how is yellowstone in the spring?

[Ted E]

I'm planning a weekend bike trip in two weeks from West Yellowstone to Mammoth, then back to West Yellowstone. The trip is kinda dependent on if it'll be snowing that weekend, but i was wondering if anyone had been in that area in the spring and what to expect. Average temps seem to be around 40 for the high and teens for the lows. I'm only going to be camping two nights total, and only one of those nights in Yellowstone.

I'm really interested in what kind of predators i will need to consider for in the spring, and if i should bring bear spray. i already have a pack list coming together and I'm going to test that out this weekend near my place. I'll post that up when its finalized.

[David Chenault]

Low snow year this year. Should have made the clearing easy. Word on the street is that the GRIZ are out and about early too. So if you're a spray kinda person, bring it.

As for weather, could be just about anything. Check the forecast for West Yellowstone and plan accordingly.

[Ted E]

i think im going to get a can of bear spray. I'm also sealing all smellable's in opsacks and also using my ursack.

hopefully low snowpack means hiking into a backcountry campsite will be easy.

[David Chenault]

Not so sure about hiking. I was in the NW corner of the park skiing 10 days ago, and south facing slopes were melting fast below 8000'. North facing slopes still had feet of snow.

OP sacks and a good hang should keep the critters out of your snacks.

[Ted E]

if i hike in, i'll be wearing microspikes and it will be near the indian creek campground or the grizzly lake area.

if its snow-shoe conditions, i'll probably just have to just camp at mammoth on saturday night since im not bringing snow shoes, although i would much rather stay at a back country site…

[Ted E]

weather.com was originally predicting a clear weekend, and now its saying that there is going to be some snow but the predicted temperatures are reasonable. Me and my friend are planning on riding at a very relaxed pace, so the snow shouldn't be much of an issue.

[Sam Haraldson]

I'm contemplating cycling from West Yellowstone to Madison Junction this weekend (or going backpacking – – can't decide). Bozeman received between 3 and 8 inches of snow over the course of the past few days so I presume there was accumulation in West as well.

[David Chenault]

The lure of cycling the park calls, but it's hard to think of doing so when I could go skiing instead! Perhaps ride West to Mammoth and back on Saturday, then ski on Sunday.

Hmmmmm…..

[Ted E]

if either of you guys are in the area, i'll be probably pedaling in my green taku rain jack. hopefully the roads will be good and the wind will be mild. they aren't predicting much wind though, so im pretty comfident it will be a nice, however a little wet and cold, weekend.

[Ted E]

the weather was fantastic all weekend, only a little bit of wind on Sunday spoiled it from being absolutely perfect.

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