I'm going on my first trip ever to Yellowstone / Grand Tetons the first 2 weeks of September and am excited beyond belief - assuming of course, that the virus doesn't ruin things. I am in the process of researching and planning my trip. I want to spend the bulk of my time in Yellowstone and I have a few preliminary questions which I haven't been able to find answers to either here or on the internet. (I have yet to start planning the Grand Tetons part of the trip - I'm sure I will have questions when I get to that part of my planning.)

Just some background - I'm a big city girl and I will be travelling alone. I will be staying outside the park (I am leaning towards right outside the Roosevelt Arch) and I will have a rental car.

Here goes: I know hiking alone is a big no-no. The ranger led hikes have been cancelled this year as far as i can tell. Do you know of any hikes that can be done alone or am I stuck with what I can see from my car? I suppose I could wait until I arrive and ask at the ranger station, but I prefer to have everything thought out in advance.

The Hayden and Lamar Valleys are prime wildlife viewing locations. Is there a best spot (i.e. mile marker) to just sit and wait or is it a matter of driving around until I see something and then stop?

Everybody says to get to the park early for the best wildlife viewing opportunities. What does "early" mean exactly? Is it 1 hour before sunrise, 2 hours, sunrise itself? I want to maximize my opportunities to see wildlife.

Since I will be alone and I have a healthy fear of bears and the nights there are far darker than what I am used to, can anyone suggest someplace where I might be able to try some astrophotography that won't be so scary and where I won't necessarily be alone? If I do end up by myself, would keeping the car headlights on keep the bears away?

Finally, don't laugh, but do bears go out in the rain? (Some websites said yes, others didn't say one way or another.) If they don't go out in the rain, I was hoping to be able to do do some hiking.

Thanks for any information you're willing to share.

Gloria

Thanks for this, the reason I am a bit reluctant to do that is security updates. I want the latest and I am not sure if I go back one level of OS I will get what I need.

What bugs me is the fact that Apple seems to have moved to a system that eliminates some software for no real reason. Maybe someone could tell me why they felt the need to go from 32 to 64 bit.

I have used Apple products for years but am not a 'fanboy'. Some of the things like reducing the number of ports on their machines so that you now need dongles out the ying Yang to connect makes no sense to me on a 'portable laptop'. End of rant.