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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 44
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 44 |
I'm taking my family on our vacation in Yellowstone next week. I've got some brochures and the official park guide which we're studying, but I would like to hear sites and/or activities that you consider "must-sees" in the park.<P>Of course we want to see the touristy stuff like Old Faithfull, the hot springs and geysers, and the petrified forest. I'm also going to be looking for the wildlife and would appreciate any tips for possible spots to see grizzlies and wolves. I hear that elk and bison are abundant.<P>Please let me know what you saw and/or liked at Yellowstone. Thanks.<P>HW
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 118
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 118 |
Hello, HCW. <P>I live 2 hours south of Yellowstone NP, and it never gets old, so if you've never been, you're in for a treat. <P>Drive the whole thing - it's all great to see - but if you want the best chance of seeing wildlife from the road, take the North Loop, early morning. <P>Take good binoculars, and take your time. Pull over every chance you get, and glass carefully. Whenever you see traffic backed up, it's generally because people are looking at wildlife. <P>Grizzlies are a crapshoot. Park adminstration tries very, very hard to keep grizzlies in the back country, away from where they can get into trouble with people. I've seen three in Yellowstone since they did away with the dumps as a means of attracting them. One we walked into hiking into Slough Creek for some fly fishing in the northern end of the park. This was not a pleasant experience - do not wish for it.<P>(If you just want your kids to see live grizzlies, there's a tourist attraction in West Yellowstone. I think it's called "Bear World." It's basically a zoo, but it's fun for the kids, and very well done. While you're there, don't miss the big sensory-surround sound theatre - it is worth stoppng into. Also, if you like fly fishing , some of the best fly shops in the country are in West Yellowstone.) <P>Wolves: Same thing. Your best bet is to go out onto the flats at dawn and glass like crazy. If you can locate a sizeable elk herd - there's tons of them - you might just see wolves hanging around the perimeter of the herd looking to pick a sick or old one off. Elk are their primary prey in the Park.<P>You'll see elk and bison everywhere. In fact, they can be a traffic hazard. You'll see a lot of moose as well. <P>I probably don't need to tell you this, given the preferred pastime of the members of this board, but I'm going to state the obvious: these are not tame animals. Stay away from them. I watched in horror as a Japanese tourist was severely gored by a bison a few years ago. Several of us were yelling to stay away; he either didn't understand or thought he knew better. He was hurt very badly. Please don't take offense at this. I just want you and your family to be safe. <P>Will you have time to fish? Yellowstone Park has some of the best trout fishing in this part of the country. Permits are free, although regulations are stringent.<P>Whatever entrance you come in at, stop at the Park Information Center and pick up all the maps and brochures you can, and ask every question that enters your head. <P>You're going to have fun. <P>Greg
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 44
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 44 |
Hi Greggun;<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by greggun:<BR><STRONG>Hello, HCW. <P>>I live 2 hours south of Yellowstone NP, and it never gets old, so if you've never been, you're in for a treat. <<P>>Drive the whole thing - it's all great to see - but if you want the best chance of seeing wildlife from the road, take the North Loop, early morning. <<P>>Take good binoculars, and take your time. Pull over every chance you get, and glass carefully. Whenever you see traffic backed up, it's generally because people are looking at wildlife. <<P>>Grizzlies are a crapshoot. Park adminstration tries very, very hard to keep grizzlies in the back country, away from where they can get into trouble with people. I've seen three in Yellowstone since they did away with the dumps as a means of attracting them. One we walked into hiking into Slough Creek for some fly fishing in the northern end of the park. This was not a pleasant experience - do not wish for it.<<P>>(If you just want your kids to see live grizzlies, there's a tourist attraction in West Yellowstone. I think it's called "Bear World." It's basically a zoo, but it's fun for the kids, and very well done. <<P>>While you're there, don't miss the big sensory-surround sound theatre - it is worth stoppng into. Also, if you like fly fishing , some of the best fly shops in the country are in West Yellowstone.) <<P>>Wolves: Same thing. Your best bet is to go out onto the flats at dawn and glass like crazy. If you can locate a sizeable elk herd - there's tons of them - you might just see wolves hanging around the perimeter of the herd looking to pick a sick or old one off. Elk are their primary prey in the Park.<<P>>You'll see elk and bison everywhere. In fact, they can be a traffic hazard. You'll see a lot of moose as well. <<P>>I probably don't need to tell you this, given the preferred pastime of the members of this board, but I'm going to state the obvious: these are not tame animals. Stay away from them. I watched in horror as a Japanese tourist was severely gored by a bison a few years ago. Several of us were yelling to stay away; he either didn't understand or thought he knew better. He was hurt very badly. Please don't take offense at this. I just want you and your family to be safe. <<P>>Whatever entrance you come in at, stop at the Park Information Center and pick up all the maps and brochures you can, and ask every question that enters your head. <P>You're going to have fun. <<P>Greg</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR>This is our first time there. We'll take several pair of binos and maybe my spotting scope too. Thanks for the info on the North Loop.<P>I don't need or wish to get "up close and personal" with a griz.Actually, we can see some Yellowstone Grizzlies here in So. Cal. at the Moonridge Animal Park in Big Bear Lake (named for a time long ago with the valley was full of grizzly bears). A problem sow and her 2 cubs were removed from the park and ended up in the animal park on display. This is one of only 2 zoos in CA with Grizzlies.<BR>You must be talking about the Imax Theater. We'll try to make it. I'm not much into fishing of any kind.<P>Some of the literature we got shows the different wolf packs and their territories. They've covered the whole park and range into surrounding areas. I hope we see some.<P>I read a magazine article this month about a couple of people getting killed by bison and many getting hurt, trying to take pictures up close. We're very much aware that wild animals can be ornery when you invade their space.<P>Thanks for the info Greg. We appreciate it.<P>HW
