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Yellowstone and Grand Tetons – The Quad Squad +
- By Michael Lakus
- Read Time: 7min
Yellowstone and Tetons Roadtrip
The Squad is back for the first trip to Yellowstone in 2020! These are exciting times, people. After a 5 month hiatus, it was a well-deserved Quad Squad outing with no shortage of some outrageous L’s (congratulations to Matt for taking the brunt of ’em). Bison, brews and big time hikes. Buckle up.
And of course, here is the highlight reel. Enjoy.
Travel Logistics
This was a 7 day trip flying from MCO-SLC round trip. I'm not going to get into the airline credit payments since they have caused me significant internal strife due to all the cancellations from April - August 2020. Flights were all < $300 on United and SLC was by far the cheapest and fastest route out there at the time. Tack on an Avis rental, an Airbnb, a hostel and a Marriott for a grand total of around $777 for this logistical operation.
The itinerary was set for 5 days between Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons, with two additional days for flights and road trips. We started it off with a 4+ hour drive up to Island Park in Idaho, naturally stopping at Chill’s for that sustenance. Really sets the tone. Have a looksie at the map, at your leisure, of course. Island Park was our Airbnb home base. We’d enter Yellowstone each morning from the west entrance (40min drive). For the Tetons, we stayed slope-side at The Hostel, about 20min from Jackson. The driving is never boring here.
Wilderness Reclamation
Now, the Squad had a general idea about the first leg of the trip being in Yellowstone. However, I must say we did an excellent job playing it by beer and covering some serious ground. We ended up splitting the 3 days into upper, middle and lower sections. On the first day, we trail-blazed the northern half, making it basically to to northeast entrance. Big time majestic bison were seen; even walking right up to our car twice to mean mug us. They are absolute units and should not be tussled with.
This excursion also included Norris Basin, the wide open Lamar Valley, Soda Butte Creek zen time, and Mammoth Springs where I began a strict red pepper and smoked Gouda soup diet at any restaurant in the park.
Traffic in Yellowstone
Be prepared for a gnarly west gate entrance line on the weekend, and for wildlife to hold traffic up for a good bit of time. The Yellowstone app is a useful tool for working around closed roads and natural disasters, such as wildfires.
Yellowstone South
The second day was the south half, and focused mainly on hydration activacion – geysers, springs and lakes. The Squad could not catch a break with timing the geysers, but we had much better luck with the springs (especially Prismatic). In retrospect, the Grand Geyser and Grand Prismatic are where it’s at. Old Faithful is aging gracefully, but still managed to give us a coffee chug moment. We also took the scenic route around the west side of Yellowstone lake, which had more to offer if we had time.
Additionally, it’s worth mentioning there are loads of stops along the roads in Yellowstone for overlooks, trail heads, etc. Although we hit most of the main attractions by car, the trails offer some more remote access to the park.
The Super Scenic
Alas, we hit the heart of Yellowstone to see some canyons and close out the tab. We kicked it off with a stop in Canyon Village to plot our route (and get some lemon layer cake, amazing). After getting our bearing, it was a straight shot hiking the canyon through Artist Point and Sublime Point. Hands down best overlooks in the park we’re aware of.
Following the canyon was the mud volcano and some sulfur springs that really awoke the sinuses. Then it was time for some Mexican food where Kolbs single-handedly brought down the restaurant’s POS system after the sangrias didn’t go through. The thirst was real.
Jackson and the Lake
The second half of the trip took us to the Jackson area where the main attraction was Delta Lake. The video doesn’t do this day the justice it deserves, but this hike was definitely one of the more challenging things the Squad has undergone; and we are no strangers to being in a bind. In totality, the hike was over 9 miles round trip, with some fairly steep sections where crawl-climbing was not unusual. What really got us was the altitude. Us Florida boys need to acclimate! Nevertheless, we made it to the top to see those Tetons in all their glory and take a plunge into the water that took your breath away, both metaphorically and physically speaking.
Hiking
I used the AllTrails app for this hike which is a decent guide. The reviews for this trail make it sound much more daunting than it is. For reference, we had normal training shoes and averaged just under 4 hours total hiking time.
We obviously rewarded ourselves generously at Gun Barrel by ordering all the things (bison ribs are ridiculously delicious) and followed that up with some Huckleberry ice cream cake. It’s no secret we knocked out asap at The Hostel afterwards.
Before leaving Jackson the next morning, the breakfast of champions was devoured at Cafe Genevieve. A special shoutout also goes to Atelier Ortega and those sweet, sweet confectioneries to fix me right up.
Salty Ending
The trip attempted to wind down in Salt Lake city, but as mentioned in the beginning of this post, the Squad god determined it was Matt’s time to take the L’s (see video ending). As if losing his Apple watch at the bottom of Delta Lake wasn’t enough, the Squad god would smite Matt further, sending him to the depths of another, less pleasant lake moments before crushing his souvenir mug, along with his hopes and dreams.
Salt Lake City then suddenly experienced gale force winds that day, where we witnessed transformers exploding, city-wide power outages, trees down and a hit and run car crash. Needless to say, it was time to go. Somehow, planes were still flying.
Hey, but these crises are what make these trips memorable and worth it. Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons were a doozie, and I always look forward to Quad Squad trips and the jokes that ensue. We’ve been at it for almost 4 years now, and I can’t wait to start picking it back up as the COVID-19 restrictions start being relaxed.
Time for some dubs,
-ML
Recap of Places
- Island Park – where we got our cabin Airbnb
- Yellowstone – reference map for points of interest
- Delta Lake
- The Hostel – good rooms right by the Grand Tetons
- Jackson / Jackson Hole – reference map for points of interest
- The Hostel
- Gun Barrel – steak and game
- Salt Lake City
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Michael Lakus
IT professional, athlete, musician, ponderer of many things... Born and raised in Florida, I began traveling internationally after college. I created this site primarily to remind myself of where I've been and to share my experiences on traveling with a quirky, stress-free, travel attitude.
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