Greetings from Big Sky, Montana

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

You say that you left the park at 5:30pm-ish. Was that because the park closed and you HAD to leave? Or becasue you'd had enough for the day? What local time is it getting too dark to see anything?

How has the traffic been within the park? Bumper to bumper or "regular" moving along but at a slow pace?

What was the name of the raft company you used? We are definitely doing a raft trip and would appreciate recommendations of who to use.

You are making me REALLY look forward to our trip there next summer!!

Thirsty has it pretty much right, with a couple of opinion differences by me:

We are about an hour north of the park, so when we get there about 9am, we have been on the road for an hour already. So when we leave at 5:30, we are already tired from the driving and the walking and still have an hour before we get back to the resort. I think it is darker about 8:30, but maybe that is me. But...the park is open 24 hours, keep going if you want, and can. If you are coming in the west gate (and probably others too) buy your ticket at the welcome center, not at the gate. That way, you can use the express lane going into the park, which makes your travel into the park faster. This $25 fee/car covers Yellowstone and Grand Tetons for 7 days.

Traffic was surprisingly not an issue. Yes, where the buffalo roam, the cars will stop. And the cars will stop right in front of the sign that says ‘no stopping’ by the eagles nest. Please don’t do that. For the most part, 35-45MPH depending on the section of the road or when it is near a turnoff.

Two rafting companies are here, Geyser and the one we used is Montana Whitewater Rafting Company which is licensed for three rivers, (off the top of my head) Montana, Yellowstone, and Gallatin. We did Gallatin, and would do it again in a heartbeat. That rafting run headquarters would be about hour 15 to hour 25 minutes drive north of the west entrance of Yellowstone.

I would love to post 2-3 of the rafting pictures, but they are big and not sure how to do it. I will have to research when I get home. I also have pictures of the resort, Yellowstone and more. The DW is going to have one heck of a scrapbook.

Just got back from Virginia City-don’t bother.

Otherwise, Yellowstone again tomorrow, Mammoth (North) loop. We are going earlier tomorrow, see it all, or as much as we can.

[jlwquilter Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jlwquilter]

Fantastic - thanks guys! I particularly appreciate the speed in the park info. It helps me plan out the days better. I am a scheduler

Great tip on getting the park pass at the welcome center vs. at the park gate!! I believe we will get in free as Dad has that senior US park pass thing.

We are staying at the RCI timeshare also in West Yellowstone... just for the reason of not having the hour drive to and from the park each time. I know our resort is pretty plain Jane next to the ones further away, but the time trade off was worth it for us.

I am glad to hear that the rafting is only 15 minutes or so from us... I was figuring we'd have to go farther north for it. What is the difference do you think between rafting the different rivers? Is one "wilder" than the other?

Having nice long days are a double edge sword for us... great to have more time to see stuff and not rush BUT we tend to use every second and that makes for very long days. If it got darker earlier we'd be forced to take easier days!

I do hope you both figure out/will post pics!!

[kapish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close kapish]

Thank you for all the information about Yellowstone and the resorts nearby. I hope to go there one of these days!

BTW, Here are 2 pictures my brother took when he and family stayed at the Lake Condominiums in Big Sky last year:


View from patio - Lake Condominiums at Big Sky



View from Living Room - Lake Condominiums at Big Sky

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

One misunderstanding and one update:
The rafting is an hour and 15 minutes (1-1/4 hours), not 15 minutes north for the Gallatin trip I talked about. As Thursty was talking about in another tread (We need a sticky on Yellowstone), you drive along the Gallatin River when traveling from Bozeman to Yellowstone (1-1/2 to 2 hour drive). Montana Whitewater is about mile 64. The really wild stuff, class 4, is just past them on the left side. There is a Really big rock in the middle of the river that the rafts have to go around. You have to have a good team to do that, which is why we didn't. There is about a mile of mostly class 4 rapids.

As far as which...that I am afraid will be your research. We went with Montana Whitewater for location, ride type, ride length, and cost. I am happy with what we did, but you may choose something different. Just google montana rafting and I am sure you will get lots of information.

Second thing, dark, sunset, etc. We are about 7400 feet, so sunset is later than at lower levels when the mountain blocks the sun. It may be 8:30 in a lot of areas when you don't have sun, but 9:30 when it is dark.

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

Kapish, pretty much says it. Beautiful mountains, beaver in the lake yesterday (took lots of pictures) deer walking throught the yard one morning, nice place. Lake is not big, but plenty of activity from fishing to kayak, etc. Very pretty area.

[Thirsty Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Thirsty]

I hope I didn't give the impression that the rafting companies are close to West Yellowstone. The one we used is about 59 miles from West Yellowstone. It is 5 miles north of the North entrance. We stayed at the Island Park Village Resort which is 22 miles south of West Yellowstone. So our total drive was 81 miles to the Flying Pig Rafting Company.

We booked a 9:00 reservation so we went through the park early in the morning. We left Island Park at 5:00 AM for our rafting trip and got there about 8:00. We left early so we could see a sunrise and the animal early in the morning. This also allowed us enough time to get to the Flying Pig rafting company without hurrying. This worked out well for us because we made several stops along the way to take pictures of the waterfalls, geyser with all the steam, and animals. If you were in a hurry you could make the trip in a about an hour and half with no stops and light traffic from West Yellowstone.

