Greetings,

First post, first solo trip. Looking for some guidance on logistics and gear, and an overall sanity check of the basic trip outline.

A little bit about me - 36, excellent shape, generally outdoors-y (camping, fishing, hunting, day hikes). Good survival skills and enough common sense not to put myself in a bad situation.

Now having said that...

I plan to spend the 3rd week of April this year hiking back country trails in Yellowstone. The basic idea is to park a pop up camper in the park as a "base camp" and do day hikes (6-10 hours) from there. Either right from where parked, or driving to another section of the park, always planning to be back at the truck/camp at the end of the day.

I'll be driving in from Iowa, so I imagine I'll come in through the NE entrance.

- Any suggestions on an area of the park to set up in? Doesn't have to be centrally located necessarily. Just the area that has the best routes/features to explore.
- Suggestions on specific trails/features that are must see/do?

- A good resource to check and see what trails/roads will be open at that time? Or this a keep checking the park site as time goes on thing?

Gear wise, I have a good Kelty day pack, and I'm fairly well researched into the clothing I'll pick up. My biggest question (and the one people hate to answer) is with footwear. Given that my trail shoe of choice is an NB Minimus, even just a boot style that would be suitable to the temp/snow/terrain would be an incredible help as a starting spot.

TIA for the guidance and input. I'm sure I'll have more questions pop up as the trip plans flesh out.

George