Go on an Old West cookout

The park’s famous Yellowstone’s Old West Dinner Cookouts, near Roosevelt Lodge, serve a meal you won’t soon forget. You’ll smell the cowboy coffee percolating over a campfire and steaks sizzling over a barbecue; feast on Roosevelt baked beans, potato salad, chuck wagon corn, coleslaw, corn muffins, watermelon, and apple crisp; and enjoy music, storytelling, wranglers, horses, and wagons.

Visitors can also enjoy a cookout in Grand Teton National Park. Grand Teton Lodge Company offers lunch and dinner float trips, where you’ll dine on the banks of the Snake River, plus breakfast and dinner cruises.
Go to Grand Teton Lodge Company.

Wolf waffles in the Tetons

Ride the Jackson Hole Aerial Tram 4,139 feet up to Corbet’s Cabin for delicious waffles on top of the Tetons. The tasty treats are made to order with your choice of toppings, and are perfect for a day of hiking, biking, and exploring. Also available: other quick snack items and unbelievable views.
Go to jacksonhole.com.

Attend the 28th Annual Chili Cook-off

Call yourself a chili connoisseur? Then don’t miss this tasty celebration of the classic stew. At the Chugwater Chili Cook-Off in Chugwater, Wyoming, the state’s finest cooks face off in a lip-smacking competition for the best red and green chili recipe (sampling encouraged). Stick around to try a variety of wine pairings and vote for your favorite salsa concoctions. This year’s contest goes down June 15, 2013.

Enjoy homegrown Yellowstone cooking

Yellowstone National Park

Don’t miss the historic Old Faithful Inn dining room, where guests tuck into bison ravioli, pork osso buco, and Idaho trout in the rustic, log-style hotel. The Lake Yellowstone Hotel’s dining room also earns praise for its fresh takes on fish, wild game, and local ingredients. For frontier fare like ribs, fried chicken, and bison, head to the Roosevelt Lodge Dining Room. If you’re in the West Thumb area, dishes like trout (prepared three ways) and wild game meatloat await at the Grant Village Dining Room.

Grand Teton National Park

At the upscale Jenny Lake Lodge, the food is second only to the stunning Tetons view from the dining room. Splurge on a five-course dinner with paired wines; your meal might include a grilled elk chop, escargot, or Wagyu tenderloin. Or visit Signal Mountain Lodge’s casually elegant restaurant for everything from Peking duck to fried chicken.

Jackson, Wyoming

Travelers rave about the Rendezvous Bistro’s raw oyster bar (the only one in town), Irish lamb stew, duck confit, and seared striped bass, all served in a sophisticated environment. Steak lovers flock to Snake River Grill, where hearty choices—such as seared scallops and grass-fed New York steak—are served up in a warm, welcoming atmosphere. For breakfasts, head to The Bunnery, a local favorite for leisurely brunch and homemade granola.

Photo courtesy Barker-Ewing River Trips

Choose the right trip 

Rivers are rated from Class I to Class V based on difficulty. Class I and II rivers—perfect for families and beginners—are generally calm with occasional rough water. Class III rivers feature whitewater and perhaps a few small drops, but no considerable danger. Class IV rivers may have whitewater, waves, rocks, and significant drops; precise maneuvering skills are required. Class V rivers are the most challenging, with whitewater, large waves, large rocks, and other hazards. These rivers are thrilling to experience, but demand expertise to navigate safely.

Dress the part

On hot days, a bathing suit and t-shirt might be all you’ll need for an enjoyable float—but always bring extra layers, just in case. Synthetic fabrics (such as Capilene or polypropylene) are better than cotton (including denim) because cotton loses its insulating powers when wet. On chilly days, a wetsuit will keep you comfortable in the raft. Wear sandals that can be strapped to your feet (you might lose flip-flops in a wave) or sneakers, and don’t forget waterproof sunscreen and a pair of sunglasses. Add a a stretchy strap to secure them to your head.

Leave the camera behind

Though it’s tempting to fill your memory card with shots of the trip, it’s best to keep the camera on dry land. Not only is your camera at high risk of getting soaked, but guides will need your attention totally focused on paddling for the rougher stretches of water.

Stay safe

Always wear your personal flotation device and follow your guide’s directions.

For more information on yellowstone rafting trips click here

We hope you brought your swimsuit, because when you’re tired from a long day of sightseeing, or when the kids have too much energy, one of the best ways to unwind is with a dip in one of the region’s many hot springs and pools.

