Date of trip: June 2009

Grand Teton National Park is literally right below Yellowstone and it’s often overshadowed by its more famous neighbor. Although Yellowstone’s accolades are well deserved, Teton is an incredible place as well and should not be overlooked.

Highlights:

-The star of the park is the Teton Mountain Range which was pushed up by a fault line it sits on millions of years ago. The peaks are covered by snow year round and are truly breathtaking. The Tetons can be seen from pretty much every area in the park, but the paved road on the eastern side has many turnouts which offer the best views along with signs explaining the history and geology of the mountains.

-My favorite place in all of Teton was the Jackson Lake Lodge and my reasons have nothing to do with the hotel rooms. Inside the main lobby of the lodge are 60 foot, floor to ceiling windows offering unparalleled views of the Willow Flats area. This is one of the best places to spot moose, bear and elk and, because it is indoors, it can be enjoyed even in poor weather conditions. Will and I began and ended all of our days in the park here and one morning we witnessed a bear hunt down and snatch a newborn baby elk. It was an equally thrilling and horrifying sight and a glimpse into the wild and harsh realities of life for the animals in Teton.

-Another great place to spot wildlife is on the road leading up Signal Mountain. It’s long and winding and not the easiest drive, but if you proceed slowly and keep your eyes peeled you’ll be rewarded. We saw elk and deer during our ascent and a delightful pair of mating dusky grouse at the top. The male was puffed up, dancing and showing off his brilliant plumage.

-Jenny Lake sits at the base of the Tetons and offers a stunning view of the range. This area holds the park’s 5 star resort, Jenny Lake Lodge, a collection of beautiful, well appointed cabins complete with patios to admire the scenery at all hours. This section of the park is popular with hikers because Jenny Lake is the starting point for many of the park’s trails.

-The Menor’s Ferry District is an old homesteading area next to the Snake River. It belonged to Bill Menor in the 1800s who ran a country store and ferried early travelers across the water. Today, visitors can still shop in the store, ride over the river on a replica ferryboat and get a glimpse of pioneer life in Menor’s cabin. Nearby, the Chapel of the Transfiguration has a window on its altar that frames the Teton Mountains. It’s one of the most beautiful little churches I’ve ever been in.

-Just outside of the park’s southern entrance is the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor’s Center, a state of the art museum and auditorium. It’s the best place to learn all about Grand Teton and gather information to plan your stay in the park. There’s also a shop with maps and souvenirs and a ranger desk where you can get current weather reports and a schedule of park events.

-Snake River winds through almost the entire length of Grand Teton and it’s a great place to find wildlife as they look for water or food or rest on the cool banks. Float trips down the river on rubber rafts are offered several times a day. Although there are no guarantees that you’ll sight any specific animals, you’ll definitely see birds, perhaps even a bald eagle. The Oxbow Bend Turnout, a section of the river near Jackson Lodge is popular territory for beavers and moose.

Grand Teton National Park is covered in mountains and open flatlands. The geography is ideal for wildlife viewing because a visitor can perch on an elevated area with a vast stretch of land before them to observe while animals make their way across. When I visit a park, I relish the opportunities I have to get away from the crowds and find a peaceful place where I can feel part of the natural world and just enjoy it. Teton is full of such locations and that is what makes it is such a special place.

For more pictures, please visit my Photo Gallery or click on any of the photos posted above.

Grand Teton Links:
Grand Teton National Park Official Site
Grand Teton Lodging and Activities

Date of trip: June 2009

While the Upper Loop of Yellowstone does have some of the many geothermal features that are widespread in the Lower Loop, it is better characterized by its rocky mountains and rolling green valleys. It is quieter, wilder and less developed and it feels like a completely different park.

Highlights:

-Roosevelt Lodge is the most remote area of Yellowstone that guests can stay in without camping. It consists of a restaurant serving tasty southern food, a simple convenience store and 80 cabins. The Frontier Cabins, of which there are 14, have bathrooms, showers and electric heat. The remainder of the cabins, called Roughriders, share public bathrooms and are equipped with wood burning stoves. We were able to secure a very nice Frontier Cabin but I had to book it by phone as it showed up unavailable online. It was such a lovely, peaceful place to stay and many of the guests enjoyed drinks on the porch of the restaurant in the mornings and evenings. There are a few tours offered from Roosevelt including an Old West Dinner Cookout which includes a covered wagon ride. Not far from the lodge is the lookout for Tower-Fall, a pretty waterfall on the northern end of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

-The Upper Loop of Yellowstone is prime habitat for pretty much all of the wildlife in the park, especially in the wide open spaces of Lamar Valley. We saw about ten times more bison here than in any other area as well as many elk and pronghorn. Lamar is also the place to spot the elusive gray wolves, black and grizzly bears, bighorn sheep and coyotes. We saw all of the above!

