Planning a trip

[JR'SFJR]

A lot of good info here. Don't forget the Mitchell SD Corn Palace!!! You have a lot of KOA campgrounds going west from WI and are great for big miles days, just wanting a tent site and shower. One east of Yellowstone at Cody, another at West Yellowstone, another north of Beartooth Pass at Red Lodge......just in case. As indicated, state and national parks tend to fill early. I have run this trip from WI(Manitowoc) and Fl. Wonderful trip. Expect cold camping nights. Avoid holiday weekends if you can. Have fun. jr

 

[Andyman]

Day 1 Blast out to Wall, SD...sleep. Get ready for some fun.

Day 2 Black Hills and Custer state park

Day 3 Devil's Tower, Big Horns and Chief Joseph Hwy to Cooke City

Day 4 Go over Beartooth Pass north . Go over Beartooth Pass south. Head west to Mammoth, WY, then south on the west side of the park to campground. Ride more within the campground visting the features.

Day 5 Do a loop of Yellowstone seeing all the features

Day 6 Rinse and repeat

Day 7 Head out the east entrance to Cody, head north, do Chief Joseph Hwy again and Beartooth Pass again noth into Montana.

Day 8 Head home...

Day 9 Get home...and start ride report from some of the most beautiful area you've ridden in.

Edit: I would revise my itinerary to definitely exit south to the Tetons...

Highly recommend this itinerary. I've been through this area quite a few times being my in-laws only live a hour away from there. Awesome scenery, roads, places to hike and four wheel. restaurants in Cody, Cook City, and Red Lodge are pretty good also. Plenty of camping around but keep in mind camping in Yellowstone is pricey compared to sites just outside the park. Just make sure you use Bear boxes for your food and for any clothes you use to cook food. Otherwise you might have a black furry visitor in the middle of the night looking for lunch.

Day 1 Blast out to Wall, SD...sleep. Get ready for some fun.

Day 2 Black Hills and Custer state park

Day 3 Devil's Tower, Big Horns and Chief Joseph Hwy to Cooke City

Day 4 Go over Beartooth Pass north . Go over Beartooth Pass south. Head west to Mammoth, WY, then south on the west side of the park to campground. Ride more within the campground visting the features.

Day 5 Do a loop of Yellowstone seeing all the features

Day 6 Rinse and repeat

Day 7 Head out the east entrance to Cody, head north, do Chief Joseph Hwy again and Beartooth Pass again noth into Montana.

Day 8 Head home...

Day 9 Get home...and start ride report from some of the most beautiful area you've ridden in.

Edit: I would revise my itinerary to definitely exit south to the Tetons...

 

[chrisflock]

Well, time off, cost, timing, inability to find adequate lodging have caused us to revisit the idea of going to the Ozarks.

It looks like Memorial Day weekend is too early for a variety of the places we wanted to go, and already quite busy in the places that are open. And not having the holiday weekend just cuts the amount of time we can take down

It seems like it wouldn't be worth it to spend 2 days in the park.

But it looks like we can get some nice lodging in the Ozarks for amazing prices. Now I've just got to get a communication system worked out for the wife's Ninja.

 

[wheatonFJR]

It's not the destination, it's the ride. Plus, two to three full days in the park is plenty to see the features. Or you could use the 4th of July holiday somehow to reduce your vacation time maybe??

 

[fjrb0]

+1 on taking in the Black Hills on the way, and would suggest riding US 85 south to Four Corners, WY, then heading north on WY 585 to Sundance, go by Devil's Tower, then exit north up to WY 112 to US 212 West, and ride thru Little Big Horn. Then over 14A, or 14, into Cody. We stayed one night at the Bear Tooth Inn in Cody and the prices were not bad. Then as suggested up Dead Indian Pass on WY 296 and turn right to go over Bear Tooth, then turn around and head on into Yellowstone.

We did luck out and find two cabins just south of YNP at Jenny Lake Lodge in some rustic cabins. We called from Old Faithful Lodge, they had two units left, and again, the prices were pretty cheap, and it was cold and rainy that day, so well worth the bucks for six guys...

Just go prepared, if I can attach the pictures, they were taken June 2, 2009.

Dead Indian Pass, WY. June 2.

Beartooth Pass, June 2.

Jenny Lake Cabin

Good luck, and have fun!

 

[ndivita]

More of Beartooth Pass in Sept 08 after CFO in Custer

Still snow in Sept.

Good god those are great pics; I do love riding up there. :yahoo:

 

[Geezer]

You will have a lot more fun riding somewhere within your comfort zone, both time and money, rather than trying to push yourself just to see one more thing while you are on the road. Yellowstone, and all those other places, will still be there next time.

