Yellowstone

Yellowstone NP and the surrounding area to me is like Fort Wilderness is to Scruffy and Tater. We love it and can't get enough of it. After leaving Anaconda MT, we headed for West Yellowstone http://www.wildcatcamperforum.com/t4456-fairmont-rv-park-mt We ended up at Baker's Hole CG run by the NPS. It is on 191 a few miles north of West Yellowstone. We were impressed, paved roads, nice sites. We had a site with electricity and water 50' away for topping off tanks for $14.00/night. It is a no reservation, first come first served CG.

Behind our site we found recent evidence of bear and bison.


The Madison River runs right behind our site. It was a good place for Annie to get swimming lessons.


The Madison River is one of the premier fishing spots in the world, but you can't prove it by me. All the fish are still safe in there. Plenty of bites, but none landed. The steak still tasted good on the grill.


There is not much that you can say about YNP that has not been said excemptat it is breathtaking.


We will definitely come back to this hidden gem of a campground. The town of West Yellowstone is still the same. It is very adept at separating tourist from their money. Diesel $4.06/gal when it was $3.85 most other places in the state. They now have a sales tax when there is no sales tax in Montana. We asked why and no one could answer other than we voted on it. It is stll a place that we will continue to come back to.

It sounds wonderful. Someday we'll get up that way. We'd like to do a National Park trip sometime. The park where you stayed - no reservations - does this fill up? What would a person do if this place was full? Are there other parks nearby?

Won't be getting up there this year, though, we are going to take advantage of the WDW annual passports our kids gave us for our anniversary.

There are 72 sites. The ones that have electric all have 20/30/50 amp hook ups. We saw people coming in as late as 8pm and still getting a site. It is less crowded during the week. There plenty of parks in the area both commercial campgrounds and state or federal ones. Plus there are plenty of trail heads that you can stay the night in if you get stuck.

The annual pass is great to have. We always had one and it was very convenient and saved money, it really took the hassle out of visiting.

Thanks for sharing your photos, those are some great pics. I too love Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Because these two parks are just a few miles apart, I really consider them as one. Yet, as close as they are to each other, the scenery is vastly different. I just wish it wasn’t so darn far away from St. Louis.

If I could only visit one more place before I died, it would be Yellowstone. There is so much to see, so many geyser basins, so many waterfalls, so many animals, and so much awesome beauty. At least once a month I find myself looking at all the photographs I’ve taken in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and wishing I was there.

I agree with you Richard. I look at my pictures regularly from there and go to every website that I can find that has information on it. I have been there so much that now I can see the subtle changes at the thermal features.

Okay, Richard. Mull this around for a while. How about we go together in 2013. What time of year would be best in regards to weather and crowds?

We'd agree that if we didn't hit it off well, we could go our separate ways with no hard feelings.

We could possibly make it a caravan if others want to join us.

There would be no real organized activities. If one couple wants to sightsee, and the other just wants to relax at home, that's fine. If the guys want to go fishing, and the gals want to stay home and bake brownies, that's fine, too. But, Scruffy and Jebby can't stay home and bake brownies.

We would stay at national parks, COE Parks, state and municipal parks as much as possible. Unless there is a wonderful privately owned park where we REALLY want to stay.

Before embarking on a trip like this, we should probably meet up someplace like Table Rock.

I guess I should mention this to Scruffy.

Tater

Tater, that would be wonderful. Fortunately with Richard, store-bought brownies are just as good as home made. I'm the simple and easy cook because I have too much fun going out and about. The Yellowstone area is my all time favorite place to camp. And other forum users are certainly welcome to join us. Robertz675 will you be ready to go back in 2013.

Joyce

DW and I went on a snowmobile tour in Yellowstone a few years back. We had a wonderful time. We have talked about going again in the fall some time. We could possibly be interested in a group meet/caravan depending on our work situation.

We have spent time with other couples before and like Tater suggested, if we all wanted to do something together, it worked out well. If any of us wanted to split off and do something else, we would meet up again later in the day, or even the next day. Everyone was happy that way.

If you plan something like this, put us down as a definite maybe.

Weather permitting (cool enough), I'll turn on the oven and mix up a box of brownies. That's about the extent of my baking in the trailer. I used to bake a lot at home, but with just the two of us, it's really a waste - or maybe waist. Oh - I'll pop open a can of danish and bake them on a cool morning now and then.

Tater

Tater, et al,

Love the idea! 2013 is the year we are planning our Alcan Higway expedition, but we will be traveling west from Winona and if the timing works we could stop for at least a bit. My wife's sister and DH will also be with us in their RV.

Beautiful pics Robert. Thanks for posting them.

Yellowstone is definitely on our list but it will have to be by airplane for us. Mapquest says 1900 miles and 30 hrs driving time each way. A little too much for our 2 week maximum away from work.

This is a real nice time of the year to visit. High 70's during the day and 30/40's at night. We had our heat on during the night. Annie sleeps in bed with us and loves to cuddle. Once Labor Day comes, the attendance drops dramatically.

I too have been here many times in the winter for snowmobiling. We normally rent a place through http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/montana#a3696. It works out very good if you have extra people over a hotel/motel because of cooking and space.

You'd better be careful with the adventure seeking Richard Tater,,,,
He'll have you on a Camel or elephant chugging up the rockies hanging on for dear life before you can blink your eyes......

Just Kidding,,,, ya'll are gonna make me run away from my job and join the caravan.,,,,,, Sounds like Fun.

We have camel and elephant expeditions in the rockies? Neat!!

Tater

how did you find out about bakers hole? did you read about it somewhere or just happen to see it?

I read about it on http://www.rvparkreviews.com/ and http://wecallithome.blogspot.com/search/label/Montana I look at both before I am going on a trip. You read peoples reviews and then formulate your own opinion. I have never really gone to a place that was totally unacceptable. Another one that I check while in transit is http://www.freecampgrounds.com/ good for over nite stays and normally better than Walmart.