-When Yellowstone was named the first National Park it was managed by the Army for over 30 years until the formation of the National Park Service. Their headquarters, Fort Yellowstone, was located in the Mammoth Hot Springs section of the park. Today, the area still serves as park headquarters and holds administrative offices and housing for employees. Many of the buildings are closed to the public, but there is a nice museum which chronicles the park’s history and has models of the resident animals. There are also lodging and dining options in Mammoth, but the main attraction in the area are the Springs themselves. The mineral rich water has created large white shelves of calcium deposits left over thousands of years. Algae living in the pools tints some of them with shades of orange and red. The formations are split into Upper and Lower Terraces which can be explored by foot or by car.

-The Roosevelt Arch stands at the northern entrance to Yellowstone, which is actually in Montana. It was built in 1903 to serve as the official entrance to the park when the railroad began serving the adjoining town. President Theodore Roosevelt laid down the cornerstone of the arch in a ceremony attended by thousands.

-Sheepeater Cliff was formed by lava flows hundreds of thousands of years ago. The basalt stone, resulting from the hardened lava, cracks into smaller pieces and falls, creating piles of loose rocks. Aside from its interesting appearance, what makes the cliff special are the yellow-bellied marmots that live within the crevices. I thought they might be shy and hard to spot so I was thrilled when we drove up and found one sprawled out, resting on a rock in full view!

-If you’ve ever wondered how someone becomes a park ranger or what is involved in the job, you can find out at the Museum of the National Park Ranger in the Norris area. The museums has displays featuring old photos, ranger uniforms and models of ranger cabins. Best of all, there are rangers working in the museum that are happy to talk about their jobs and answer questions about what they do.

It’s unfortunate that some people visit Yellowstone without traveling to the Upper Loop of the park. The Lower Loop is a remarkable place but it was in the less crowded Upper Loop, where I found peace and solitude, that I really felt connected to nature. To truly experience all the park has to offer, a visitor should see both.

For more pictures, please visit my Photo Gallery or click on any of the photos posted above.

You can read more about my trip to Yellowstone by visiting my Lower Loop post.

Yellowstone Links:
Yellowstone National Park Official Site
Yellowstone Hotel and Tour Reservations

Date of trip: June 2009

Most summers, Will and I plan a National Park trip and this year we decided to visit the very first park, Yellowstone. Yellowstone was declared a National Park in 1872 when early explorers convinced President Ulysses Grant that it was a special place that should be protected. The park is massive, with the main roads dividing it into an upper and lower loop that form a figure eight. Ideally, a visitor should spend at least 2-3 days in each part.

Lower Loop Highlights:

-There are several lodging options in the Old Faithful area, but the most popular is the Old Faithful Inn, the largest log hotel in the world. The lobby of the inn is magnificent with a towering clock fireplace, a large array of places to sit and live music most nights. We stayed in one of the old house rooms with a private bathroom and although it was very charming, the plumbing wasn’t the best. Still, I can’t imagine visiting the park and not spending at least one night here. The hotel also has an excellent dining room and dinner reservations are recommended.

-The Old Faithful Inn is so named because it sits next to the world famous Old Faithful Geyser which erupts about every 45 minutes. The inn posts when it is expected to blow but they can be off by up to 30 minutes on either side of their projection. The geyser may not be the most impressive feature in the park but it is spectacular and, because it’s synonymous with Yellowstone, it should not be missed. Old Faithful Geyser is part of the Upper Geyser Basin which includes additional geysers and mineral pools and can be toured by following trails of pavement and wooden platforms. My favorite site in the area was the two-toned Morning Glory Pool, one of the prettiest in Yellowstone.

-At the Midway Geyser Basin hot water pours from Excelsior Geyser into the cold Firehole River creating rows of steam. Grand Prismatic Spring, which is the park’s largest is also here. If you’ve ever seen pictures of Yellowstone, you’ve no doubt seen one of this massive pool glistening in bright shades of blue and orange. It is so large that it’s impossible to get a photograph of the whole thing unless you take the Fairy Falls hike up to a hill overlooking it. The colors in the pool are actually reflections of the sun and sky so they do not show up as strongly on a cloudy day. If it is very cold or snowing, as it was when we visited, it may be almost completely obscured by steam. This is also a good area to spot bison. We watched a herd with babies cross the Firehole River early one morning during a storm;an image I will never forget.

-There is nothing quite like the sound of a bubbling mud pot and you can see the best example of one by visiting the Fountain Paint Pot in the Lower Geyser Basin. There are also some nice pools here, Celestine Pool and Silex Spring, and several geysers, some of which erupt almost constantly.

