Solo Getaway – Yellowstone National Park

I was recently fortunate enough to be able to travel to the Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and Jackson, Wyoming area for a whole month. I stayed in an Airbnb in nearby Victor, Idaho (more affordable) and spent the month half working and half exploring the area. It was fantastic!

Yellowstone National Park

This place is unlike any other place on earth! I had been there once before, as a child of 4 years old, and what’s crazy is that once I was back there I actually remembered some of the geysers and pools. That’s how truly amazing they are.

I spent three separate days in the park and didn’t even make a dent. It’s so vast and there’s so much to see, from herds of bison, to moose dining in the swampy areas, to the many geysers, boiling hot pools, bubbling mud pots, and steam vents that seem to be everywhere. It’s amazing the whole area doesn’t just completely blow sky high.

I was chatting with a park guide while waiting for a small geyser to erupt and I said, “Nature is just crazy.” He said, “Yellowstone is crazy!” I agreed that Yellowstone is crazy and said that there was no place like it on earth. I said, “It’s like Vegas, but on the opposite end of the spectrum. Yellowstone is the Vegas of nature!”

Grand Teton National Park

The other national park I visited was Grand Teton. This place gets an 11 on the 1-10 scale for scenery. I drove in from the east and was told that I’d come around a corner and there would be the Tetons in all their glory. I kept coming around corners and coming around corners and no Tetons. I started to think that maybe it wouldn’t be so amazing after all. Then I came around THE corner and wham! Soaring in front of me were these three snow-covered vertical spires of rock that looked like they reached the heavens.

Now, I’m a person who has spent most of her life in Colorado, so I considered it unlikely that I’d be blown away by a mountain vista, but blown I was. I literally said, “Oh my God!” out loud in my car when I first saw them and the many times I saw them over the next month didn’t diminish them any.

Nor did the several hikes I took to lakes at the base of them where they were actually reflected in the water. So many fantastic hiking and biking trails in the park and so much grandeur to behold.

Jackson, WY and surrounding area

Aside from the parks, I did some hiking around Jackson, took the tram to the top of the ski resort (still freezing in late May), visited some falls, took some scenic drives, went to the National Museum of Wildlife art (excellent), shopped, and of course ate! Every place has its fantastic restaurants and its hidden gems. I love discovering both.

I couldn’t see absolutely everything in a month’s time, especially with needing to work a lot of the time, but I feel like I got a pretty good canvas of the area. If you don’t have a month to spend, I highly recommend spending a week or even a weekend in Yellowstone NP. You won’t believe your eyes and you’ll be so glad you did!