2018 Trip - Watch out Grizzly Bears: Here we come!

jkjenn

My sister-in-law is, again, joining me, for a grand adventure. This time we will meet up in Cleveland and travel through the north country to Wyoming. We intend to hit:

- Theodore Roosevelt National Park (briefly) camping in Cottonwood Campground (reserved)
- The Beartooth Mountains (Montana/WY), boondocking outside of Cooke City
- Yellowstone - camping at Grant (reserved)
- The Tetons - camping TBD - either boondocking or Gros Ventre, first come
- The Wind River Range - camping TBD, either boondocking or Green River Lakes
- Custer State Park - camping at Blue Bell (reserved)
- The Badlands - camping at Cedar Pass (reserved)

It's not ideal to hit Yellowstone in the summer, but my sister-in-law works for the schools, so we do not have any flexibility. We are going to grab commercial CGs on our way out and back because I cannot stand heat and humidity (I can live with heat, but not humidity.) 

I am familiar with bear protocol and have camped at Yellowstone, before. I am curious, though, how many leave their food in their T@bs at Yellowstone? 

(Please do not let this digress into an argument about why you should or shouldn't or what happens in California - bear behavior is different in other regions and I have seen the photos of bears ripping off car doors in California.) In Yellowstone, when I was there before as a tent camper, the rangers told me I could use my Jeep as a bear box. Also, bear behavior can vary by campground, so one size does not fit all.)

Unfortunately, I have decided with this trip, it is probably best to leave Rocky behind because he would be forced to spend too much time in the TV or T@b and not enough enjoying the great outdoors. If we had more time, maybe I would bring him, but Yellowstone is so big and it isn't easy to make trips from one side of the park back to the T@b to spend time with him or take him on hikes, and I am out shooting (photography) until dark, which is late in the summer. So, I have decided he will be happier getting spoiled by another sister-in-law and playing with his pal and fellow Shih Tzu, Mr. Bingley.

The last time I camped at Yellowstone, it was at Madison, which I loved, but it was full when I went to reserve this time.

Normfun

All our food is in the truck. It is not visible but I’m sure a bear could sniff it out. I am not worried about it in Yellowstone. We spend 2-3 weeks there every year. Seeing a bear is a treat that doesn’t happen often. Most times we find bears up on Dunraven pass or Lamar valley. Haven’t seen a bear near Grants village in 10 years. Sounds like a great trip. We may see you along the way, as we too are doing several of your stops this summer. 

jkjenn

Normfun said:

All our food is in the truck. It is not visible but I’m sure a bear could sniff it out. I am not worried about it in Yellowstone. We spend 2-3 weeks there every year. Seeing a bear is a treat that doesn’t happen often. Most times we find bears up on Dunraven pass or Lamar valley. Haven’t seen a bear near Grants village in 10 years. Sounds like a great trip. We may see you along the way, as we too are doing several of your stops this summer. 

It would be so awesome to meet you in person! I will message you our dates. 

Honestly, in the summer, I expect to find the bears at higher elevations, like you mentioned. We are probably most likely to run into them when we camp around Cook City.

When I last went it was fall and I saw 1 between Cook City and the NE entrance (Grizzly), 1 between Madison and Mamouth (Grizzly), 1 in the Northern part, near Petrified Tree, who spent the entire day there, feasting on a carcass and snoozing (Scarface, Grizzly), and one near Gardiner high above the river (Black Bear.)

Agreed, Grant does not seem to be the big bear hang out that places like Fishing Bridge and some of the northern CGs are.