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Old 03-11-2015, 07:59 AM   #1
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Cooking in Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP

We will be staying within Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks for about four weeks this summer (Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone and Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton). Both state that cooking implements and food cannot be left outside. This makes sense to me, but seems to me it will create quite a few chores: haul everything out, fire things up, cook and eat, let everything cool, put everything away.

When we have camped with the travel trailer before, we left the grill, dutch ovens, and assorted other stuff outside.

Just wonder if others have been down this road and wonder what solutions they have come up with.

Thanks!
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Old 03-11-2015, 08:49 AM   #2
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Bears Bears Bears!

I would not leave anything out that has food product on it! It might take a few extra minutes, but you do not need the problems that a large carnivorous animal will cause if you have one take an interest in that sweet greasy grill you left out.

We always make sure that all material is clean and put away when in bear country. I usually slide everything into the back of the SUV. Keeping it clean is the most important, then you could store it just about anywhere. If it was clean then you could potentially put it in a Tupperware bin and leave it outside. Again, if it smells like food, it will attract critters.

In all my years of camping (I have never camped in YELL or GTNP in an RV only in tents!) I never had a problem with bears, it was always the raccoons, possums, squirrels, skunks, etc that caused the most problems.

Yosemite NP is the worst for bears, they have been known to break into cars to steal your food!

Sounds like an awesome trip. I am planning a similar trip to the Tetons for next year. So excited.

I've been out there a bunch, it is an amazing place to visit!
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Old 03-11-2015, 08:56 AM   #3
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You will get fined if anything to do with food is left outside, stove, cooler, cookware etc. The Rangers are very diligent about handing out fines. We have seen bears walk through the campgrounds in Yellowstone. Take the extra precautions and put things either in the bear lockers or in your vehicle.
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Old 03-11-2015, 09:26 AM   #4
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'Back in the day' when DW and I camped in a van, we had our DIY 'camp kitchen'; one box with handles. It held the camp stove and everything except refrigerated items. Worked well for us.

EDIT: That box went in and out for every meal. It didn't STAY outside!
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Old 03-11-2015, 09:27 AM   #5
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What ever you do don't blame it on the Bears.
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Old 03-11-2015, 10:18 AM   #6
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Fishing bridge is a campground that is nearest to prime bear habitat. Only hard sided RVs can stay there.

Cooking isn't that much of a chore or problem. We only really cooked supper at the campsite. Breakfast was usually something quick and done in the camper. Hot or cold cereal. The intent was to get out into the park - not spend the morning cooking and cleaning dishes. Luch was packed and taken with us, or just small items puchased at one of the sites in the park. Sometimes we got back to the campground so late that even cooking supper didn't happen. But after the evening meal, we just pack up the grill and the cooler and put them in our tow vehicle.
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Old 03-11-2015, 10:34 AM   #7
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If putting things away is a problem, just cook inside. If you leave things out in Yellowstone, you will get fined. Not only is it to keep you and other campers safe, it is to protect the animals as well. I don't find it too hard to put things away. We will be in Yosemite in a few weeks and will need to do the same there.
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Old 03-11-2015, 03:09 PM   #8
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This makes good sense in much of the West, can't speak of the east. Even if it's not a "rule" it makes sense. Bears and many many other smaller critters are everywhere. Why do things to attract wild animals some of which, even if they are not dangerous in themselves, carry things that could effect humans...
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Old 03-11-2015, 03:43 PM   #9
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oldmanAZ,

That is pretty much what I have started o think about - some type of a "box", where the stuff other than food would go and be locked away.

I was just wondering what other have done in this regard.
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Old 03-11-2015, 04:32 PM   #10
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Rules in Yellowstone are locked inside your trailer, your vehicle or in one of the provided food lockers, this applies to anytime you are not sitting outside of your RV.

Last I was at Yellowstone, there are no fire pits or fires allowed at Fishing Bridge, it's one of my reasons that I dislike Fishing Bridge.

Several years ago we were staying at Lewis Lake (Yellowstone) with a Pop-up trailer, we follow the rules with food which included keeping it locked up in our SUV, during the night we were visited by a bear, it left his print on our trailer door, he did not bother us otherwise, but my wife and I both heard him at about 2 am. We both sat up bolt upright, and held our breath waiting for it to leave. Luckily he did no damage and went about his way, but if there would have been any food outside, even in locked coolers, he would have got it.
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Old 03-12-2015, 08:21 AM   #11
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In Michigan, black bears are abundant throughout the U.P. and much of the northern L.P. I use to tent-camp, but the first time I saw a bear paw-print in the dirt was when I bought my first hard-sided trailer. Those paws are HUGE! And they have CLAWS! And brown bears are even larger! It just makes sense to keep all food and cooking items in a plastic bin w/tight-fitting top; then put that inside your locked trailer or tow vehicle. Yes, it takes a little time to allow the grill to cool down and to stow it away. So start dinner a little earlier to allow for that. Sure beats the alternative!

