Eating in the Moutains
We just came back from a 2 week long vacation from the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. If you have never been to the mountains and love the outdoors, hiking, beauty and wildlife, YOU MUST GO! The Grand Tetons is such a magical and beautiful place. We've gone in the Spring and Fall and highly recommend going in the Spring. The Waterfalls are full, mountains are covered in snow, the wildlife is giving birth and less traffic. I'm not going to bore you with my vacation but i'd like to share how we are able to make these trips more affordable for us.
When looking for lodging in the park, we choose to stay in cabins with full kitchenettes or atleast a fridge, because let's face it, eating out 3 meals a day for 2 weeks is freaking expensive. That's why when we pick up the rental, we head straight to a supermarket. Here we stock up on tons of fruits, snacks, rolled oats, nuts, cereal, bread, peanut butter, jelly, 2 big bottles of Gatorade, a gallon of water, and a bunch of Mountain House freeze dried food for lunch. We stock up on enough food to hold us over until we get to the next National Park so we don't have to keep making trips back n forth into town (cause it's far).
Our trips are mostly photography trips. Which means we wake up at 3am to get to our spot in time for sunrise. There is no time to make and eat breakfast, everything is done the night before. We make PB&J's and the overnight oats in coffee cups, i know ghetto but resourceful and whatever snacks or fruits for the day. My day pack is all ready with lunch, that way we just grab breakfast and go. Our first stop is the reception building, to fill up our water bottles and grab coffee.
Sunrise in the mountains is definitely something you shouldn't miss. The Elk, Bears, Bison, Moose and flying prey are still out grazing. So, If you wake up early enough you might be lucky to catch one of these guys enjoying the sunrise with you. After sunrise we try to go shoot some waterfalls before the sun gets too high and washes out the pictures. Then we go on a hike. Since we had breakfast around 5am, it's about time for that PB&J. We usually stop for lunch about the turnaround point of our hike or halfway.
This is where your camping gear comes in handy. Those Mountain House meals are actually the better of the brands out there. The Mac and Beef is our favorite. We take out our portable burner and mini propane tank, fill up our titanium mug with water and boil. Pour the boiling water into the resealable freeze dried pouch and in 12min, it's done. Sitting back and enjoying lunch on the side of a mountain with a lakeview or vice versa is such a dream. Peace and nature is truly taken for granted.
We clean up and make sure not to leave any food or scraps behind and then we head back. We make sure to get back to the cabin around 3/4pm to ensure some relaxing time before dinner T 5:30PM. Dinner is really the only meal we eat out. After hiking all day, we burned a lot of calories and no amount of food we bring could fill us. We get ready for dinner at the lodge and endulge.
If you ever think about visiting a National Park I highly recommend renting a full size SUV with a sunroof. That way you are comfortable and if need be, you can pull down the seats and take a nap in the back. Plus, most full size SUVs are 4x4 with high clearance. Which wont limit you to any unpaved roads or off roading. As for the sunroof, it comes in handy when there is wildlife too close for you to get out of your car and you still want that picture. It came in handy when the road was shut down bc a mama bear and her cubs were trying to cross the road. There was a hoard of people in front of my tiny 5'3" self, so I couldn't see. I opened the sunroof and stood on the middle console and had a perfect view of them. Another time it came in hand was in Yellowstone, we went start gazing and tried to get the Milky Way. Now, it's pitch black out there and Elk and Bison are everywhere. I feared getting snuck up on by one of them or startling them and they just gore me. So my ass stays in the car and I take pictures out of the sunroof. I know, I'm a wuss. At least I'm alive. There are too many deaths in National Parks bc stupid people want to take selfies with these animals. So please take caution.