The rafting companies that put-in the Gallatin River are a little south of Bozeman, MT. For that drive Highway 191 is about the only way to get there unless there are some back roads. It will still take over an hour to get there using the highway. You travel through both the Yellowstone National Forest and the Gallatin National Forest and I think there is a 45 MPGs for a good part of the drive. Also you are following the Gallatin River so the Highway is curvy. It is a nice slow scenic drive.

I never asked why one river had more rapids than the other.

I would call and make reservations for a rafting trip.

Fantastic - thanks guys! I particularly appreciate the speed in the park info. It helps me plan out the days better. I am a scheduler

Great tip on getting the park pass at the welcome center vs. at the park gate!! I believe we will get in free as Dad has that senior US park pass thing.

We are staying at the RCI timeshare also in West Yellowstone... just for the reason of not having the hour drive to and from the park each time. I know our resort is pretty plain Jane next to the ones further away, but the time trade off was worth it for us.

I am glad to hear that the rafting is only 15 minutes or so from us... I was figuring we'd have to go farther north for it. What is the difference do you think between rafting the different rivers? Is one "wilder" than the other?

Having nice long days are a double edge sword for us... great to have more time to see stuff and not rush BUT we tend to use every second and that makes for very long days. If it got darker earlier we'd be forced to take easier days!

I do hope you both figure out/will post pics!!

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

Thirsty, did you need wetsuits? Water was about 40-45 degrees, so we got a full suit, booties, full suit, overjacket, helmet and life jacket. No one in our group went in the water, so it was more of a comfort rather than life saving issue.

[Thirsty Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Thirsty]

We were handed a wet-suit, booties, over jacket, and life jacket. We didn't wear a helmet. We put-in with another raft and most of the people on that raft jumped in only 2 people on our raft jumped in.

After driving by the Gallatin River I don't think there would be to many clam places to jump in like on the Yellowstone.

Thirsty, did you need wetsuits? Water was about 40-45 degrees, so we got a full suit, booties, full suit, overjacket, helmet and life jacket. No one in our group went in the water, so it was more of a comfort rather than life saving issue.

[jlwquilter Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jlwquilter]

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, I did think that the rafting was much closer but now understand.

Wow, that water is even colder than the Colorado, which we were on a few weeks ago (smooth water float trip out of Page AZ).

I read on the other Yellowstone thread that the Gallatin has more vigerous rapids than Yellowstone River... that was what I was wondering.

I always make reservations - part of being a scheduler. Did you think going early in the morning was a good choice? For example, we picked the 7am float trip at Page because we felt the afternoon trip would be too hot to be enjoyable.

I hope I didn't give the impression that the rafting companies are close to West Yellowstone. The one we used is about 59 miles from West Yellowstone. It is 5 miles north of the North entrance. We stayed at the Island Park Village Resort which is 22 miles south of West Yellowstone. So our total drive was 81 miles to the Flying Pig Rafting Company.

We booked a 9:00 reservation so we went through the park early in the morning. We left Island Park at 5:00 AM for our rafting trip and got there about 8:00. We left early so we could see a sunrise and the animal early in the morning. This also allowed us enough time to get to the Flying Pig rafting company without hurrying. This worked out well for us because we made several stops along the way to take pictures of the waterfalls, geyser with all the steam, and animals. If you were in a hurry you could make the trip in a about an hour and half with no stops and light traffic from West Yellowstone.

The rafting companies that put-in the Gallatin River are a little south of Bozeman, MT. For that drive Highway 191 is about the only way to get there unless there are some back roads. It will still take over an hour to get there using the highway. You travel through both the Yellowstone National Forest and the Gallatin National Forest and I think there is a 45 MPGs for a good part of the drive. Also you are following the Gallatin River so the Highway is curvy. It is a nice slow scenic drive.

I never asked why one river had more rapids than the other.

I would call and make reservations for a rafting trip.

[Thirsty Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Thirsty]

We enjoyed the morning rafting it helped to avoid the sun and it gave us a chance to see the park at dawn. We are morning people and have no problem getting up at 4:00 once in while.

I could see where the heat and sun could be a factor especially if you did a half day rafting trip.

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, I did think that the rafting was much closer but now understand.

Wow, that water is even colder than the Colorado, which we were on a few weeks ago (smooth water float trip out of Page AZ).

I read on the other Yellowstone thread that the Gallatin has more vigerous rapids than Yellowstone River... that was what I was wondering.

I always make reservations - part of being a scheduler. Did you think going early in the morning was a good choice? For example, we picked the 7am float trip at Page because we felt the afternoon trip would be too hot to be enjoyable.

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

We did the 10:30am. We looked at the long range forcast before booking our rafting trip. We went on the warmest, sunniest day. We actually left the lot about 10:40 and were back about 1:30, so even though it is a half day, it is 3 hours.

Just got back from our second (and final day) at Yellowstone. I think it is nap time. Lots of sun, high altitude, driving, walking. I'll be back later.