This morning, we were able to redeem ourselves for the failed run from the day before. We drove into Big Sky early and each got 40-45 minutes of work in. The weather was only slightly better than the previous morning, but the lack of hail and lightning made a significant difference…and made 45 degrees with a drizzle seem like nice running weather. I had a 5.5 mile run, which was plenty. Afterward, we zoomed back to the ranch, ate breakfast, packed, checked out, and took off for Yellowstone. Today’s plan was the southern portions of Yellowstone and then previewing the Tetons as we made our way south to Jackson, WY…our base camp for the remainder of the vacation.
The trip started with a bang…before we even reached the gate of Yellowstone, I got my wish from yesterday…
A Grizzly Bear…hanging out a couple hundred yards off the road. A nice distance for viewing safely.
Then we arrived at the park and got caught up in the traffic viewing the same bird we saw yesterday. Once we passed this obstacle, there was another slowdown for more mule deer…the generic creatures of the park. Further along, we encountered a coyote…this was something new. However, with his wily nature, he managed to avoid the camera by ducking behind a bush.
After these exciting “close encounters”, it was off to view the natural attractions, which I’ll cover in pictures below…
A mud pot at the Fountain Paint Pots… boiling mud, just like the spa, right?
Old Faithful… yep, that’s it. Would have been prettier on a sunny day, I’m sure.
To be honest, the southern portion of the park did not match the views from yesterday. Also, Old Faithful, being something I felt I should definitely see once, is something I feel I only need to see once.
We moved through Yellowstone more quickly than yesterday, since we had ground to cover. Everyone waved goodbye as we passed through the southern gate and into Grand Teton National Park. For the most part, we skipped through here as well, taking some pictures along the way (seen below), at least until we made through a large chunk of the park. At this point, our party was antsy from all the car time, so we stopped at Calder Bay Village to have a look around and ended up taking a short and easy 3 mile hike looping Swan Lake and Herron Pond, with Jackson Lake and the Tetons themselves as the backdrop….
Welcome to the Grand Tetons
Swan Lake covered with some sort of greenery
Herron Pond with an impressive backdrop
By this point, it was getting late, so we left the park and checked into our condo. Everyone seemed to be feeling Mexican food (particularly margaritas), so we hunted out a family Mexican restaurant and had very well made margaritas, not what I was expecting in Wyoming. Now, it’s time to settle in to the new digs and read a bit before bed. Tomorrow holds a 1/2 day 16 mile raft trip (1/2 float trip, 1/2 rapids) on the Snake River along with some short hikes in the Tetons…and hopefully a moose this time!
No comments:
Post a Comment