Plan SB's Elite Vision Quest Through Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho

[Church Creeper]

Beautiful non pics!

[mocat]

?

[sys]

that looks really cool, mocat.  congratulations on the mountain lion viewing.

[ben ji]

That first pick with mt Baker in the background is my favorite.

[Sandstone Outcropping]

incredible pics, glad you got to do this trip, mocat

[asava]

Timmy H's, surprise lake, insane bridge crossing, mtn lion canadian stand off, cool buildings... hell yes, dude. Looks like a dream.

[mocat]

t-y guys it ruled. i will be bikepacking again asap.

that looks really cool, mocat.  congratulations on the mountain lion viewing.

also saw some small snakes on the trail that were black with longitudinal yellow stripes like this. common garter snake?

[Tobias]

cobra

[asava]

fer-de-lance.

[sys]

also saw some small snakes on the trail that were black with longitudinal yellow stripes like this. common garter snake?

both the common garter snake and the northwestern garter snake would fit that description.  common garter snakes would generally have some red coloration mixed in along the dark stripes, but it might not be visible without looking at them fairly closely.

[star seed 7]

Saw one of those little snakey bois quickly slithering away the other day when my dog was rooting around under the deck stairs.

He got away safely to the neighbors yard

[asava]

Sounds like you got it backwards. You were the one who got away safely.

[Sandstone Outcropping]

Need input from gE vision questing experts. Looks like we are going to be doing the Yellowstone pilgrimage / road trip  this summer (not an ideal time but it looks like the only option with the kids' school / activity schedules). We're planning to leave roadtrip from central KS and stop in the Badlands / Custer state Park area in SD on the way to Yellowstone. Will probably be around Yellowstone / Grand Teton for 3 -4 days. Any recommendations for random roadside attractions to hit or good places to stay on the east or south of Yellowstone?

[tdaver]

Yellowstone is absolutely massive and requires a ton of driving as is.  Stay inside the park if possible to avoid adding extra hours of driving each day.  Also makes it easier to avoid peak crowds and to see wildlife.  Get out exploring early, siesta at camp or wherever midday, and then get back out late afternoon/evening.

Staying in the park isn’t critical for Tetons, but it’s basically there or Jackson as your options.  You can hit some of Teton as you leave Yellowstone one day, stay wherever for a night, and see some more the next day. 

Book ASAP.  The in park options fill up quickly.

[Sandstone Outcropping]

Yellowstone is absolutely massive and requires a ton of driving as is.  Stay inside the park if possible to avoid adding extra hours of driving each day.  Also makes it easier to avoid peak crowds and to see wildlife.  Get out exploring early, siesta at camp or wherever midday, and then get back out late afternoon/evening.

Staying in the park isn’t critical for Tetons, but it’s basically there or Jackson as your options.  You can hit some of Teton as you leave Yellowstone one day, stay wherever for a night, and see some more the next day. 

Book ASAP.  The in park options fill up quickly.

where do you recommend staying inside the park?

[mocat]

if you're camping, madison campground was a great central location with nice bathrooms.

I have decided that I want to VQ to Yellowstone next summer. I am beginning to do research/ planning for the trip now. Any pro tips/ reccomendos are appreciated. I intend to camp outside the park and head in quite early every morning. This thread is my inspiration.

5 nights camping at Madison campground.

saw 4 grizzlies from ~1 mile away in Hayden valley, using a scope. they appeared to be tussling over a carcass. was amaze.

one morning we woke up at 4 am and drove to Slough Creek in the Lamar valley and observed 8 wolves for like 2 hours, also ~1 mile away using a scope. there were a bunch of pups just screwing around, and then an adult showed up with some food (couldn't tell what it was) and then all the pups went apeshit and started howling, and the adult led them at full sprint up the side of a hill where (apparently, according to the wolf watching nerds who were there) the adult would regurgitate some food for the pups. it was incredible to watch.

i also jumped off a cliff in Firehole Canyon. i mean i say cliff but it was probably like 30 feet. it appeared to be approximately 7 million feet high when i was up there tho. i have a pretty hilarious gopro video of the jump. i unconsciously made a Hulk/schwarzenegger sound in midair. i even bitched out at first but then decided to do it since several small children did it right in front of me no problem. it was real VQ type stuff

also i have an enormous pro tip for any would-be yellowstone VQ'rs: wake up early and get out there early. come back to your campground for lunch, and then go out again for sunset. the crowds are huge but they are also a bunch of idiots and they do everything in the middle of the day, so you can avoid them by using the enormous pro tip listed above. another great benefit is that you get more wildlife action at dawn & dusk, and also your photos look better.

