Friday, April 26, 2013

Wyoming 2013 PLANS


So we will have a total of 9-10 nights, and I'm trying to plan out campsites kind of grouped together.

(1)

The first 2-3 nights I am planning on us staying at Granite Creek.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/btnf/recreation/recarea/?recid=71637&actid=29

It's the raddest campground, right next to the Gros Ventre Wilderness (pronounced grow-vahnt), Granite Creek runs almost literally through camp, there's Granite Creek Falls just up the road past the river where there are natural hot springs pouring down the canyon, and further up the road is Granite Creek Hot Springs, a USFS-run site that is awesome and beautiful.

Granite Creek is pretty close to Jackson and the Hoback River and the Snake River, tons to do from here, including hanging out in Jackson. I recommend we stay 3 nights, but we'll have to talk about it depending on how much time we want to spend in Grand Teton and Yellowstone. The sites are first come first served, so Amy and I may try and go up a day early to make sure we get sites.

(2)

The next 3 nights or so we will camp in Grand Teton.

There's the huge Gros Ventre Campground at the south end of the park that has like 300+ sites and rarely fills. It's not the greatest site, a little drier and exposed, but easy to get to, most of Grand Teton's bison are nearby, among tons of other things (the pretty Gros Ventre Creek runs through camp). We might want to start here.

In Grand Teton we will want to explore a lot, our favorite stop the Menors Ferry General Store, Jenny Lake, Mormon Row, Kelly Warm Springs, Colter Bay, Lupine Meadows, hikes, backpacking? I'm open to suggestions.

Grand Teton can get REALLY crowded. It can be frustrating. But it's still awesome.

I am thinking our last night (or two) at Grand Teton we try to get sites at Lizard Creek Campground, north end of the park. It is small, forested, beautiful, right off Jackson Lake (you can walk down to it). Plus it's close to Yellowstone, so the travel up there will be shorter. Also, it's close to Colter Bay, which has a great native american museum we will want to check out.

(3)

The last nights will be in Yellowstone. We have spent lots of time in Yellowstone, the southwest quadrant--geyser country. I know that area well, but we have actually never camped there, or ventured beyond, so I know a little less about it.

Of course we will want to see Old Faithful and walk around Geyser Hill, lots of coolness here. The other geyser basins are very close and fewer people. We'll want to see Grand Prismatic Spring, the Fountain Paint Pots, walk around West Thumb (of Yellowstone Lake), maybe even Black Sand and/or Biscuit Basins, play in the warm Firehole River.

After that, I don't know the sights quite as well, but we def want to see Mammoth Hot Springs, go to the north part of the park to try and see some grizzlies, see Yellowstone Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

We could backpack/long dayhike to a wilderness geyser basin (no boardwalks! no crowds!) at Shoshone Lake! I want to hit hot springs, at least the ones in the Rockefeller Parkway (between the two parks):

http://www.jacksonholewy.net/nature/area_hot_springs.php

Here are supposedly some good places to camp in Yellowstone:

http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-the-five-best-places-to-camp-in-yellowstone-sidwcmdev_159352.html

Please offer up any suggestions. Esp for the Yellowstone portion. Anyone doing any reading? I have quite a few books and am going to start going at it. Let's talk more soon.

5 comments:

moonshinejunkyard said...

matt i have the moon handbook for wyoming and i am making my way through the teton/yellowstone sections but to be honest, without a frame of reference i am finding it reads like a foreign language! maybe i'm just tired. but with your ideas mapped out here, and the book in hand, i am able to start to visualize some of the places we'll be going. i'm really excited about hot springs. i would like to try swimming in String Lake, just near Jenny Lake. Jenny Lake looks gorgeous but seems to be super duper crowded in the summer :( we'll probably run into that problem a lot especially with babies so we can't really do any huge hikes. anyway i am so excited to see all these places. i will do more research, just wanted to check in. i also have the yellowstone map from the national park system, as well as a book of pretty photos. how i would love to see a black bear, a wolf, a beaver or moose or trumpeter swan!

moonshinejunkyard said...

oh yeah, and wildflowers! i want to see meadows full of wildflowers and identify them! with those crazy peaks in the background, oh my heart.

mattbeatty said...

Heather I am stoked you're doing that reading! We have swum in String Lake, and it's nice, though the whole area surrounding Jenny Lake does get a bit ridic in summertime.

You can take a boat across Jenny Lake which is super fun, and then hike briefly up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, another nice short hike. Or you can hike about 3 mi around the lake instead (cause the speedboat ride costs money). Many many options!

thewoodenroad said...

one thing i'd really love to do is spend some time in the northeast quadrant. i'd love to bring some binoculars and explore at dawn and dusk and try to spot any wolves that might grace me. definitely would love to camp at least a night up there, maybe even backpacking? im going to check the area out right now to get more educated, but looks like there are two neat campgrounds in the area, pebble creek and slough creek, and i imagine the area is less frequented.

moonshinejunkyard said...

oh i found out that i have one more book! it is just about yellowstone and grand teton and it is the Insiders guide. i am liking it so far as it's a bit more thorough. intimidating to think of the crowds we'll encounter but i'll try swimming anyway! i want to do that 3 mile hike around the lake matt and the little hike at the other side. let's plan that for one day! and yes, joey, that would be my DREAM too.