Here is my trip report, driving from Minneapolis to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Sept. 11 through Sept. 18, 2020. I am a solo traveler on this trip, driving my Kia Optima, camping in a tent, and eating food that I’m bringing along. I’m a married father of two girls, and this is my first major solo trip. I visited YNP with my wife and kids last summer, and haven’t been to GTNP since I was about age 3.

DAY 1 - FRIDAY. Plan: Drive home to Teddy Roosevelt NP

Had to switch to Plan B immediately after leaving the house because Beartooth Pass was still closed when I left home. So reversed my route and driving toward the Bighorn Mountains instead. Drove 830 miles in 13 hours from Minneapolis area to Ten Sleep, WY. Took the loop through Badlands NP in South Dakota and bought my annual pass. Camped at Ten Sleep RV Park, and walked to Ten Sleep Brewing for an evening beer. Saw one cow moose in the Bighorns.

DAY 2 - SATURDAY. Plan: Drive Ten Sleep to Cooke City, MT

Making it all the way to Ten Sleep on day 1 allowed me to take my time getting to Cooke City, where I had a reservation at the Alpine Hotel (no camping due to bears). Departed Ten Sleep at 7am. Drove east back through Ten Sleep Canyon to see it going the other way. Then north to Sheridan, WY for a grocery stop. Next was back through the Bighorns on 14 to 14A, another amazing drive! Checked into the Alpine Hotel, and then headed into YNP for wolf viewing in the evening. Headed to Slough Creek and waited for wolves for two hours, but none were around. Headed back toward Cooke City, and found the Butte Junction wolves (and group of people) there. There were also two grizzly bear right with the wolves, with one wolf following each grizzly. The wolf and grizzly would interact occasionally, it was really neat!

DAY 3 - SUNDAY. Plan: Hike, Mammoth, Hike, end at Madison Campground

Left Cooke City at 615am. Watched the Junction Butte wolfpack again in Lamar Valley. Hiked to Hellroaring Creek, 4.32 miles RT (excellent hike with meadows, woods, ascents and descents). Hiked Mammoth Hot Springs including walking the driving loop, 3.76 miles total. Hiked the Norris Geyser Basin, 2.49 miles total. Drove Firehole Lake Drive, saw White Dome Geyser erupt. Drove out to West Yellowstone to get gas and to call my wife. On the way, watched a bull elk and his ~20 cows along the Madison River. Checked into my campsite at Madison Campground for 2 nights there. I was starting to get a bit tired, but it was too early to stay at camp, so I went for a short drive. I’m so glad I did! At Madison Junction in the Gibbon River, there was a crowd watching something, and I caught a glimpse of a moose heading into the woods. I stopped, and for the next two hours I followed the bull moose and two cows (from a safe distance of course). They stayed in the woods for a while, but I knew they would head back to the river, and eventually they did. They put on a great show! Be sure to watch the video in my album, it was a trip highlight!

DAY 4 - MONDAY. Plan: Hike, tour, geyser watch in YNP

Left Madison at 7am. Drove to Old Faithful area, and watched OF at 745am with just a handful of people. From there, hiked to Mallard Lake, 7.75 miles RT (nice hike with no other people). Walked the Upper Geyser Basin – saw Grand Geyser, Daisy, Lion (twice), OF from Beehive. Then I took a break in the car because Riverside was predicted in about 2.5 hours. As I sat in my car, I watched herds of people and cars, and got frustrated – all of that commotion wasn’t what I wanted. Did some research and found a backup – hiked up Purple Mountain, 6.49 miles RT (challenging climb, great view, few people). Drove Firehole Canyon Drive, and took a dip in the river. Drove to Grand Prismatic in the evening, but there were so many people still there so I didn’t stop.

DAY 5 - TUESDAY. Plan: Drive to GTNP, get campsite, hike to Delta Lake

Left Madison at 640am, and drove toward GTNP via Canyon and Hayden Valley. Saw 5 elk including two bulls, all of them were solo. In GTNP, stopped at Mormon Row and the TA Moulton barn. Drove to Gros Ventre to get a campsite. I waited in line for about 30 minutes, and finally got a site for 3 nights at about 10am. Headed out for the hike of the day – Lupine Meadows TH to Delta Lake. 8.5 miles RT, 2457 feet elevation gain. Fun, challenging hike, with an amazing view at the end, but Delta Lake is no “secret” hike. Then relaxed at the campsite in the evening.

DAY 6 - WEDNESDAY. Plan: Hike Cascade Canyon to Lake Solitude

Depart Gros Ventre at 605am headed to String Lake TH. Hiked String Lake, through Cascade Canyon, to Lake Solitude, and back. 16.79 miles total with 2670 feet of elevation gain. This was an AMAZING hike! I loved it so much – the views in the North Fork toward Lake Solitude are wonderful. Spent about an hour at Lake Solitude enjoying the scenery, ate lunch, saw a fox trot along the lake, and I swam to the small wooded island! The water was so cold but so energizing. In the evening, relaxed at the campsite, and walked around Gros Ventre campground – 2.71 miles total.

DAY 7 - THURSDAY. Plan: Hike Paintbrush Canyon to Holly Lake

Depart Gros Ventre at 6am toward String Lake TH. Hiked Paintbrush Canyon, and continued up toward Paintbrush Divide because I wanted to get over 10,000 ft. elevation. Paintbrush Canyon was really neat, and a different type of hike than Cascade Canyon. I saw one black bear, and a bull elk with two cows. Once over 10,000, I figured I should just go up to the Divide. After I got over the small glacier and saw the final ascent and evaluated my water situation, I decided not to go up to the Divide. Headed back down to destination #2, Holly Lake. Jumped into Holly Lake and talked to 4 other hikers there for a while, then returned to String Lake. 16.42 miles total, 3562 foot elevation gain. Afterward, I got my only restaurant food of the trip – a takeout pizza from Dornans, and it was really good. In the evening, relaxed at the campsite, took a dip/rinse in the Gros Ventre river, and walked along the Gros Ventre river and saw one cow moose.

DAY 8 - FRIDAY. Plan: Drive toward home including Beartooth Pass

Depart Gros Ventre at 6am. Drove north through YNP, exited NE entrance. Saw a few elk, many bison (duh!), a coyote in Lamar Valley. Drove over Beartooth Pass (saw three mountain goats), had a beer at Red Lodge Alex, and made it to Medora, ND Red Trail Campground at 7pm. DAY 9 - SATURDAY. Plan: Drive TRNP and to home Depart Red Trail Campground at 615am. Drove through Teddy Roosevelt NP for a while (saw wild turkey, prairie dogs, a lot of mule deer including four bucks). Then headed home, arriving here at 5pm.

SUMMARY:

On the trip, I really wanted to focus on good and challenging hikes away from the crowds, and I found that! The parks were very busy and popular parking spots were over-crowded. Getting just a mile or so away from the roads pays dividends! I also wanted to see wildlife, and wildlife cooperated.

The weather was amazing. Fire haze would settle in every day – mornings started out clear and it generally got hazier at the day went on. High temps were 75-80, lows at night 30-35, very little wind.

While driving, I listened to a lot of podcasts, which seemed to make the driving go much faster than music.

Thank you for reading! I’d love to answer any questions. I could provide a lot more commentary, but don’t want to bore everyone. In the end, amazing trip, and I really want to do more mountain hiking and would like to do a backcountry trip.