"I like sleeping in a tent," I hear Amanda tell Jessica as we try to beat the rain and setup camp in Yellowstone's Madison Campground. I stopped what I was doing to confirm the statement. Jessica tries to get the words out between laughing spells. "No, she said 'LOVE'--not 'like'. Love."
When I shared the itinerary for this trip with my friends and family, most seemed eager to hear about the plan and the backup plan. "Backup plan.... For what?" I replied the last time it came up. "Well, how often do you and your wife go camping?" my MITRE colleague asked over lunch a few days before Amanda and I were scheduled to leave. Eight or so others around the table began to laugh as it became clear that there was only one plan. "She'll be hooked. I know she'll love it now that we have the right gear." To fully appreciate the qualifier, one would have to know about the pilot study we ran a couple years ago in West Virginia with our friends Will and Tina. It's enough to say that we came away with some lessons learned. This time, we were prepared.
Rain began to pepper our site as I tried to get the fire started. Jessica and Amanda were rushing to get dinner prepped and our site setup. It was already dark, and we had been on the road for 10+ hours. We only had an hour before lights out. We got everything worked out in time to have burgers and S'mores before calling it a day. It poured later that night and the temperature dove into the 20s each evening for the remainder of the trip. It was some of the best sleep we can remember.
Yellowstone was the second stop on our trip. We spent two full days exploring the west side of the park. The first day we visited Old Faithful, the Grand Prismatic Spring Trail, and Artist's Paint Pots Trail. The last stop was my personal favorite for the 'drive-up' portion of our trip. Artist's Paint Pots has several different geothermal features in a small area, including hot springs, mudpots, a fumarole, and geysers. The deafening fumarole venting steam from several holes in the ground was the highlight for me.
We visited Uncle Tom's Trail (300+ stairs) to see the Lower Falls, hiked South Rim Trail along the Grand Canyon, summited Mount Washburn, and drove the Hayden Valley and Yellowstone Lake the second day. We also spotted more stars on our second night than any of us can remember seeing up to that point. Without city lights for hundreds of miles around, the Milky Way was clearly visible too.
Overall, Yellowstone was a worthwhile stop, but the crowds made it feel more like a horribly underdeveloped version of Disneyland than a protected wilderness. I could be convinced to return, but next time I will look for ways to put some distance between me and other tourists.
Key stats:
When I shared the itinerary for this trip with my friends and family, most seemed eager to hear about the plan and the backup plan. "Backup plan.... For what?" I replied the last time it came up. "Well, how often do you and your wife go camping?" my MITRE colleague asked over lunch a few days before Amanda and I were scheduled to leave. Eight or so others around the table began to laugh as it became clear that there was only one plan. "She'll be hooked. I know she'll love it now that we have the right gear." To fully appreciate the qualifier, one would have to know about the pilot study we ran a couple years ago in West Virginia with our friends Will and Tina. It's enough to say that we came away with some lessons learned. This time, we were prepared.
Rain began to pepper our site as I tried to get the fire started. Jessica and Amanda were rushing to get dinner prepped and our site setup. It was already dark, and we had been on the road for 10+ hours. We only had an hour before lights out. We got everything worked out in time to have burgers and S'mores before calling it a day. It poured later that night and the temperature dove into the 20s each evening for the remainder of the trip. It was some of the best sleep we can remember.
Yellowstone was the second stop on our trip. We spent two full days exploring the west side of the park. The first day we visited Old Faithful, the Grand Prismatic Spring Trail, and Artist's Paint Pots Trail. The last stop was my personal favorite for the 'drive-up' portion of our trip. Artist's Paint Pots has several different geothermal features in a small area, including hot springs, mudpots, a fumarole, and geysers. The deafening fumarole venting steam from several holes in the ground was the highlight for me.
We visited Uncle Tom's Trail (300+ stairs) to see the Lower Falls, hiked South Rim Trail along the Grand Canyon, summited Mount Washburn, and drove the Hayden Valley and Yellowstone Lake the second day. We also spotted more stars on our second night than any of us can remember seeing up to that point. Without city lights for hundreds of miles around, the Milky Way was clearly visible too.
Overall, Yellowstone was a worthwhile stop, but the crowds made it feel more like a horribly underdeveloped version of Disneyland than a protected wilderness. I could be convinced to return, but next time I will look for ways to put some distance between me and other tourists.
Key stats:
- 442 miles traveled between Rocky Mountain National Park and Yellowstone
- Average speed was 48 miles per hour
- Averaged 46.2 miles per gallon on this hike