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 84
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 84 |
I second the "early morning drives" recommendation. A couple of years ago we happened upon a bear that had just downed a young elk at about 50-75 yards from the road. Quite a sight watching it eat it's fill and then amble off over the hill, while Momma elk watched in the distance. Kind of like a living circle of life lesson for the kids.<P>The north loop is great. I also like Hayden Valley for wildlife.<P>Just take the drives, and take your time. You'll see wildlife everywhere. A lot of people see the animals up next to the road, and there will be caravans of parked cars where people are stopped to look. If you look a little further out you'll see that and stuff that others miss too.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 3
New Member
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New Member
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 3 |
HCWHunter: I live an hour East of Yellowstone and have made five trips this year. When you take the North loop, be sure and drive out toward the NE entrace through the Lamar River Valley. You'll see numerous wild animals there, and grizzlies if you're lucky. Much of it is distant viewing and requires binoculars or a spotting scope. The Hayden River Valley is a pretty good area for grizzly bears. Norris Junction has a lot of elk in the area. As others have said, early and late in the day are the best times to see animals.<P>As far as the sights, Yellowstone Falls beats them all, in my opinion. It's not to be missed, as well as the Tetons. Old Faithful may be an icon, but it's not all that stunning as a sight to see. I've seen some interesting double rainbows on Yellowstone Lake. The elk have nice antler growth which are still in velvet right now.<P>There is a forest fire which closed the east entrance for the past week, but it opened up today on a limited basis. The fire is only partially contained at the moment, but hopefully this won't interfere with your travel plans.<BR>Have a good one, CoyDog
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 44
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 44 |
Hi All;<P>Well, we're back from our vacation in Yellowstone. Thanks for all the tips. We had a fantastic time and did see lots of wildlife throughout the park. The North Loop is definitely the place along with Hayden Valley. We weren't able to make it up to Lamar Valley, have to do it next time.<P>Saw tons of Buffalo, even blocking the road, and a good number of elk. The rut hasn't started yet so the bulls weren't generally with the cows yet. I managed to spot a big 6x6 bull on the edge of a big park meadow and then we saw a decent size moose as well. Unfortunately, they're doing construction on the connecting road from W. Yellowstone to the N. Loop so we couldn't get to the N. Loop before 9:30 or 10:00 am. We still saw another bunch of elk with several more big bulls later in the day. They are indeed still in velvet.<P>Wasn't able to see any bears or wolves, did spot a coyote which had traffic stopped for a ways. I'll bet lots of folks thought they were looking at a wolf!! <GG> We did the wolf and grizzly park thing in W. Yellowstone and it was OK for a zoo. The IMAX theater was very nice.<P>It was interesting to me that we didn't see ANY mule deer at all although we did spot 1 whitetail doe.<P>The geysers were fun but started to get kinda monotonous after awhile. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone with its falls was spectacular!<P>We made a side trip to Cody and checked out the Buffalo Bill Museum. THAT was something too! The Boone & Crockett display there is very nice. It was surprising to see that the #4 Black bear (full lifesize mount of the chocolate specimen on display) was taken in So. Calif.!<P>We came out through Jackson and the Grand Tetons. Pretty to see. Made a detour through Ft. Bridger on our way back to SLC and picked up some doe antelope tags over the counter, so I get to go back to WY next month! <GG><P>HW
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 118
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 118 |
Glad you had a good time, HCW. <P>Yes, the Buffalo Bill Museum is great, isn't it?<P>Good luck on the antelope hunt. If you've hunted them before, you know few hunts beat it for just plain fun.
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 44
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 44 |
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by greggun:<BR><STRONG>Glad you had a good time, HCW. <P>Yes, the Buffalo Bill Museum is great, isn't it?<P>Good luck on the antelope hunt. If you've hunted them before, you know few hunts beat it for just plain fun.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Hi Greggun;<P>Yup, The BB Museum IS great. I'd seen it before on another WY hunt, but it's bigger now with WAY more guns!! <G><P>I hunted WY unit 93 last year for buck and doe but didn't get drawn this year. Luckily there were some leftover tags for unit 94. I've been on a few wilderness backpack deer hunts, lots of car camping and hiking hunts, a couple of horseback guided hunts and several antelope hunts. By comparison the goat hunts are fairly easy since you can usually hunt from a motel, don't have to be up before dawn and can generally hunt all day and see your quarry a long ways off. They are kind of a nice change from the normal hard hunting most of us like to do. Like you say, they are just plain fun! <G><P>HW
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