In Montana, head to Fairmont Hot Springs Resort for a day of swimming and sliding. Fairmont has two Olympic-size hot springs pools—one indoors and one outdoors—plus a 350-foot, five-story enclosed waterslide. It’s an exhilarating ride into Fairmont’s outdoor pool, and you’re guaranteed to make a splash. The 160°F, naturally heated water is cooled to temperatures ranging from 88°F to 104°F.

Kids can recover from a day in the car by riding the waterslide or playing in the large shallow sections, while adults can unwind in the hotter soaking pools.

Pools are open 24 hours a day to registered guests. Public admission hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (closing time varies seasonally).

Large dressing rooms, steam rooms, fitness room, lockers, and a snack bar complete Fairmont’s pool facilities. Just three miles from I-90, 15 miles west of Butte, Fairmont’s pools are open year-round and are part of Montana’s only full-service hot springs, golf, and convention resort.

Go to fairmontmontana.com, or call (800) 332-3272.

As you travel through Wyoming, don’t miss the opportunity to swim in the World’s Largest Mineral Hot Springs, located in Thermopolis, Wyoming.

Thermopolis (Greek for “hot city”) derives its name from the hot water that comes from Big Spring. The turquoise and green, mineral-laden spring issues forth 3.6 million gallons of water every day.

The water from this spring contains at least 27 different
minerals, making it, some say, very healthy to drink. Hot Springs State Park, at the edge of town, is home to three pools, each offering different services. Don’t miss the 104°F therapeutic pool at the free State Bath House.

For more information, go to thermopolis.com or call (877) 864-3192.

Fishing in Yellowstone Country is an outdoor experience that compares with few others on Earth.

What is it that makes a Yellowstone fishing trip so amazing?

It’s because legend and decades of fish tales are still true. You can be a hundred yards from another angler on the Lamar or Madison Rivers, for instance, yet still feel as though you were the first to cast to that inside seam.There, a riffle turns into a quick chute of deeper water, and a trout lies in wait. Such is the Yellowstone experience.

Yellowstone is where two great rivers originate. The Snake heads to the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia River. The Madison River is headwater of the Missouri River, which flows east to the Gulf of Mexico.

Your heartbeat will quicken upon entering Yellowstone. Can it be due to viewing cold, clear waters outside your window? The rivers whisper your name as you slow down to take a closer look, perhaps spotting a flitting shadow of a trout in the stream.

As you drive past, you can almost feel the water flowing around your body, speaking a language that only an angler can understand. You inhale the sage- and pine-scented air, each breath eliminating stress and replacing it with the knowledge that you are on vacation.

Not just any vacation, but a fishing vacation in the heart of the best wild trout rivers, streams, and lakes.

Roads loop throughout America’s oldest national park, following the major watersheds of the rivers mentioned above and making access easy.

Should you run out of waters to fish in Yellowstone, there is a vast network of wild trout waters found on the borders of the park. Wild trout real estate is also well-known in other parts of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, where millions of acres of public land are bisected by hundreds of miles of blue-ribbon trout waters.

Fly-fishing is highly recommended because single, barbless hooks cause the least damage to wild trout fisheries when practicing catch and release.

The wild trout found inside Yellowstone and outside in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana are generally larger on the average than those most anglers catch in home-state fisheries.

Anglers should not forget that they are guests in the park. Please treat it and its resources with regard to future anglers, and to maintain healthy fisheries. Read the regulations and always return your catch to water unless the regulations state otherwise, as with the lake trout caught in Yellowstone Lake. For details on fishing rules in the park, visit nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/fishing.

There isn’t room here to name each fishable river or lake in Yellowstone Country, but suffice to say, Yellowstone fishing is reliably incredible from Memorial Day weekend to the first weekend in November.

Between those dates, don your waders, match fly size to tippet, shake out some fly line, and nail the inside seam on your first cast.

Tim Wade shared these musings with us. He owns North Fork Anglers,in Cody, Wyoming, and has been guiding Yellowstone waters for more than 20 years. More info: Go to northforkanglers.com.

 One of the best ways to experience the Yellowstone region is to spend at least one night under the stars.

In the Grand Teton area, you’ll find Colter Bay Village on Jackson Lake. It has accommodations ranging from campsites and cabins to an RV park with amenities. Colter Bay Village has two restaurants, a convenient launderette, showers, a grocery store, gift and apparel shops, corrals, a service station, museum, and a full-service marina.
For info, go to  gtlc.com..

Travelers enjoying Thermopolis, Wyoming’s mineral hot springs or Dinosaur Center will want to consider spending a night in the great outdoors under the starry Wyoming sky.
Go to thermopolis.com, or call (877) 864-3192.