Due to the severe drought throughout much of the West/Mid-west, many campgrounds have banned open fires and outside cooking - even on a grill. So you either cook inside, or prepare meals at home, pop then in the freezer, and heat them up in the microwave. And microwave reheating leaves more time to enjoy the great outdoors!
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Old 03-12-2015, 10:10 PM   #12
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You cannot even leave out your water jug or a tablecloth on your table. The tablecloth sounded like a no-brainer, but a water jug? When I asked the Ranger he said, "Suppose you make hamburgers for supper. After making the patties, you need to wash you hands. So you grab your water jug to pour water in the hand washing basin. You just left meat scent on the jug handle. The bear doesn't know it's meat scent. The bear just smells meat - and he's gonna come looking for it." Enough said.
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Old 03-13-2015, 04:37 AM   #13
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a picture is worth a thousand words

these pictures were taken at Madison campground inside Yellowstone in October 2014 right at dusk. the tiki torch is clamped to the picnic table. this is good enough reason to me not to have food laying around in the park! and yes, that is a grizzly sow with cub.
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Old 03-13-2015, 07:48 AM   #14
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How do you tell the difference between a brown bear and a grizzly?



Wait for it.....



Wait for it....


Walk up behind it and kick it in the hindquarters then run quickly and climb a nearby tree.

If the bear knocks the tree down and eats you it is a brown bear, but, if the bear climbs the tree and eats you it's a grizzly!
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Old 03-13-2015, 09:40 AM   #15
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When we stayed in Yellowstone in 2013 (not Fishing Bridge) we just put our stuff in the food lockers. It had metal shelves, so if the grill or stove was hot, I was not concern. We typically do not leave stuff out, except for the stove, grill and propane tank, so it was not a big deal. But we too saw lots of bears.
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Old 03-18-2015, 02:59 PM   #16
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When we were there a few years ago, we cooked inside.

This is their territory, not ours..

And, don't leave your dog tied outside...


Quote:
Originally Posted by RUSSELL5000 View Post
We will be staying within Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks for about four weeks this summer (Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone and Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton). Both state t
Thanks!
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Old 03-18-2015, 04:33 PM   #17
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And...treat gray water the same. Mostly it is tent campers that wash dishes in a bucket, then throw their dishwater in the bushes at the back of their site, but as noted earlier, even washing greasy hands in water pouring on the ground is enough to leave a very loud calling card for the bears to "come and get it"! Use your sinks with holding tanks, or use the approved dumping facilities for disposing of it.
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Old 11-03-2016, 06:30 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gvn71 View Post
How do you tell the difference between a brown bear and a grizzly?



Wait for it.....



Wait for it....


Walk up behind it and kick it in the hindquarters then run quickly and climb a nearby tree.

If the bear knocks the tree down and eats you it is a brown bear, but, if the bear climbs the tree and eats you it's a grizzly!
Have to correct this. Black bears can and do climb trees, but usually when trying to get away from you. Grizzly cubs can climb, but adults cannot. There is no separate species of "brown" bears in the lower 48. Black bears can be several colors, including brown and cinnamon, but they are still black bears and significantly smaller than grizzlies, and they don't have the distinctive grizzly shoulder hump.
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Old 11-03-2016, 06:54 PM   #19
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Thought That Was Standard

Having lived in the Utah and going to the local national parks a couple times a year for most of my life, I thought putting it all behind locked doors was standard. If you were not within 10 feet of anything that had been touched by food smells, it was put away where a bear could not get into it.
Recently, I left my small propane grill out overnight on the table and wondered if I was doing something wrong.

We did not put our gear high enough up hanging between the trees 25 years ago and we got a $25 ticket. We were in wilderness area five miles from the nearest road and the ranger found our food too low while we were out on the lake.
A fed bear is a dead bear.
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Old 11-03-2016, 07:07 PM   #20
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Quote:
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Having lived in the Utah and going to the local national parks a couple times a year for most of my life, I thought putting it all behind locked doors was standard. If you were not within 10 feet of anything that had been touched by food smells, it was put away where a bear could not get into it.
Recently, I left my small propane grill out overnight on the table and wondered if I was doing something wrong.

We did not put our gear high enough up hanging between the trees 25 years ago and we got a $25 ticket. We were in wilderness area five miles from the nearest road and the ranger found our food too low while we were out on the lake.
A fed bear is a dead bear.
I backpacked in the Madison Range NW of Yellowstone, and we bagged and hung our food nearly 20 feet up and 50 yards from our tents there. We saw a "bear tree" not far from our camp where a grizzly had marked his territory, and the claw marks were higher than I could reach, and I'm 6'2" and can easily reach 8 feet.
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