We went on this trip with recommendations from Trip Advisor. From the beginning, this tour seemed doomed. We received a call 5 minutes after our pick up time from our guide, Diane, saying they were about 10-15 minutes late because they were not given all the lunches. Ok, no problem. We got picked up 10 minutes late, and then went to pick up some of the other guests. Our guide and driver didn't seem to know the downtown Jackson Hole area to find the hotels, and went around in a circle, very confused about where to go. We eventually picked all guests up.
Once all the guests were on the bus, our guide then seemed to want to take a vote as to whether it was OK if she didn't wear a mask as it was uncomfortable for her to talk through it all day. A lot of the guests said "sure, no problem, we don't want to wear this face diaper anyway", etc... Well, one of the main reasons we took this tour was that in ALL the literature, emails, texts, etc... it stated that all passengers were required to wear masks. So the guide basically said let's take a vote. So this was a major problem for me and my group.
From there, we went to the store to pick the remaining lunch. I mean, why did you tell me you were late because you had to pick up the lunch??? During this time, I confronted Diane and told her that we were uncomfortable on the bus with no masks, and she said she understood and would make sure that masks were worn. She stepped on the bus wearing her mask, and one of the guests told her she didn't need to wear it. She replied that there were others that wanted her and the remaining guests to wear them. To her credit, she kept her mask on the entire trip.
However, it was a major effort to get some of the other guests to wear them. I had to remind Diane twice during the trip to ask the guests to continue to wear them, and there was grumbling under the breath of the guests. Most of them did wear them, although many below their nose and it was just a struggle and made me and my party very uncomfortable.
Well, since we got lost picking up some guests, and had to go to the store to get the additional lunch, we ended up behind schedule. So Diane and our driver, Scott, decided that there was a good we were going to miss the first Old Faithful eruption, so they decided to do the tour in reverse. Didn't seem like a big deal, because we were assured we would see Old Faithful, which everyone wanted to.
At this point, it seemed to throw Diane for a loop, and the rest of the day there didn't seem to be a real schedule. She kept referencing the fact that we were doing this in reverse. It just seemed that there was no plan for anything. We ended up eating lunch at an area for a rest, where we ate on stone pillars that certainly were not made for eating.
Diane said at one point that she did these tours once a week, and it sure showed. Her knowledge seemed very limited, she couldn't answer what seemed like simple questions. Now, our driver, Scott, who apparently was a guide on most days, was wonderful. He did grab the microphone a few times to speak about a few things, and it was like night and day when he was speaking. He was smooth, knowledgeable, and gave some great stories. I would have been very happy if he was our guide the entire trip.
One additional point about Diane. At one point, she told a story about a park guest that ended up getting mauled by a bear. She began the store with "This one time, an Asian couple", and told the story. I looked at my wife and wondered what the point of saying "Asian couple" was. Would she have said "White couple, or Jewish couple"? You get my point.
We have been on many trips through Viator, and have never been disappointed. However, this time I was. I feel that it would have been much better had we had a different guide who was more knowledgeable. Also was very disappointed in the mask situation as described above. Diane seemed like a very nice person, so this is not personal, but it definitely felt as though we did not get the experience we paid for.
My recommendation is to make sure that Diane is not your guide.