Yellowstone National Park – Summer 2021

Day 1: Yellowstone National Park

We landed in Bozeman, Montana late Sunday morning and then spent about 2 hours driving to one end of Yellowstone National Park. Pro tip: We stopped at Walmart to pick up some essentials for the week including a case of water and some food. The park is enormous (it’s the 4th largest US National Park) and there are many unique stops that can be visited. Sam and I were traveling without kids and were eager to make the most of our time.

Mammoth Hot Springs: The Mammoth Hot Springs were created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate (Wikipedia). It looks like steps and ranges in color from white to a deep brown. There is a paved path around the hot springs and the walk takes about an hour. (There are some steps too, so beware if travelling with little kids.)

Lamar Valley: Yellowstone is famous for the bison who roam free throughout the park. We headed to Lamar Valley and were not disappointed by the herd of bison that we saw. We climbed over a stream to get a better look. (In hindsight, we did not really need to take this excursion out to Lamar Valley because we saw plenty of other bison throughout the duration of our trip.)

Day 2: Yellowstone National Park

A quick note about our lodgings – As mentioned before, the park is huge and we wanted to explore all of it. Therefore, we switched hotels every night to maximize our sightseeing time. The first night we stayed at a small but clean hotel right inside the park edge.

We started the morning bright and early at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We did a few short hikes here and the views were incredible! The waterfalls were awe inspiring and showed the awesomeness of Hashem’s nature.

Mud Volcano / West Geyser Thumb Basin: We then drove to the Mud Pots, making a brief pit stop at Hayden Valley to see more bison. Due to the pH and temperatures of the ground, the mud can bubble, creating mud pots with strong odors. (Read more about mud pots here.) The guided trail allowed us to see the science in action.

Old Faithful: This is probably the most famous site at Yellowstone – a geyser that erupts predictably and shoots water about 130 feet in the air. Eruptions normally last between 1.5 and 5 minutes. We stayed in the Old Faithful Lodges right behind the Old Faithful Geyser. The room was tiny, but clean enough and perfect for our stay. Because we were so close to the geyser, we were able to see it erupt multiple times. Each time was awesome.

Day 3: Yellowstone continued

Grand Prismatic Spring – I was most excited to see this part of the park. When I was younger, I went to Achva West, a teen tour of the west coast of the US, and therefore had already seen Old Faithful before. I was really drawn to pictures of the Grand Prismatic Spring and couldn’t wait to see the rainbow hues. Unfortunately, it was very foggy when we went in the morning and the colors were not very clear. I insisted that we head back later in the afternoon when the weather cleared up and it was absolutely gorgeous! We also hiked the Fairy Falls Trailhead to the Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook, where we saw even more amazing views of the spring.

We stopped at several other trails throughout the day including the Fountain Paint Pots, Firehole Lake Drive, Biscuit Basin, Upper Geyser Basin and the Morning Glory Pool. Each spot was unique and beautiful. Yellowstone National Park offers so many different landscapes and scenic views. The colors were incredibly vibrant!

After doubling back to the Grand Prismatic Spring, we were on our way to Grand Teton National Park, which shares a border with Yellowstone National Park. On the way, we passed the Continental Divide.

Day 4: Grand Teton National Park

The previous night we stayed in cabins in the Colter Bay Village area of the park. We spent some time in the Colter Bay swim area and walking along the beach by the lake. As we were going to sleep, Sam thought he heard/saw something flying around the room. I dismissed his thoughts, but a few minutes later, he heard it again and we slept in the other room in the cabin. In the morning we realized that there was a bat in our original room. We didn’t think too much of it, but as soon as we got home, my dad insisted that we get rabies shots, which was very inconvenient and tedious. But anyway, back to Grand Teton Park.

Grand Teton is full of scenic lookouts and overlooks. We stopped at several spots including Oxbow Bend Overlook, Mormon Row, Snake River Overlook and Schwabacher Landing. Each was beautiful!

Jenny Lake & Inspiration Point – these spots are the highlight of Grand Teton National Park. The drive to these hikes was also gorgeous and we stopped along the way for pretty shots. In order to explore Jenny Lake, you can either hike there or take a shuttleboat across. Although it was a long wait, we decided to take the boat so that we could save our energy to hike to Inspiration Point. The hike was long and windy, but relatively fun and enjoyable. We spotted some reptiles along the way, but didn’t see any bears. The views from the top were breathtaking and remarkable!

We ended the day walking around the cute town of Jackson, Wyoming. The next day we headed to the airport, flew home and went straight to the ER for rabies shots.

A note about kosher food: This trip was challenging for us. There was no fresh kosher food/restaurants in the towns that we visited. Since we were switching hotels every night and spending many hours in the car during the day, bringing food with us was impossible as it would have spoiled in the heat of the day and we couldn’t keep it refrigerated. We did some research before going and got a little inventive. We bought a collapsible electric kettle that allowed us to have access to boiling water and reusable silicone bowls. We used this water to cook foods such as couscous, noodle soups, oatmeal and mashed potatoes. For breakfast we had granola bars and dry cereal. For lunch we prepared sandwiches with tuna fish or nutella. Some nights before dinnertime we stopped at a grocery store to get some fresh vegetables or a salad kit. In one or two hotels we had access to a microwave and were able to cook rice or other microwaveable meals. These new tricks changed our travel lifestyle and made it easier for us to explore new places that have limited kosher food and fridge/freezer accessibility.