Despite calling for reservations 366 days in advance, all the rooms at the Old Faithful Inn were already booked up. Almost every lodge and hotel in the park were booked up by 8:00 am when I called. I was lucky to book three nights at Grant Village before everything got swallowed up. But we wanted to spend more than just three days at Yellowstone so we booked our first two nights at the Absaroka Mountain Lodge which is just a few miles from the East Entrance to Yellowstone.
It was a wonderful place, nestled in a narrow canyon with cliff walls that towered over each side of the grounds. After exiting the highway you cross what they called a creek but what was actually a raging mountain river. There is one lodge house that serves as a restaurant surrounded by very nice little cabins. Our cabin had two rooms and two bathrooms.
It was at the Absaroka Mountain Lodge where we had one of our most memorable experiences. We got there in the early evening and headed to the lodge which was right next to our cabin to eat a nice big dinner. After dinner Jackson traipses out of the lodge looking at the ground. He did not see the grizzly bear standing by our cabin, fifteen feet in front of him.
Kim and I were about ten feet behind Jackson when we saw the bear. A young looking bear, not a cub but probably about two years old according the lodge owner's later estimate, was right there. I yelled "JACKSON STOP!" Jackson stopped. The bear stood up on his hind legs. At that moment, the owner of the lodge who was also cooking happened to see the bear out his kitchen window and burst out. He placed himself between Jackson and the bear and thrust him back toward us and gestured for us to get inside. He waved his arms and the bear ran off into the forest next to the canyon walls.
Whew.
From that moment on I carried my bear spray wherever we went.
The resort was very nice. We only stayed two nights and didn't spend much time there since we drove to Yellowstone each day. But they had bonfires each night and there were a lot of outdoor amenities that we didn't get to take advantage of. Our cabin had two rooms separated by a curtain and two bathrooms...a pretty posh cabin. I would highly recommend it if you can't get a spot in the park.