If it’s camping you crave, look no further than the central Wyoming communities of Douglas and Glenrock. From the Medicine Bow National Forest to the Thunder Basin National Grassland, area landscapes provide a variety of scenic vistas.
Stop by the local U.S. Forest Service office for details, go to conversecountytourism.com, or call (877) 937-4996.

More than 383 campgrounds, 27 parks, and many picnic areas are available nearby in Utah’s lovely Wasatch-Cache National Forest. With interesting trails throughout the area and wonderful weather during spring, summer, and fall, exploring Cache County is a delight for all ages and abilities.
Go to topofutah.org, or call (800) 952-8824.

Set up camp in Idaho—just a short drive across the border from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Idaho offers the same spectacular beauty and legendary outdoor recreation—but without the crowds. With 65 RV parks and campgrounds in eastern Idaho, there is always a place nearby where friendly folks will welcome you after an exciting day of exploration.

For a free Idaho campground directory, call (800) 847-4843 or go to rvidaho.org.

Photo by Jeff Vanuga

Don’t miss the new trail system at the Jackson Hole Downhill Bike Park in Teton Village, with options for everyone from first-timers to experts. The trails are perfect for families and friends looking to enjoy an excellent day in the mountains. Bikes and riders are loaded on a chairlift, and the rest is downhill. Bike rental, lessons, and lift ticket packages are available at Jackson Hole Sports.

Go to jacksonhole.com  for details.

Near Pinedale, numerous trails grant access to high-elevation playgrounds and wildflower meadows. The striking beauty of the granite in the Wind River Mountains is displayed in almost every direction. Half Moon Mountain, Sweeney Creek, the Grouse Mountain Trails, Kelly Park, Fortification Mountain, the old Skyline Drive, Soda Lake, Spring Creek Park, and the Glimpse Lake Trail offer endless tracks and trails for mountain biking fans.

Go to visitpinedale.org

Salt Lake City’s Bonneville Shoreline Trail is made up of a series of singletrack trails along the slope of the Wasatch Mountains. Mountain bikers and hikers will enjoy varied terrain and amazing views of Salt Lake Valley.
Go to  visitsaltlake.com, call (801) 534-4900.

At Big Sky Resort, an excellent basecamp for Greater Yellowstone, ride the lift for unforgettable scenery, and then hike, bike, or zipline back down the mountain.
Go to bigskyresort.com, or call (800) 548-4486.

Bring a road bike to Yellowstone National Park in springtime. Some prime riding roads are restricted to non-motorized use between mid-March and mid-April.

While there’s plenty to see from the roads, most of Yellowstone is rugged wilderness. Visitors who get off the beaten path and onto the park’s 1,000-mile trail system will be treated to epic views, wildlife watching, and solitude. Here are four stellar options from the editors of Backpacker magazine.

Go to backpacker.com/hikes for maps, downloadable GPS content, and more.

Bunsen Peak

Length: 7 miles

Difficulty: Moderate

Trailhead: Bunsen Peak

Link: backpacker.com/hikes/300054

Perched on the edge of Sheepeater and Golden Gate Canyons, Bunsen Peak’s 8,564-foot summit offers sweeping views across Yellowstone’s northwest corner. You’ll wind across a sagebrush-dotted landscape and climb the peak’s northwest ridge via switchbacks to reach the summit. Take in views of Electric Peak and the Absaroka Range, then descend toward Sheepeater Canyon.

Elephant Back Trail

Length: 3.9 miles

Difficulty: Moderate

Trailhead: Elephant Back

Link: backpacker.com/hikes/300060 

This loop leads to a prime overlook above Yellowstone Lake and views of the Absaroka Mountains. From the trailhead, climb through lodgepole pine forest. As you switchback up the mountain, look for pieces of obsidian (volcanic glass) in the rock. The trail crests a plateau, then heads southwest to an overlook. Soak up the five-star views, then follow the trail along the top of the plateau before tackling a steep descent back to the trailhead.

Fountain Paint Pot

Length: .6 miles

Difficulty: Easy

Trailhead: Elephant Back

Link: www.backpacker.com/hikes/300061

With its hissing fumaroles, bubbling mudpots, and geysers, this .6-mile boardwalk loop is a greatest-hits collection of Yellowstone’s geothermal wonders. Start with a visit to Celestine Pool and Silex Spring, then visit the namesake paint pot. Next come Red Spouter (a muddy pool in spring and early summer, and a hissing fumarole in late summer and fall), Jet Geyser, and a vantage point offering views of the rainbow-like runoff surrounding the Jelly, Clepsydra, and Spasm geysers.

