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Flying into West Yellowstone ~ KWYS |
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Final into West Yellowstone. Ever wonder why
they call light aircraft bug smashers?
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Best time of the year to go? |
Winter though July 1st. After July 1st it's tourist
season. Keep Away! |
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Flight time in a Super Viking from KAJO? |
6.5 hours? We arrived via
Denver and departed via Grants Pass OR. |
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Food on the airport? |
No |
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Fuel on airport? |
Yes, average price |
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Comments about arriving and departing |
Per TSA no cars on ramp when air carrier on field. OK
after they depart. |
Rate this trip
10 being best, 5 being average. |
9.5 from the park your airplane and leave it for a week
standpoint. Rental cars within walking distance. Very good FBO. |
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Park the plane and
spend a week at Yellowstone National Park! |
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First off plan on spending at least 7 full
days at Yellowstone, there is so much to see and it's spread over a
large area., we saw half of it in 5 days. Yellowstone is huge and
absolutely gorgeous.
Landed at West Yellowstone Airport and picked
up a car from Avis, our hotel was in the city of West Yellowstone as
well. A fun town with a lot to do however, knowing what I know now
staying in the park would be a lot better idea. The Snow Lodge would
be my first choice followed by the Old Faithful Inn. Staying in the
park costs more but it saves about 90 minutes driving a day. The
best food was found in the park as well.
Pilots, the Yellowstone FBO did a very good job.
There was a small overnight fee even with a gas purchase. Fuel is
the cheapest around, $.80 cents a gallon cheaper than near by
Jackson Hole, $.60 a gallon cheaper than Driggs. The ramp area is
secure and gets very secure when a air carrier is at the gate.
Unless you are turbo charged or better arriving / departing West
Yellowstone under IFR conditions is out of the question due to
density altitude and rate of climb required on departure or missed
approach. During the winter there is NO snow removal at West
Yellowstone airport.
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Enroute to Yellowstone from Greeley CO. |
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Enroute to Yellowstone from Greeley CO. |
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On way to breakfast in Denver when I called Flight
Service for a briefing; "If you're not there by 1:00pm you
won't get there for three days." We were airborne in 30
minutes, weather moving in last 100 miles of flight. |
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Lone buffalo on the road into the park |
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Old Faithful |
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Elk on the road into the park |
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Deer in river |
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More geysers. |
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Geysers on the river. |
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Small hot pot. |
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Geyser Baisin |
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Lower Yellowstone Falls |
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Upper Yellowstone Falls |
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River |
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Buffalo everywhere, right after this picture was taken
buffalo started stampeding. |
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Natural Bridge |
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Buffalo on the river |
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Lone Buffalo |
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Geysers at dawn |
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Geysers at dawn |
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Mud Pots |
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River in the morning. |
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Old geyser that blew out years ago left this hole 300
feet across (note walkway). I hacked this location on my
handheld GPS a few days earlier so I could find it from the
air. |
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