-Canyon Village is one of the busiest areas in the park. It has many places to shop and eat (don’t miss the grizzly berry ice cream) and a beautiful, state of the art Visitor’s Center where you can learn all about Yellowstone’s history. Nearby is the majestic Grand Canyon of Yellowstone which you can get amazing views of at various lookouts including the most popular near the colorful Artist’s Point. If you can handle the challenging hikes to the summits of the Upper and Lower Falls, they are both worth the effort.

-Although bison travel all over Yellowstone, the best place to see them in the lower loop is Hayden Valley. It’s very common to have a close encounter with them here because they graze around the roads. As long as you keep a safe distance and remain in your car, it’s a great experience. Mud Volcano and Sulphur Cauldron are also located in the valley and shouldn’t be missed. Will and I could have stood in front of the smoking Dragon’s Mouth Spring for hours.

-Just north of Yellowstone Lake is Fishing Bridge, a major spawning area for cutthroat trout. Although fishing is not allowed, you can observe the fish in their active months and get a great view of the lake from the wooden bridge during the rest of the year. Yellowstone Lake is the largest in the park and it’s interesting because, although it looks calm, it sits on top of geysers and other geothermal features. There is some limited boating allowed but swimming is not safe. The Lake Yellowstone Hotel is the oldest in the park and the most upscale. It has a 1920s feel complete with a gorgeous sun room where guests can have a drink while they enjoy looking out on the lake. It also has a fabulous restaurant considered the best in Yellowstone. Dinner reservations are a must, but you can probably stop in for breakfast or lunch unannounced.

-The Grant Village/West Thumb area is the closest to the southern entrance. Grant Village is a great place to spot elk and the West Thumb Geyser Basin is probably the most underrated basin area in Yellowstone. Its stunning pools and hot springs are just a quick walk from the parking lot.

The Lower Loop of Yellowstone is the caldera or crater area caused by massive volcanic eruptions that occurred hundreds of thousands, even millions of years ago. It is the more popular section of the park because it contains the best examples of the geothermal features that Yellowstone is known for: geysers and colorful mineral pools. Although there are a few other places in the world where such phenomena exist like Iceland and New Zealand, Yellowstone is the only place left completely in its natural state and not exploited as a power source. It is truly unlike any place on Earth and perhaps the greatest example of nature’s extreme power and strength to both create and destroy.

For more pictures, please visit my Photo Gallery or click on any of the photos posted above.

You can read more about my trip to Yellowstone by visiting my Upper Loop post.

Yellowstone Links:
Yellowstone National Park Official Site
Yellowstone Hotel and Tour Reservations

Date of trip: June 2009

Jackson Hole is the valley in Wyoming encircled by the Teton and Gros Ventre mountain ranges. Among the places contained in the valley are an airport, the National Elk Refuge, part of Grand Teton National Park, Teton Village and the town of Jackson. I explain this because it’s easy to mistake Jackson the town and Jackson Hole as the same place when, in fact, one is a section of the other. Will and I didn’t originally plan to spend much time in Jackson Hole, but after driving through the area on the way to Yellowstone and the Tetons, we realized there were quite a few things to see there and decided to come back for a look.

Highlights:

-From the Jackson Hole Airport, we headed to the National Museum of Wildlife Art located 10 minutes away. The museum has over 5,000 pieces in its permanent collection and it’s widely considered the finest of its kind in the world. Many of the paintings are so detailed they look like photographs of animals and some of the sculptures look real. It is truly a unique place because while art usually offers an escape, the art here reminds you of beauty that exists in the real world and how important it is to protect the amazing creatures we share this earth with.

-Teton Village is right outside of Grand Teton National Park and because it includes the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, it is the best place for winter sports. It’s a small village with hotels, restaurants and shops and though it has posh accommodations, including a Four Seasons, there is also a big hostel so it caters to all budgets. Obviously, you can’t ski during the summer but you can take the famous Aerial Tram up the mountain. The tram just reopened after 2 years of renovations and it doesn’t disappoint. Although it was cloudy and snowing (in JUNE!) during our ride, we still managed to spot two moose resting on the mountain. At the top there is a cafe where you can have a snack and a drink while you wait for the next tram down.

-In downtown Jackson, the Town Square has something for just about everyone. There are historic hotels, restaurants and bars as well as galleries and plenty of shopping. There are carriage rides and staged “shoot-outs” in the summer. Everything has a western flavor and you must get a photo next to one of the four elk antler archways.

Before I traveled to Jackson Hole, I had a picture in my mind of a place full of wide open spaces in the middle of nowhere. There are definitely sections like that but there are also areas that are unmistakably urban with many things to do. The contrast between the developed and undeveloped parts makes the valley a particularly fun and interesting place to visit.

For more pictures, please visit my Photo Gallery or click on any of the photos posted above.

Jackson Hole Links:
Jackson Hole Official Site
National Museum of Wildlife Art
Teton Village/Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
Jackson Hole Aerial Tram