Yellowstone is approximately infinity square miles, so you will need a real vehicle to drive everywhere. in 5 nights we filled up the tank twice just from driving around inside the park 

congratulations on your decision to go to yellowstone. follow pro tips listed above. it is impossible to overemphasize how enormous the park is. when you want to go somewhere it is like a half day time commitment. Madison is fairly centrally located between a bunch of cool stuff.

[tdaver]

We have camped at Canyon Village in Yellowstone and Colter Bay in Teton.  Both of those areas have cabins/lodges if you don’t want to camp.

[Sandstone Outcropping]

We have camped at Canyon Village in Yellowstone and Colter Bay in Teton.  Both of those areas have cabins/lodges if you don’t want to camp.

thanks for the tips elite vision questers mocat and tdaver.

the advice about avoiding the middle of the day has certainly held true for us at RMNP. Have had some incredibly peaceful / meaningful times with the fam when we've gone back into the park at the end of the day. Great memories of one of my little 'croppings perched on a boulder sketching a waterfall in the evening light.

[ben ji]

Need input from gE vision questing experts. Looks like we are going to be doing the Yellowstone pilgrimage / road trip  this summer (not an ideal time but it looks like the only option with the kids' school / activity schedules). We're planning to leave roadtrip from central KS and stop in the Badlands / Custer state Park area in SD on the way to Yellowstone. Will probably be around Yellowstone / Grand Teton for 3 -4 days. Any recommendations for random roadside attractions to hit or good places to stay on the east or south of Yellowstone?

On your way back to KS try to drive through Thermopolis and the wind river canyon. You drive through the same boring sagebrush steppe you see all over the state then BOOM. You are in a giant beautiful canyon just driving along.

[Sandstone Outcropping]

Looks like most in the park hotels are pretty well booked up for summer 2023. Putting the Yellowstone VQ on pause until summer 2024.

Planning to redirect toward SW Colorado. Has anyone been to Canyons of the Ancients national Monument? Would kids like it?  Is it too hot to go to Arches National Park in July? Trying to decide if we should swing out into Utah or save that for a spring / fall trip at some point in the future.

[tdaver]

Moab is pretty dang hot in July.  Plan for highs in the upper 90s to 100+.  Fall and Spring are definitely the ideal times to go, but summer is still doable if you’re going to be nearby.  Lots of people go in the summer.  I’ve just never done it because I’m close enough to go any random weekend.  Arches has a timed entry permit system now, so make sure to book that if you go.

[Sandstone Outcropping]

Moab is pretty dang hot in July.  Plan for highs in the upper 90s to 100+.  Fall and Spring are definitely the ideal times to go, but summer is still doable if you’re going to be nearby.  Lots of people go in the summer.  I’ve just never done it because I’m close enough to go any random weekend.  Arches has a timed entry permit system now, so make sure to book that if you go.

Any thoughts on Canyons of the Ancients? Were planning 1 - 2 days of Mesa Verde. The kids may be maxed out on archeology after that.

[tdaver]

Sorry, it’s on the todo list along with Hovenweep but haven’t been there yet.  But I can see how kids may have had there fill of cliff dwellings after Mesa Verde.

[sys]

everybody loves the colorado plateau, but the west desert is pretty damn awesome and it's basically empty any time of year.

[Sandstone Outcropping]

Last night, I was flipping thru my Colorado Delorme and I learned for the first time that there is a geologic feature called Grand Mesa in West Central Colorado that sits at 10,000 feet and is dotted with hundreds of pristine lakes nestled in forests and meadows.