Salt Lake City, Grand Teton National Park & Yellowstone National Park
This year, we decided to visit Grand Teton NP and Yellowstone NP. We flew from Brussels via Schiphol directly to Salt Lake City on board Delta Airlines.
Upon arrival in Salt Lake City, the city’s heat immediately overwhelmed us. It was no less than 45 degrees Celsius, and combined with the jetlag, you can imagine that we didn’t do much on the first day besides enjoying an Italian dinner at Caffé Molise and going to bed early.
On our second day, we were already awake at 5 am and decided to explore the surroundings of Salt Lake City. In the morning, we drove to Salt Lake Desert, one of the largest salt flats in the world and definitely a must-visit if you’re in the area! In the afternoon, we went on a hike in the Cottonwood Heights. It was still scorching hot, so we took enough water bottles to stay hydrated. In the evening, tired from our excursions, we had a delightful meal at Bambara restaurant.
On the third day, we left early from Salt Lake City for Jackson Hole. Via Soda Springs, after a six-hour drive, we arrived in Jackson Hole, a very picturesque town at the foot of the Tetons. We stayed at the Rustic Inn Creekside Resort & Spa, one of the best lodges during our trip. Highly recommended! In the evening, we had reserved a table at The Gather restaurant.
On the fourth day, we left early for Grand Teton NP with a guide. After taking beautiful photos of the Tetons reflected in the surrounding creeks, we entered the national park. Within minutes, we stumbled upon a lovely sighting: a moose with her calf, cooling off in the shade on this once again very hot morning. We had a picnic lunch by Jackson Lake. In the afternoon, we continued our journey to Jenny Lake. After a brief stop at Jenny Lake, we had a thrilling moment; a grizzly mom with 2 cubs passed a hiking trail just a few dozen meters away from the hikers. Fortunately, there were no casualties. In the evening, we dined in the bar of The Rustic Inn.
The next day, we continued exploring Grand Teton NP and in the afternoon moved on to Yellowstone NP, the famous park that consists 60% of a massive crater filled with one natural phenomenon after another (geysers, hot mud pools, canyons, thermal activity) and the chance to encounter wildlife at every turn. We stayed a total of 6 days in Yellowstone, fully exploring the park. We stayed successively at The Canyon Lodge in Canyon Village, Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, and Old Faithful Snow Lodge. The area around The Canyon Lodge was simply amazing! Besides the famed Canyon Springs, we saw wildlife almost every day. Near Mount Washburn, we saw a grizzly mom with 3 cubs on two consecutive days. How cute was that! In the Lamar Valley, we saw bisons, coyotes, ospreys, and even a family of honey badgers. It’s all about getting on the trail early enough, and the local wildlife will come right up to you!
Mammoth Hot Springs was nice to see, but not worth staying for 2 days. Besides the hot springs and some occasional deer, there wasn’t much to see. Our next stop was Old Faithful Snow Lodge, where we witnessed the Old Faithful geyser and its activity, but what left a lasting impression on us was the Grand Prismatic Spring. The combination of colors is simply marvelous! When you tally up all the attractions, the thermal activity, and all the wildlife you encounter, you can conclude that Yellowstone is truly one of the most unique places in the world. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any wolves, but we heard from travelers who encountered them feasting on a bison calf, so they’re definitely around.
After 5 days, we left Yellowstone NP and headed to the Togwotee Mountain Pass, where we stayed at the Togwotee Mountain Lodge. A relatively primitive lodge located in a beautiful area where bears, deer, etc. are usually easy to spot. However, the weather was so bad then that it was very difficult to spot animals, let alone travel the gravel roads.
After our stay at the Togwotee Mountain Lodge, it was time to travel back to Salt Lake City and, after spending a night in the city, take the flight back to Europe.
Eric lahey