Trip report: flying to Yellowstone in a Grumman Traveler

My wife and I just came back from a trip to Yellowstone in our '75
Traveler. See the trip map

http://www.chouby.com/apps/wys.html

We took the southern route through Boise, ID both ways because of the
weather and the limited altitude capability of our plane. Between
Boise and Yellowstone we flew over a vast span of central Idaho desert
with stunning views. West Yellowstone airport is located in a large
half bowl shaped valley with field elevation of 6644 feet. Getting
into WYS we landed in probably 15 knots crosswind, beating a rain
shower by 20 minutes.

Four days later we departed West Yellowstone in early morning with sun
burned faces and sore legs from all the hiking we did at the
Yellowstone National Park. The temperature was just above freezing and
the DA was 6700ft. At 200lb under gross the takeoff from the 8,400
feet runway was quite routine and didn't seem much worse than taking
off from Boise (2800 ft) in a 90F afternoon. The view from the air was
nothing short of spectacular.