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Glacier/Teton/Yellowstone '09 Trip Report

Trip Summary

Mindy's cousin Jen had proposed a road trip in the past and this summer became a reality. We planned a road trip to Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks with a diversion to the Big Sky area south of Bozeman, Montana. Although the trip didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped, I think the highlights of the trip outweighed some planning oversights.

Long Drive

Jen, Mindy and I left Salt Lake City at around 8:30 AM. We stopped in Pocatello for some lunch at McDonald's, but other than stops for gas and a stop for groceries in Kalispell, we drove pretty much straight there.

We encountered some thunderstorms in the mountains south of Butte, but mostly the weather was good. It was, however, quite cold for the time of year.

It was pretty chilly when we arrived at Fish Creek Campground in Glacier National Park at about 8:30 PM. We set up the tent and headed to Apgar village to get some firewood. The sunset view of Lake McDonald with the mountains of Glacier beyond was great.

Going-to-the-Sun Road and Many Glacier

- Stopped off at Lake McDonald Lodge for lunch
- Drove Going-to-the-Sun Road
- Drove to Many Glacier Lodge, relaxed, drank a Moose Drool beer on the patio
- Ate dinner at St. Mary and decided to spend the night in St. Mary so that Jen could go horseback riding at Many Glacier at 8:00 AM the next morning.

Active Day in Glacier

- Jen went on an all-day horseback ride to Cracker Lake
- Mindy and I did a 9-mile roundtrip hike to Iceberg Lake
- Ate dinner at the Park Cafe near St. Mary, which continues to have some of the worst service, ever. (The buffalo burger was good though.)
- Drove over Going-to-the-Sun road in the evening, which provided great lighting and new views, since we had never driven the road going back toward Lake McDonald
- Stopped at Lake McDonald Lodge for a beer
- Had a decent campfire in the evening

Another Active Day in Glacier

- Rented a boat at Lake McDonald Lodge and toured the lake for a couple hours
- Ate an excellent lunch (french dip sandwich with roast buffalo and au jus) at Eddie's in Apgar village
- Relaxed at Lake McDonald's beach, and even went for a swim in the freezing cold water
- Drove to the Avalance Creek area and went on a 2-mile hike to Avalanche Lake. The lake was awesome, the evening lighting was great, and the creek was perfectly lit on the way back for some excellent photos

Long Drive to Yellowstone

- Packed up the car fairly quickly in the morning and left for Yellowstone
- Stopped in Kalispell to pick up some supplies
- The weather wasn't all that great on this day and a hailstorm near Bozeman added to what would end up being an annoying/interesting day
- Drove to Yellowstone via Big Sky. Stopped in Big Sky to check out the resort and eat some dinner. Almost decided to stay in Big Sky, but I figured it was worth trying to drive to Yellowstone to find a campsite tonight.
- Arrived at Yellowstone to find that most of the campgrounds were full, except Mammoth and Lewis Lake. Headed to Mammoth only to find out that the campground was full by the time we arrived. Hotels in Gardiner, the small town right outside the north entrance to Yellowstone were either booked or expensive, so we slept in the car. The lightning from a distant thunderstorm provided some entertainment as I tried to get some sleep. At some point in the middle of the night, that distant thunderstorm ended up making its way to us

Yellowstone National Park

- Woke up in the car at about 8:00 AM, got some breakfast and waited out another thunderstorm in the gift shop
- Visited most of the sites along the Yellowstone park road between Mammoth Hot Springs, Canyon and Old Faithful.
- Drove to Grand Teton National Park only to find out that Signal Mountain Campground was full. There were other campgrounds further north, but it was late and I didn't feel like setting up a camp at 10:00 PM, so I drove us to Jackson to find a hotel.
- We stayed at the Virginian, the cheapest motel we could find. The place was pretty horrible, I should've just payed the extra $20 and stayed at the Painted Buffalo Inn, which looked nicer.

July 14, 2009

- Visited the town of Jackson
- Had a beer at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, which is a really cool bar in the middle of Jackson
- Ate lunch at the Cadillac Grille--a no-frills burger joint next door to the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar
- Drove to Grand Teton National Park, but Jen was already fast asleep, so we turned around at Jenny Lake and drove back to Salt Lake City.