9/15 - Yellowstone, Day 7

The weather wasn't good to start with....cold, overcast and slightly wet.  We had three choices.....try to rearrange several reservations in order to stay here another day, not do Grand Teton National Park at all, or take a chance on the weather. Since not doing it was really not an option we picked the easier of the other two.  


We got what was, for us, quite an early start. We are neither early risers nor quick to get out once up.  Leaving at 8:00 am (rather than our usual 9:00) would have given a change in lighting for photography had the skies not been so heavily overcast. 

In spite of the clouds, the early morning light did make a difference on this one, a meadow full of geysers and fumaroles puffing away. 

A very colorful highway cut near one of the three continental divide crossings in YNP. This is the true color....it actually came out right for a change.

Right after entering Grand Teton NP from Yellowstone we came upon the evidence of the huge Berry fire which has been plaguing firefighters in the area for weeks. It started in July and was being managed for ecological purposes but it roared out of control and closed this major road twice for over two weeks total. We were very lucky it was re-opened on Tuesday or we wouldn't have been able to see the Grand Tetons. It burned 20,801 acres, much of which is visible from the road. 

One of the things we most appreciated on today's drive was seeing the vibrant fall color of the aspens which seem to have changed overnight. It was probably the low-20's temperatures over last weekend that spurred them on.

Grand Teton NP is a loop drive with a lot of hiking trails and viewing areas. Our focus, until the clouds started lifting, was looking for wildlife. We went to a park ranger program on where to find the best spots for seeing large animals. Checking every one of them proved fruitless. We knew our chances were slim because we weren't there at the right time of day but we saw some beautiful countryside in the process.

Prime moose territory but nary a one in sight. We did catch a glimpse of a large animal at the tree line but it disappeared before we could identify it. We're sure there were moose back just far enough that we couldn't see them but they could see us. We thought we heard them laughing.

This is the closest we got to an animal in GTNP (other than a ground squirrel).  It's the Taj Mahal of beaver lodges complete with exterior landscaping. It was accompanied by a very well built beaver dam.  We were very impressed.

Clouds starting to lift with the Snake River in the foreground.

The day started out with the mountains covered to the ground.  Eventually the clouds started to lift.  Since the mountains rise from the valley floor at 4,000 feet to peaks of 7,000 feet it takes a whole lot of cloud-lifting to see them.  

 

Even with a lot of clouds they're still spectacular.

Making a bit more progress with the clouds.

The Grand Tetons are very young mountains....only 9 million years old. That's why they're so high and jagged. Give them a few hundred million more years and they'll look like the Appalachians.

 The view across Jenny Lake. There was no way to get that pointy tree out of the picture.

The parking at this viewpoint was very congested with a long line of cars parked on the side of the road. Also on the side, but well into the road, was a tour bus. An RV tried to squeeze by it but hit the bus's mirror and broke the RV's rear window out. The RV kept going so the poor tour bus driver was left on her own to explain it to her boss. Fortunately, Jim got her mirror to where she could use it.

By the end of the day this is what we had as far as cloud cover. We never did see a full view of the whole range but what we did see was fantastic. We thought we might be able to see the mountains without clouds by coming through both parks tomorrow on our way to our next stop, but after returning through Yellowstone and considering the three 8,000'+ passes and the not-too-smooth roads....and the elk jams....we decided we'd take the route down the west side of the mountains in Idaho. Maybe we'll get a good view of them from there.

It was a long day (250 miles) but worth every bit of it. We are going to have to come back here and stay in the park so we can see more of it and do it at a leisurely pace.

Tomorrow will be a 260 mile drive to Boulder, Wyoming, for two nights. Population 75. Probably won't be overrun with tourists.