamar Valley

We drove east toward Cody. The east entrance road with its walls of rock displaying a very distinct deep brown color was amazing. We had lunch in Cody, and although we didn’t find the town particularly memorable, the road there and back were worth the visit.

In the afternoon, we headed to Lamar Valley – often called the Serengeti of North America. On my list of species I wanted to see were wolves and golden eagles. We had information that a golden eagle had set up shop in an outcropping on the road to the northeast entrance (which was closed due to rain damage). We found the place but couldn’t see the eagle.

On the plus side, we struck up a conversation with a guy with a spotting scope who told us he was part of an informal group who call themselves “wolfies” – their passion is observing wolves across the park. Unfortunately, he indicated there were no recent wolf reports, so we headed back west. You can’t see everything, and that’s part of wildlife watching.

On the way back, we saw people on the side of the road pointing their cameras toward a hill where a large black bear was roaming. I was fortunate to capture a series of pictures of the bear running across the top of the hill and eventually settling down among some berry bushes for a snack. We also spotted several pronghorn (antelopes) in the valley.

We headed back toward the northern loop and made a stop at a viewpoint above the Lamar River. We also stopped to see the petrified tree close to Tower-Roosevelt.

To position ourselves better for exploring the northern part of Yellowstone, we moved our base to Tower Falls Campground and pitched our tents there for the night. This strategic relocation would make the next day’s activities much more accessible – a reminder that these parks are simply too big to efficiently reach everything from a single location.

September 11, 2022 – Farewell to Yellowstone

Our last day in Yellowstone. While we would have loved to stay longer, we had a long drive back to Denver, so we headed out early. On our way south, we spotted more pronghorn grazing in the distance – a final wildlife send-off from this incredible park.

Trip Highlights:

• 3 family members
• 2 National Parks: Grand Teton & Yellowstone
• 70+ miles walked
• 1,700 miles driven
• 2 states: Colorado & Wyoming
• Countless wildlife encounters: moose, grizzly bears, black bears, bison (including a 50+ animal stampede!), river otters, bald eagles, elk, pronghorn, pikas, chipmunks, ruffed grouse, and more
• ∞ memories

Note: Our original plan was to stay in three different campgrounds while in Yellowstone to make access to different areas easier. Unfortunately, the park was still recovering from the catastrophic June 2022 flooding – a 500-year event that devastated the northern part of the park. The historic flood occurred when an atmospheric river dumped several inches of rain that combined with rapid snowmelt, causing the Yellowstone River to crest at record levels not seen since 1918. The flooding washed out major sections of the North Entrance road to Mammoth Hot Springs and the Northeast Entrance road, forced the park to evacuate over 10,000 visitors, and closed Yellowstone completely for the first time since the 1988 fires. When we visited in September, just three months after the disaster, the Mammoth campground area remained closed and wouldn’t reopen until late October. This resulted in our cancelled reservation and the need to adapt our plans – a reminder that even the best planning requires flexibility when visiting national parks affected by natural disasters.