husmann@uiuccsb.UUCP (01/11/84)
#N:uiuccsb:12200013:000:447 uiuccsb!husmann Jan 5 12:52:00 1984 I will be taking my honeymoon in Yellowstone Park at the end of June. I would like to hear from anyone on places and things to see in the Yellowstone area, including southeastern Idaho and southwestern Montana. (I am also an avid fly fisherman and if you have any favorite trout fishin' spots in the area, I'd appreciate hearing from you. Please don't tell my fiancee about this!) Thanks in advance. Harlan Husmann ...!pur-ee!uiucdcs!husmann
pector@ihuxw.UUCP (01/17/84)
Harlan, Call up Yellowstone Park Information in Wyoming (1-307-555-1212 gives you directory assistance: ask the operator for the number), and ask them about a 70 or 100 page guidebook to the park (I believe it's called Hamilton's Guide to Yellowstone). I found it very informative. About the area around Yellowstone, get a copy of Readers' Digest's Scenic Wonders of America. In addition to telling you about the park, they tell about all sorts of things within a day's or two's drive of the park. In particular, go south about 30 miles on US 89 to Jackson, WY so you can see the Grand Tetons along the way. There are fishing spots in that direction also (i.e., at Colter's Bay, etc.). Scott Pector
warren@ihnss.UUCP (Warren Montgomery) (01/18/84)
I would agree on the other suggestions posted here and add a few more. (My wife is a geologist who has done field work in and around Yellowstone for 4 years). 1) Get away from the roads. 99% of the people are on the roads, 99% of the scenery isn't. 2) The park accomodations are rather primitive by motel standards, but not intolerable. Most of the cabins are poorly insolated and 30+ years old. 3) You might well look at some of the other things in the area: a) Beartooth mountains. (Out the NE entrance road. This is a relatively deserted wilderness area, once you get off the roads. The road itself is spectacular, climing to nearly 11K feet. In June, they may still be skiing at the summit. b) The tetons. Convenient to the south of the park and quite spectacular. There are no roads in the mountains. I would recommend the cascade canyon or paintbrush canyon trails. c) Tacky tourist traps in Cody and Jackson Wyoming. (If you must get your dose of this, these provide it in quantity, including olde weste saloons, stores, etc. Cody has a museum that isn't bad, as I recall, but I haven't been there in years.) In the park, I would recommend the Mt Washburn trial, which is not arduous, and it's one of the few high mountaintops with a heated enclosure on top. The Specimen Ridge trail (in the same area) is also nice hiking, and if you go far enough you come to a lot of petrified wood that you can actually look at and doesn't have 10 generations of initials carved in it. Another "hot spot" is a swimming hole reached by a 1/2 mile trail from the northern entrance road. It's where a hot spring meets the Gardner river, and any water temperature can be had if you find the right spot. Fishing regulations vary wildly, so check with the rangers. A couple more notes on outdoor activities in this area: The temperature varies tremendously, so be prepared, particularly in June. Also, note that relatively few of the back-country trails have bridges to cross creeks on. In June, be prepared to wade some rather deep streams or teeter on fallen logs. (This was a surprise to me, since most of my hiking had been in New England, where streams are small or have bridges. -- Warren Montgomery ihnss!warren IH x2494
woods@hao.UUCP (Greg Woods) (01/24/84)
I worked in Yellowstone for a summer, and you wanted opinions, but this may
not be what you wanted to hear. First of all, *don't* spend time at Old
Faithful. I know you will feel obligated to go there, but the place is a real
tourist trap, it's like a goddamn city, and there are other geysers in the
park that are both more regular and have bigger eruptions. The best places to
see in the Park are off the main roads. Find a good trail head (the Ranger
stations have maps of all the trails), and hike in two or three miles
away from the road. Two trails that I remember very well are Lake Shoshone
(the trail head is between Old Faithful and West Thumb, I believe. It's about
3 miles from road to lake) and Mt. Washburn, the highest mountain in the
Park (the trailhead is a few miles north of Canyon Village). If you do hike
up Mt. Washburn (3 miles of switchbacks), take the time to hike down to
Canyon Village the back way. The whole trip is about 17 miles, a long
wearying hike, but the trail goes right through the middle of some neat
geyser basins. No signs or wooden rails, either.
Generic advice: go where the people aren't. You will be in some of the
finest wilderness area in the world, but you ain't going to see it from
the road! Have fun!
GREG
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