Many might be curious the path we took during our trip. What your seeing here is the trip back we took from Northern Yellowstone. Per recommendation of our friend and naturalist Jared we went one valley over to Norris and headed south to Jackson (in case your curious Yellowstone is closed except for the northern portion in winter due to large snowfall.) On the way up we took the Gallatin highway which has a reputation for being a bit more dangerous and windy (curvy.) It definitely is, but we’re glad we took it going up in the day light. A beautiful drive with wildlife also right along the road. The trip backward was a tough one. We were awake at 1am and out the door officially after double and triple checking at 2:30am. Most of the drive was in total darkness. Playing music loudly and listening to the comedy channel on our satellite radio to help us stay awake. The nicest thing was being treated to the sunrise as we drove through the Teton pass. Made the hair pin turns and huge inclines/descents worth it all. The scariest thing I think about the drive was balancing the 70mph speed limit with mule deer literally on the edge of the road in pure darkness with just your headlights.

The screen shot above was taken from the Gisteq Phototrackr software. I did small review of devices here touching on which are for what. With the Gisteq device we just turn it on and forget it. Battery life is rated around 14hrs with 1 AA of constant tracking or so and it was perfect. I love using it for routes personally and if I want to sync my point and shoot images I can.

When it comes to prepping for the trip I always use my number one tool in planning. The Internet. I will often plan the route on google maps and play with the  different options. Not only that, but also looking to see what is along the route. Whether it be special locations, fuel, food, scenic spots or hotel locations. I load them into my stand alone GPS with any POI’s (point of interest) from www.poi-factory.com and I’m ready to go. Without a GPS my trips definitely wouldn’t be possible. It sees in the dark for one Also when planning for our trip a great tool is to find out where to eat. Many don’t factor this into their trips, but you are looking at a decent bill on top of your regular travel expenses. A website that doubles as a great food research tool is www.tripadvisor.com It has both hotel reviews and restaurant reviews. If you have a smartphone I would recommend an application on your phone that can look up places based on your physical location. One of the last ways to save more money on food expenses is making sure you might have a microwave available. Might seem lazy, but you must agree microwave food has vastly improved over the years. We didn’t have one at our first location, but our hotel in Gardiner, MT had one. Thanks to it we had one hot pocket each for breakfast at the steep price of 2.56$. Can’t beat that am I right?

When in Jackson our options for food, lodging, and services is much much larger then in Gardiner. All the more important to look ahead. Especially in off-season you will find far less places open. Just like our trips to cape-cod. Even though it may be warm if it isn’t late spring or early fall many places close up shop. The beauty of Jackson Hole is that many places remain open thanks to the ski and snowboard crowd. If I had a number one recommendation of where to stay in Jackson it would be the Wyoming Inn. It has been our hotel three times in a row for good reason. The fantastic rooms, included breakfast, warm fresh cookies daily, soup through out the day, and the best hostess Debbie. She has been there all three times and it’s like visiting family every time we come back. Plus they are renovating for bigger and better accommodations.

If you are travelling in the off season remember to prepare for weather. Location permitting of course. Having simple things like an ice scrapper, kitty litter, and a shovel are simple things that can go a long way. You don’t want to be stuck on ice helpless in a remote location. Understanding the elements can also help. Like driving at a reduced speed, or knowing it will take longer to stop in hazardous conditions. Just because your care is AWD doesn’t mean squat when it comes to stopping. Also if you rent a car and it has AWD in the winter season chances are they will have all-season tires; not snow tires. All the more reason to be more cautious. In many locations of the National Elk Refuge, Grand Teton National Park, or Yellowstone the road edge isn’t visible. The roadside sticks are just a guide to show you where the road follows. The worst part is the fall off is sharp. So if you don’t take it seriously it may be a long time before your getting back out. Or even worse someone gets hurt. It may sound corny, but it is all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

So when it comes to prep work make sure you do yours right. If all goes as planned you may be able to nab images like this: