Yellowstone Roadtrip

[Whopper Stopper]

I spent the last 11 days roadtripping to Yellowstone with my wife, three daughters and our tent trailer. It was definately worth the trip. We piled into the car at 4:00 am and headed east, by 3:30 we stopped at the Holiday Inn in Pocatello and drove into the park in the morning. We camped two nights at Madison but weren't allowed to fish due to high water temperatures. We got up in the morning to see bison, Elk and one Moose on the way to see Old Faithful with about 2000 of our closest friends. We took a little 2 mile hike to see a waterfall and I thought we were going to die. It's a whole lot different hiking at 8,000 feet. I ended up carrying mine and three other day packs just to make it back to the car. The next day we moved our camp to Grant Village on Yellowstone Lake. I even snuck out with my float tube in search of large trout (small trout would have been OK since I caught nothing) the next day we blasted down to Jackson for a float on the Snake. Teton Expeditions did a nice job. We opted for the casual scenic trip and saw lots of Eagles... but they wouldn't let me fish. In the morning I got up at 5:00 to fin around the lake and for three hours-- threw spinners, spoons, jigs, nymphs, streamers... nothing. We relocted our camp to Canyon Campground and I have to say the Lower falls on the Yellowstone River is the most beautiful I have ever seen. On the way up there we drove through Hayden Valley and saw Bison by the hundreds. It was amazing to see what was probably commonplace 150 years ago. I guess that it one of the main things so appealing about camping. The following day we did the Roosevelt horse-ride cookout and had a blast. We also saw a Black Bear and her two cubs at about 40 yards just off the road. It took two rangers to keep the yahoos from doing anything stupid and getting too close. I got up at 4:30 the last day and drove back to Yellowstone Lake for one more try. I was told to fish close to the outlet of the lake where the Yellowstone river starts but I had to stay behind a couple of markers. I paddled out and started tossing spoons. It was so peaceful to be suspended in this crystal clear lake and watch the sun come up reflected on the glassy surface while I rhythmically cast, paused, reeled and cast again. POW, finally a cutthrout hammered my lure and spun my tube around like a top. It was a nice fight and I released a fat 19'' trout after a couple of pictures. I looked up and noticed I was over a hundred yards from where I started and moving. I must have got too close to the outlet and now could barely make progress paddling at full speed. I worked my way toward shore and found the current less so I could finally get back to water that didn't move. I then proceeded a couple hundred yards off shore to try my fly rod and by the time I had it rigged the smooth surface of the lake was replaced by one foot waves and I had a wild ride back to shore. I was very thankful the wind was blowing toward shore Instead of away! We hit the road Sarurday morning and drove to Kit Price camgorund on the Couer'd Alene River in Northern Idaho so we could hit the waterpark the next day. I'm still tender on the backside from those crazy slides. I guess you catch more air and then hit harder when you are 200 lbs than the last time I went 20 years ago when I was 165 lbs dripping wet. One tip for those traveling with multiple kids on a lllooonnngggg trip-- audio books. We checked out several audio books from the library and they kept all of us entertained for hundreds of miles. This was my first trip to Yellowstone and I have to say it is the best of any National Parks I've ever been to. Nothing compares to the combination of sheer size (it's bigger that Rhode Island and Connecticut put together), the proliferation of large game, the geologic features and scenic beauty. Thank God wise people chose to preserve this place as a national treasure at a time when that hadn't been done before. It was the first, and still is the best