Regarding communications, the cheapest setup I have found is the Midland GTX FRS/GMRS. I use the GTX1000VP4. They are waterproof and rechargeable and sell for well under $100 a pair. (Amazon lists them for $50 for the pair.) And they sell a headset and mike designed specifically for motorcycle use for less than $50 each.

 

[wheatonFJR]

You will have a lot more fun riding somewhere within your comfort zone, both time and money, rather than trying to push yourself just to see one more thing while you are on the road. Yellowstone, and all those other places, will still be there next time.

...

I heartily agree.

Plus Missouri and AR are just filled with good riding... :yahoo:

 

[chrisflock]

It's not the destination, it's the ride. Plus, two to three full days in the park is plenty to see the features. Or you could use the 4th of July holiday somehow to reduce your vacation time maybe??

We wouldn't actually have even 2 full days in the park, unfortunately, as we've got to be back in the region the weekend after memorial day. And as for rides vs destinations, a nice ride down the river road sounds more fun that hauling *** down the interstate for 2 days. NinjaChick was uncertain about the 650 mile ride to Rapid City. Wouldn't be a lot of fun for her on her Ninja...

The 4th of July week is something that is still up in the air. I'm guessing, though, that weekend/week would probably be the busiest in Yellowstone.

 

[fjrb0]

Not wanting to plan your route (but I love route planning!), a round trip from LaCrosse to YNP and back is about 2500 miles, and if you have five days, that is averaging 500 miles per day every day. A round trip down to Eureka Springs, AR and to West Plains, MO is about 1600 miles in the same amount of time, much more "doable".

But, don't wait until July. The heat and humidity will kill you...Memorial Day can be a little bit rainy too, just ask the SFO attendees.... :flood:

 

[chrisflock]

Not wanting to plan your route (but I love route planning!), a round trip from LaCrosse to YNP and back is about 2500 miles, and if you have five days, that is averaging 500 miles per day every day. A round trip down to Eureka Springs, AR and to West Plains, MO is about 1600 miles in the same amount of time, much more "doable".

But, don't wait until July. The heat and humidity will kill you...Memorial Day can be a little bit rainy too, just ask the SFO attendees.... :flood:

My plan is the Ozarks over Memorial day weekend. There's a chance that we'll have the opportunity to go on a trip over the 4th of July, but where we'd go then will depend on a bunch of factors. If by some miracle chance I don't have to take any days (between now and July 4th) off other than those scheduled for the Memorial day trip and the 1 I'm planning on the Friday of the FJR rally, I could take off the week of the 4th and we *could* go to Yellowstone.

But I'm not banking on it, and by the time I'll know for sure if I have the time off to do it, reservations will probably be unobtainium.

 

[chrisflock]

You will have a lot more fun riding somewhere within your comfort zone, both time and money, rather than trying to push yourself just to see one more thing while you are on the road. Yellowstone, and all those other places, will still be there next time.

Regarding communications, the cheapest setup I have found is the Midland GTX FRS/GMRS. I use the GTX1000VP4. They are waterproof and rechargeable and sell for well under $100 a pair. (Amazon lists them for $50 for the pair.) And they sell a headset and mike designed specifically for motorcycle use for less than $50 each.

I like the midland radios, but those headsets looks suspiciously like the ones we bought previously to use with handheld CB radios...which didn't last the trip.

Have you used those headsets, or just those radios with other headsets?

 

[Geezer]

I like the midland radios, but those headsets looks suspiciously like the ones we bought previously to use with handheld CB radios...which didn't last the trip.

Have you used those headsets, or just those radios with other headsets?

I used one headset, but I snipped off the speakers and spliced it into my AmpliRider so I can monitor the GPS and RD as well as the radio. Once I figured out the right wires to splice into and where to mount the push-to-talk button it works OK for me.

It is fragile, but so are my other communications wires so I'm used to being gentle with the wiring.

 

[chrisflock]

I like the midland radios, but those headsets looks suspiciously like the ones we bought previously to use with handheld CB radios...which didn't last the trip.

Have you used those headsets, or just those radios with other headsets?

I used one headset, but I snipped off the speakers and spliced it into my AmpliRider so I can monitor the GPS and RD as well as the radio. Once I figured out the right wires to splice into and where to mount the push-to-talk button it works OK for me.

It is fragile, but so are my other communications wires so I'm used to being gentle with the wiring.

I see. We didn't have the wiring come apart on us, but both headsets had quit working by the end of our little weekend trip.

It is too bad there isn't a cheap way to attach my existing J&M headset to one of the midland FRS radios.