Lone Star Geyser

Length: 4.8 miles

Difficulty: Easy

Trailhead: Kepler Cascades

Link: backpacker.com/hikes/300071 

This must-do out-and-back hike follows a paved trail to Lone Star Geyser, a backcountry spout that erupts with a 45-foot fountain of water about every three hours. The trail crosses the Firehole River and climbs gently through forest and several meadows. After 2.5 miles, the path ends near the geyser. A nearby logbook contains information on the geyser’s next eruption.

More Great Hikes

Pinedale
A scenic, 15-mile drive leads from Pinedale northeast to the Elkhart Park Trailhead. You’ll start at an elevation of 9,100 feet. This trail offers short dayhikes into the Winds to destinations like Photographer’s Point and Miller Lake as well as longer overnight trips. Two trails lead into the wilderness: Pole Creek Trail and Long Lake Trail. Pole Creek Trail is a gentle uphill hike that heads east into the breathtaking Bridger Wilderness.
›› Go to visitpinedale.org.

Salt Lake City
Enjoy breathtaking views with easy access from Salt Lake City. Salt Lake’s trail network offers wonderful hikes into the surrounding mountains and canyons.
›› Go to visitsaltlake.com, call (801) 534-4900.

Farson, Wyoming
Hike to scenic South Pass from the trailhead on Oregon Buttes Road, 3 miles off Hwy 28. This easy, 1.5-mile (round-trip) hike gains just 30 feet as it meanders to great views.
›› Go to wind-river.org, call (800) 645-6233.

Photo by C.Sagan

For decades scientists have argued over the presence, or absence, of mantle plumes, huge jets of molten rock that begin near the Earth’s core and rise up through the overlying material, or mantle. The tectonic plates composing the Earth’s surface move slowly across the plumes, and, according to scientists who give credence to the plume theory, that’s when a line of volcanoes (think the Hawaiian Islands, which are located far away from the edges of tectonic plates, the typical place where a volcano would form) are created.

And Yellowstone, a site known and loved for the supervolcanic activity seen there, has been at the center of this “heated” debate.

“Yellowstone is one key area where arguments against plumes are focused,” Christopher Kincaid, a geophysical fluid dynamicist at the University of Rhode Island, told Yahoo News.

Kincaid decided to test the mantle plume theory. But he did so by making the assumption that even though mantle plumes are generally used to explain volcanoes found far from tectonic plate borders, they could also rise up in subduction zones, areas near the edge of tectonic plates where one plate grinds beneath another.

To create the experiment, he and his students used a 200-gallon, rectangular tank filled with corn syrup.

“We use a very sticky, high-viscosity grade of corn syrup to represent the Earth’s mantle for a couple of reasons,” Kincaid said, going on to list corn syrup’s lack of inertia, temperature-dependent viscosity, and non-toxicity.

When Kincaid heated up a section of the tank’s floor, a jet of syrup shot up, showing that a split mantle plume could replicate real life geological occurrences.

“Most plume arguments only consider a simple view of a plume, rising into an otherwise stagnant system,” he said. “We found that plumes near subduction zones are like a prairie dog sticking its head up from its hole during a tornado.”

Kincaid adds that students love watching the experiment.

“We often get large crowds gathered in the lab when we are running these things,” he said. “The room is dark and the plumes are illuminated with micro tracers that sparkle and glow in the light sheets we shine through the tank. It is like you are looking directly into the Earth’s insides.”

Source: news.yahoo.com

Courtesy Photo

Renowned for their natural beauty and incredible wildlife, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks draw millions of visitors each year.  Fortunately, there are ways to explore both parks that are truly off-the-beaten-path. Grab a paddle, hop in a kayak, and slip away on Yellowstone or Jackson Lake. Visit lakeside geysers, take in the majestic Tetons, and witness wildlife roaming the shores. This is a side of the wilderness few visitors ever get to experience.

Looking to paddle out there on your own? Pick up a non-motorized boating permit ($5 for 7 days; $10 annual in both parks) at one of the park entrance stations or backcountry offices. Make sure you’re up to date on regulations at nps.gov/yell/planyourvist/boating.htm.

Prefer to go guided? O.A.R.S. runs half-day and two-day kayaking trips on Yellowstone and Jackson Lakes. Give them a call and let the explorations begin.

For more information:
(855) 541-4793
oars.com/wyoming