Blogs from Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, United States, North America - page 8

Saturday September 19, 2009 Shaddy emitted a low growl from somewhere under the covers when I arose before the crack of dawn. I dressed, took my camera gear to The Beast and throttled up in order to be in the field at first light. I imagine there were low growls from under many covers in the campground when the diesel engine fired up with its own cacophonous growl. There was already a crowd of vehicles and photographers when I arrived at Moran reflection view. Tripods topped with digital cameras were erected all over the side of the hill, attended by folk gazing at Mt. Moran, their backs to the east. There was a hushed reverence for what was about to happen at first light. “First pink, first pink” the fellow to my right called out. “Ahhhh,” ... read more

The rain and cloudy weather from last evening was still with us when we awoke this morning. So what does one do on a rainy day in Grand Teton National Park? We began the day with a little drive around Teton Village where we are staying. There are some lovely homes here and even on a rainy day there is usually something to photograph. I found my "something". The Tetons were completely hidden by the low hanging clouds and there was nothing to been seen there but I found a fire hydrant surrounded by daisies. When you are desperate, you will photograph anything. Our plan had been to drive along the Snake River to Oxbow Bend where there is a lovely view of the Tetons and then go to Signal Mountain. We did take the drive ... read more

Hi Everyone, we’ve emerged from the woods of Northwestern Wyoming! We’re in Cody, WY today after spending about three weeks split between the Tetons and Yellowstone. We went to several campgrounds we haven’t been to before. For the most part the weather was great 70’s during the day 40’s at night but the winter is coming soon up here…it was 23 the morning we left Grant campground. We did a lot of kayaking in the Tetons….without a doubt the most scenic kayaking we’ve ever done. Saw lots of moose up close from the water. In Yellowstone both the bison and elk were in their mating rut…the coolest thing was hearing the elk bugling…once you’ve heard that sound you’ll never forget it. There was a 13 point buck herding some does and calves near our campsite one ... read more

We left Yellowstone in the morning and drove south into the Grand Teton national park. The traffic was extremely slow due to road constructions. We went to Jenny Lake, took a ferry across it, and went on a hike on the other side. First we hiked up to the Hidden Fall, then to the inspiration point where we took in the view of the lake and the valley beyond. Past this point, the crowd got thinner though the trail got flatter. We hiked for a couple of hours along the Cascade Canyon trail. I very much enjoyed the part along the stream. It would be a wonderful place to do a all-day hike or even a back country camping trip, but we didn't have much time and had to be satisfied with a short hike. We ... read more

Sunday August 9, 2009: In Which the Author Spends His Last Night in Yellowstone Well, the 3rd day of sitting around the campsite all day, watching people come and go, chatting with the fellow Chicagoans, the Arnolds, going 50 yards straight back from the campsite with Sophie (and being totally surrounded in new-growth forest…this situation is readily available at almost any part of Yellowstone—except the village gift shops—and it’s nice to “gently break,” well…alright, break the rules by throwing sticks for Sophie. We also went on a walk through the camp (there’s probably about 80 sites here, mostly occupied by tents). It was the first night of three that I actually spent dinner time/sunset at the camp, preferring to steal electricity to do the blog (I’m learning a lot, and am somewhat frustrated in the slow/unavailable ... read more