Family Vacation - Yellowstone and Tetons 4-15 August

We f'd up the reservations thing with our last minute spontaneous style! Yellowstone may be booked for what we wanted - back country hiking, etc.

Any other climbing families in the area between 4 &15 August 2k16? We usually leave the ropes at home and just boulder, but would rope up with another parental group. Down for backpacking up to 11k, maybe a quick summit with able and free parent.

My wife will have our 17mo baby girl in the kid backpack. I carry the whole happy camp on my back. The 11 and 6 yr old boys will be carrying packs, and may climb between low class scrambling adventures.

SUGGESTIONS NEEDED:

10-20 mile trails mid elevation. We like back country areas. Shade and mountain streams for fly fishing a bonus.

10k peak to set a new record for the boys.

Awesome things we shouldn't miss with our dinosaur loving boys other than the major Yellowstone attractions.

If you are still on for the tetons, the Idaho Natural history museum in Pocatello has at least mega fauna like mammoths and such. I think a few dinos, but not sure. Pokey also has rock climbing in their city park. I've not been to either, but if you're driving by anyway...

Other than that, we do have a bit of Alpine here, too. Pm if you're interested and I'll stear you toward a place to look for info and post for suggestions. Best, Helen

Faulted Geologist wrote:SUGGESTIONS NEEDED: 10-20 mile trails mid elevation. We like back country areas. Shade and mountain streams for fly fishing a bonus. 10k peak to set a new record for the boys. Awesome things we shouldn't miss with our dinosaur loving boys other than the major Yellowstone attractions.

Many nice trails abound in the vicinity of Yellowstone/Tetons. The Bighorns and the Winds also offer many alternatives, depending on your route to/from YNP (and your desire to be in YNP/GT). Fishing is excellent in both ranges.

Also in those ranges are some easy walk up peaks, but they may be more in the 12k range.

Dinos! The dinosaur museum in Thermopolis is a real diamond in the rough. I think their dinos are better than Bozeman's and theirs are world class. Free swimming at the State Park hot spring. (Plus getting to Thermop, puts you through the Wind River Canyon which is a great drive through the entire Paleozoic section. You can then continue up through Cody to catch the Mesozoic and Cenozoic sections uninterrupted, on your way to the East Entrance to YNP.)

+1 to the Winds. Beartooth publishes a great set of maps for the area.

There are privately owned fossil pits around Kemmerer, plus some public sites as well. The private ones provide tools. It's not paleo related, but I also liked the Mountain Man Museum in Pinedale.

If you are at the north end of the park, the Boiling River hot springs are pretty nice.

yellowstonepark.com/swim-ye…

Splitting stone near Kemmerer is rewarding, but might not appeal to the 6 year old as much.

We have a life time supply of fossil fish from a 4 hour session.

Faulted Geologist wrote:We f'd up the reservations thing with our last minute spontaneous style! Yellowstone may be booked for what we wanted - back country hiking, etc. Any other climbing families in the area between 4 &15 August 2k16? We usually leave the ropes at home and just boulder, but would rope up with another parental group. Down for backpacking up to 11k, maybe a quick summit with able and free parent. My wife will have our 17mo baby girl in the kid backpack. I carry the whole happy camp on my back. The 11 and 6 yr old boys will be carrying packs, and may climb between low class scrambling adventures. SUGGESTIONS NEEDED: 10-20 mile trails mid elevation. We like back country areas. Shade and mountain streams for fly fishing a bonus. 10k peak to set a new record for the boys. Awesome things we shouldn't miss with our dinosaur loving boys other than the major Yellowstone attractions.

Since you're too late to reserve a BC site in the park, I suggest going in from the west and making camp in Alaska Basin. It's about 7 moderate miles in. From there, you can make several day trips of whatever length you like. Your boys can crack 11 on Static Peak, which is just a hike, or on Buck Mountain, which is Class 4. I wouldn't just head out on Buck with kids without solid beta, though, so if you're interested, PM me and I'll hook you up.

I wanted to send out some thanks to everyone that posted up. The suggestions are awesome. We will continue checking for last minute suggestions thru vacation. If anyone can make a run of the Exum Ridge on either Saturday 6 or 13 August, shoot me a pm or email me at (MP user name) aht (thegooglemail) dottie kahm.