One of the many places I am considering for 2008 is Yellowstone. It is quickly moving up to the top of my list because of the bonus nearby Grand Teton.

If I have to, I'll haul a tent and sleeping bag. While I'd rather spend the night in a nice comfy hotel, B&B or hostel, I really don't want to pay those sky high prices of the inns in the park. I'm have pretty much faced the fact that I will be camping. But if I am camping, I really don't want to be cooking. I'd rather not haul the cooking gear and food and hey, I on vacation, I just plain don't want to cook!.

Teton is small enough and there seems to be a number of places to camp then go grab a bite to eat. I'm fairly confident, I won't have a problem there. But I'm not getting that same feeling from my research for Yellowstone. Am I going to have any problems finding a place to eat after setting up camp in Yellowstone?

I thought I could track down, kill and eat a grizzly raw but somehow I think the rangers would frown on this.

Bison would be easier than a bear, probly taste better too. There were more there than we could imagine when we visited many years ago. I think there were restaurants near some of the campgrounds, but I was young then, so I can't tell you how far it was between the ereas.

There's always Mountain House Freeze Dried meals. They are light and most of them aren't bad at all and easy to prep! Add boiling water, stir, seal bag and a few minutes later, hot, decent food!

Good Mountain House Dinners:
Teryaki Chicken
Beef stew
Beef and Onions
Beef and Potatoes
Chicken Alfredo
Freeze Dried Ice Cream
The Freeze Dried cheesecake is pretty good too!


Just don't eat the eggs! They are leathery and hard to digest!

You have to carry the food, pots and stove.

A pot, 2 cup size to boil water and a folding stove and fuel. Better than going hungry if no restaurant is available

Fork, and eat right out of the pouch after you make it.

From any of the 5 park entrances, the furthest distance you'd have to travel without passing a park concession / food service is 29 miles. Interior "foodless" intervals are shorter.

Turns out eating figures greatly into any modern tourist's daily schedule. See if you can find a dot on this map where you can't get a burger and fries...

https://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/inte...emap/index.htm

I live in Wyoming and have toured often in Yellowstone.
I agree with Seeker333 - there is no problem eating in Yellowstone.
Most of the lodges have very pleasant dining rooms.
The one at Yellowstone Lake Lodge has a stunning view.

Make sure to eat on the deck at Dornan's in Moose at the south entrance to Grand Teton NP.
It has the best view of any restaurant deck in the world.

PS - There are campstores near most of the larger campgrounds in Yellowstone, too.
(Grant, Bridge Bay, Canyon, Tower, Mammoth)
(There are NO campstores near Norris and Madison.)

The food there was available, and pretty good. We mostly cooked in camp, but did eat at one of the lodges.

Camping has a BIG advantage over motels there in that they can't turn away cyclists. They guarantee you a campsite, no need for reservations that I am told can be tough to get if you need them. I was told some places are booked up way in advance, so this could be a big deal.

When I was doing research in YNP, bears weren't seen on the main roads, so, carrying stuff on a bike shouldn't be a problem unless they are now as common as bison along the side of the road. At the time, the most bear activity was on Mt Washington. It might have changed since then, with wolves and elk dispersed differently because of the wolves. Ask any ranger and they will tell you were the bear activity usually is located.

As for campsites, campgrounds have central locations to wash dishes. Just don't cook in your tent, leave all food and personal hygiene things (including towels that might have soap in them) outside the tent, and the clothes that you cook in-- also leave them outside the tent. Dried food is a good suggestion.

There are also bear-proof food containers you can carry on your bike. (I think) it was miles2go who featured one in a photo in his recent bike trip in Alaska; ask him about it. I saw one in REI, but, have no experience with them.

Enjoy the trip. YNP is a special place.

As a cyclist bison are more of a concern than bears. Bison hang out near the highway, walk along the highways and cross the highways as they please. You can encounter some significant traffic jams because of them. We saw some motorcyclists almost run from their motorcycle when stopped at the front of a traffic line a bison started to take some interest in their bike. They were almost caught in the open about to run.

This was my thought too. I HATE making reservations on tour. I like being a free spirit, being able to decide that morning the next destination or maybe to just kick back and relax or stay put to avoid a rainy day. Reservations really complicates travel but I haven't camped out in 30 years, not too sure if I could handle it for 2 weeks straight.

+1

The last time I did a back country hike in Yellowstone (God it's been almost 20 years) I lived on freeze dried stuff and believe it or not I gained weight.

Everyone is different, but we camped most of the time on our TransAmerica and I don't think any of us minded it at all. At 56 years old I thought it might bother my back, but I didn't have a bit of trouble (my thermarest pad worked great). We were lucky in that we didn't have much rain, that can put a damper on things if it goes on for several days.

For me it would be a really big hassle to have to make reservations. We often didn't know where we were going to stay that night let alone days or weeks ahead. To plan everything out would at least partially spoil the tour for me.

I have bike camped in nearly every campground in Yellowstone. No reservations.
Lewis Lake, Grant Village, Bridge Bay, Canyon, Norris, Madison, Tower, and Mamoth all have hiker/biker campsites that are held for cyclists and hikers. I have never encountered a problem getting a campsite. I suspect that if the hiker/biker sites were full - they would let you stay in the group campsite. But again - I have never had a problem in twenty years.

Hayden Valley -

Start practicing in your backyard?

My ahole neighbor would have a field day with that one. You should see how he chuckles when he sees me in my spandex. But I chalk that up to jealously. He's at least 50 lbs. overweight, and 10-15 years younger than me. He lumbers up the hill to our building, while I can easily jog up with a full load of groceries like it's a walk in the park.

It's good to hear I won't have any problems with camping reservations. I hate the thought of having to make reservations for so many places for so many nights. Miss one destination because of mechanical difficulties or problems with the old body and everything comes tumbling down and you end of camping anyway.

[QUOTE=jamawani;5525137]

Make sure to eat on the deck at Dornan's in Moose at the south entrance to Grand Teton NP.
It has the best view of any restaurant deck in the world.

+1 on Dornan's! Watching the bald eagles play over head was way cool during lunch.

I drove through about 3 weeks ago, and all looked very "bikeable," and food didn't appear too far away at any point.

My $.05USD worth.

If you plan well, you can certainly get by without cooking in Yellowstone. Budget accordingly, as even the grill meals can be a bit pricy (especially for the extra calories cyclists can eat!).

By far the best deal in the park is there souvenier extra large size soda cup. It cost 3 or 4$, but I had free refills for like 4 weeks this past summer! Hopefully it will still be around when you go!

Also double check which campgrounds have equipment restrictions just before your trip. When I was there, they were not allowing any soft sided camping (tents/pop up trailers etc) at Fishing Bridge campground due to bears. Only hard sided RV's there.

The other campgrounds I stayed at there had nice bear proof boxes, which you share between a group of campsites. I was on a slow drive out to the west coast, so just kept foodstuffs in my car.

Have fun!