Yellowstone + Grand Tetons, Wyoming

Our Yellowstone friends had highly suggested entering the park through the North East entrance because it would be less crowded and it would be a more scenic drive. Convinced, we typed it into the GPS and headed out on our 2 hour drive on the Bear Tooth Highway, through the Shoshone National Forest and on to the parks entrance. Erica’s friend, Jess, had suggested they hit up this picturesque highway so we were pumped to get the opportunity…and we’d get to add Montana to list of states we crossed.

The drive was beautiful and worth the little bit of extra time we clocked. It also became extremely clear that we were entering bear country and that these bears do not screw around. We stopped for gas and an XL bottle of bear spray. Bear spray is essentially an intense bottle of pepper spray that also comes equipped with a pamphlet on what to do if you encounter a bear in the wilderness. 3 pages in, we were complete freaked out and felt less informed on exactly what to do if we ran into a bear, but the jist was BE TERRIFIED: don’t run because bears often “fake” charge, possibly get in the fetal position and protect your neck if they do charge, don’t climb a tree because bears can be 10 ft tall when standing, do not get in between a mama bear and her cubs, do not sleep near your food and throw everything out that smells before you go to bed, if a bear approaches your tent all bets are off….and I guess if all else fails…use the bear spray? Well shit, here’s the hoping in purchasing the bear spray it somehow meant our stay would be grizzly free.

Slightly terrified, we made it to the entrance and purchased a National Parks pass at the and started our journey through the largest national park in the USA. We were greeted by herds of bison, the Yellowstone River and loads of fly fishers. We planned our route, stopping by Tower Falls, the geyser pools and of course Old Faithful. Now, don’t get us wrong, Yellowstone was beautiful but it was also a trap, a tourist trap that is. We thought having a selfie stick would make us stick out on this trip but in fact it made us blend in here. Tour buses unloaded with every walk of life horribly dressed for the hot outdoor adventures that await them. Selfie sticks battled one another for the best views and Tim’s love for the outdoors began to wane. We made our way through the main attractions and after getting stuck behind a bison crossing the road, we arrived at Old Faithful 3 hours later. We picked a bench upfront for a solid viewing and waited. We waited 45 minutes and faithful as always, the geyser went off without a hitch. We’re still not convinced there isn’t some sort of Geyser Wizard behind a curtain pressing the button every 45 minutes to spew steaming water out of the center of the earth, but it was pretty cool. Checking the last item off our Yellowstone list, we made our way out of the park towards the Grand Tetons.

The moment the Tetons came into view, we realized everything we had heard was true. They are much more attractive and exciting step sister to Yellowstone that tourist ignore for some reason. The mountains rise out of now where are spectacular! Erica’s sister send some tips along from a friend and we followed his advice and stopped at the Jackson Lake Lodge to take in the awesome view. While there we asked the concierge which campgrounds were open and she sent us to Gros Venture. We dashed off to the campground in hopes to get there before sunset. We arrived just as the rangers were closing up and secured the last spot on the grounds with a great view of the mountain range. We pulled up to our home for the night and It was almost as if the ranger knew we had read the bear guide and conveniently put us next to the dumpster on the prairie edge, next to what we imaged to be perfect bear hunting ground….the skull and vertebrae bones were just the cherry on top.

We cooked ourselves sausage and peppers and Tim started a fire as the sun set. After triple cleaning, we we turned our attention to the sky and downed a bottle of red wine. This was by far the most clear sky we had seen yet. The Big Dipper was in fact huge, the milky way really did seem milky and the shooting stars we so bright we couldn’t believe they were real. The red wine started to kick in and we settled into our tent for what we hoped would be a good nights sleep.

Somewhere between 3 and 5am the nightmares kicked in and Tim woke up to the sound of sniffing….which could be nothing other than bear sniffing of course. He woke Erica up, who’s ears perked at the sound of something close to their tent as well. Convinced it had to be a bear, or a pack of bears, we formed a plan. Erica would run to the car with Roux and Tim would be right behind with the bear spray. Ready, set….Erica ran to the car, Tim grabbed the sleeping bag and Roux and of course no one grabbed the bear spray. We turned the lights on to find nothing but pure darkness and laughed as we realized our imagination probably got the best of us, and if nothing else, it was more likely a field mouse sniffing our tent. Grizzly or no grizzly, the car seemed like the safest bet so we snuggled in and watched a great sunrise.

Since we got such an early start we decided to head to Jenny Lake and take in the Tetons over the beautiful water. The trail around the lake provided awesome views and extra clean drinking water for Roux. The ranger at the entrance to the park had also suggested we head down River Road, a dirt road that’s never used, to get the best view and take some great photos. The deserted road offered a “stunning" view and gave us the chance to show the range our Tetons. If you ever make it to Yellowstone– do yourself a favor–head to the Tetons instead to show em your birthday suit and don’t forget the bear spray!

Bear Spray: $50
Grand Tetons Translation: Large Teat