Anyone been to Yellowstone?

Do you know how many other posters Dubious has taken to Yellowstone?

You are a filthy bottomed wench.

 

If I were 20 years younger, I would totally want to ski Jackson Hole. The whole place looks like a double black diamond.

These days I am not paying to go some place cold.

But with as much snow as the West is getting there will probably be some great, warm, Spring skiing this year.

My Yellowstone story goes like this: We went with another couple and for the Yellowstone tour we decided to let the girls drive. My bud and I got in the back of the mini-van with a bottle of Crown and we rode all over with the big sliding door open. Every time we passed a park ranger he would yell at us to close the door, but we were having way too much fun.

Much to our surprise they had a damned good rock station on the radio in the park.

That's about as close as I get to getting all "naturey".

 

I second these comments.

My list of national parks visited includes Yellowstone, Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, Carlsbad, Petrified Forest, Saguaro, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Mt. Rainier, Guadalupe Mountains, Great Smokey Mountains....and I'm sure others I've forgotten about.

And my top two, consistently, are Zion and Rocky Mountain.

I go to Rocky Mountain all the time. The great thing about it is that it has great size and hundreds of great hikes, including a climbable, though still strenuous 14er, the continental divide, solid wildlife, 2 hours drive from Denver airport, great flyfishing and it's surrounded by other national forests that are all a relatively short drive.

I've only been to Zion once but am dying to go back. First, something about slot canyons just make me feel good. Second, the canyon itself, in that it is still vast and enormous, but nowhere near as expansive as Grand Canyon, almost feels more impressive. And the hiking was awesome.

Unfortunately, to go to Zion and not do a canyon hike would be horrible, and spring time likely isn't the best time. With winter run-offs, and rainfall (which I think peaks in early spring in Zion), it makes it very difficult to safely hike some of the narrows. From what I read, late spring / early summer is one of the better times to go, as the runoff is mostly over and the summer rainy season hasn't come yet.

RMNP should be a little warmer then Yellowstone in March, but probably still could get quite cold.

I've never been so couldn't personally recommend it, but why not try Big Bend at that time of year. Or Guadalupe Mountains - another place I've been only briefly and want to go back to (though apparently the time for this is in the fall as McKittrick Canyon has the best foliage in Texas in the fall).

Zion:



RMNP:



Big Bend:



Guadalupe Mountain:

 

I didn't think it was that great. I wouldn't make an exclusive trip back there. It was fairly cold when I was there, and that was during the summer.

 

I've been to Mammoth cave. It was pretty cool but that's only something you can explore for a day. After that, you'd probably get bored since it's all under ground. It is quite impressive though.

 

If that's the only time you can go, head to Arches/Canyonlands.

Yellowstone in the Fall, after the kids go back to school and before hibernation/winter sets in, is absolutely spectacular.

 

Bryce is cool this time of year too, goblin valley, that whole southern part of utah actually.

This.....

Less people, cooler temps, friskier animals, more steam.